Disgusted with Sports Direct....AIBU

[Cider4Caro]

I'm really cross but not sure if I'm right to be...Bought a pair of Nike Trainers from said shop online. Paid £18 and a further £5 delivery. They are for my disabled son, and are basketball style with good ankle support as hes quite unsteady on his feet, they have laces and a velcro strap so really supportive. I thought this was a total bargain btw!
After a week, the velcro started failing and the straps on both shoes kept coming loose, swinging all around his feet and he tripped over them twice. After making sure they were actually failing and he hadn't loosened them himself over a couple of days, I wanted to return them as it's dangerous to have loose straps hanging off the shoes between his feet. ( hope this makes sense). I went online to email S Direct, tried twice but the emails were not going through, looked for a phone number, £6 to call them (wtf), I checked on Google and its correct. No return label in packaging and I dont have a printer to print a return slip out off their site, So I take them to my local store. Waited 20 mins for the manager who told me they dont take returns, that the straps are just for looks, perhaps I need to learn how to tie tighter laces as I've not bn putting them on my son right so she doubts ile get a swap anyway. They wouldn't help with a return label and she also told me I should send them back recorded so I can prove I posted them.
So, in order to return these shoes which I can assure you are infact faulty ( I'm 40 years old and having had 3 kids, I can say im not a newbie at tying shoe laces, stupid woman ) I need to buy a printer, pay over £5 for the postage for them to possibly not give me a swap, credit note or refund.
I'm at a loss with this, I know I got them at a bargain price, maybe you get what you pay for, I'm more angry with the manager who was rude to me, i felt like i was trying to do a dodgy return, as she really embarrassed me in front of a big queue of people telling me I need to learn how to tie a shoe lace tighter...I walked out red faced. HOWEVER, On the way out of the shop, i saw a man slipping a T Shirt in to his shopping bag, clearly shop lifting. It made me smile, if only they treated paying customers well, I might have gone back! Revenge is a little bit sweet in this case!
Anyone know the return rights in this case, its 3 weeks since I payed for the trainers btw, so not a long while. Am i right to be angry with the rude unhelpful manager, or am i in the wrong by possibly buying the wrong style of trainer?? Thanks guys! X

[Marvinmarvinson]

Good luck getting a refund from sports direct. They are absolute arseholes for this. I've tried returning clearly faulty goods and they just would not have it. They're well known for it.

[Roastedpepperfeta]

Don't suppose you paid via PayPal? If so they have a free returns service and are usually pretty good at helping with disputes.

[EskewedBeef]

Sports Direct is well known for this sort of shoddy treatment of customers.

If it's going to cost you a lot of money to make the return, I'd write it off as a lesson learned and try to repair the shoes myself. You can buy velcro extenders for £1 or so that might give a better grip and stop the straps falling open.

[CoraPirbright]

Sports Direct are a shower of cunts, ‘tis well known.

How about trying Nike instead?

I know nothing about twitter but see it recommended often on here as being a good way to attract a company’s attention. Do you have twitter?

[whothedaddy]

YANBU they are dire.

I ordered my DD hiking boots and they sent two different boots not a pair. They claim as they were purchased on line I couldn't return them to a store. However no free returns. I knicked up a fuss as I shouldn't have to pay for something totally unusable. They eventually took the return instore but they refused a refund and I had to settle on a credit note.

I avoid them like the plague now. Not worth the 'bargain' they first appear.

Plus Mike Ashley is a grade A prick!

[PhDone]

I once ordered a pair of bike pedals and got two right ones!!!

[Tonnerre]

Why do you need to buy a printer? Get the return slip printed off at somewhere like a library or copy shop with printing facilities.

[adaline]

Sports Direct are appalling. I wouldn't expect anything back from them I'm afraid.

[Spudina]

Sports direct were busted for using modern slaves in their factory. Plus their working conditions are bad generally (and break the law.) I'm not surprised that they have treated you like this frankly.

[Elderflower14]

My friend twice tried to buy a size 24 swimsuit from SD. Both times the swimsuit was for a 2 year old. (24 months!) SD are crap!

[Curious2468]

I ordered pjs and the top was a size 20 and the trousers an 8! I didn’t have time to return them. I find their stuff doesn’t wash great a lot of the time either

[TimeForNewStart]

You can print stuff off at the library.

[LeekMunchingSheepShagger]

Are you on Twitter op? Taking these kinds of things to social media can sometimes help (although I've no experience with sports direct)

[DontCallMeShitley]

I wouldn't let this go. Fight the bastards. Mike Ashley has a huge glittery mansion in Totteridge, he can afford to refund you.

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/l/faulty-goods

www.facebook.com/SportsDirect/

[JudgeRindersMinder]

Sports Direct are twats. I’d take it up direct with Nike (even though you shouldn’t have to)

[Rarfy]

Going against the grain here but I ordered a frozen water bottle at Christmas and it arrived smashed. Emailed them and they just sent a new one out no problem.

I know you're having a problem emailing them, are you getting a bounce back?

[Troels]

God I hate that shop, I refuse to buy from there ever again. No matter the price. I'd rather go without.
I hope you get some satisfaction from this and new shoes or money back.

[coconuttelegraph]

Of course you don't need to buy a printer, even if you don't know any one who has one ask on your local facebook page, I'm pretty sure someone will help you.

Tbh Sports Direct are very well known for sticking rigidly to their T & C s and the letter of legislation there is no way they care if you name and shame them on Twitter, you won't get any result that way

Without seeing the shoes it's impossible to say if they are fit for purpose, can post a picture?

[RingtheBells]

I won't buy from House of Fraser for the same reasons.

[TheGirlWhoLovedTomGordon]

Sports Direct never ever ever give refunds. They are awful. Sorry you've had to deal with them.

[FAQs]

They’ve also just purchased Jack Wills to save it from bankruptcy, their customer service has always been great so expect it to nose dive in customer care.

[frizzattack]

If you get in contact with Customer Services they should post you a free-post returns label. This was about two years back so not sure if they’ll still do it but they delivered an orange raincoat to me which had some sort of blue dye all over it. I complained and said I shouldn’t have to pay to return a faulty product so they sent me a label in the post

[AnAC12UCOinanOCG]

YABU to shop at Sports Direct.

[Coffeeandchocolate9]

I've returned stuff to them no problem, even though it must have looked reet dodgy. They sent me a top that I think somebody had cut while opening their package either at the warehouse or it was a previous return. I definitely didn't use a blade to open my package, so hand on heart it wasn't me but I thought they might be awkward thinking it was.

I think it probably depends on the individual member of staff you get. Do you go near the store anyway? Might be worth popping in again or to another one, to try to get a different member of staff.

[coconuttelegraph]

Sports Direct never ever ever give refunds

That's not true, what they don't do is give refunds unless the item is faulty, I've had refunds in the past, in fact once for a pair of shoes when the soles came off after a couple of wears.

I shop there a lot and if you know their rules and shop carefully you can get some very reasonably priced sports stuff.

They are pretty upfront about their returns policy