I bought a new Falcon rod from Academy but lost the reciept...I snapped it swinging up a fish only 2 weeks after purchasing it. Do ya'll think they will do an even swap? Update: They swapped it no prob

Absolutely! They never even asked me any questions either (and not too many places will take a Falcon back, but they will).

Busted my Falcon this last weekend also. Guess i will find out too

Thanks Longeye..gonne head up there here in a bit and see

I bought a shirt at an out-of-town Academy, got home, and found a small hole in the side of the shirt. Called that Academy to get a credit on my purchase, and the manager not only refunded the purchase, he mailed me a new shirt. That's customer service.

I just called and spoke to a gentleman who told me to go ahead and bring it in no questions asked. This is why I am a LOYAL Academy customer

just don't try to make a warranty claim with them on a Pelican kayak...

I had a problem, had emails AND phone calls from PELICAN telling me to get a replacement from Academy's distributor.

They also told me I could return/exchange it one day and the next day said sorry, we can't exchange it.

I wrote a 5 page letter to their corporate office about the deal and never heard from them again.

Over a $400 kayak, Academy lost about $4500 in sales over the next 3 years in College Station. I just made Gander price match everything that was cheaper at Academy and never purchased anything else.

Academy does not accept returns on boats/kayaks, that's company policy. Its because they "register" the boat or kayak in their database.

I took back 2 reels to Academy recently
1 was on sale when i bought it and I told them so, but they paid me the full retail price with no recipe
I had the other recipe and they gave me cash for that one and it was 8 months old, no questions asked.

I bought a very high-end reel form a BPS about 2 months ago
( it was the only one they had )
it went bad within 2 hour's, took it back that same day and they gave me [censored] for over an hour before the manger ok'ed it

I then drove to an Academy over an hour away and got the same reel. So far so good

The reel failure was not BPS fault but the runaround was.
+ you only get 30 day to return

Just my two cent's
YMMV

I really appreciate the customer service I've received over the years at Academy, and do everything I can to give them my business. I do enjoy window shopping at Bass Pro though and buy from them too.

I'd contacted Pelican (in Canada) and they told me to go about it the way I did. Academy said talk to the hand. Pelican told me to tell the store manager to get a replacement via the distributor when I contacted Pelican by phone after I got this email and Academy again told me they couldn't do anything. This was all after Academy telling me they would exchange the kayak and I didn't even have to exchange it for the same kayak.


Copy of the email from Pelican (pics of the kayak were sent in the first email):

Good afternoon

Thank you for contacting us in this regard.
Unfortunately, we don't have any kits to repair the products. However, we do have a site which has a repair kit that might be of interest for yourself.
www.urethanesupply.com
1-800-633-3047

If you wish to get a credit or refund, you would have to contact the store where you purchased yur kayak to see if they would take it back.

If any further assistance is required, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Have a nice day.

Benoit Layette
Coordinator - Customer Service
Coordonnateur - Service � la client�le
Tel: 1-888-669-6960
Fax: 450.664.4522

Pelican International Inc.
1000 Place Paul-Kane
Laval, Qc, Canada, H7C 2T2
1.800.463.6960

Pelican website: www.pelicansport.com
Elite Series website: www.geteliteseries.com
Ecommerce website: www.pelicansport.com/store

I guess they must of had a bad batch of Falcon rods. I broke mine last week fishing. I took it back Monday and they swapped it out no questions asked.

This is how they got me as a loyal customer. I came in just 2 days after busting a rod and before I could even get the receipt out they were swapping it out for me no questions asked. Excellent customer service!

What he said! Great CS, just have to learn to like their limited selection

aggiegolfer, If I were a betting man, I'd bet Academy had so many kayaks (and canoes and jonboats) out on "free rental for the season" that they had to either give up the return policy or get out of the boat business.

I can envision a lot of folks buying a kayak at the beginning of the season and then returning it when they need "back to school" money for their own or their kids' school clothes. Sadly, once a policy is in effect, it's difficult to treat honest folks any differently without causing significant problems.

Disclaimer: I'm not employed by Academy, and don't know anything for sure, but that would be my bet. Or I may be just plain wrong.

As far as satisfaction from Pelican, their contact info is translated into French. Benoit??? What do you expect?