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I was just CHARGED for trying on a pair of shoes. UPDATE ON POST #431

3,281 756 June 22, 2007 at 12:00 PM in Chat
Okay so today I went into a running store to try on some shoes. I'm in the very BEGINNING of my search for new shoes and I just wanted to try on a few brands that were new to me and see if anything was going on with my foot. So I go into this store, the kid asks me if I'd ever been there before.. I said NO.. I said I was looking for shoes.. he says okay great and asks me to take walk in front of him for him to look at my stride/ gate. I do, it takes 2 minutes for him to determine that I'm mostly neutral/ slight overpronator. I try on TWO pairs of shoes. I tell him okay great, I'm going to look around, I might come back. I don't know. I don't know and I don't BS, its as simple as that. I might come back I might not for the shoes. I'm an informed shopper and I next to NEVER buy things on impulse. Then his attitude changed. He starts giving me this schpeel about how they're a high end running store and they take pride in fitting their customers with shoes and if I don't buy the shoes right then and there he was going to have to charge me $20 for the less than 10 minutes of time and two pairs of shoes I tried on. I asked him if he was freakin kidding me. The lady manager had to come over.. APPARENTLY, on the OTHER SIDE of the boxes of shoes he was stacking next to me was a sheet of laminated PAPER that said about this policy, in a not so very large font size. Okay so why did he NOT tell me about this when he asked me if I had ever been in the store? I clearly said no. Why did he let me walk in front of him and and spend the two minutes looking at my feet and not tell me this? I paid the $20 and left. And I know they talked about me when I left.. you could feel it in the air as I was paying. And I just know they were all like "Oh I hate when people do that.. " when in reality they should LOVE it.. $20 PURE PROFIT for under 10 minutes of time! They didn't tell me about this upfront and they stacked the shoes next to the piece of paper that said this. I couldn't even see it!
So I was thinking should I file a report with like BBB? I think $20 is a lot of money for merely trying on a pair of shoes and less than 10 minutes of time especially since I wasn't told about it upfront. I'm a girl and I've tried on my fair share of shoes in my lifetime and NEVER been charged for trying them on.

What do you guys think I should do? Nothing, something? I might just let it go.. but for right now I'm Mad

Sorry I meant to click the RANT icon not chat.. I don't know how that happened.
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Joined Jul 2005
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> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
06-29-2007 at 11:01 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:01 AM.
Quote from paperboy05 :
Sorry.



So what did they say that was false that led this customer to their store, in order for it to be bait-and-switch?



Except she did agree to the service.

P.S. Why the condesending, elitest tone? Is that really necessary here?


What would the opinion of a shoe company do for a credit card's investigation of a chargeback?
As pointed out many times by other members, a sign on the wall in the store (even 10 signs in the store) does not relieve the store from being required to have authorization by the customer for services charged to the customer. The store MUST have authorization by the customer beforehand. That's the law...plain and simple.

There are MANY examples that ppl can quote.....from the telephone companies to auto shops to construction ppl. In ALL these cases, there has to be a "binding contract" in place. This is really simple contract law. When you enter the store, there has to be a "meeting of the minds" as far as an agreed contract for services/materials by one party and to be paid by the other. If there's no "meeting of the minds", then there's NO contract. Hence, the store CAN'T charge the customer for services that he/she was unaware about. The point is further bolstered when the store is trying to charge for "services" that are customarily free to customers. Then, the burden would be on the store to prove that it did inform the customer that they will be charged for those services.

Quote from paperboy05 :

Who decides this though? Perhaps that store has always had pay-for-service and their previous customers know this. If I eat at McDonalds all my life and then go to Red Lobster, do I have a reasonable assumption that I don't have to tip?

Your analogy with the tipping is irrelevant and NOT related to this case since tipping is not required by law. It's merely a customary act and/or proper etiquette. The other member's analogy with the grocery store and being charged for scanning merchandise is to the point and dead-on.
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Last edited by z2g June 29, 2007 at 11:06 AM.
Joined Jun 2006
I hate coffee cliches.
> bubble2 479 Posts
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dxfanatic69
06-29-2007 at 11:05 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:05 AM.
Iagree exactly.
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> bubble2 174 Posts
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atlantajamal
06-29-2007 at 11:26 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:26 AM.
I live in chicago. I am going there tommorow. Will " forget " my wallet before I go in. Sweat those guys out, before I "realize" I forgot my wallet [Stick Out Tongue].
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> bubble2 76,984 Posts
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iconian | Staff
06-29-2007 at 11:28 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:28 AM.
Quote from atlantajamal :
I live in chicago. I am going there tommorow. Will " forget " my wallet before I go in. Sweat those guys out, before I "realize" I forgot my wallet [Stick Out Tongue].
get a tape recorder and stick in somewhere hidden and record this

post it and your reps will add by a hundred in a second!
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Joined Sep 2006
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> bubble2 19,431 Posts
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Fallacy
06-29-2007 at 11:35 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:35 AM.
Quote from iconian :
get a tape recorder and stick in somewhere hidden and record this

post it and your reps will add by a hundred in a second!
Iagree
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> bubble2 174 Posts
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atlantajamal
06-29-2007 at 11:36 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:36 AM.
Quote from iconian :
get a tape recorder and stick in somewhere hidden and record this

post it and your reps will add by a hundred in a second!
Is there a slickdeal on any recorder yummy You know.......
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Joined Jun 2006
Finzz bit me!! :(
> bubble2 18,103 Posts
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Kristin
06-29-2007 at 11:38 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:38 AM.
Quote from atlantajamal :
I live in chicago. I am going there tommorow. Will " forget " my wallet before I go in. Sweat those guys out, before I "realize" I forgot my wallet [Stick Out Tongue].
worship I hope you actually do this nod
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> bubble2 20,777 Posts
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paperboy05
06-29-2007 at 11:41 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:41 AM.
Quote from z2g :
As pointed out many times by other members, a sign on the wall in the store (even 10 signs in the store) does not relieve the store from being required to have authorization by the customer for services charged to the customer. The store MUST have authorization by the customer beforehand. That's the law...plain and simple.

There are MANY examples that ppl can quote.....from the telephone companies to auto shops to construction ppl. In ALL these cases, there has to be a "binding contract" in place. This is really simple contract law. When you enter the store, there has to be a "meeting of the minds" as far as an agreed contract for services/materials by one party and to be paid by the other. If there's no "meeting of the minds", then there's NO contract. Hence, the store CAN'T charge the customer for services that he/she was unaware about. The point is further bolstered when the store is trying to charge for "services" that are customarily free to customers. Then, the burden would be on the store to prove that it did inform the customer that they will be charged for those services.
Except she agreed to the service, by letting the salesman do his thing.

At a mechanic they ask if you want a service performed, but do they always tell you the cost of the service? Do they have to? What if they quote you one price but it ends up being a different price?

Are there other high-end running stores that sell their services (honestly don't know)? If so, which stores to you compare this store to, a Payless or Penney's or a similar service selling store?


Quote :
Your analogy with the tipping is irrelevant and NOT related to this case since tipping is not required by law. It's merely a customary act and/or proper etiquette. The other member's analogy with the grocery store and being charged for scanning merchandise is to the point and dead-on.
Who decides what the customer is able to assume?
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> bubble2 18,103 Posts
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Kristin
06-29-2007 at 11:44 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:44 AM.
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> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
06-29-2007 at 11:45 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:45 AM.
Quote from paperboy05 :
Except she agreed to the service, by letting the salesman do his thing.

At a mechanic they ask if you want a service performed, but do they always tell you the cost of the service? Do they have to? What if they quote you one price but it ends up being a different price?

Are there other high-end running stores that sell their services (honestly don't know)? If so, which stores to you compare this store to, a Payless or Penney's or a similar service selling store?



Who decides what the customer is able to assume?
DUDE! Did you read the original post?!?!?! She stated that the store employee NEVER mentioned anything about a fee for the fitting. She was only told of that fee after the fact and was only shown the one sign (covered by shoe boxes) after she was told as well.

I honestly think you're just talking out of your a$$. I've read your posts from other threads/topics and you always have an antagonistic attitude about you.

By the way, the courts, the law, and common sense dictates what is considered "normal" customary fees.
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iconian | Staff
06-29-2007 at 11:49 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:49 AM.
Quote from atlantajamal :
Is there a slickdeal on any recorder yummy You know.......
i am sure u can buy/return one from radioshack

get a digital oneSmilie
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> bubble2 10,159 Posts
z2g
06-29-2007 at 11:53 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:53 AM.
Quote from Kristin :
We don't want this thread to die because we want to know the outcome with the OP since she was already contacted by the corporation, manufacturers, and local news!
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theb8er
06-29-2007 at 11:56 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:56 AM.
How is this place so, so "high end" that they charge people to try on their shoes? I did a search on their website and they carry just the ordinary running shoes - oridinary in terms of the wide availability of the shoes, the standard pricing, standard materials, and standard brands. Heck, how can they say they're a "running shoes" place when they don't even have Nike 360s or, at a minimum, 180s OR Adidas A3s? For a minute, I thought they carried shoes made from hides of sabertooth tigers or shoes with heels that helps you jump 100ft.
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Kristin
06-29-2007 at 11:58 AM.
06-29-2007 at 11:58 AM.
Quote from z2g :
We don't want this thread to die because we want to know the outcome with the OP since she was already contacted by the corporation, manufacturers, and local news!
Secret I wasn't referring to the thread as a whole.
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paperboy05
06-29-2007 at 12:08 PM.
06-29-2007 at 12:08 PM.
Quote from z2g :
DUDE! Did you read the original post?!?!?! She stated that the store employee NEVER mentioned anything about a fee for the fitting. She was only told of that fee after the fact and was only shown the one sign (covered by shoe boxes) after she was told as well.
Is there a law that you have to verbally disclose the price of a service?

I have already said that it is bad that the sign was covered, but you are going to have a tough time proving it was without some sort of physical proof.

Quote :
I honestly think you're just talking out of your a$$. I've read your posts from other threads/topics and you always have an antagonistic attitude about you.
Because I disagree with people? Because people like to jump to conclusions and post baseless "facts"?

I think what this store did sucks, but if they are still in business and the CC company (so far) has refused a chargeback, I fail to see how this is illegal.

Quote :
By the way, the courts, the law, and common sense dictates what is considered "normal" customary fees.
Maybe this is a normal fee for this store. And common sense to frequent shoppers would dictate that this is also normal. Since there hasn't been any court cases against this store (perhaps there should) then no one can say whether or not this is a normal charge.

Quote from theb8er :
How is this place so, so "high end" that they charge people to try on their shoes? I did a search on their website and they carry just the ordinary running shoes - oridinary in terms of the wide availability of the shoes, the standard pricing, standard materials, and standard brands. Heck, how can they say they're a "running shoes" place when they don't even have Nike 360s or, at a minimum, 180s OR Adidas A3s? For a minute, I thought they carried shoes made from hides of sabertooth tigers or shoes with heels that helps you jump 100ft.
Maybe they specialize in their service Dontknow Also, their online store might be different than their B&M store, doubtful, but maybe.
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Last edited by paperboy05 June 29, 2007 at 12:12 PM.
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