Sporting Life

Ordered a electric skateboard.
Arrived, openenings taped with unusual tape. Turns out to have clearly have been opened before. Skateboard did not have original tags, manual taken out of plastic bag. Batteries left in remote and exploded. Skateboard does not work, doesn't hold a charge. Very annoyed and disappointed, extremely unlikely to shop with sporting life again.

Beautiful store and I was able to purchase a very nice Patagonia kangaroo (hoodie w/o a zipper), but quite pricey.

Pratique qu’on puisse faire le ramassage à l’auto vu sa localisation centrale et que ce soit difficile de trouver du stationnement des fois! J’ai acheté une tente en ligne et je l’avais dans mon coffre d’auto en 5 minutes. Merci

The store is bright and big with a good variety of items within the individual sections. The staff members that assisted me were nice and helpful

Whoever first answers the phone is the first point of contact for routing. There is work to be done here on the upfront experience.
Written July 30,2022 at 12: 50pm.

I was looking for a sun hat. The staff was very attentive. Kudos to the new employee who helped me pick one when I was having a hard time deciding. Super happy with my purchase.

TENNIS: BEST staff and BEST service. Always provide great racket advice, footwear suggestions and styling options at unbeatable prices.

My review is about sporting life online order
Not with the location this review is posted on but basically I made an order online. 2 pairs of shoes but, one pair got cancelled. Which was initially the reason I made the order. The other pair was basically only to have delivery fee waived. So when I emailed to have my order cancelled. They basically said no its already been sent out and since it's on sale it can't be returned. Haha would never buy from this store again after this.

Very pretty store, could do well with a few more staff helping out. 4 stars since items are way too expensive but like most sports stores, you are paying for the brand not the item.

Very helpful staff large selection of outdoor and sporting products. Wide variety of shoes and clothing options. Nice, clean store with a prime location. Will be back!

Purchased a bike for my Daughter here recently and the team were wonderful!
Also very pleased to find out any bike purchase cones with 3 years worth of tune-ups!

I place online order and they kept me waiting for 10 days. At the end, Order got cancelled. Worst experience and will not buy anything from them.

Nice place for sport clothing and winter clothing. Some items may be more expensive than expected.

I’ve been there couple times to purchase snowboarding gears, and the young guys working in the winter sports section are all very patient and helpful. However, their managers tend to misinterpret customers’ queries. On one occasion, two managers asked me whether I’m just trying to solicit for the best deal in a quite sarcastic way. Welp, I guess I should’ve just thrown my money their way without asking questions?

Went on a Saturday to return a coat my friend had purchased for which the zipper was faulty. The people serving us at the cash were rude and belittling. They offered her store credit but not after telling her she was wrong backhandedly multiple times.
We did go into the store after and we’re served by two lovely employees - David and another gentlemen working in the shoe section. Both excellent and helpful.
Went back to the cash to pay for boots for my daughter and was met with a very cold, bothered demeanour again from the new cashier. The ones that had precious served my friend were busy telling another woman to go get boxes for items she was told could be on hold and making her feel guilty for even asking.
It’s a shame that the floor staff is so lovely, and the people working the cash are rude with no people skills.

** IF YOU PARK HERE WITH ACCESSIBLE PARKING PERMIT YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY THE METER OR $75 FINE.
A top notch spot for winter jackets. As well as many other top brand name clothing and foot wear. They have a great return policy and you can get discounts as a member. My wife and daughter buy all their winter jackets here.
They also have nice carry on travel bags.

Recently purchased two separate times on their website. Then on both occasions part of my order is out of stock! WHY? Do you continue to show stock of items you do not have available? Two separate times you then offer me 10% on my next purchase of 1 single item.right! The item I select and checkout again is notified to me days later that its "out of stock" and you offer the same bogus 10% coupon code? Conclusion: done with your outfit. You wont be getting any business from me in the future. Just a terrible experience.

Worst customer experience - went in to try on and potentially buy a high-end jacket and was immediately targeted as potential shrink. Staff hovered the entire time I was trying on products and eventually rudely hurried me out of the store. I overheard two employees discussing a prevented theft by what looked to them a “high class shopper” that they were shocked could have possibly been stealing. Will not be spending my money there, and if you are a BIPOC, watch out!

Very very rude staff.called the store for a pick up and once I got there they played games on the phone with me made me wait another 40 minutes outside when I had already waited 2 hours for my order at home.when they said it would take 2 hours.also stuff is very overpriced I wouldn’t recommend to anyone!

I called looking for an item. Adam took my name and number, he called right back after confirming stock. The item was sitting at the cash ready for me to pick up. That's great service.

What fantastic service! I ordered shoes online and they had them ready within the hour. I picked them up after work on curb side pickup and waited not even 5 minutes. The lady was super friendly on the phone and when she came to the car. This was the first time shopping here and I will for sure be checking this store out again:)

Great store with a lot of variety, and the staff seemed nice. My only issue which is a pretty big one was their very misleading advertising. Their signs read "up to 50% off" and were placed in sections where literally nothing with a 50% off sign near it was 50% off. No red tags, nothing. They had a double sided rack for masks, and their 50% off sign was facing the side that wasn't on sale. It said "excluding under armour" which were the only masks within eye sight. It seemed like they were trying to hide the other side where the sale masks were. They also had a few racks of champion things (hoodies, t-shirts, crew necks) grouped together, with another "up to 50% off" sign. The only things in that section were champion and NONE of it was on sale. They had sale signage up by their footwear, but didn't have any of their on-sale footwear on display. They had some sale boots on display, but none of the sneakers that were on display were on sale. That being said, there were some things that were marked on sale correctly, but the sections I had ran into with misleading advertisement was enough to give me a good idea of how the company does their marketing.

Great safety protocols. Ordered online late at night. Product was ready for curbside pickup the next morning.

The least friendly snowboard staff I’ve dealt with.
Passive aggressive, dismissive and inpatient are just a few things I’d say about the multiple experiences I’ve had with the place.
Regretfully spent a lot of money on a corporation who doesn’t value each and every customer and next time I’ll be going somewhere else for sure.
Disappointed.

Is this store open during the province-wide shutdown? December 26,2020- January 28,2021. Aside from that great knowledgable employees, I prefer the options in this store before the others.

They have a great variety of clothes/jackets, though they didnt have the size we needed.
The service was good, we were approached right away.
But way too many people inside the store.

Dishonest business practices. I bought a coat on sale which then went on a flash sale for a cheaper price. They said they do not adjust prices to their flash sale prices. So I waited until the flash sale ended and the coat was still on sale for a even cheaper price. So I asked them if they could adjust then. They pretended it was still a flash sale price, despite being the day after the sale and no advertising of a sale event. Going to return the coat for a full refund and will no longer do business with this company.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! I ORDERED UGG BOOTS 3 WEEKS AGO AND STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED THEM. THEY BLAME FLEET OPTICS (WHO APPARENTLY LOST THE PACKAGE) BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE WHO MESSED IT UP! I WANT MY REFUND AND THEY KEEP IGNORING MY EMAILS!

DO NOT ODER ONLINE FOR CURBSIDE PICKUP. I placed an order Nov 28 and received confirmation and a pending transaction on my credit card. 2 weeks later (curbside pick up is ready in 24-48 hours) and I still have not received an email telling me to pick it up. I emailed customer service and they said the order was 'automatically cancelled' due to a discrepancy with the shipping address or card info.like what? Shipping address is the store? And my card had a pending transaction? I can still see the order in in my account as 'being processed' and never received and email stating that there was an issue with my order. If you are unable to shop in-store I would suggest ordering from a different company.

It was my first & last time buying online from Sporting Life. By far this is the worst online retail business I've come across and I've been buying online for at least 10 years from so many stores in Canada and abroad.
It takes them 2 weeks after my order was confirmed to let me know the item is out of stock, during this 2 weeks it's impossible to get an update on my order. It takes them 6 days to reply email and waiting almost an hour on the phone to talk to a person from online service but I was told he will contact the warehouse and get back to me but never did.
Altitude Sports and Sport Chek are much more professional & only takes 1-2 days to process and ship.

Went in to buy a new snowboard and bindings. Waited forever for a sales rep. Finally found one who said he'd find someone to help. Second guy shows up and says he knows nothing about snowboards. I explain I need someone knowledgeable because I have questions. He asks the floor expert to help but he's says no he's going on lunch and walks away. Needless to say I didn't buy anything.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE! ORDERED UGG BOOTS 3 WEEKS AGO AND STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED THEM. THEY BLAME FLEET OPTICS (WHO APPARENTLY LOST THE PACKAGE) BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE WHO MESSED IT UP! I WANT MY REFUND AND THEY KEEP IGNORING MY EMAILS!

Purchased a beautiful Burton winter coat that was out of stock on the burton website. Shipped and received in 3 days. Everything about the experience was perfect!

Good product selection but this store is too expensive for me. They offer some sales but no returns if it is more than 30% off.

Not sure if it's because of Covid, but the service has gone downhill. Was good, now I wouldn't recommended it. Not one person said hi nor helped me during my 30 minutes shopping there.

When asking for help, the employee said he was too busy to help me. Service has gone downhill since it first opened. The rewards aren't worth it to me anymore because they've excluded so many brands compared to when it first started. Also there is a lot of Improper pricing on the tags when grabbing the same items or no prices at all. I also found going directly to the retailer selling the products are cheaper now.

Sanitizer is available at the door, and signage is prevalent. All employees were properly masked, and the checkout was well arranged to allow for social distancing. However, the store was very crowded and not laid out in a manner that allows social distancing. Several displays block aisles and pathways, and distancing was nowhere to be found.

We recommend decluttering the aisles to allow for more freedom of movement to socially distance, and enforcing customer limits at the door.

COVID-Safe Ottawa reviews local business' compliance with recommended COVID safety protocols in order to help Ottawa find safe places to shop.

Went in last week to find a pair of skis for Whistler. Luc in the Ski department went above and beyond to help me and my friend out. He was super friendly and used his knowledge to help me with choosing my skis. Highly recommend Sporting Life if you are looking for a new pair or skis or a snowboard! Thanks Luc!

Awesome sports store with great stock of equipment and clothing. I’ve gotten several bikes here and the staff is what keeps me coming back! Thank you for your great service! They are genuinely willing to help and guide through the process more so than other sports stores in Ottawa that I’ve experienced. They have a great selection of Giant bikes along with many others. Overall a good choice for any sports purchase. Also a huge selection of Canada Goose jackets.

Great service by Adam in the cycle department - patient, excellent knowledge and thorough. Thank you!

Si je pouvais je mettrais 0.2 fois recu un article d'une taille erronée. Small au lieu XL. Ensuite, il ne paie pas les étiquettes de retour même si cest leur erreur.
Service à la clientèle médiocre.
Se dise une compagnie de qualité, mais service très mauvais. Ensuite accusé d'avoir fait l'erreur sur la 2e commande pour un manteau de 1670$. Aucune autre grandeur de disponible.

Underrated store that carries a lot of the key outdoor and sports brands right in the middle of the city. We've always had a good experience with the staff here.

Don’t bother ordering online, if you don’t want to wait an excessive amount of time, before receiving goods.

Great selection, however when ordering online, it takes far too long to process and send items, which is not the case with its direct competitor, Sportchek. The only reason, I did not place order with the latter, is due to the fact that they do not carry the specific item that I ordered.

Tried to warranty an item I purchased at the store. Was very disappointed after talking directly to store staff and the warranty department that after five months of trying to warranty this item, they decided not to lias with the brand to do so, which was told to them and myself directly from the brand.
Ended up having to take the item to another dealer, and the issue was warrantied and resolved very quickly.
Very disappointed with the staff throughout this process. They were often rude and would send me in circles.
Will not shop at Sporting Life again after this experience.
Support your locally owned sports stores.

This sporting life is great considering the location. Staff are knowledgeable too. If they are out of stock as them to order it for you. Also, their off season sales are awesome.

Excellent Store, top notch service. Hank Shannon is a great guy and manager. I love all the recommendations I have purchased in the last year from this location. I recommend anyone in Ottawa to shop here cause honestly you won’t find better pricing and selection, I ordered three pairs of Ben Sherman pants and the prices were amazing. Excellent people and service.

The menagers are very bad here at this store, very rude
and they don't provide good costumer service i need it to exchange an item
they wouldn't as i had receipt what a scams they're, be careful guys if you buy cloths there if I would i woud give 0 satrs, just like everyone mention on other reviews

Horrible online Customer service. They don't answer the phone, they aren't able to ship an order that was ordered a Week ago. Worst online experience and worst franchise!

Very disappointed service. I bought skis from the 2019 season online. After receiving confirmation of my order, I receive an email 2 days later telling me that the skis are no longer available. I have called to ask them to give me the same skis but the 2020 season. Zero help. "That's our system works" was the reply. They had the opportunity to make a customer happy and to build loyalty. On the contrary, they decided to do nothing. Sporting Life never again.

Annoying customer service that wont let you shop in peace. Items aren't technically "On Sale" as they will cut out the sale price once the promotion is over. Price matching is very vague. Honestly, please shop elsewhere Bushtukah, SAIL, MEC, Trailheads, even Altitude is 100x better!

First order your their website. Awesome selection of rare flannel shirts for men in Canada (Woolrich, Mountain Khakis, Burton.). I couldn't find that Alaska Woolrich anywhere and made the decision to trust this store. The fact is that I never order from small stores. Took a chance because you accept Paypal. I worried because it was a $225 flannel shirt (ouch) but package arrived 3 days later and shirt was exactly what I was expecting. I bookmarked your store. Will order again from you. Great first quality clothes and boots as I can see on your catalog. Dont disappoint me and I'll remain a loyal customer for years to come.

Found a pair of Nike running shorts on the Sporting Life website. I opted for the in-store pick up option, where I could purchase the pair online and pick-up in-store once a confirmation is received, this would be within 24-48 hours. Six days later I receive an e-mail informing me that my order is delayed due to 'sourcing' issues. No mention of how long the order is being delayed or how to refund sale if I would prefer not to wait indefinitely. Called Customer Service and cancelled my order and asked for a refund. In the future will just order from Nike directly or shop at another retailer.

I checked online inventory before walking 20 minutes to the store, only to be told from staff the "online inventory is never correct" and they didnt have the item. She then called the manager on duty, Rafael, who came up and literally shrugged me off saying this isn't his department and walked away without even acknowledging me. Ill shop where I feel welcomed and where there's a coherent understanding of what service is, I won't waste my time here ever again.

I usually don’t write reviews at all. But, the staff at this store were so irritating, it was absolute torture. They’re so disingenuous; ask a question and you’re made to feel like you interrupted them. I am really surprised that this store is surviving in the current retail environment, given how dry and unwelcoming the overall shopping experience was. I usually get my outdoor gear from MEC but decided to try something different. To keep things short, I am sticking with MEC and never coming back here.