quack wrote:
This is why you shop at real running stores. Any running store worth anything will take a shoe back no questions asked. The store I work at will take a shoe back, in any condition, for up to 30 days. And if you come back after 33 days with a legit complaint and haven't run 250 miles in the shoe, we'll work with you. Any honest store will work with you to get in the right shoe.
Agree, after 30 years in the running shoe business, I will say that it's not worth it to the owner to alienate GOOD customers with legitimate returns. And most customers are good, understanding ones with legitimate issues. There is always a solution, even if the manufacturer won't give the retailer credit. Some can be resold at 100% if clean, some can be sold at 25-50% off. Some can be donated. We also started a policy where the customer would pay a $10.00 fee for shoes returned without valid reason. That way it reduced our losses somewhat if we could not get a credit and helped defray shipping costs to manufacturer. The vast majority of our customers liked this policy. Most customers really want to be fair and realize that they took somewhat of a risk when buying the shoes. All we (store and manufacturer) can do is guarantee that the shoes will be free of defects. What you do with, or to, the shoes is beyond our control. Despite the manufacturer's claim, the shoes will not turn Joe Jogger into a 2:10 marathoner!Bottom line: Running stores and manufacturer want you satisfied with product.
I will say that this area of retail was the most frustrating ( yet at times, comical!) part of the 30 years I spent as a running store owner. The store is caught in the middle. We are, first-off, runners ourselves ( at least when I started in the mid-70s) and relate to the customer. Yet, we are also small business people that can't afford to "eat" a lot of mistakes made by the customer. I probably could write a book about running store shoe returns and how they were handled and mishandled! Shoe companies changed their policies constantly, forcing some store owners to get fairly creative when sending shoes back for credit. Customers would also get creative about when they bought the shoes, how they were used, etc. Over the years in the business, I learned it's better for the store, and the shoe company, to take the product back whenever possible.