PLEASE DISCUSS. I was labeled a Return Policy Abuser at a running shoe store because I had 4 or 5 returns.

It's the policy wrote:

Although none of us wants to buy shoes with that many miles (and sweat etc), the problem is the store is trying to have it both ways.

No you idiot. The store is offering a policy that provides piece of mind. It’s not an invitation to abuse the process.

Do you whine to Sizzler when they don’t let you live in the restaurant continually eating the “all you can eat” salad bar year long? Moron.

So you are saying the store is offering "peace" of mind until you need it.

I've got weird feet and probably spend an hour trying on shoes at the local running shop. I've only returned one pair in the last 10 years (the Nike 4%) and beat the shoe pretty hard before I pull out the credit card to pay for it. For shoes I've bought online, I generally contact them beforehand and will buy the same model in two different sizes and tell them that I'm going to return one (Zappos and Running Warehouse are quite nice about this.)

So I don't know - you seem like a normal rational dude on here but if it was a pair every 18 months then you have a valid point. But 5 pairs in 2-3 years seems a bit excessive.

Sizzler solves that problem by closing and has a policy of all you can eat until you leave. The store has to put conditions on their policy. You don't return other clothing after it is worn.

Online stores aren't a problem. They have supported me through and through. This happened with a physical store .

It's cool. I'll just change my approach with buying running shoes, because I don't want something like this to happen again..

I also spoke to corporate, and my account is still in good standings. It was just flagged and not suspended.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

we will DISCUS wrote:

How much purchasing - based on shoes, money... have you done there? Have you returned 4 out of 8 shoes, or 4 out of 12? Do you make other purchases there - clothing/nutrition..?

I have kept 2 out of maybe 6 or 7 purchases.

I'm not trying to be hard on you but keeping 2 shoes for every 4-5 you return is absolutely ridiculous

Another guy implied that keeping 4-5 shoes and returning 2 would even be bad and I agree with that too.

Every running store I've bought from either had a treadmill you could run on or allowed me to run up and down the block outside. These same stores would allow me to return a pair but charge me a restocking fee of 15% and I found that to be entirely within reason as well.

Is that not the norm where you guys are at?

You're treating the situation as if you're simply test driving a car and want to find the car that meets your needs best.

The reality of the situation is that you are buying a car from the dealer with 0 miles on it and returning it with a few hundred miles a week later because you want to take something else home to try out...that's not test driving and it's hurting the store.

I certainly wouldn't want to pay full price for a pair of shoes that someone else wore even if it was only 5-10 miles.

I guess what annoys me about this is that your feet are not going to shatter if you wear non-optimal shoes...If the shoes are so terrible you can't rotate them in once every 3-4 days then you had no business buying them in the first place.

...it's not the store's fault

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Running shoes were lot easier back in the day. They were mainly eva foam with rubber soles, and didn't have a lot going on ,and they stayed in production for a long time. Now running shoes only get a 1 year run before a new model comes out, or they get discontinued after one year.

.

You don't know squat about "back in the day", son. Back in the day mean you bought leather shoes that cracked and got hard after they got wet. You took them home and that was it. You bought it, you own it. Your shoes didn't break in, but your feet did. Ninety percent of the time you got blisters -- that's only the start of your breaking in period. The blisters cracked and made your shoes bloody. You put bandaids and athletic tape on your toes and heels until they firmed up with a hard callus. This isn't a tale of "walking uphill both ways to school." This is how back in the day really was.

Quit taking advantage of lax return policies.

All you can eat wrote:

Sizzler solves that problem by closing and has a policy of all you can eat until you leave. The store has to put conditions on their policy. You don't return other clothing after it is worn.

Or you could just expect that your customers exercise reasonable judgement and common sense.

Do you think it's reasonable to go to sizzler for lunch and stay until 10 pm closing on a daily basis because it's "all you can eat"?

How anyone would think it's reasonable to return >70% of shoes in a used and unsellable condition on an ongoing basis is beyond me. If you think a policy is required to counteract that then the world (and you) have reached maximal stupid.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

[quote]My Take on this wrote:

Online stores aren't a problem. They have supported me through and through.

Nice euphemism for "they have tolerated the occasional scumbag because their volume of normal customers offsets losses from the former".

While I do think you sound like a shoe princess and that may be suggestive of some deep psychological issues, I'll side with you scorpion_jogger. To have a policy and then arbitrarily place limits on it is bad business. It's no surprise traditional retail stores aren't able to compete with online vendors. They have inferior prices and selection which they should make up for with superior service but rarely do. The brick and mortar stores that are surviving and will survive are those that understand their comparative advantage and therefore offer superior products, services and experiences.

Personally, I avoid brick and mortar running stores at all costs except for emergencies when I need a new pair of shoes or racing spikes yesterday. I find most running shoe owners and employees obnoxious know-it-alls who cater to the 4 hour marathon demographic. My suggestion is to get over it, go order 5 shoes from running warehouse, try them all on, and send 4 back.

The only time I returned shoes was when I ordered the wrong size online. I literally just put them on, walked a few steps, and put them back in the box. I don’t even think my local running store takes returns, they are really strict about making sure the shoes are new. They once even pulled the plug on the in-store treadmill after I running on it for, probably only about 5 minutes.

I also fixed your title for you. You’re welcome.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Btw, I'm African American, and I'm really trying stay away from the race card with this......but it is hard.

Yes it's because you are African American. You are a victim.

its very hard to sell shoes that have been walked let alone run in for 10 miles! You are not a good customer and I would advise finding and buying a few of a pair at once you can live with. Leave the poor store alone ! They are struggling small business and you are adding to the problem my man!

Shoe Sales Man wrote:

its very hard to sell shoes that have been walked let alone run in for 10 miles! You are not a good customer and I would advise finding and buying a few of a pair at once you can live with. Leave the poor store alone ! They are struggling small business and you are adding to the problem my man!

Weird somehow zappos, runningwarehouse and even the online nike store manage to remain profitable after upholding policies to sell worn shoes. Sounds like these struggling small businesses may be struggling for a reason. Time to close the store and spend your time doing something useful! THANK YOU!

Yeah 10 miles is alot. Think about it. If you did that 4 or 5 times thats two weeks of training you got for free.

I dont think its the shoes. Its your running mechanics. What shoe are you wearing now?

LoneStarXC wrote:

The only time I returned shoes was when I ordered the wrong size online. I literally just put them on, walked a few steps, and put them back in the box. I don’t even think my local running store takes returns, they are really strict about making sure the shoes are new. They once even pulled the plug on the in-store treadmill after I running on it for, probably only about 5 minutes.

Running for 5 minutes on the instore treadmill before they pulled the plug and you wanted more? What were you trying to do? Run a marathon in store?

OP you are a seriously sick OCD jerk.

We had a guy like you in Boulder...

He was some odd something or other who would return shoes for no reason.

We banned him.

Another creep shot showed up and said 'I will buy any show without the logo or manufacturers name'

We shook on it and I went in the back and stripped the swoosh and cut the logo off of a Nike internationist....

You are all freaks.

Order online scorpion.

OBTW, I love where there are actually scorpions;

And you are no scorpion...

First off, it’s not BRAND NEW CONDITION when you wear them once on a 10 mile run. The store can’t resell those and takes a loss. So when you return 5 out of 7 purchases then yea you’ll be flagged even if you did mean to cheat the system.

I am just amazed. People like this is one of the reasons that shoes have the pricetags they do. Try it on, take it home. Never return unless it is broken in some way.