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“Avoid Central Sports”

written by on 03/09/2013

I've been a customer of Central Sports for 5+ years. Sadly, in my most recent purchase of a £150+ badminton racquet they've really shown their true colours, lack of customer service and dishonesty.

The racquet itself broke 20 minutes into its first use while I made an overhead clear. I called Central Sports the next day to explain the situation and that I'd like to send it back, with a view of getting a replacement. You don't expect a 2 week old £150 racquet to break above the handle within 20 minutes of use.

Sadly, the customer service rep had zero understanding of customer service. The finger was pointed at me and no apology was offered for supplying me with a faulty racquet. I was told, coldly, that they would replace it at their discretion but this was made to sound unlikely. After much discussion, we agreed I would send it back, Central Sports would evaluate it / send the racquet back to Yonex and if found faulty, they would refund/replace the racquet plus my postage.

Fast forward a week or so. I get an email from Central Sports advising me that they've refunded me the cost of the racquet, they've closed my account and they no longer wish to do business with me. Their reason? My "rude and aggressive" phone call. This phone call was actually me, an upset customer, wanting confirmation that my racquet would be refunded/replaced if found faulty. So to Central Sports, this is "rude and aggressive".

I emailed back, enquiring about the status of my refund for the postage. Central Sports responded with some rubbish story that I was not eligible for a postage refund because my racquet was "discounted". I explained that discounted or not, I am still out of pocket as I returned the racquet to them at my cost and they only refunded what I paid for the racquet - not the full price.

They also suggested the postage I used (Royal Mail Parcels) was "too expensive". Perhaps they'd have prefer I didn't send the racquet tracked and insured so they could claim it was broken in transit?

A long review. To cut it short, avoid this disreputable, dishonest compan and go elsewhere.