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Dicks Sporting Goods

motoo344 said:
I am not even sure how to really respond to this with it turning into something major. Expecting wages to go up with the cost of living, goods and services is not unreasonable to ask. Also, I've gone to college and have had a terrible time finding work...even at Dick's.
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Your post was about their attitude. You cant expect to work at dicks and make good money thats stupid and to have a piss poor attitude because of it, is even more stupid. If theres no work you gotta relocate. Easier said than done I understand but we've all had to do it, I just did.
 
VERY poor customer service by the golf salesperson. But I do think his first question was legit - "are you just going to hit balls or do you intend on buying something?" Once he was told that there could be a sale, he should have opened up the hitting area.

We have a Dick's near us in NJ and they have great salespeople. I've been there and watched people hog the hitting area, and it was obvious they weren't intending to buy anything, but the salesperson hung out with them and tried to help anyway.

Bad experience for both the OP and Dick's.
 
Oregon Jack said:
doesn't mean he couldn't have put the stuff back himself..
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I think he did the right thing. The manager got a chance to think about what just happened while deciding who was going to put it back instead of just blowing it off and thinking they weren't going to buy anyway, like the salesperson did.
 
Maybe I'm missing something as I've never worked in retail but what is the big deal if someone wants to hit a demo club in a hitting bay? Does it really take that much effort as a sales associate to assist them? Agreed, you don't want looky-lous hogging the bay preventing a potential "real" customer from trying something but some simple management of the hitting bay is easy enough no? I've spent enough time in golf stores and seen countless people walk in with no intent to buy, smash 1 drive out of 10 300 yards on a sim with whatever driver and promptly purchase it. If I'm ever the manager of a brick and mortar golf store my #1 goal would be to get as many hands swinging as many clubs as possible because you just never know what's going to happen after that.
 
The Dicks here in southern Maryland carry all the big brand names and are always helpful. There is usually a specific "golf" person there at all times. I only shop Dicks for soccer items but I manage to always look in at the golf section.
 
I feel like it just depends on which store you go to. Some are bad and some are exceptional.
 
motoo344 said:
My guess would be because most people would prefer to make more than eight or nine dollars an hour. I am not saying its a good thing that this person gave bad customer service but I think its expected when you pay people near minimum wage and expect them to be happy and one reason you see high turnover in these jobs. Some people are just miserable as well, that is another answer lol.
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Everyone would like to make more than they are making right now but that doesn't justify his behavior at all. I am sure when he accepted the job he knew what he was going to make and no one forced him to take it. I believe you should give 100% at whatever you do because that is what they are paying you for, if you don't like it go find a job somewhere else or as I believe if you work hard and stay after it and there is room to move up your efforts will eventually be rewarded. If that isn't the case you can always go apply somewhere else. I think the reason there is high turnover in minimum wage jobs is because there is a lack of work ethic in some people these days that think they are owed something and don't realize you have to work your way up. Just my .02 I think the OP handled it just fine and my Dick's is alright as they have a lot of stuff to test out and are really good about letting you try it out but the demo bay doesn't really have a tee high enough to test driver's out and they don't pressure you to buy anything.
 
mightyquinn said:
Everyone would like to make more than they are making right now but that doesn't justify his behavior at all. I am sure when he accepted the job he knew what he was going to make and no one forced him to take it. I believe you should give 100% at whatever you do because that is what they are paying you for, if you don't like it go find a job somewhere else or as I believe if you work hard and stay after it and there is room to move up your efforts will eventually be rewarded. If that isn't the case you can always go apply somewhere else. I think the reason there is high turnover in minimum wage jobs is because there is a lack of work ethic in some people these days that think they are owed something and don't realize you have to work your way up. Just my .02 I think the OP handled it just fine and my Dick's is alright as they have a lot of stuff to test out and are really good about letting you try it out but the demo bay doesn't really have a tee high enough to test driver's out and they don't pressure you to buy anything.
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I should have been clear that I wasn't saying that low wage was an excuse for the service. I was just saying that I think that is one reason for it.

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motoo344 said:
I should have been clear that I wasn't saying that low wage was an excuse for the service. I was just saying that I think that is one reason for it.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
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I agree with you on that!!! Some people just think they should be paid more for what they do and there job performance reflects it.
 
There is only 1 true dedicated golf store near me. And our local Dicks is about 45 mins away. Within a short drive, those are my only 2 options for a golf store. The Dicks in South Bend I've never had a problem with. When I saw some Taylormade Burner drivers on sale, I asked to hit them. I didn't end up buying it, however I did later. I explained that I was unaware of my financials, and they were just fine. We were just in there the other day merely just looking around. I've really never heard bad things about ours.

I work in retail, and unfortunately can tell you that when it's someone that isn't a manager or making good retail money, they don't neccesarily always have great customer service. It just depends on the employee. I don't make the greatest money at my job, but no matter the amount I get paid, I'm going to deliver the best of myself for my job. Our area was one of the hardest hit areas in the country during the recession (RV industry), so we had quite a few people with the attitude of "this is purely just a paycheck" or "I'm barely making more than minimum wage, so why should I try?" come through our store. They promptly lost their jobs. I took that as it's better than not working, so why not deliver a good customer service? Maybe I'm the minority when it comes to retail workers though.
 
I'm sure there are Dick's that offer better customer service but I have to say that my experience at Dick's has been much closer to the original poster's comments. It seems like they are understaffed or the staff that is working is in a poor mood and has no desire to help or answer questions. I went in to hit the 3Deep a few weeks ago and when I asked the guy if I could hit it on the simulator he seemed annoyed but unlocked the door to the simulator and taped up the 3Deep. He didn't turn on the simulator and didn't feel like asking him about it. Didn't want to get his panties into a further wad. I hit it about 10 times but obviously couldn't see how I was hitting it. It felt good and I ended up buying on that alone...from someone else. They didn't have the shaft I needed and it wasn't worth the effort to ask him to order it.

I've been to a few other stores in the chain and the customer service there seems to be about the same.
 
Oregon Jack said:
the only two brands that either store near me carries is outdated TM stuff and some Cally stuff.
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The local DSG carries all the major manufacturers. The MAIN reason I do not buy clubs from DSG is due to the fact I need X flex shafts, and they do not carry those. So I shop at a local golf store, that bends over backwards to make sure I am happy and has X flex options available for all manufacturers.
 
There is simply NO excuse for poor customer service. And the manager is also to blame for not trying to make the situation better. If you only want to help people you absolutely know will buy something, you're in the WRONG business. You have to EARN your commissions!!!!
 
My experience with Dick's has been up and down and it really just depends on whether or not one of the "golf guys" is there at the time, usually. As for customer service and how wages relate to it, I believe that's probably the case a lot, but also don't think there's any excuse for it. I started out in retail and worked it through high school and even some during college. I didn't make much more than minimum wage at the time and didn't feel like I deserved more. Nor did I sandbag it. I was taught to work hard every second I'm on the clock and that's what I've always believed in doing. Work ethic is extremely important and unfortunately, it's in short supply these days. Every generation seems to feel a little bit more entitled than the one that came before it. The bottom line, though, is that someone who doesn't work well for minimum wage, isn't going to flip a magical switch and be a model employee if they manage to shmooze their way into a premo gig either. Some people get it, some don't. If the pay grade determines how hard you work, you don't.
 
I have had some ups and downs with the golf pro at the dsg near me but last friday I went in the store to buy a new set of sgi irons and instead of selling me the irons he talked to me for 30 minutes about lie angles and not to believe everything what the golf manufactures say about forgiveness and that lie angle and the right shaft and grip are most important.

So he checked my lie angle and decided I need to extend my irons an inch and that should set my lie angle correctly. I thought it was cool that he would try to help me for the 40 dollars to extend my clubs instead of letting me spend the 400-900 dollars I was planning on spending.
 
Yup, TF is one of Dick's house brands, much like Macgregor is at Golfsmith. Dick's is OK. Theres one here in Easton and they are hit and miss for me. Sometimes they have a good selection and other times theres not much.
 
Gaijin_Golfer said:
Yup, TF is one of Dick's house brands, much like Macgregor is at Golfsmith. Dick's is OK. Theres one here in Easton and they are hit and miss for me. Sometimes they have a good selection and other times theres not much.
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I remember when I was a kid, growing up in the late 70s and 80s, MacGregor was the K-Mart brand. I don't have a Golfsmith near me, so I didn't even know that they had it now, but I think that's pretty cool.
 
syndicate559 said:
I remember when I was a kid, growing up in the late 70s and 80s, MacGregor was the K-Mart brand. I don't have a Golfsmith near me, so I didn't even know that they had it now, but I think that's pretty cool.
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Golfsmith also sells clubs under the Lynx brand, which back in the day was a pretty signifigant brand too. In the case of both though, I feel like its nothing more than them trying to put a legendary name on mediocre quality clubs.
 
The last Dick's I was in only had a couple of OEM products other than the store brands and it was all older product as well.
 
I hate going into Dicks! Being left-handed its hard to ever find the club, or glove that I want. The last one I went into the golf associate was clueless on golf! He couldn't tell me anything. The only time I buy anything from there is if I see a great deal on apparel or balls.
 
I don't know what kind of deal they have with the manufacturers. A friend of mine went to our local DSG a few weeks ago to order some irons. The guy that helped him was the main pro there and knows his stuff. So he ordered some Cobra irons 1/2" long and 2* upright (I think), and was told it would be a couple of weeks to get them in.

After a week or so, they called him and said that Cobra will no longer sell that model to Dick's, even though they had stock ones on the shelf. I thought it might be that they discontinued making them, but the guy told him he could order them from a course pro shop if he still wanted them. So now he is disappointed with both Dick's and Cobra.
 
All the DSG's in the surrounding Philadelphia area are really lackluster at best when it comes to their equipment. The ones around me only carry Callaway, Taylormade and some Cobra and Nike drivers and fairway woods. Depending on the area I think the store gets a little nicer and they do carry better stuff but its not the place I would go to buy anything other than golf balls.

It gets worse in South Jersey. The shore area has one DSG in a 40-50 mile radius. What makes it worse is that there are really no golf stores in the shore area that are accessible from AC.

But I personally think that DSG has nothing to offer in the golf department. Good thing they own Golf Galaxy.
 
I have a hunch that the quality and selection of product that each DSG store has is impacted by the perceived golf market in that area as well as other competition. In my area, we have a big golf market, but no golf-specific retail stores other than a Roger Dunn. Because of that, I think our DSG stores have a pretty decent golf section. In places where there are Golfsmiths or PGA Super Stores or other similar outlets, maybe they scale it back?
 
The one here in Easton has a ton of TM and Clevelsnd gear. I've almost completely given up on shopping at big box golf stores because the selection is so bad.
The other day I was looking for a 54 degree wedge but all any if them had were 52 or 56. I ended up buying a used on off of Ebay for a fraction of the cost and got the loft I wanted, indstead of having them bend a 52 or 56 to the spec that I wanted.
 
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