Academy Sports + Outdoors

Shopped all over Southern Middle Tennessee looking for a compact deer bolt action Rifle, light weight plus low recoil in 243 caliber with a 20 inch barrel in small round size but high muzzle velocity to ensure a high level of terminal performance for a 14 year old grandaughter. After 4 days of disappointment , stopping at every sporting goods store I could find, we headed to Academy Sporting goods in Columbia , Tennessee. Found rifles from $300 to $1500 that not only fit my specifications in stock but also others that I could order online. Ended up ordering a rifle online right there in the store, including scope and the short barrel I needed with delivery in 5 to 7 days in plenty of time for Christmas. Customer Service was incredible both in the hunting Section with Mike and Andrew but also at checkout. I forgot to mention, I was in a wheelchair but the store provides powered chairs so my wife did not have to push me everywhere. At least 1 of the two salesmen were with me as we selected the needed accessories for the rifle from ammo to cleaning kit, from sling swivels and sling to hard rifle case and patches plus oils. Like the rifles themselves, choice and selection of accessories were well stocked. At chechout, we were assisted in applying for and receiving a store sponsored credit card and all items purchased were placed on my new account. You could not have asked for better customer service by such pleasant and courteous sales people. Academy Sporting Goods on James Campbell Blvd in the newly renovated mall is now my go to business for all our outdoor needs. Looking forward to fishing season! Good thing I have a patient and understanding spouse! Camping season is also just around the corner! This is the store for all your sporting goods and outdoor activities! Did I mention the hugh selection of outdoor cooking grills there???

Bought 200 round Winchester M193 5.56 on Nov. 26th, a couple days after they opened. Got home and noticed the ammo was mostly all corroded and pitted, a lot even whitish grayish on some of the necks of rounds. Plenty of pinhole and structure damage. You could see and feel the damage. You could clearly see tons of green, brown, whitish gray that would not wipe away. I mean you could feel and see damage. I literally showed them on numerous rounds. I buy this ammo online, so I do understand this is dirty ammo, not damaged ammo. I think this case was just poor storage due to the store just opening. Who knows how long they had this crap stored before they opened and where they had it stored. I know Winchester does not wrap it either, but regardless, it was bad ammo. I called them the next day since I used my Academy card to purchase this, and my account did give me a return barcode. The girl told me she was not sure if they would take the ammo and that she thinks in some cases they can. I told her what was wrong and about the barcode and she told me yes to bring it in and they can do something. When I get there a few days after the holidays to customer service I show them the barcode to return, and the ammo, plus proof of pictures the day of purchase. This 16 or so year old girl starts to argue with me telling me this was not bad ammo and she shoots this with her dad. She wouldn't scan the return barcode and called for some other lady. They both start telling me I am wrong after the girl immediately tells the lady she called over that nothing was wrong with the ammo and this is just cheap ammo. No, I know it is cheap ammo. I have bought enough of it to know it is cheap and dirty. Not corroded and pitted. I literally point out the visible damage in multiple rounds. They had no idea what they were talking about and continued arguing with me and telling me I was wrong. One indicator they had no idea is because the girl mentions it was reloaded ammo when it is not. They argued this was normal for Winchester and safe when I know it is not because I have purchased it many times online. They were very rude and continued arguing with me about how she shoots it with her dad just like that. If she shoots bad ammo then fine, but I paid 100 dollars for product that shouldn't be bad. The fact is they sold me corroded and pitted ammo and didn't want to admit that it was, or more likely didn't know as much as they think they did about it. How do you work in customer service and sit there and argue with a customer? Both employees. Even if you think I am wrong then just tell me you can't take it. I didn't expect them to in the first place, but they did give me a return barcode and told me to come in. So the lady says nothing, grabs 1 round and walks away. She later returns with that one round saying that it is not damaged ammo. She said it has heat exposure and that it is normal. It was not heat exposure and that is probably what the gun counter told her to say based on a single random round she grabbed. I know mostly all rounds had varying degrees of damage. Some rounds with worse pitting. Most all with corrosion and varying pitting. She also said it is against federal law to return ammo. As far as I know it is not. Maybe I am wrong about that, I know there are federal guidelines, but I suspect it is more about their policy, and the girl on the phone should never had told me to come in if they did not plan on compensating somehow. They also should not produce a return barcode on an ammo only purchase if they do not accept ammo returns. So no return, exchange, or credit to the card that is going to be spent in their store anyways. They were rude, inconsiderate, continued to argue with me and tell me there was nothing at all wrong with it just " a little heat exposed" and basically said too bad, just call Winchester. I will do that, but it doesn't change or excuse the poor customer service or the fact I wasted an hour and a half and 100 dollars when I explained the situation over the phone and they told me to come in.