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

Today I got a message from The Chicago Sun Times The Fixer! I LOVE that article! She wants me to call her back tomorrow and tell her more about the story and she mentioned she had NEVER heard of a charge for a fitting. She sounded very interested. NBC Target 5 must have bailed out because after they called me that one day and I wasn't home, I haven't heard back.

Oh, and I'm still waiting to get the official word from the credit card, it wasn't a definite answer either way yet.

Oh, but bad news seems to be that Discover cards wants to be a b*tch about it.. I don't think I'm getting the chargeback. They said something like if the charge was the store's "policy". I guess it doesn't matter if the policy is deceitful? Whatever Discover... Discover Card sucks.

Why don't we all just contact them [humanracesports.com] and let them know what we think of their "policy".

As others have pointed out already, posting up a sign doesn't really create a "meeting of the minds" and binding contract....especially if there's only one sign that's hidden away. Also, by just posting up a sign, it doesn't meet the requirement of authorization since the customer may not be able to read. As long as the store employee even just mentions it to the customer before starting the "fitting", it would be a legal contract. That would only take a few seconds. Obviously, since there was no mention of a fitting fee, there was intent of deception occurring.

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

Sorry I meant to click the RANT icon not chat.. I don't know how that happened.

He resides in between the parts "a fools & his money are soon parted" & "there's a sucker born every minute"

I'm not sure what you're saying...if you're agreeing with me or not.

But, I can say that I've worked in retail for many years while in school. And, I know for a fact that store security can't touch you in CA. Also, you don't even have to open your bags for them when you exit the store if the sensor machine goes off!

I would also like to point out that none of us knows the entire story here and that it really isn't a good idea for people to fly off the handle at a business based on a lounge posting.

I am appalled at the way some slick dealers have been encouraging others to harrass the store. The User who posted this had remedies available to her and continues to have remedies available to her including calling the owner of the store, writing a letter and asking for some kind of refund, and many others as pointed out.

Are you folks aware of the impact that a thread like this can have? Have many of you have called the store? I called and found out that that the man and his family are essentially under siege. I believe him because I talked with him for more than an hour and he was genuinely distressed by the calls from all over the country of an unpleasant nature making shrill accusations based on nothing more than something they read. I won't go into detail about the alleged incident involving the OP because by now, that is an entirely other issue, one that she can settle herself by calling the owner. He was very kind and took the time to explain his entire business to me including the policy in question.

However, this has now become about something other than one person's complaint. It has become a call to arms and that's just not right. Ask yourself, do you really know the facts? Do you know them well enough to justify trying to cause harm to a business and its owner? I think not.

What I do ask is for those of you with time on your hands to consider the impact your calls and threats are having on a small business. Someone posted the guy's charity email and apparently slick dealers and guests flooded that box with taunts and threats. In talking to the owner, I learned that even his family has been impacted. He is a small business owner just trying to make a living. If there was or is an issue with the OP, the OP has been given good advice as to how to address it. If indeed the Chicago Sun Times is involved, she will have her 15 minutes of fame. When I called the Chicago Sun Times, they told me they were not doing a story on this issue but then, maybe they just haven't scheduled it yet.

I say let it drop. Stop calling the store. Stop emailing the guy. Stop going into the store and and hassling salespeople. let the OP and the reporter sort this out or better yet, let the OP deal with the store directly. Something that doesn't appear to have happened.

Just remember, anyone can post anything on the net for whatever reason. I would discourage other consumers from posting such rants on slick deals until AFTER they have tried to resolve the issue or if you need advise on how to resolve it, refrain from naming the business until after an attempt has been made to resolve the issue. The kind of harrassment that this thread has unleashed may in fact be criminal.

I know we all hate getting ripped off. However, after reading this ENTIRE thread, I am not convinced that anyone has been ripped off nor am I convinced that the issue is worth attention it has received.

I KNOW that the phone calls, threats and emails as well as hassle visits to the store are totally uncalled for and I call on the OP to denounce the harrassment of this man and his family and to ask you all to stop it. It's the least she can do.

I would also like to point out that none of us knows the entire story here and that it really isn't a good idea for people to fly off the handle at a business based on a lounge posting.

I am appalled at the way some slick dealers have been encouraging others to harrass the store. The User who posted this had remedies available to her and continues to have remedies available to her including calling the owner of the store, writing a letter and asking for some kind of refund, and many others as pointed out.

Are you folks aware of the impact that a thread like this can have? Have many of you have called the store? I called and found out that that the man and his family are essentially under siege. I believe him because I talked with him for more than an hour and he was genuinely distressed by the calls from all over the country of an unpleasant nature making shrill accusations based on nothing more than something they read. I won't go into detail about the alleged incident involving the OP because by now, that is an entirely other issue, one that she can settle herself by calling the owner. He was very kind and took the time to explain his entire business to me including the policy in question.

However, this has now become about something other than one person's complaint. It has become a call to arms and that's just not right. Ask yourself, do you really know the facts? Do you know them well enough to justify trying to cause harm to a business and its owner? I think not.

What I do ask is for those of you with time on your hands to consider the impact your calls and threats are having on a small business. Someone posted the guy's charity email and apparently slick dealers and guests flooded that box with taunts and threats. In talking to the owner, I learned that even his family has been impacted. He is a small business owner just trying to make a living. If there was or is an issue with the OP, the OP has been given good advice as to how to address it. If indeed the Chicago Sun Times is involved, she will have her 15 minutes of fame. When I called the Chicago Sun Times, they told me they were not doing a story on this issue but then, maybe they just haven't scheduled it yet.

I say let it drop. Stop calling the store. Stop emailing the guy. Stop going into the store and and hassling salespeople. let the OP and the reporter sort this out or better yet, let the OP deal with the store directly. Something that doesn't appear to have happened.

Just remember, anyone can post anything on the net for whatever reason. I would discourage other consumers from posting such rants on slick deals until AFTER they have tried to resolve the issue or if you need advise on how to resolve it, refrain from naming the business until after an attempt has been made to resolve the issue. The kind of harrassment that this thread has unleashed may in fact be criminal.

I know we all hate getting ripped off. However, after reading this ENTIRE thread, I am not convinced that anyone has been ripped off nor am I convinced that the issue is worth attention it has received.

I KNOW that the phone calls, threats and emails as well as hassle visits to the store are totally uncalled for and I call on the OP to denounce the harrassment of this man and his family and to ask you all to stop it. It's the least she can do.

I would also like to point out that none of us knows the entire story here and that it really isn't a good idea for people to fly off the handle at a business based on a lounge posting.

I am appalled at the way some slick dealers have been encouraging others to harrass the store. The User who posted this had remedies available to her and continues to have remedies available to her including calling the owner of the store, writing a letter and asking for some kind of refund, and many others as pointed out.

Are you folks aware of the impact that a thread like this can have? Have many of you have called the store? I called and found out that that the man and his family are essentially under siege. I believe him because I talked with him for more than an hour and he was genuinely distressed by the calls from all over the country of an unpleasant nature making shrill accusations based on nothing more than something they read. I won't go into detail about the alleged incident involving the OP because by now, that is an entirely other issue, one that she can settle herself by calling the owner. He was very kind and took the time to explain his entire business to me including the policy in question.

However, this has now become about something other than one person's complaint. It has become a call to arms and that's just not right. Ask yourself, do you really know the facts? Do you know them well enough to justify trying to cause harm to a business and its owner? I think not.

What I do ask is for those of you with time on your hands to consider the impact your calls and threats are having on a small business. Someone posted the guy's charity email and apparently slick dealers and guests flooded that box with taunts and threats. In talking to the owner, I learned that even his family has been impacted. He is a small business owner just trying to make a living. If there was or is an issue with the OP, the OP has been given good advice as to how to address it. If indeed the Chicago Sun Times is involved, she will have her 15 minutes of fame. When I called the Chicago Sun Times, they told me they were not doing a story on this issue but then, maybe they just haven't scheduled it yet.

I say let it drop. Stop calling the store. Stop emailing the guy. Stop going into the store and and hassling salespeople. let the OP and the reporter sort this out or better yet, let the OP deal with the store directly. Something that doesn't appear to have happened.

Just remember, anyone can post anything on the net for whatever reason. I would discourage other consumers from posting such rants on slick deals until AFTER they have tried to resolve the issue or if you need advise on how to resolve it, refrain from naming the business until after an attempt has been made to resolve the issue. The kind of harrassment that this thread has unleashed may in fact be criminal.

I know we all hate getting ripped off. However, after reading this ENTIRE thread, I am not convinced that anyone has been ripped off nor am I convinced that the issue is worth attention it has received.

I KNOW that the phone calls, threats and emails as well as hassle visits to the store are totally uncalled for and I call on the OP to denounce the harrassment of this man and his family and to ask you all to stop it. It's the least she can do.