Affiliate disclosure
We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page. The rate here is one percent, with a published list of product lines that pay nothing at all, so this is one of the least lucrative programmes we write about. It did not buy a favourable review either way.
DICK’S Sporting Goods is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the United States: a New York Stock Exchange company that reported $17.2 billion in net sales for the year to 31 January 2026 and operates 3,195 stores across its own banners and the Foot Locker business it bought in 2025. It is also carrying a Better Business Bureau rating of F, for failing to respond to 212 complaints. Both of those things are true at once, and this review is mostly about what falls in the gap between them.
What It Is and Who It Is For
A large-format sporting goods chain selling equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories, both in stores and online. Their annual report describes the store layout as a store-within-a-store concept with specialty shops for Team Sports, Athletic Apparel, Outdoor, Golf, Fitness and Footwear. Alongside the main banner they run Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Going Going Gone!, the larger experiential House of Sport and Field House formats, and now Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and atmos.
For a reader of this site there are really three reasons to walk in: shoes, activewear, and home fitness equipment. Each has a different answer, and the third one has by far the most that can go wrong.
One structural note before the detail. Their own numbers show footwear at $6.89 billion, hardlines — which is where fitness equipment sits — at $5.05 billion, and apparel at $4.90 billion in the last fiscal year. This is a shoe business first, an equipment business second and a clothing business third, and the shopping experience reflects that.
The F at the Better Business Bureau
We check the Better Business Bureau for every retailer we review, and usually a large public company sits somewhere between A+ and B. This one does not.
The BBB profile for Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc at its Coraopolis, Pennsylvania headquarters carries a rating of F, and states the reasons plainly:
“Failure to respond to 212 complaint(s) filed against business” and “19 complaint(s) filed against business that were not resolved.”
The business is not BBB accredited. Its recorded start date is 1 January 1958.
It is worth being precise about what that means and what it does not. An F at the BBB is not a statement about solvency, product quality or whether your parcel arrives; a $17 billion NYSE company is not going to vanish with your money. The BBB grades a business substantially on whether it engages with complaints filed through the BBB, and the largest driver here is non-response. Plenty of very large retailers simply decline to work that channel.
What it does tell you is where the friction lands. The complaint themes visible on that profile are specific and repeat:
- Disputes over order cancellation and a 30-minute window to cancel
- Buy Online Pick Up In Store fulfilment delays
- Unresolved problems with high-value items, golf equipment among them
The practical conclusion is not “do not shop here.” It is: resolve problems in a store, with a person, holding a receipt. The physical estate is the company’s greatest asset for a customer with a problem, and the escalation channels that route away from it are the ones with 212 unanswered filings attached.
The Four Delivery Tiers That Decide Everything
If you are buying a treadmill, a rower or a weight rack, this section matters more than the price. Large items — their examples are treadmills, gun safes and basketball hoops — cannot go by normal parcel carrier and ship by freight, under four tiers that sound similar and are not.
| Tier | What they do | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Curbside | Delivered curbside at your address | Everything else. Their page says drivers do not assist in assembly and recommends having someone to help you bring it indoors |
| Threshold | Just over the first threshold of the address | Any stairs, any moving, all assembly. Their page says if stairs are required to reach that threshold, choose Room-of-Choice instead |
| Room-of-Choice | Into the room you name, including one flight of stairs up or down | Unpacking and assembly |
| Room-of-Choice + Assembly | All of the above, plus unpacked, fully assembled, packaging removed | Be home. Note their own caveat that delivery and assembly are sometimes scheduled for different times by the carrier |
Curbside is the trap. It is the cheapest line at checkout and it means a freight pallet at the end of your drive, in a box that a treadmill comes in, which you are then responsible for getting inside and building. If you live alone, up stairs, or have any reason to avoid moving a very heavy awkward object, the upgrade is not optional.
Also plan the logistics. The carrier contacts you to schedule, typically wants a four-hour window, and an adult over 18 must be present to sign. DICK’S publishes a dedicated large-item support line at (866) 869-7255, which is worth having before you order rather than after.
One genuinely good option: Buy Online Pick-up Later is available on an assortment of large items with free shipping and no minimum purchase. If you have a vehicle and help, that removes the freight problem and the cost with it.
What We Found in the Recall Database
DICK’S keeps a Recalls link in its own site footer, which is the right thing to do. We went to the source instead and searched the Consumer Product Safety Commission database for every recall since 2020 that names DICK’S Sporting Goods as a retailer. There were 20. We validated the search against a control that returned 289 recalls naming Walmart, so the query behaves.
Three of them are exactly the products someone building a home gym buys.
| Recall | Units | Hazard and reported harm |
|---|---|---|
| BowFlex 552 and 1090 adjustable dumbbells 5 June 2025 | about 3,844,200 | Weight plates can dislodge from the handle during use. Nautilus received 337 reports of plates dislodging, including 111 resulting in injuries such as concussions, abrasions, broken toes or contusions |
| Peloton Original Series Bike+ 6 November 2025 | about 833,000 | Seat post assembly can break during use. Three reports of the seat post breaking and detaching, including two injuries from falls |
| NordicTrack rowing machines 16 October 2025 | about 44,800 | Screen console can overheat and ignite. Two reports of fire, six of smoking or melting, at least $6,000 in property damage |
None of this is DICK’S manufacturing anything badly — these are supplier recalls, and being named as a retailer is simply a consequence of selling a lot of the category. The CPSC notices confirm the Peloton bikes were sold at DICK’S stores and dickssportinggoods.com from January 2020 through April 2025 for about $2,495, the rowers at DICK’S from November 2018 through April 2022 for about $1,700, and the BowFlex dumbbells at DICK’S as far back as 2004 for between $200 and $800.
Read the dumbbell remedy carefully, because it is the one that costs you. For units sold by Johnson Health Tech Trading, the remedy is a refund in the form of a voucher, or a replacement. For the roughly 3.7 million sold by BowFlex Inc., formerly Nautilus, it is a prorated voucher plus a one-year digital fitness membership. You return the handle and base on a prepaid label.
So a pair bought years ago that is now the subject of 111 reported injuries converts into store credit scaled down for age, not money back. That is a recurring pattern worth internalising: the remedy in a recall is whatever the manufacturer offers, and it is frequently not cash.
Two things to actually do. Register the product with the manufacturer when it arrives, because that is how you get contacted, and check cpsc.gov before buying any large piece of fitness equipment, new or used. It takes a minute and the database is free.
How Buying Works, Step by Step
- Order online, in the app, or in one of the stores. Free one-hour pickup, curbside or in store, is advertised on their site.
- For small items, choose standard (2 to 5 business days), expedited (2) or express (1). Orders placed after 2:00 p.m. EST are not processed until the next business day.
- For large items, choose one of the four freight tiers above. The carrier then calls you to schedule.
- Sign in to earn ScoreCard points. The programme is free and the company says it now covers about 30 million members.
- Track through the site or the emails. Their guidance is to allow up to 48 hours for a carrier scan, and to wait 48 hours after a delivered notification before contacting support about a missing parcel.
- If something goes wrong, go to a store. See the BBB section for why.
One friction point published on their own page: they state they are not able to change shipping information such as addresses, payment and shipping methods after an order is placed, because processing begins immediately. Combined with the cancellation complaints, treat the checkout button as final.
What ScoreCard Is Actually Worth
The maths is published and simple: one point per dollar, $10 for every 300 points. That is a return of about 3.3 percent, which is genuinely good for a free retail loyalty programme.
The scale behind it is in the annual report and is striking. Approximately 30 million members, accounting for over 75 percent of sales in the DICK’S business, with about 8 million in the ScoreCard Gold tier. If you shop here at all, not signing up is leaving a straightforward 3.3 percent on the counter.
The ScoreRewards credit card earns 2 points per dollar on qualified purchases, which roughly doubles the rate to about 6.7 percent. The usual caveat applies with force: a store card is only worth carrying if you clear it in full every month. Store card interest rates run well above general-purpose cards, and one month of carried balance will comfortably outrun a year of rewards. We were not able to read the current APR because the card pages sit behind the same bot protection as the rest of the customer service section, so check the terms before applying.
Shipping, and Where They Will Not Deliver
- 48 continental states for standard delivery
- Alaska and Hawaii: expedited shipping only
- No APO or FPO addresses, which is a notable gap for a retailer with this customer base
- P.O. boxes: many items cannot be sent at all on weight and size grounds; those that can take an estimated 10 to 14 business days
- Shipping costs are non-refundable, stated plainly on their own page
- Free shipping is advertised with exclusions and minimum order values that may apply
- Orders with multiple items commonly ship in multiple parcels from different fulfilment centres
The non-refundable shipping line is the one to remember. On a returned order you are out the outbound freight, and on a large item that is not a trivial number.
The Company Behind It
Everything in this section comes from the annual report the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 27 March 2026, covering the fiscal year ended 31 January 2026. It is a public document and worth knowing, because scale is the main thing DICK’S offers a shopper.
| Measure | Fiscal 2025 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Total net sales | $17,215.1 million | Up 28.1%, including $3.1 billion from Foot Locker post-acquisition |
| DICK’S business net sales | $14,108.9 million | Up 5.0% on its own |
| Footwear / Hardlines / Apparel | $6,888.0m / $5,048.3m / $4,895.4m | Hardlines is where fitness equipment sits |
| Stores | 3,195 locations | 50 states plus international, across both segments |
| Employees | 31,600 full-time, 73,600 part-time | 45,400 joined via the Foot Locker acquisition |
| Own-brand share | $1.8 billion, about 13% of net sales | Described as their second-largest vendor |
Two details that affect you as a shopper rather than a shareholder. First, own-brand penetration at 13 percent means a meaningful share of what you see is CALIA, DSG, VRST and similar, which carries a real consequence for sizing. Second, the report notes that approximately three-quarters of DICK’S Sporting Goods stores come up for lease renewal at the company’s option within five years — so store locations may move. If you are choosing this chain because a particular branch is convenient, that is worth knowing.
The Sizing Problem Nobody Warns You About
This is the section written specifically for readers of this site, and it is not really about DICK’S at all.
Their annual report shows apparel dropping to 28 percent of net sales in fiscal 2025, from 33 percent in each of the two preceding years, while own vertical brands now account for about 13 percent of everything sold. Practically, that means the activewear rack in front of you is a mix of national brands and house labels whose sizing is set by different people to different specifications.
If your measurements are moving, three rules save money:
- Buy in store where you can try it on. A house-brand large and a national-brand large are not the same garment, and the return friction here is real
- Buy less at a time. Two pairs of leggings that fit now beat six that will fit for two months
- Shoes are the exception — buy those properly. Footwear is this company’s largest category and its deepest expertise, and correctly fitted shoes are the thing most likely to keep you walking
Which leads to the honest hierarchy for anyone tempted by the fitness aisle. Shoes first. Then a habit. Then, only if the habit has held, equipment — and by then you will know whether you want a treadmill or would rather be outside.
How It Compares
| Route | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| DICK’S Sporting Goods | Huge range under one roof, 3,195 stores to return to, ScoreCard at about 3.3%, four freight tiers including full assembly | F at the BBB on 212 unanswered complaints; non-refundable shipping; no APO/FPO |
| A specialist running shop | Gait assessment and staff who fit shoes for a living | Narrower range, usually higher prices |
| Buying equipment direct from the maker | Warranty and recall contact go straight to the manufacturer | No local store to walk into when something fails |
| Used equipment locally | A fraction of the price; you see it before paying | No warranty, and you must check it against the CPSC database yourself — the recalls above cover units sold as far back as 2004 |
Who Should Buy Here, and Who Should Not
Good fit:
- You have a store nearby and want to try shoes and clothing on before buying
- You want one place that stocks the shoes, the clothes and the equipment
- You are buying a large item and will pay for Room-of-Choice with assembly
- You shop the category regularly enough for a free 3.3 percent to add up
- You want free one-hour pickup rather than waiting on delivery
Look elsewhere if:
- You need a company that answers complaints through formal channels. The BBB record is 212 unanswered filings
- You are in Alaska or Hawaii and do not want to pay expedited rates, or you use an APO/FPO address
- You want expert gait analysis before buying running shoes — a specialist shop does that better
- You are buying online and might change your mind. Cancellation is measured in minutes and shipping is non-refundable
- You have not yet built the habit. A treadmill is the most expensive way to discover you would rather walk outside
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A 68-year-old NYSE company with $17.2 billion in sales — no doubt it will ship
- 3,195 stores, so there is somewhere physical to take a problem
- ScoreCard returns about 3.3 percent for free, doubled with the store card
- Four large-item delivery tiers, including full assembly and packaging removal
- Free Buy Online Pick-up Later on large items with no minimum
- Free one-hour pickup, curbside or in store
- A Best Price Guarantee is offered
- Publishes a Recalls page and a dedicated large-item support line
- Deepest range in the category, and footwear is their strongest suit
Cons
- Better Business Bureau rating of F; not accredited
- 212 complaints unanswered and 19 unresolved, per the BBB
- Cancellation disputes over a 30-minute window are a named complaint theme
- Shipping costs are non-refundable
- Alaska and Hawaii expedited only; no APO or FPO delivery
- Shipping address, payment and method cannot be changed after ordering
- Curbside delivery leaves a freight-sized box at the kerb with no help
- 20 CPSC recalls since 2020 name them as a retailer, concentrated in home fitness
- Customer service, return and ScoreCard pages are unreadable to any automated check
Limitations of This Review
The most important limitation first. We could not read the return policy, cancellation policy, ScoreCard terms or Best Price Guarantee terms. dickssportinggoods.com returned HTTP 403 to every automated method we tried, those pages render entirely in JavaScript so the one archived copy we found contains no policy text, and no usable archive exists for the others. Nothing in this review states a return window, a restocking fee or a price-match term, because we could not verify one. Ask in store or on the phone before you rely on any of them.
What we could verify came from primary sources: the company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC on 27 March 2026, an archived copy of the shipping information page captured 6 September 2025, the Better Business Bureau profile for the Coraopolis headquarters, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall database. All checked on 8 August 2026.
Because the shipping page is an archived September 2025 capture, the delivery tiers, transit times and the large-item phone number may have changed since. Financial figures are for the fiscal year ended 31 January 2026 and will be superseded. The 30-minute cancellation window is reported as a complaint theme on the BBB profile, not as a policy we read on the company’s own site, and we have described it that way throughout.
We did not buy anything, visit a store, or test delivery or assembly. Being named as a retailer in a CPSC recall does not mean DICK’S did anything wrong; it means they sold a lot of a category that gets recalled. And nothing here is medical or fitness advice — if you have a cardiac condition, joint problem or any other reason to check before starting exercise, speak to a clinician before you buy equipment, not after.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DICK'S Sporting Goods a legitimate retailer?
Unambiguously. DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as DKS, and its annual report filed with the SEC on 27 March 2026 reports net sales of $17.22 billion for the fiscal year ended 31 January 2026, 3,195 store locations across the DICK'S and Foot Locker businesses in 50 states and internationally, and about 105,200 employees. The Better Business Bureau records the business as started 1 January 1958. There is no question about whether the company exists or will ship your order.
Why does DICK'S have an F rating at the BBB?
The Better Business Bureau profile for Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc at its Coraopolis, Pennsylvania headquarters gives the reasons directly: "Failure to respond to 212 complaint(s) filed against business" and "19 complaint(s) filed against business that were not resolved." The company is not BBB accredited. An F here is about complaint handling, not solvency — but 212 unanswered complaints is a meaningful signal about what happens if your order goes wrong.
What are the delivery options for a treadmill?
Four, and the difference matters more than the price. Curbside leaves the item at the curb, and their own page states drivers do not assist with assembly and recommends having someone to help you bring it indoors. Threshold puts it just over your first threshold, and if stairs are involved they tell you to choose Room-of-Choice instead. Room-of-Choice delivers into the room you pick including one flight of stairs. Room-of-Choice Delivery and Assembly adds unpacking, full assembly and packaging removal, sometimes scheduled as a separate visit. The carrier calls to book, typically needs a four-hour window, and an adult over 18 must sign.
Have products sold at DICK’S been recalled?
Yes, and disproportionately in the categories a home-gym buyer shops. Searching the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall database for recalls since 2020 that name DICK'S Sporting Goods as a retailer returned 20 results. They include BowFlex adjustable dumbbells in June 2025 covering about 3,844,200 units, Peloton Original Series Bike+ in November 2025 covering about 833,000 units, and NordicTrack rowing machines in October 2025 covering about 44,800 units. We validated the search against a control that returned 289 recalls naming Walmart, so the query works as intended.
What is a ScoreCard point worth?
One point per dollar spent, and a $10 reward for every 300 points, which works out to about 3.3 percent back. The ScoreRewards credit card earns 2 points per dollar on qualified purchases, roughly doubling that rate, but a store card is only worth carrying if you clear the balance every month — the interest on a carried balance will exceed the rewards quickly. The company reported approximately 30 million ScoreCard members in its latest annual report, accounting for over 75 percent of sales in the DICK’S business, with about 8 million in the Gold tier.
Does DICK’S price match?
They advertise a Best Price Guarantee described as: if you find a lower price, we will match it. We were not able to read the full terms, because the customer service pages are behind bot protection that blocked every method we tried and there is no usable archived copy. So we can confirm the guarantee is offered and cannot confirm which retailers, timeframes or exclusions apply. Ask in store or by phone before relying on it.
Where does DICK’S ship?
The 48 continental states for standard shipping, with Alaska and Hawaii eligible only for expedited shipping. They do not ship to APO or FPO addresses. Some items cannot go to a P.O. box on weight and size grounds, and those that can take an estimated 10 to 14 business days. Shipping costs are non-refundable, which their own page states plainly. Buy Online Pick-up Later on large items is free with no minimum.
How quickly can I cancel an online order?
We could not read the cancellation policy directly. What we can report is that order cancellation disputes over a 30-minute window appear as a named complaint theme on the company's BBB profile, alongside Buy Online Pick Up In Store fulfilment delays. Treat online orders as effectively final within minutes of placing them, and check the current cancellation terms at checkout rather than assuming a grace period.
Should I buy a treadmill or start with shoes?
Shoes, almost always. A treadmill is a four-figure purchase, a four-hour delivery window and a piece of furniture you have to house; a pair of properly fitted shoes costs a fraction of that and removes the main physical barrier to walking. If you have not yet established a consistent walking habit, buy the shoes and prove the habit first. The equipment will still be there, frequently discounted, when you know you will use it.
Is this a good place to buy clothes while my size is changing?
It is a reasonable one, with a caveat worth planning around. Their own annual report shows apparel fell to 28 percent of net sales in fiscal 2025 from 33 percent in each of the two prior years, and about 13 percent of sales now come from their own vertical brands like CALIA, DSG and VRST. Own-brand sizing is not interchangeable with the national brands next to it on the rack. If your measurements are moving, buy less at a time, buy in store where you can try things on, and keep receipts.
Verdict
3.5 / 5
An enormous, entirely legitimate retailer carrying an F at the BBB. Shop it in store, where the scale is an advantage and the complaint record is not.
What DICK’S sells you is range and proximity. Footwear is their largest business and their strongest, the equipment floor covers everything a home gym needs, ScoreCard hands back a real 3.3 percent for nothing, and there are 3,195 doors to walk back through. For trying shoes on, that combination is hard to beat.
What it does not sell you is a reliable remote complaints process. A rating of F, driven by 212 unanswered complaints, from a company this size, is a choice about which channels get staffed. Add non-refundable shipping, a cancellation window that shows up in those complaints as thirty minutes, and shipping details that cannot be changed once you click, and the online experience carries more risk than the in-store one.
So: buy shoes and clothes in a store where you can try them and hand them back over the same counter. If you buy a large item, pay for Room-of-Choice with assembly rather than curbside, and get the CPSC database open before you order. And be honest about sequencing — for most people starting out, the best thing in this shop is a pair of shoes that fit, not a treadmill that needs a four-hour delivery window and a room of its own.
Review date and disclaimer
Company figures, shipping terms, BBB records and recall data in this review were read from SEC filings, an archived company page, the Better Business Bureau and the CPSC database on 8 August 2026. Retail terms change frequently, and we were unable to verify the current return, cancellation, loyalty or price-match terms at all — confirm those directly before buying.
Nothing here is medical or fitness advice. Talk to a clinician before beginning a new exercise programme, especially if you have a heart condition, joint problems, or are taking medication that affects blood pressure or blood sugar.
Before You Order
Sign up for ScoreCard before you check out, buy the fitted shoes before the equipment, choose Room-of-Choice with assembly over curbside on anything heavy, and check the CPSC database for the model you are about to buy.