Speedo
Speedo has a solid and credible reputation in the world of sports; in fact, they’ve dominated aquatic sports for the past seventy five years – something that I wasn’t aware of until I visited their site recently to place an order for a few gifts for Chris. Speedo was never something that I went crazy over; I knew the name, their reputation and products but since swimming was never a true part of my exercise regime most of their products seemed like overkill to me. All that changed about four months ago when I started hitting the pool three times a week to give my knees and lower back a break from running on the treadmill. Anyone that says swimming laps isn’t as effective or draining as other aerobic activities is crazy; it took me a while to get used to swimming laps I can honestly say that if it weren’t for some of the Speedo products I would have given up on it within the first week. Goggles, ear and nose plugs were something that I whole heartedly laughed at – things that I would have never purchased – that is until my eyes became beet red, my ears ached and it took me two hours of blowing my nose to be able to breathe through it – and don’t even get me started on my hair. Ever try to swim with mid back length hair flapping around in your face like possessed seaweed? Not fun, not fun at all.
The Speedo site is extremely easy to navigate through and is appropriate for all ages, no pop ups, heavy graphics or flash so you get the basics of the items without having to wait forever for the pages to load. My boys have visited the site over the past few weeks since they’ve started to come to the gym with me and use the pool facilities. It’s still amazing to me that these awkward little creatures that trip over their own feet have taken to swimming like they were part fish. Thankfully, there’s a kids shop at the site that carries everything from swimwear to shoes as well as stuff for the younger crowd. While the boys are well out of this age range, it is still nice to know that they carry a wide variety of products for kids of all ages, shapes and sizes. For me, it is easier to order the items that we need online at the Speedo site than to drag them to the store, sift through the unorganized products and adhere to the stores return policy. I guess you could say I’ve become rather spoiled with online shopping – if there is a way for me to get out of going to a physical store, I’ll try it.
The Speedo Online Store
As I already mentioned, the site is easy to navigate through and all the sections are nicely arranged. There are plenty of options to choose from when browsing the site and if you ever get lost, click the Speedo logo on the top left hand side of he page to go back to the main section. There are individual sections for men, women, kids and the variety of types of products they carry. Since Chris is a watch junkie, I knew that if I left the browser window open to the page that featured the timepieces that he’d find at least one or two that he “couldn’t live without”. As I expected, a small yellow Post-It Note was stuck to the side of the computer monitor saying “If you are going to order … can you get me [insert list of watches here]”. What really blew me away the first time I checked out the site is the prices – in most cases the prices are less than what the local sporting goods stores in my area are charging. That’s something that rarely happens when dealing with internet stores unless there is a sale going on and trust me on this – the Speedo store does have a ton of sale items to choose from.
The clothing that I have ordered for myself, the boys and as gifts have all been high quality items that will certainly stand the test of time. I didn’t want to spend a few hundred dollars on suits and accessories for the boys until I was sure that this would be something that they would stick with so shopping at the site allowed them to have some freedom to pick out the style suit they wanted and didn’t force me to sell off an internal organ to pay for it. Outside of the usual swim wear they do carry shirts, shorts and a pretty nice selection of “learning to swim” aids. For the wee people there are flotation suits that are so freakin’ cute, it took a lot of restraint for me to not order one even though I have no use for it [yet hint hint]. The goggles were a real selling point for me; I have always had trouble getting goggles to fit correctly and when I borrowed a pair from someone at the gym I fell in love with them. My love was quickly dashed when I saw the prices – starting at $23.00. The funny thing – the same exact pair can be had at the Speedo site for $13.00 [Hydrospex Photo Chromatic]. But that’s just the start – the junior versions were more than the adults when I priced them at the sports stores but at the site the starting prices are $9.00. I really really wanted to get the cool chameleon ones [http://www.speedousa.com/images/Catalog/e1/250X305/7570030_003.jpg] for one of the boys but all four of them failed to see the light hearted humor of it and told me that if I ordered them I had better plan on wearing them.
Another small but very cool part of the site is the aqua fitness. For a long time I have been looking for a pair of comfortable shoes that I could wear on the beach without having to worry about them getting wet. All too often the water socks or water shoes are too thin to protect your feet when you are running and wearing standard shoes is a waste since they get water logged and it feels like you are trying to run with blocks of concrete on your feet. I was more than willing to pay the suggested retail price of $60.00 and was ready to do a back flip when I saw them on sale at the site for $45.00! Now if I could only find a truly waterproof Walkman that I could wear when swimming or running on the beach – I’d be one happy camper. The small section is geared towards using water as a training aid and in all honesty, unless you have access to a pool or belong to a gym that has a pool, most of the items in this section will be useless outside the water.
Payment Options
The site accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover Card and you will be required to provide your CCV [credit card verification] number when you place the order. If you have an older card or are using a debit card that carries the MasterCard or Visa logo and you do not have a CCV number on the back [on or near the signature strip] please contact your financial institution to receive an updated card. I’ve used both a standard credit card as well as my debit card for purchases and have never had a problem with overcharges, duplicate charges or having an amount other than what was stated in a confirmation email charged to my cards. Also, your card isn’t charged until the order ships; this is really nice because if something isn’t in stock or is on back order you don’t have that amount being taken away from your available balance or having to wait for them to credit your card if you decide to cancel part of your purchase.
Return Policy
All purchases are backed with a ninety day return period and a no questions asked return policy. I do suggest calling their customer service center before you make a return if you are unsure of how to best package the product or need specifics in regards to insurance, address or how long it will take to get an exchange or refund. This is one of the best features of the site, try returning a bathing suit or swimming accessory to a retail store and see the hassle that some clerks give you. I’ve never had to make a return so I can’t say how long it takes to get replacement items or refunds but if they take care of this the way they do the other aspects of the site – I’d imagine it would be handled quickly, efficiently and error free.
Shipping Fees
In my opinion, the shipping fees are pretty good at the Speedo Online Store. You are charged based on the total sales amount instead of per item. The most you will pay is $10.95 for anything over $150.00 with the base price being $4.95 for anything under $49.99. Almost all the shipment are sent out UPS Ground so you can expect a week or so for your order to arrive unless you live close to the distribution center. You do have the option to upgrade your shipment with Two Day or Next Day delivery, but as usual, you will have to pay the difference on the shipping fees. To me the shipping fees are a little below what most other sites sell and if you are ordering a ton of stuff, the maximum you’ll be charged is $10.95 – a price I am more than willing to pay in exchange for not having to be bombarded with sales pitches, arrogant sales clerks and merchandise that’s been picked through.
Customer Service
Speedo
5305 Rivergrade Road
Irwindale, California 91706
www.speedousa.com