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
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
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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It was this guy...
Stay away if you see him, he's very dangerous...
I leave SD's for a couple weeks and miss out on this one! That is one F'ed up, stupid, farkin, snooty-ass store!!!
I'm glad it worked out for the OP. About people calling and threatening, well, I myself almost felt implused to "be malicious". It's a frustrating story and like someone else said, that's not a customary policy for a shoe store and you better make it blatantly obvious you're gonna charge $20 for CS. The jackass worker should be wearing a farkin t-shirt that says, "I'm gonna charge you $20 unless you tell me to piss off."
It was me.
I will admit, those sales clerks are some real wimps - they acted like they never saw a guy without pants before ...
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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.
So, I applaud that this thread has brought to light this store's policies. As the OP has stated, even the company and its vendors were surprised by this store's policy in charging a customer for merely trying on their shoes. I am not aware of any shoe store that has the same policy. We are not talking about licensed podiatrists here who could be diagnosing foot problems and prescribing specific shoes that addresses the customer's problems. For the OP's case, it was just a young teen helping her try on some shoes. It surely wasn't worth $20 for the "consultation"!
They must think they are auto mechanics trying to inspect and diagnose a car. It's an f'ing shoe store!
Were they that knowledgeable that they need this policy? Do customers go there for their supreme knowledge to pinpoint the perfect shoe, then go buy those shoes elsewhere for a better price? Could that be how this crap policy started?!
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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.
I'm glad this worked out for you, OP. I didn't call the store or anything and I think people should probably stop since she's gotten her money back and The Fixer is also doing an article about them.