A heads up for any Canadian Weightlifters/Crossfitters/Powerlifters, who are thinking of ordering from therepublicofsport.ca
I decided to order some competition bumpers online, and therepublicofsport.ca had the best prices.
Right away I was helped by someone on live chat, I had a discount code, everything seemed good so I placed the order.
He assured me that I would receive the full order in 10 days. I made triple sure that he meant 10 days and not business days. He said yes, 10 calendar days from today's date.
Everything sounded great. I waited 8 days and checked on my order, because I still hadn't received any tracking info. The order was still "processing".
I found this odd, so I checked live chat. Nobody there so I sent them an email to see if there were any issues. Next day, no response, tried to call their contact number... No answer and the voicemail box was full, so I couldn't leave a message.
I waited till the next day (the day everything was supposed to arrive). Order still processing. Nobody on live chat, no email response, nobody ever picking up the phone. I tried calling multiple times throughout the day... Same thing. I sent another email, but got no response. I even started posting on their public Facebook page, letting them know that I can't get a hold of them and had questions about my order... Still no response.
I kept calling and sent another email over the next couple of days. Still no response, order still processing, so I posted on their Facebook page saying if nobody contacts me immediately I am cancelling my order.
Within 30 minutes I get an email from the CEO, (who seems to be the only employee of the company) saying they're still waiting for the plates to arrive, they will ship when they get them.... No apology for completely ignoring me for a week, and giving me false information.
I emailed back saying this is taking way too long, I will order my plates from somewhere else, and told him to cancel my order.
His reply:
"ok order will be cancelled"
Again, the lack of customer service was actually shocking. I was glad I decided to cancel.
Before I cancelled I had actually posted about them on reddit to see if anyone else had experience ordering from them, and these were the replies I got:
"A friend of mine ordered a set of bumper plates, waited 3 weeks and nothing. Called, emailed, facebook,etc. and he never heard from the guy. He ended up disputing the purchase through visa and got his money back. 2 months later and he still has never heard from the guy"
"Ordered from them once, never again. ****, do they take their merry time."
"Another vote against. Six months to finish my order, and multiple ignored emails and phone calls. Will never use again.
I've used Rogue several times since - the complete opposite, very good to work with (even if they are a tad expensive at times)"
After all this and him telling me the order will be cancelled. He still hasn't cancelled my order. I emailed him back telling him to cancel it immediately and refund my money.... Still nothing. I am going to be starting a dispute with my MasterCard if it's not cancelled very soon.
I even went out of my way to email the company supplying them with their plates to let them know about this terrible experience.
I ended up having to post on their Facebook page, saying if you don't refund me immediately I am taking legal action. I also made a post on my own status and tagged the owners personal account and the company, saying basically the same thing.
Again after ignoring my attempts to contact him, he emails me immediately after deleting my Facebook post.
I get an automated email telling me that the order has been cancelled and card has been refunded. Also get an email from him saying the same thing....
My card still has not been refunded. When I login to the site it says it has been refunded, but it has not.
He also reported me to Facebook for demanding my money back and tagging his personal account. Because I was "harassing" him or something. Now I'm even banned from Facebook for 72 hours, and still haven't gotten any of my money back.
Do not order from therepublicofsport.ca. They are a scam.
