Read this rude letter Nike sent me.........

Did you have a receipt present, and explained to them why you did not go through your retailer for this?

How badly worn were the shoes? Did they look like more than 150+ miles on them?

The first pair of Nikes I sent in I got back with a note saying that the air pocket "had been punctured with a foreign object." Or it popped and apparently tore a little as I finished my run.

After that, though, they were good about my other shoes that deflated. Oh, and I also had a couple pairs that smelled TERRIBLE when they would get wet at all. Apparently they had some fungus from Asia or something, they replaced those as well. I stopped buying them because of the air pocket, though.

Honestly, Nike doesn't owe it to us to replace their stuff other than to uphold their name. Their quality made me switch to New Balance.

all corporations are evil wrote:

So the mystery is solved. They have received numerous such mailings from your address and they think it's all one person attempting to cash in. Right or wrong, it's hard to blame them really. It sure looks suspicious having that many "defective" claims come from one single address.

the kind of runners that would know enough to realize a shoe is defective often live together. nike should realize this as they sponsor such living arrangments.

I would have to disagree with you here on this one. I bought a Nike watch off of ebay and it got damaged by salt-water. I sent it in with no POP, but still had all the origianl packaging, and the the $8.95 P&H. They were out of my original color, but they called and sent me a new color choice.

I have had good luck with Parsec (another time with sunglasses).

rixctf wrote:

all corporations are evil wrote:

So the mystery is solved. They have received numerous such mailings from your address and they think it's all one person attempting to cash in. Right or wrong, it's hard to blame them really. It sure looks suspicious having that many "defective" claims come from one single address.

the kind of runners that would know enough to realize a shoe is defective often live together. nike should realize this as they sponsor such living arrangments.

Something made you switch to New Balanace? Dude, you didn't trade up, you traded down.

some runner wrote:

Did you have a receipt present, and explained to them why you did not go through your retailer for this?

How badly worn were the shoes? Did they look like more than 150+ miles on them?

he didn't buy them, he got them free from school. this is why they won't replace them for the 7th time. any shoe company will honor a defect deemed worthy by a dealer.

nyc wrote:

Man, Im no fan of Nike, but you are out to lunch. No store, no company, no one would give you what you were asking based on your story. dont have a receipt, from a different store, and a year old????????? Wow, try that at any store with any product and see what happens.

Well, you are wrong. I'm in a Nike store with a Nike product which has a visually obvious defect. I know they are not legally required to do anything with that, but most other companies who pretend to sell high-quality merchandise do absolutely give service in such a sitaution.

I do not frivolously return or exchange things, so I don't have a long list of examples but two instances come to mind where I have complained about defective products which were exchanged no-questions-asked. One was Apple, the other was Kenneth Cole.

I am a loyal customer of both those companies, not because their products are cheap or always defect-free, but because when they make a promise about quality (via their brand) they BACK IT UP.

Nike doesn't, and I will not buy any of their shit ever again. And believe me, that's gonna cost them way more money than a stupid watch.

Nikes are all about style as opposed to substance. You can get pair of comprable shoes by Saucony or new Balance from about 2/3 to 3/4 the cost. NIke used to make som equality products in the 80's. I work the air Pegasus. I ran great PR's in Nike Zoom S and Nike Zoom I. Believe it or not, allthose shoes in teh alte 80's were still manufatcutredin teh Uited States. I think it was milestone when NIke moved all their production facilties overseas to China, Vietnam or Indonesia.

haha this douchebag actually though nike shoes were durable...

you buy the style not the durability.

Seriously, stop buying Nikes... they are crap.

And no matter what you think, the chicks are not going to throw you any leg just because they see you wearing Nikes.

no question about it wrote:

Well I have pretty much switched to other brands for the most part, but we get a lot of nike shoes because we get nike shoes through the college I run for.

wait a minute... You're getting the shoes (for free it seems) from your college and then you have the balls to try to return them to Nike for another free pair?

I think the moral of the story is...if you're a serious runner and you're buying a lot of running shoes, establish a relationship with an independent running specialty store and only buy your shoes there. I have never had any trouble returning flawed merchandise because I know the store owner and just about every employee. They know I'm a good customer, and, they appreciate my business. These owners, in turn, have more leverage when returning the merchandise to Nike, for example, because they are buying thousands of pairs rather than 10 or so every year.

You are like a gnat harassing a dinosaur. For every schlub who complains like you do, there are hundreds of new customers who purchase our products thanks to our marketing expertise. We don't need you anymore. We don't make money on running so consider it a favor. And we are too big for you to have any effect on us. Go away.

Then the princess ought to suck it up and quit his bitching. He didn't pay for them, he should be grateful.

You didn't get a new shoe voucher for the following reasons:

Multiple returns by you

Multiple returns from your roommate

If you live in a college dorm with many returns, the whole street address is on double secret probation

You appear to their system as an abuser. Whether true or not isn't important. The system has flagged your address. I have seen studio apartments in Brooklyn with over 100 returns sent in during a six month period.

There are sneakerhead sites that have special forums devoted to how to "defect" Nikes to get free pairs. Nike has gotten wise to this and enacted new rules to combat abuse. Someone suggested invoking Let's Run to get action. That will only result in a few hearty chuckles around campus.

hypnotoad wrote:

Nike doesn't, and I will not buy any of their shit ever again. And believe me, that's gonna cost them way more money than a stupid watch.

Right...because they care about $500 worth of lost merchandise sales...

Seriously dude. When I worked at Target, I would have laughed in your face. You want me to return a used, year old product with no receipt and no packaging.

Hell, when you screw up cooking your Bagel Bites, just return those for a refund too. Isn't that what you want?

Mike R wrote:

I think the moral of the story is...if you're a serious runner and you're buying a lot of running shoes, establish a relationship with an independent running specialty store and only buy your shoes there. I have never had any trouble returning flawed merchandise because I know the store owner and just about every employee. They know I'm a good customer, and, they appreciate my business. These owners, in turn, have more leverage when returning the merchandise to Nike, for example, because they are buying thousands of pairs rather than 10 or so every year.

Absolutely true. I could save probably $100-150 a year of my total shoe budget by shopping around at holabird, eastbay, etc. but I go to a local store. Granted I get a club discount but that still leaves the shoes 20% above the best price online.

The benefits I get from that is (1) I can try on new models before buying them - this store will order any model at no obligation or cost to me, and (2) if I buy a pair I don't like, they'll exchange them even though they've been worn. Obviously if I were to abuse that service it would stop, but I use it judiciously and I'm a loyal and valuable customer to them.

Incidentally I run exclusively in Adidas, but I don't think I could get this service by dealing directly with them.

I don't want asian Sweatshop work, megamillion dollar sponsoring, hi-tech gimmicks, just durable lightweight running shoes, which label is the right for me?

helpmeee wrote:

I don't want asian Sweatshop work, megamillion dollar sponsoring, hi-tech gimmicks, just durable lightweight running shoes, which label is the right for me?

Loco

All the biggies use sweatshops -- Mizuno, Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc.