Sporty's CS Rant

Joel,

There are plenty of pilot's kneeboards for sale on Amazon.com, why don't you just buy one of those? I just don't understand all the fuss.....

I've dealt with Sporty's a few times, and overall I've found them to be pretty friendly and easy to do business with.
 
wilkersk said:
Joel,

There are plenty of pilot's kneeboards for sale on Amazon.com, why don't you just buy one of those? I just don't understand all the fuss.....

I've dealt with Sporty's a few times, and overall I've found them to be pretty friendly and easy to do business with.
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Just wanted to support Sporty.... and get a slightly superior option compared to those on Amazon - I sure learned my lesson.
 
Joelsweet said:
Just wanted to support Sporty.... and get a slightly superior option compared to those on Amazon - I sure learned my lesson.
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Then the best solution would be to buy the kneeboard from Sportys's and save your Amazon credits for something they sell. You can't expect Sporty's to set up an Amazon account just to sell a kneeboard to you. Not to mention the fact that the CSR most likely does not have the authority to do so without going to management.
 
I don't necessarily agree with the OP rant, but it amazes me the amount of responses along the lines of "why should sportys alter their business model..." You do realize sportys already has an Amazon store and uses that conduit to sell. They even have knee boards, just not the house brand. I think it's a reasonable request, they said no, but no need to flame them on POA.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/sp.html/ref=olp_merch_name_1?ie=UTF8&a=B00A3GMSBU&s=ASZY4HXJ7WFPD
 
I'm going to call them and see if they will sell at Bed Bath and Beyond, because I have this gift card and 20% coupon to use...
 
Do you think that if I asked the right way, I could get Sporty's to sell me a car? Or maybe to offer their products on Target's website?

No, neither do I. The request was not reasonable.
 
Wow. 50+ responses in and everyone's still piling on the new guy?? I suspect he either gets the point or won't be back. Tough crowd...

Welcome aboard anyway.
 
linuxjim said:
Wow. 50+ responses in and everyone's still piling on the new guy?? I suspect he either gets the point or won't be back. Tough crowd...

Welcome aboard anyway.
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I dunno. Based on his first post, I don't think he would be a very good addition around here. He would probably get all upset that we keep talking about planes, instead of quilting.
 
I downloaded some of the what you should know videos for my iPod years ago and air facts series. I liked the ifr comma one the best. fast fwd to present day. iPod is gone and iTunes got deleted. I'm sol for the videos as you get a year to download them despite costing the same as a dvd. Lesson learned is buy DVDs from sportys.
 
Tflhndn said:
I dunno. Based on his first post, I don't think he would be a very good addition around here. He would probably get all upset that we keep talking about planes, instead of quilting.
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Or he may be young, starting out and could benefit from the forum's collective knowledge instead of being beat down for being young, inexperienced or not an experienced business owner.
 
No, but they should know who to send the request to.
 
I think the point is Sportys would lose their shirt setting up one time requests on Amazon, paying a little extra would not come close to covering the cost.
 
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linuxjim said:
Or he may be young, starting out and could benefit from the forum's collective knowledge instead of being beat down for being young, inexperienced or not an experienced business owner.
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I think he got the forum's collective knowledge, did he not? I don't think telling him that his request is unreasonable is a beat down.

Not wanting to spend cash at one vendor, and asking them to send a product to another vendor so he can use that vendor's gift certificate, for a $20 item, is not logical by anyone's measure, except for the OP.
 
nddons said:
Not wanting to spend cash at one vendor, and asking them to send a product to another vendor so he can use that vendor's gift certificate, for a $20 item, is not logical by anyone's measure, except for the OP.
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Happens all the time though. I have 'customers' that won't buy from us, but they will spend 50 percent more in order to NOT buy from me. But guess what - I'm supplying the product to the vendor they are buying from, and I'm still making money on the deal.
 
The OP rant is pretty funny, IMHO. It sounds like a skit from a comedy show. Like the Monty Python cheese store skit, where the customer goes ballistic because he can't buy cheese.
 
nddons said:
I think he got the forum's collective knowledge, did he not? I don't think telling him that his request is unreasonable is a beat down.

Not wanting to spend cash at one vendor, and asking them to send a product to another vendor so he can use that vendor's gift certificate, for a $20 item, is not logical by anyone's measure, except for the OP.
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Because Sporty's does sell through Amazon, it was worth a try. Hey, you never know. I really don't fault OP for that.

His pathetic, whiny temper tantrum when the Sporty's CSR wouldn't accommodate his request and allegedly was "rude" to him are another story. I get this picture in my mind of a spoiled 2-year-old.

Rich
 
EdFred said:
Happens all the time though. I have 'customers' that won't buy from us, but they will spend 50 percent more in order to NOT buy from me. But guess what - I'm supplying the product to the vendor they are buying from, and I'm still making money on the deal.
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What do you retail and wholesale?
 
ifly4fun said:
I don't necessarily agree with the OP rant, but it amazes me the amount of responses along the lines of "why should sportys alter their business model..." You do realize sportys already has an Amazon store and uses that conduit to sell. They even have knee boards, just not the house brand. I think it's a reasonable request, they said no, but no need to flame them on POA.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/sp.html/ref=olp_merch_name_1?ie=UTF8&a=B00A3GMSBU&s=ASZY4HXJ7WFPD
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Some backtracking might be in order.... I don't see the OP's request as unreasonable. Naive maybe, but not unreasonable. It would not be any problem for Sporty's to add an item to it's Amazon store. But what the OP didn't realize is that Sportys is the phone company of pilot shops. They don't care. They don't have to.
 
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Interestingly, the OP still hasn't inquired about the free knee board which was offered in a previous post. I'll refrain from drawing a conclusion.
 
pilot_dude said:
Interestingly, the OP still hasn't inquired about the free knee board which was offered in a previous post. I'll refrain from drawing a conclusion.
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Not looking for charity. I appreciate the offer but for some reason based in the posts I don't think anyone is here to help. I would rather not give an address out.
 
Lindberg said:
But what the OP didn't realize is that Sportys is the phone company of pilot shops. They don't care. They don't have to.
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Lesson learned with that one. I will avoid Sporty's. I just made my own knee board with a $2 Walmart clipboard and a nylon webbing strap from an old military backpack. Would have preferred the trifold obviously, but this should do.

Thanks
 
I think I will come back to POA once I get to the mainline. It seems as though the demo here doesn't have much tolerance for the beginning pilot with loads of debt.... The point of my post wasn't to start a 'I'm wrong, you're right' debate ~ I simply wanted to see if Sporty's treated everyone like dirt, or if it was just me..... I get it now - thank you POA.
 
Joelsweet said:
Not looking for charity. I appreciate the offer but for some reason based in the posts I don't think anyone is here to help. I would rather not give an address out.
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Well, it's really not charity. It's just that pilots tend to accumulate a lot of excess aviation-related paraphernalia. A lot of my excess stuff started out as other people's excess stuff. I also understand your reluctance to give out your address. Maintaining Internet privacy is a wise choice as a general rule.

But your assumption that the people here didn't want to help is childish and wrong. You simply didn't get the responses you were hoping for. That's not the same thing.

As for Sporty's, meh. They're average at best as far as customer service goes. They just happen to have a good inventory.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
But your assumption that the people here didn't want to help is childish and wrong. You simply didn't get the responses you were hoping for. That's not the same thing.

Rich
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I feel as though this thread took a turn from the originally intended purpose. I simply wanted to see if Sporty's CS was rude to anyone else - it turned in to 'you are stupid/naive/childish/wrong with unreasonable expectations'....

All of you successful old salty dogs are far superior - thanks for making it clear that Sporty's isnt interested in the up-and-coming student straddled with debt and therefore did no wrong in handling the situation in a rude manner - as many of you have done as well.

Good day.
 
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Some sincere advice for the OP.

By your description, the rep was short with you. Customer reps should never be rude to a customer even if the request might be considered unreasonable. A manager probably just needs to coach the rep on how they could have handled the situation better.

If it really bothered you, then I would suggest contacting Sporty's and speaking to a manager. That would give the company an opportunity to address the issue and improve their service. Complaining about it on POA won't accomplish anything productive.

Second, I'm assuming you are a young person and as such perhaps have not had the benefit of as much life experience. Sometimes people have bad days and sometimes you will not receive the best service. Happens to me sometimes and it just isn't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. If you let relatively minor infractions cause you such distress that you have to spend all the time to post a rant online, then you don't have a good formula for a happy life. There are more productive and enjoyable ways to spend your time and energy. It just isn't worth getting upset about.

Third, this was your first post on POA. Your first post was a rant and some of your responses were rather snarky. This probably was not the best way to introduce yourself. Keep in mind that you are making a first impression just like your Sporty's rep. There is a lot of knowledge that you can gain from this board, especially for a student pilot that may not have much to offer in return.

Welcome to POA. Keep things in perspective and don't sweat the small stuff. Focus on more enjoyable and productive pursuits and you will lead a happier life. If I got upset every time they were impolite with me at the McDonald's drive through, I would never get my bacon egg and cheese biscuit. And I love me a bacon egg and cheese biscuit! So I just accept that I'm not dealing with the best and brightest, and enjoy my breakfast.
 
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Oh grow up for f**k's sakes!

I have bought a lot of items from Sporty's over several years and have always been treated well. I have never had a bad experience with them. They are one of the best, if not the premier, online and brick & mortar pilot shops in the country.

Amazon is not.
 
Yeah, you have been given enough "food for thought".
Good luck with your training. ;)


Joelsweet said:
I feel as though this thread took a turn from the originally intended purpose. I simply wanted to see if Sporty's CS was rude to anyone else - it turned in to 'you are stupid/naive/childish/wrong with unreasonable expectations'....

All of you successful old salty dogs are far superior - thanks for making it clear that Sporty's isnt interested in the up-and-coming student straddled with debt and therefore did no wrong in handling the situation in a rude manner - as many of you have done as well.

Good day.
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It's a bummer when you're behind on threads. Having just read through this one, that was hilarious.

I think you can order these from Amazon. They have a magnet and stick to the fridge well. :)

705e0c9f9f7daedd1c5f92037e06af4d.jpg
 
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