Alright, so I wanted to chat a bit about an experience I had, a proper go-around with trying to get some gear from Merchant of Tennis Canada. You hear the name, you think, “Okay, these guys must be sorted, THE place for tennis stuff in Canada.” Well, let me tell you about my little adventure.
My Hunt for a New Stick
So, there I was, my old faithful racquet finally decided it had had enough. You know how it is, a bad mishit, hear that awful ‘thwack-ping’ and yup, strings gone, but also, the frame just didn’t feel right anymore. Club league was about to kick off, so I was in a bit of a bind. Needed something decent, and relatively quick.
First place I thought of? Merchant of Tennis Canada. Big online presence, decent looking website, seemed like the logical first stop. So, I got on my computer, typed in their name, and landed on their homepage. Looked professional enough, you know? Lots of pictures of shiny new gear. “This should be easy,” I thought. Famous last words, eh?
I headed straight for the racquets section. Knew what brand I liked, had a couple of models in mind. Found the first one I was keen on. Price looked okay. Clicked on it. “Currently Unavailable.” Okay, fair enough, popular model maybe. No biggie. Tried the second model on my list. Same story! “Out of Stock.” Getting a bit annoying now.
I figured, okay, maybe I’m being too picky. Let’s see what they DO have. Started browsing, filtering by my grip size. Man, oh man. It felt like everything I clicked on was either out of stock, or only available in like, a kid’s size, or some super heavy pro version I wouldn’t be able to swing properly. It was like window shopping at a store that forgot to order anything.
Phoning Them Up – The Next Chapter
I wasn’t ready to give up. “Maybe their website’s just slow to update,” I told myself. So, I found their customer service number and gave them a call. Took a while to get through, you know the usual hold music and “your call is important to us” stuff. Finally, a real person!
I explained what I was looking for, the models I’d tried to find online. The person on the other end was polite, I’ll give them that. They said, “Oh yes, those are very popular models, sir. We’re expecting a shipment.” I asked when. “Could be a few weeks, maybe a month.” A month? My matches started next week! That wasn’t going to cut it.
I thought, okay, forget the racquet for a minute. What about getting my other racquet restrung? I asked if they had my preferred type of string. “Let me check… ah, yes, we do have that brand, but that specific gauge and type… looks like we’re running low. Might only have a couple of sets.” Running low? On a common string? This was “Merchant of Tennis,” wasn’t it? I was starting to wonder if they were merchants of “maybe-we-have-it-maybe-we-don’t.”
It just felt a bit off, you know? For a place that’s supposed to be a major retailer, the stock situation seemed pretty dire, at least for what I was after. I get that supply chains can be tricky, especially up here in Canada sometimes, but still. It was frustrating.
How It All Ended
So, what did I do? I hung up, feeling a bit deflated. Then I remembered the small, local pro shop near my club. Drove over there, guy who runs it has been playing tennis longer than I’ve been alive. Walked in, told him my woes.
He didn’t have the exact model I first wanted from the website, but he had last year’s version, practically the same thing, and a bit cheaper too. Plus, he had a demo I could try. He had my strings, no problem. Strung it up for me while I waited, even gave me a few tips on my grip. Walked out of there an hour later, new racquet in hand, ready to play.
So, Merchant of Tennis Canada. Yeah, they’re out there. They’ve got a big name. Maybe if you’re not in a hurry, or you’re looking for something super common that they happen to have, it works out. But for me, that time, it was a bit of a wild goose chase. Sometimes, the old-fashioned local shop, the one where they actually know their stuff and have it on the shelf, that’s the way to go. Just my two cents from my little adventure.
