Joined Jun 2006
L8: Grand Teacher
Forum Thread
I was just CHARGED for trying on a pair of shoes. UPDATE ON POST #431
June 22, 2007 at
12:00 PM
in
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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.
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.
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20 bucks in 431 posts....that's almost a nickel per post
- wanker
- wanker
Free 20.00 screening for printing this coupon thingmabob...
Wait.. that would be self promotion.. never mind..
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The thing is, the store's side of the story is that they told me upfront (uh huh right), and that's just retarded that they won't admit they made a mistake and forgot to tell me. I think it would come off alot better if they would have admitted they made a mistake, but mention that they USUALLY tell customers up front. So by them saying that I was told upfront, just makes me feel like this is their usual practice to surprise people with it afterwards. I KNOW I wasn't told upfront, and The Fixer agrees with me on a logic standpoint, if I wasn't 100% sure I was buying shoes that day WHY would I have sat down for that fitting?
Anyway, she also told me that his employees are scared to come to work, ect. Now I don't know of anything going on beyond what is typed here in this thread, but I read each and every post, and NOTHING more than some prank phone calls, or calls inquiring about the policy where mentioned. So if people REALLY are THREATENING ... why? That's not cool, and its NOT even mentioned ANYWHERE in this thread, so I'm not even aware of it. Supposedly according to the owner though its going on. IF it is, please stop. I NEVER would have condoned threatening. The Fixer has taken care of the situation.
Also, someone mentioned that I was aware people were calling on my "behalf". That is not true. When I read that people called, they did it for their own amusement, NOT my behalf. When I mentioned the store name, I even though this was a chain around the country, I didn't know there was only 2 stores and that people would know which one I was talking about right away.
Anyway, I NEVER called and harrassed this store, or asked anyone to do so. I stand by everything I said in this thread, because quite simply its freedom of speech, I did nothing wrong and I can NOT be held responsible for other people's actions.
Okay... so I'll let everyone know when "The Fixer" is running the column, because she said she was gonna RUN IT!!
In retrospect, the owner's policy of charging $20 for fitting, unless you buy, discourages potential clients. His store gives the impression that "'we want your money first before we can give you service".
With steep competition both online and physical stores, he is actually eliminating reasons for clients to buy from his store. Without *FREE* stellar service, how is his store different from any other? People will be prone to shop elsewhere who offer no hassle, no pressure sale tactics, like Nordstrom or Zappos.
edit: jesus. This thread has over 11k reads. If even 1% of the people who have read this thread actually called the store, that's over 110 phone calls. That's probably more than they normally get in a month.
I'm a bit suspect of the "scared to come to work" deal. Threatening phone calls? Really? I kept up with this entire thread... and while I can picture some asshats saying some stupid things about the policy... threatening? I wouldn't be surprised if they played up that angle to garner some sympathy on their end.
20 bucks in 431 posts....that's almost a nickel per post
In retrospect, the owner's policy of charging $20 for fitting, unless you buy, discourages potential clients. His store gives the impression that "'we want your money first before we can give you service".
With steep competition both online and physical stores, he is actually eliminating reasons for clients to buy from his store. Without *FREE* stellar service, how is his store different from any other? People will be prone to shop elsewhere who offer no hassle, no pressure sale tactics, like Nordstrom or Zappos.
Free 20.00 screening for printing this coupon thingmabob...
Wait.. that would be self promotion.. never mind..
edit: jesus. This thread has over 11k reads. If even 1% of the people who have read this thread actually called the store, that's over 110 phone calls. That's probably more than they normally get in a month.
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and then, since it appears that they both knew about and blamed the thread for bad word of mouth,
actually post on the thread it was all a misunderstanding ?
that would have gotten them some positive word of mouth by the same channel...