APS – Annapolis Performance Sailing

Stopped by last year mid-​season on a whim and found their selection and staff were top notch, bought a great pair of technical deck shoes based on the recommendation of the staff and they have been fantastic. Great sales events mid-​season and knowledgeable staff make this a no-​brainer for items needed for your upcoming regatta. Seems like most of the reviews are commenting on their online business and their website has since been redesigned and looks to be a huge improvement.
I can vouch for service in-​store, stop by today!

I placed an order for custom team uniform in July. There were so many communication issues with them. Even I called them, sent emails, but no responses…
Since there are custom logo designs on the uniform, I asked them proof of the design, but what I received is a copy of my sample design– I placed my custom logo on their product picture by photo shop. After more than 3 months delay, I received a notice that they shipped our uniform. I have been using Unilocal more than 7 years, but this is first time to give one star to any retailers.

I’m just disappointed. Again. Same as the other complaints, I ordered a harness, shackles and a new knife. Got two but the knife took weekly calls for two months due to back order issues. I ended up finally getting another knife in a different color –which didn’t matter anyway. The guy I talked to was nice but ambivalent about the customer service aspect of actually following up on my order. Maybe APS is just more focused on big orders. Or maybe the CEO/​owner doesn’t know he/​she has this happening on the retail level.

If I could give APS zero stars, I would. (Seems everybody here feels the same — I don’t see anything above two stars!).
There customer service is among the ABSOLUTE WORST I have ever experienced. NEVER, EVER bother to order anything from APS, EVER, under any circumstances.
I have a team of ~30 people headed to a regatta next week and we were hoping to order some branded shirts for the event. The woman at Crugear told me in an initial phone conversation that they had a three-​week turn-​around time on Crugear orders. THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY UNTRUE, because when I placed this order with a 4-​week lead time, they ignored my emails. I called them to check the status and they assured me everything was fine. For days I heard nothing. I followed up repeatedly by email and was ignored. I called again and was again assured everything was fine, although told at this point they were «really busy.» (If you’re so busy, why did you tell me my order would take three weeks??). Again, days went by, and I did not receive a proof, an invoice, a request for shipping address, NOTHING. I emailed several more times, and was ignored completely. I finally realized how incredibly useless and unresponsive APS truly is, and that I would never see my order. Instead of heckling them more and getting nothing in return, I placed a rush order with another supplier and will have the shirts at the same initial cost quoted by APS, but in 10 days instead of NEVER. I would much rather have been told up front that they didn’t think they could take care of my order in the required time frame than been left hanging for weeks and forced to use another supplier at the very last minute.
Also, the woman on the phone in Crugear sounds like she wants to die. She obviously hates her job and takes it out on her customers by completely ignoring them. I don’t think I could be that unenthusiastic about anything if I tried. She speaks in a weak monotone that makes you want to hang up, as it is essentially like talking to a corpse. Honestly, a zombie would make a better customer service rep than this woman.
Maybe APS management should take note that they are losing HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY on their incredibly awful approach to customer service. It’s actually mind-​boggling to me that anyone runs their business this way.
For instance: My order would have totaled roughly $ 800. Not an enormous sum, but not peanuts. Let’s say they let one of these orders slide every week (and I am being generous here, I suspect it is more). That’s $ 3,200/month they are losing … OR $ 166,400/year. (not to mention lost future revenues from potential repeat customers who will now NEVER be back). THIS IS JUST ON CRUGEAR ORDERS ALONE! I cannot believe that this kind of money is so completely insignificant for a small business that they can afford to let this all slide.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
NEVER USE APS FOR ANY REASON, EVER!

APS clearly doesn’t know the difference between delivered by and shipped by dates. I placed an order, comprised of 3 different items, 10 business days ago and just received a shipment confirmation today. None of the items were indicated as being out of stock nor was there any communication from APS that the order would be late.
Unfortunately for me I need the items before the end of this week and I doubt the delivery will arrive in time. Never again APS. Never again.

Two thumbs down! The customer service of APS is horrible and they don’t care to do the right thing. The first time I purchased items from them online it took one month for me to receive the items after several emails asking them what the status was. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, and order additional items. The second time around I placed an order for two antal rings and a cleat. After 3 weeks, I hadn’t received anything. I emailed them and asked them what the status was. They said they had the antal rings, but the cleat would be in within a week. They had asked if I wanted them to ship out the antal rings, but I declined and told them it could wait a week if the cleat was coming in. I emailed them a week later, and they said that they still hadn’t received the cleat. I said «ok, then just send the antal rings». They said «sorry, a customer came in this past week and bought the last two». This is ridiculous!!! I ordered something 5 weeks prior, the item sits in the store the whole time, they offer it to me, I say I’ll just wait until the other item comes in, they sell whatever they have, then they’re out of stock… so I’m screwed! I told them how disappointed I was in their service, and they pretty much didn’t care… Hands down, the customer service is horrendous, and these guys should be ashamed of running what they think is a legitimate business!

Better to deal with West Marine; they’ll special order anything you need and they are totally geared for customer satisfaction.
From APS, I ordered a Holt Allen Carbon Fiber Telescopic Extension, $ 230, for a refit I was doing on a dinghy. The project took some time but when I went to put it on, I noticed that it wouldn’t lock. I called them up and told them it was shipped defective and the tags were still on it. Their attitude? Tough luck, deal directly with Holt Allen. I mentioned they are in England. Their response: «That’s right but that’s best.» My response: «Best for you.»
As an update, I emailed Holt Allen and they didn’t bother to reply. Guess I’m out over $ 200. I’m doing well with West Marine though, having retrofit six dinghies since I wrote the last review, not spending dime one with the thieves in Annapolis. Never a problem with West, happy to take returns, even when I made a purchase mistake. Now if they could just get me off the starting line on time…
Final update. Allen Bros did send APS a replacement. They were going through new ownership so we got to give them a break. They didn’t even ask for the old one back (I“m sure they have a few already. Telescopic tiller extensions are temperamental). APS at least got it shipped to me, but you could tell the customer service person was gritting his teeth while he asked for my shipping info.
Raised them to two stars for at least getting it done and kudos to Allen for standing behind their product. Always use their stuff from now on.

I give a very honest ‘1 star’ and only because the guys working the phones were very nice.
I ordered a hiking strap from there website which had no indication of being out of stock. I am just getting the order 2 MONTHS later!
It seems as though they are a middle man for the actual company providing the gear I wanted and I paid for an inconvenience fee,
Sorry APS, I won’t be back.