Academy Sports + Outdoors - Pinellas Park, Florida

E T.

ZERO STARS. Do not shop here.

I went to this store two weeks ago to purchase a treadmill. As a disabled veteran who served my country, I expected better service. Their policy is to load items onto your truck or car with the help of two team members. However, when they loaded the treadmill, they placed it upright. I requested that they adjust it, but they insisted it was fine and told me not to worry.

I drove down the street at only 10 mph, but the treadmill fell and almost hit another car. I returned to the store and asked the workers why they had not listened to my request. They apologized and said they would refund my money and mark the product as damaged. However, when the manager arrived, he refused to issue the refund.

Throughout this experience, I was repeatedly called "you people" by several employees. The morning shift manager bullied me, standing behind me and getting angry when I contacted customer service. He even mocked me for feeling threatened and discriminated against. I felt mistreated, especially after losing $800.

I will never return to this store. They treat veterans and minorities differently. Please avoid shopping here.

Saurav R. G.

Wide array of stuff to choose from, and really helpful staff. The older gentleman who helped us pick out our cooler gave us a lot of helpful tips. This is our go to outdoors store from now on. Thank you for the amazing service.

Lizzy P.

Me and my husband absolutely love this place. No problem, ever! I went in last night asking if I can exchange an item without the receipt and a gentleman at the front said it was possible as long as I have the credit card I used to purchase it. I also called ahead asking if I could do the same thing and they said yes.

I went in the store, left the item at the front with them and went to go find an exchange for the item. As I was checking out, the cashier (Gary) told me to insert, swipe, tap, swipe, then insert my card again and said that he was not able to pull up the purchase but then he asked and confirmed the price of the item with me and I said yes. How did he know exactly how much the item was if he wasn’t able to find it on his end He went ahead and called his manager explaining what was going on and as he was explaining, he told the manager that I didn’t have my card on me when I obviously had it in my hand swiping and tapping away at the cash register. He proceeded to make an excuse saying the system was not pulling up the purchased item, because I used the tap on my card to purchase that item I was trying to exchange Which is very strange to say because almost everybody has tap. He told me he needed to scan some kind of barcode that would be on the receipt and said he was not able to continue the exchange. I was quite upset and annoyed at the same time because why would I go in if I needed a receipt to return something?

So my husband went in this morning to exchange the item and two nice ladies at the front completed the exchange with absolutely no problem!! I don’t know if it was me or the guy didn’t know what he was doing but I felt embarrassed I wasn’t able to return the item when I was by myself at night. I think he needs a little bit more training on the computer, or in general, before wasting somebody else time.

Timothy L.

Like so many others, I'm new to the area. Back in New England, there were great small gun stores. I wasn't sure where to go in Florida though. Someone recommended Academy Sports, and they had never occurred to me. SO GLAD I went. Huge selection of rifles, shotguns and handguns. Excellent prices, but most important, the BEST PEOPLE. I was immediately greeted by Nick at the "Gun Bar" and he offered awesome options, explanations, and above all, advice. He has made Academy Sports my "neighborhood gun store" hands down. And when it's time to cash out, Angelica is clearly the best. I've never met anyone better with a register... And she totally laughed at my dad jokes, so she's a great actress too! Seriously, overall experience, 10 out of 10.

Chris R.

I recently had an extremely disappointing experience at this Academy Sports location. As a Spanish-speaking customer, I was not greeted, acknowledged, or offered assistance at the gun counter. However, when a white American customer arrived, they were promptly greeted and assisted.

This wasn’t an isolated incident; I encountered the same treatment yesterday. In an attempt to avoid this, I placed an order online, hoping for a better experience when picking it up. Unfortunately, I received the same discriminatory treatment upon my arrival, which led me to cancel my order and decide to take my business elsewhere.

I felt discriminated against, and I will not be returning to this location.

L G.

I went into the store so excited. I have multiple firearms and I really wanted a dark flat earth Hellcat micro. I went up to a man that worked behind the counter (a white man that spoke very ghetto) greeted me. I said I'd like to take a look at a Hellcat micro. He stated, "There's no such thing as a Hellcat micro." I said to him, "I've been looking at this firearm for a year. I know for a fact that there is." Of course this went back and forth for a second. As this was happening, I was looking through the glass case to see if I could find it. Low and behold, on the bottom shelf there was a gun labeled "Hellcat micro" so I point to it and he acts shocked that it has MICRO listed on there. He takes it out of the case and says, "Most women can't even rack this gun so I doubt this would be a good fit for you." I'm a 35 year old woman that has been shooting many years. I was absolutely shocked that he said that. I kindly told him, maybe you are right and I left because I was highly offended. So ladies, don't go here to purchase a firearm. This guy was absolutely disrespectful. I'll never shop at an Academy again.

Josie F.

First time here. Had stuff the others didn't have. Shopped for water shoes. Nice selection and good prices on shoes, apparel and lots of everything else. Great customer service. Someone was always readily available for help.

Theanswer3

Competitive pricing and easy returns. I'm always finding great deals here. Their store brand is underrated as well.