Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods

Mel cottons is one of the older sporting good stores in the bayarea. I always go here to get the necessities whenever i make a trip to the snow. They always the standard things in stock. However the store does seem outdated. Compared to the other stores like REI or any mountain, mel cottons seems like its stuck in the 80s. It does give that «small mom and pop store» feeling.
Mel Cottons does have a great winter end sale of all their snowboard/​ski gear! I cant wait!

Really like this place for snowboard and disc golf equipment. Staff is knowledgable and friendly. Their inventory is excellent. My girlfriend was able to rent a snowboard quickly and easily last time I went.

I really like this place,
They have a great variety of outdoor gear and merchandise and their staff was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and friendly, they helped me with everything I needed.
5 stars !!

I found a kids’ ski bib on a rack that displayed (largely) $ 29.99. At the register, it cost $ 70. Talk about the good ol’ bait and switch. The sales associates looked at me, mouths agape, helpless. We (used to) shop there often. They lost our family as customers. I doubt they care…

I have been here a few times in the past and didn’t think much of it. Until bass pro shops came along. It’s like going out and cheating on your wife and realizing that the woman you cheated on your wife with was totally not worth it, and realize you have something good at home. This place is night and day compared to bass pro. The staff specially in the fishing department is very knowledgable, and most importantly very friendly. I exchanged a reel for another without any hassle, didn’t even have a receipt. I experienced quite the opposite at bass pro. I will be a regular at Mel Cotton’s. Exceptional service. Go see Gil, Mike and Austin, good dudes.

Manager in back needs to learn how to deliver messaging with «a little sugar vs salt».
If I was a business owner, I would find it appalling to hear one of my managers speak to a customer the way the manager spoke to me. And in all fairness, the manager’s point about the policy I was disputing was actually correct — once I heard his perspective I realized I was wrong to request a one-​time exception.
Had the manager used his exact same words in a completely different tone, I would be going back. After a trip to Tahoe this weekend, I had decided to buy my own equipment and clothing, but now I will be making those purchases at Sports Basement, where no store employee has ever spoken to me in the aggressive and angry way the Mel’s manager spoke to me.
I think it’s a shame as I have purchased many items at Mel’s over the years and have also recommended the store to others. But now I’ll just be another person who forgoes a small business shop when it comes to sporting goods.

I went EVERYWHERE in San Jose today looking for toddler snow suits! Mel’s cotton was the only place who had them and a huge clearance selection! Love this place! One stop shop

A bit surprised with my experience at MCs today. I took my new skis, boots, and some bindings over to get a mount done. I took them there after sports basement was unable to complete the work because the heel piece on my boots was worn and they couldn’t pass inspection. The guys at SB were awesome even being patient with me as I called around for options. Talked to a guy at MC and he said they should be able to make it work or at least order the part ($ 18 on from the manufacturers website).
Show up at MCs and a really nice kid in the shop was honest and said he wasn’t sure what to do and was still learning. Cool, no worries. Talked to Jay. He was nice and realistically said its a long shot but see if we have any. Then a 3^rd guy came in with his opinion. Said I may be able to find it at a 90s shop. Not sure what that meant as these boots are 6 years old. Then I asked if they could order the part. He replied with «we really don’t do that, it takes time on something we don’t really make money on.». Really? You’re an authorized Nordica dealer and a retail shop built by local customers. Sorry for not being worth your time. I figured at 1 in the afternoon on a Wed as 60% of the associated I saw were not busy you could squeeze me in.
Looking forward to spending 5 minutes adding the heel pieces to an online shopping cart and pressing submit. Then walking over to Sports Basement where customer service has not died and the measurement of value is still the customers who walk through the door not the level of work they ask for.

I stopped by to check it out, but it went downhill from there.
From the moment I walk in the door, they want you to leave your purse at the front?!
«Would you mind leaving your backpack at the front?» It’s not a backpack, and yes I mind.
From there, lots of employees standing around, (maybe watching for shoplifters?) and little customer service. Only one person was helping a customer and he is the ONLY one who knows about ski and snowboard gear?!
And please explain to me, if you know about snowboard gear, since when did they start using Gore-​Tex on snowboards and bindings? Pretty sure that is only clothing and shoes… It’s meant for protection, durability, and breath ability, how would that be useful on snowboards and bindings?
Once I finally was helped with ski boots, he sort-​of knew what he was talking about. You can measure my foot all you want, but I like a tighter fitting boot that will actually do the job, not pack out in a month. «Those boots are too narrow, I can tell you your foot will never fit in those.» Those were the best fitting boots I tried, but I’m not buying K2’s first ever boot model! They have more kinks to work out first in the ski boot world.
Lastly, those «competitive prices»… they are selling 2 and 3 year old models at full price. You could buy them online last year for half that! And I did.
I love supporting mom & pop stores, but when you don’t know, don’t BS me! I came for the knowledge, because I know I don’t know everything, but I know when your pulling S*** out of your a**. Maybe if they were a little less concerned with treating everyone like a shoplifter, and more concerned with customer service, they wouldn’t have to mark up their prices. Especially when a quick online search can prove your high prices.
«you can’t find this deal anywhere else!» You’re right, I can find a better one.

My husband & I stopped in this store this past weekend to buy a replacement part for our lantern. We walked in & got halfway through the store when a sales guy (don’t know his name) stopped us & asked if we needed help finding something. My husband told him we needed to replace the glass on our lantern. The guy showed us to the correct isle & while we we’re looking at the model number on the back of the package, my husband wasn’t sure it was the right one. He told the guy that he had the lantern in the car & the guy suggested that he bring the lantern into the store to compare. My husband went to the car to grab it & as I began to walk down the isle the guy was watching me like a hawk, as if I was going to try & steal something. He tried to make conversation with me about cast iron pans & I just kind of ignored him. When I got towards the end of the isle he said «just letting you know that they may want to check your purse as you exit the store» I said «that’s fine, no worries». When my husband came back into the store to compare the piece of glass, the sales guy kept rambling on & on so I said out loud «we got what we need, let’s go». As we we’re on our way up to counter to purchase our item, I told my husband what happened & he said «what do you expect, we’re in the ghetto». The guy who rang us up seemed cool & laid back, he did not ask if he could check my bag, probably because we ended up buying something!
Thinking back, I wish I would have walked out of that store immediately after that stupid sales guy said that to me, but the only reason I didn’t is because not many places have replacement parts for our ancient lantern.
Obviously this place had/​has issues with people stealing from them, but there’s no need to make your customers feel uncomfortable by following them around the store or tell them that they will check your personal belongings when they exit the store.
If there so worried about people stealing then they need to install cameras or put sensors on there items. Upper management needs to train there employees good customer service skills & how to respect people. Just because your store is in bad part of town doesn’t mean that everyone who goes in there is shady!

Shit customer service… I wanted to check the place out and had my small laptop bag with me. They wouldn’t allow me in the store without handing it over even when I told them they can search it on my way out. Place is in a shitty shady area on San Carlos so wasn’t leaving anything valuable in my car and wasn’t about to handover my bag with $ 3k in technology to some retail clerk making $ 8 an hour. Mel — GBYS

Great service knowledgeable staff and great selection of outdoor products! I have been coming here for years! I collect old Coleman Lanterns and stoves and they still have parts for them. If I have a problem they can fix it if possible. Talk to John and he’ll help you with a smile. I have an old brochure from the fifties that said this was a certified Coleman repair center and was surprised that they still provide this service. Thanks Mel’s! They have been here since before I was born. That was 1964! I still come here for all my outdoor needs. Keep up the good work and thanks for a lifetime of outdoor fun!!!

Got in and out of here with all my fishing needs taken care of.
Went in to buy a replacement for my fishing rod after it got bent from not being put away properly and my overall experience was that it’s an «alright» sporting goods store. It took a while to get some help, I waited around the fishing poles for a good twenty minutes before someone came to help me. The man I talked to whom I assume is the owner was a nice guy though. He definitely knew a fair amount about fishing, he even recommended some new spots to try and I appreciate that from one local to another.
I didn’t stay too long, but I did get to check out some of the clothing here. Since fall/​winter is coming up I looked at some of the ski jackets they had and noticed they had some very high quality jackets for sale. I might return to get one if I can’t find them online. I mostly get all of my outdoor needs online, but I’ll probably stop by here again if I need some simple items or maybe that jacket!

Cool store. They have an abundance of all outdoor things. It’s basically a mom & pop version of REI. They sell The North Face, Colombia and Prana. They also sell Under Armor, and have quite a bit of their camouflage clothing.
Me and my groupie went to the fishing section. While he was getting educated on reels, I was reading a book about fish & fishing. Did you know you can fish for sharks like any other fish AND EAT THEM? I’ve heard of shark fin soup but I won’t be catching my own shark anytime soon.
While the groupie was checking out I browsed the ladies clothing. Nothing stood out to me.
Staff was alright.

Funny, I get a message via Unilocal from Mel Cotton’s thanking me for a wonderful review. Can you say «sarcasm»?
In that case, thank you Mel Cotton’s! What an excellent customer service response!

This review is for the rental department.
Horrible. Would never rent again. The kayak we rented was so dirty and stained with what looked like beer there was no way it would pass an inspection anywhere. We had to return it without using it the next morning.
The worst part is whoever I spoke to either lied or was not knowledgeable about the rental process. He promised me that the $ 500 dollar deposit was just an authorization and that no money would be touched; the only way they would take the $ 500 is if he didn’t return the kayak. Well, that was a lie because they took the $ 500 on the spot and it takes up to 2 weeks to return. The only reason I know they took the $ 500 is because I checked my online banking the next day. That is ridiculous to go through because an employee doesn’t know what they are talking about.
So to summarize: they stole 500 dollars from me for a kayak we weren’t even able to use.
Edit: They have refused to refund the 40 dollars for the kayak rental, even though we rented it at 7pm and returned it immediately as soon as they opened because it was unusable. Very tacky and horrible customer service. It says online that they care for they rentals, but they clearly don’t as it was disgusting. We are renting a kayak because we don’t have experience, so a friend had to tell us the kayak was too disgusting to use, but they say because we picked up the kayak and saw that it was disgusting that we aren’t entitled to a refund. I used to buy a lot of stuff here, but I won’t anymore.

I received an email saying ammo was on sale. I drove to the store with a printout of the email. The sign on the shelf matched the sale price in the email. I asked if I could buy a case (20 boxes). The employee said yes. I commented how the price was really good. He spoke with another employee and then she ripped down the signs. He then said he had to charge me $ 3 more per box, not the price in the ad.
I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. I don’t like their shady business practice and probably will just stick to other online retailers.

Love local businesses like Mel Cotton’s. Lots of products for anyone that loves outdoor activities. Fishing, camping, snow sports, etc. If you love an outdoor activity this place has what you need.
Best of all they rent out equipment at a very reasonable price.

I’ve been here twice now to return the same product. The first time because it was too small. The second time because I realized it was still too small with the proper gear. Both times I was able to swap for the appropriate size hassle free. I will definitely be coming back! Thanks for the awesome customer service and the prompt action.

Tried to get fitted for a ski boot here. I waited about 30 minutes and nobody offered to help. I finally got some help and told the guy from the start that I have a difficult size and I was open to anything he had to have me try. He seemed really knowledgable so I was excited to see if he could find me something.
He brought me a good option but it was cutting into the side of my calf. I told him to go ahead and help the next person at the same time as me while I tried to adjust my boot. That was my mistake. He started to completely ignore me. Even when I walked away he didn’t even say goodbye. I easily would have bought not only boots but skis and poles if not for the awful customer service. I’ll feel a lot better about dropping that kind of cash somewhere else.
Went over to Any Mountain, got fantastic service and bought a full set of boots, skis, binding and poles.