"I've ordered from Badminton Alley a few times before and have found their service was decent and gave typical turn-around times. They have about the best selection of badminton gear available in the US., although Badminton Warehouse is close. I wasn't so pleased with the service and shipping of my latest order last month (12/15), though.

PROS:

- Very good selection of all aspects of badminton gear

- Their prices, well, they vary, but sometimes can be quite good. If they have something on sale it's likely a good price, but may or may not be the best out there. For instance, the Dunlop Aerogel 2000 racquet I just bought was supposed to be a daily super-special at half-off the usual $150 price, so $75 seemed to be a terrific deal and I placed the order. However, after I received the racquet and was thinking about picking up a second one, a google search alerted me to the fact that San Diego Badminton supply has that same racquet at $69 as a regular price.

- Looks like they support the badminton community and are involved with tournaments, although this is pretty minor for me personally since I live more than a thousand miles away.

CONS:

- All aspects of shipping on the latest order were unsatisfactory. First, it was overpriced for a 1-pound package at $19 for USPS Priority Mail. Second, they delayed a while on shipping it to me by at least a few days so the expected 2-3 day shipping took well over a week. Third, they never bothered to send me an e-mail confirming that they shipped and providing a tracking number, which is really pretty basic and standard for any online retailer that prides itself on giving good customer service. Fourth, they shipped it with a signature confirmation required, which was a real pain in the butt and resulted in further delays as I had to take time out of my schedule to go track down and retrieve the package from my local post office - hardly worth the inconvenience to the customer on a fairly modest $75 non-controversial (i.e. not something, like, say wine or a pellet gun or knife) purchase.

Let me explain how bad this shipping experience was, all-around. Had I placed this order from Badminton Bay, in freakin' Malaysia halfway across the world, it would have cost me less (literally, no exaggeration, at $15.30) to ship the racquet and based on reports from friends who have shopped there, at about 7 days typical shipping time, I would have received the racquet sooner, too.

- They exclude all clearance and some sales items from warranty coverage, which is kind of bogus.

- The website can be a bit buggy and filled with, shall we say, less-than-stellar examples of English spelling and grammar. Honestly, the website of the big online Malaysian badminton retailer Badminton Bay (I've got several friends who swear by their big selection, good prices, quick and reasonable shipping) seems like it was done by someone with a better grasp of English.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, I like buying from an American store and like Badminton Alley's selection and some of their prices, so I may shop there again. However, the service could certainly have been better and the shipping should have been both faster and cheaper. My next badminton order may be from Badminton Bay because of my less-than-terrific experience with this last order at Badminton Alley.

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"I do almost all my badminton shopping from them and have never been disappointed. They ship fast, have an extensive collection of rackets, shuttles and bags in addition to accessories. Their website is very easy to navigate and they often have good deals - I visit the site daily to look for deals on rackets in my wish list. Once I ordered a racket and a bag for my friend who lives in a different state. A lady from badminton alley called me to confirm that it was indeed an order from me. I'd recommend them any day."

"I was happy with the store. Kinda quirky store .. but good service"

"Fast shipping and reasonable pricing for Yonex products."