I hope you made it clear that it's at their expense.

Someone needs to be taught a lesson that you don't blissfully vacation while you have a hopping mad customer.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

I have filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau here in the DC area. I have a certified letter that will go to the pro-shop on Monday demanding replacement of my skates/blades by June 11 or face legal action.

I sent a copy of the letter to Graf Canada to inform them of how a store that carries their product is treating the customer.

I left another voice mail with the pro shop describing the letter informing them of the complaint filed and my date for replacement!

I am officially Pissed!!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Way to go!

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Might I ask which shop this was?

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

My Skates Made it to Canada on Friday. They are being worked on RIGHT NOW. They will be overnight shipped back to MD and I will have them by Wednesday or Thursday.(I will beleive that when I have them in hand!)

Too late to stop the Better Business Bureau complaint(oh well). I found out that even though I dropped off my skates on April 28 the pro shop did not ship them until May 18! This shop really jerked me around!

I may be back on the Ice by Friday?

7 weeks later!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

HALLEJAH!!!! So happy for 'ya! (Yeah, I would be freakin' out losing a custom pair of boots with Robin Wagner's John Hancock on it too!!!)

WTF!?!?!! Yeah, let the BBB complaint be! They STILL deserve the complaint!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

ITA! While I'm happy for you that you will get your skates back soon, I do believe that this shop owes you something for the lost ice time and aggravation.

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I hope this is all over.

I thought that when I heard they were found I would be excited about getting back on the ice. I am not thrilled with playing catch up all over again like I did after surgery. I am not really motivated to do anything on the ice!

I may try it on Friday and see how I feel after doing some moves.

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Aww, MSF, I was out of the country and missed this whole ordeal.

But I'm glad to hear it's been resolved!

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Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Would you tell us the name of the shop, even if by PM, so we can avoid them in the future?

Yeah, me too!

Glad to hear your skates are on their way back, Robin Wagner's autograph and all. You'll be fine when you get back on the ice - hey, you came back pretty quickly after surgery to pass your Silver MIF and FS by the AN deadline!

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Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

This is why you should have shipped them yourself through UPS, insured them and had the tracking number yourself. Don't expect the proshop to do anything for you.

Here's hoping Graf sends them back to you and not the proshop.

Brigitte

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Me three!
Word has it at my rink that the coaches that sharpen skates at home on the side (they do a GREAT job!) have gotten in trouble with the rink for taking income away from what I call the "pro shop with overpriced ugly dresses and tights and lousy customer service." They are so damn greedy that they wouldn't allow our skating club to have a consignment sale at the rink.
So it may very well be that I may be bringing my skates to DC for sharpening in the future.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I am on my way to pick them up.

I was not going to give out the Shop's name but alas....after my last phone call with the owner....

I had sent my certified letter and had already placed an online complaint with the better business bureau when the shop called me on Monday saying that Graf was working on my skates that day.

The owner called me and left a nasty message on my phone saying that I had no right to file a complaint and that they did everything they could to track down my skates. My skates had been overnight shipped and were ready to be picked up.

I returned his call and he said that I flew off the handle and that my complaint was un-warranted. I told him that shipping someones skates and then leaving the tracking number at your home while you go on vacation was not good business. The conversation did not go well so I KNOW I will never be doing any business with them again. He seems to feel that letting my skates sit in his shop for two weeks before they even shipped them to Canada was normal.....I, however, do not!

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE DO NOT PATRONIZE "FOR SPORTS" IN LAUREL MARYLAND. THEY ARE LOCATED AT THE GARDENS ICE HOUSE

HOW'S THAT FOR FLYING OFF THE HANDLE, MIKE?
DON'T F*&* WITH ME!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

They lied, and are obviously dishonest.

Ahhh, The Gardens Ice House. Why am I not surprised? One of the more disfunctional places I've ever skated. There are some wonderful people there, mind you, and I skated there for years, but there is some bad karma there that attracts some wackos.

I don't know if For Sports is the same owner that was there when I skated there, but the skate shop owner there during my tenure pulled some fun stunts too. He was in a tiff with a coach at the Gardens. So his way of handling it? He put a professionally printed sign in his window saying "We Will Not Serve the Students of the Following Coaches" and listed this coach's name as #1, with spots #2 and #3 left open for other coaches who pissed him off. So he's punishing the kids of the coach because he doesn't like the coach. Immature much? Such bad business. And because it was hung inside his window, and because of the way the rental agreement was written, the Gardens couldn't control what he hung INSIDE his shop. So it stayed up for several days until enough furor ensued that he took it down.

I never ever ever went in there again. And I had bought a lot of tights and such there because it was where I trained, but I made a point to drive elsewhere rather than give them my money after that little incident. And I told everyone I knew about their practices too.

Again, don't know if it's owned by the same people, but that place has some weird karma.

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Listen to my Figure Skating Podcast!

Rogue Element, Inc

From what I've read, are there really any decent pro shops out there??
First my rink, ("Arena Sports" at Chilled Ponds in Chesapeake VA) then Laurel.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

It gets better people!

You should see the crap job they did re-mounting my blades! I have already taken pictures.

The one worker said to me "Don't Come Back".....I replied, " I don't Plan on it and I will tell others not to!"

They left holes open....two screws aren't in all the way.....the one blade now rides forward of the boot!

I will be going to a different shop to get the mounting fixed!
I will send the bill to For Sports in Laurel, MD!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Hey MSF, I recommend you go to Blades of Bowie at the Bowie rink (although I'm sure Loops and NoVa can chime in w/ recs for places in No. VA that will probably be closer to you). I have had my sharpenings done there for about 2 years (since Mike C moved to Waldorf) and I have been satisfied with their work. One caveat: ask for Chuck, who's the owner (or maybe just the head guy, I'm not sure) - in fact, you should probably call ahead and make sure he's there when you plan to go. And of course, there's Mike C down in Waldorf (I think the rink is called the Capital Clubhouse Arena?), but you have to call ahead and make an appt, b/c he's not open every day.

Manleywoman, I think the pro shop at The Gardens did change ownership about 3 years ago (is that after you moved?). The guy who ran it (named Paul, I think?) opened a shop at a shopping center nearby on Rt. 198, but then closed it (I knew a few people that got skates from him when he was there, but I was never there).

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Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

I have occasionally gotten my skates sharpened at Bowie, and they did a good job. Ashburn, though far, reportedly has a good, full-service shop. But the last time I had my blades mounted was back in 2003 at Skaters Paradise, when it was in Alexandria! I'm not sure, on the basis of personal experience, who is really good. There has been a lot of turnaround since then. And the last time I had serious boot/blade problems, I went to Klingbeil in NY and then to this wonderful skate shop in Connecticut (Skater's Landing).

I hate the Laurel shop. Before I got my new boots in 2003, I *desperately* needed to get the tongues on my old boots replaced because the lambswool had receded and the tongues were splitting on the sides and cutting into my feet. So I contacted that shop, and I spent weeks trying to get them to order new tongues and set up an appointment, etc. I finally gave up. As luck would have it, the blade on my right foot came off while I was landing a jump (OK, maybe that's not really luck ), and I had to get new boots. Anyway, not 2 weeks later and 10 weeks after trying toget those new tongues, the Laurel Shop called me and demanded that I pay them for these tongues that were sitting around in their shop (but which they had failed to notify me of). Huh?

Oh, FYI: Paul F. runs the Wings of Steel shop.

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Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

I just thought this bore repeating

What disgusting, dishonest idiots!

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Ashburn Pro Shop seems to do a good job. The rink lobby including the pro shop, is under renovation right now, though, and just about any skate-related work involves leaving skates overnight. The Pro Shop is temporarily housed in one of the party rooms at Ashburn rink.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

I would just like to chime in and second Bowie/Piney Orchard Pro Shop. The owner, Chuck, is a good guy and was willing to keep adjusting my old Riedells without charge even though I bought them from somewhere else. Now I send them all my business.

Wings of Steel closed down a year or two ago.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Thanks for the suggestions. I originally purchased my skates from the Ashburn store and was happy with their service. I only went to Gardens bc is was closer and I heard of someone else getting a sharpening there. One of the employees at Gardens had recently done a good job sharpening and fixing all the screws in my blades about 3 weeks before Nats. Unfortunately, this was the person that left my skates in the shop for two weeks before asking the owner to ship them to Canada. When I filed the complaint to the BBB the owner must have chewed out the employee who then took his frustrations out on my skates and did a sub-par mounting job with screws holes left open and screws not put all the way in.

I was not going to get into a big huff with this employee when I picked up my skates so I paid for them.......he told me "don't come back" I gave my reply and took my skates home, took pictures and will pursue the BBB.

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Well, if it makes ya feel any better, over the past year and a half, i have sent my Klingbeils back multiple times for "tweaking." I finally told them they needed to remake them, and so they did, with the same skates! And i am pretty sure it wasn't Don Klingbeil, but whoever did it made them into a completely different pair if skates size-wise and length wise! The insole didn't even fit inside the boot right, the insole was about 2 sizes too small and my skates were made for a wide-footed person and i have a narrow foot! These were CUSTOMS! Needless to say they had to start from scratch and they just called me this week to say they were ready. It has been several months at this point. I have a competition this month....

If i hadn't had my old Harlicks re-built and new blades put on them, i would have been really up a creek! I am and so glad to have this back-up pair...

I totally feel your pain. I hope they track them down and soon....!