Sole Damaged on Runners

Repolho

I bought a pair of Court Runners (for playing Badminton) on 17th January. I bought these runners specifically for playing badminton. I wear them only playing badminton so they have never even been outside! I carry them in my gear bag and change in out of them when I play. I would estimate that I have probably played 3 times / week in the 10 weeks I have had them so they have been worn about 30 times.

Yesterday while playing in a tournament part of the sole has started to "tear" off on the right foot. Its right under the ball of the foot at the point where most grip is required.

My question is, after 10 weeks and 30 odds wears out of the runners is this just normal wear and tear or are these faulty. Normally I would get a least a season out of a pir of runners and maybe more. Have I any comeback with the shop?

My second question, at this stage I probably do not have the receipt but I paid by credit card and I have the credit card statement. IS this sufficient as a proof of purchase?

Thanks in advance.

cherubaul

Hi,
I've worked in the sportswear industry for 5 years now so i might be able to offer some advice. When you say court runners do you meanlike Nike court traditions with flat soles or do you mean something like a traditonal style runner with heel support arch support etc.
The reason i ask is because most of the runners that are sold as court style runners are what are called "sportstyle" that is that they are there to be used as a casual dress runner and not recommended for use during excercises as the lateral shear pressure such as those found in badminton and tennis can easily cause the soles to become damaged. so if its a flat type shoe i'm afraid you have not used it for its intended purpose and thus cannot claim that it was a fault in manufacture rather than simply missuse.

If however it was a performance runner it should have stayed in much better condition than that as long as you didnt buy a 30 euro hi-tec job or something like that. usually managers will give you about 12 weeks grace for a manufacturing fault to materialise on these types.

as to proof of purchase. seeing as how you are reporting this as a fault rather than a simple i've changed my mind the item doesn't need to be boxed you just need proof of purchase. this doesnt have to be your reciept a credit card reciept / statement is fully adequate under consumer law in this instance.

hope this helps.

Repolho

Thanks Cherubaul. They were definitely proper court shoes and not sportstyle. I spent ages looking for them as not too many places stock them. They were New Balance but I cant find them on the NB website to reference a model number to you. They cost €45 but were on special offer so I dont know what the RRP would be but should this make a differance?

cherubaul

Repolho wrote: »

Thanks Cherubaul. They were definitely proper court shoes and not sportstyle. I spent ages looking for them as not too many places stock them. They were New Balance but I cant find them on the NB website to reference a model number to you. They cost €45 but were on special offer so I dont know what the RRP would be but should this make a differance?

New balance are an excellent brand and one of the staple perfomance shoes that i sell so i'm quite surpised to hear that they are the problem. thats a manufacturing fault to be sure. bring them back to the shop and explain your problem clearly and to the manager only, as in most stores its only the managers who can give returns. make sure you have your statement with you. I will admit you will probably be fobbed off initially with the no receipt no return line but this is something drilled into us by head offices. just state that it is a manufacturing fault and they were not fit for purpose and that the NCA doesnt require a receipt as proof of purchase. if you get no joy ask for the managers name and then ask for the number of the head office of the company go to the consumers department there and outline your case to them 99.9% of the timeyou will be given your return. hope this helps. But just make sure you stay courteous and have a cool head this helps the process immensely for both parties as shop assistants have a standard practice dictated to them.

also price wont make a difference to build quality in new balance all are the same build quality higher price gets you better arch support and heel cushioning but manufature quality stays the same.

MunsterCycling

shop assistants have a standard practice dictated to them

Which seems by the sound of it to deny the consumer their basic right under the law. If a manager tries the no receipt no returns trick when you clearly have proof of purchase they should be fired on the spot for ignorance.

MC

cherubaul

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Which seems by the sound of it to deny the consumer their basic right under the law. If a manager tries the no receipt no returns trick when you clearly have proof of purchase they should be fired on the spot for ignorance.

MC

I believe thats a very harsh statement.
managers have a serious amount of pressure applied to them for very little thanks and on a crappy wage they are constantly under pressure dealing with complaints from consumers and are simultaneously being squashed from above by their superiors who have neither time nor support for them. yes the ploy is wrong but its a toxic by product of what is essentially a broken industry. ALL sales staff and managers are instructed to be both consumer orientated and simultaneously protective of the company and its interests this leads to serious confusion as regards company policy and they are happy to leave it that way unclarified and thus leave staff in awkward positions. its not the manager who is trying to deny you your rights its the company itself. surely from my above posts you can see that i am quite customer orientated.

MunsterCycling

That may be so but I too worked in retail management and would of been fired if I'd tried to make an excuse like that for a product we'd sold (suppose I was lucky working for a company that cared). BTW it is not possible to separate the Manager / Shop Assistant from the Company as they are representatives of the Company while they are at work, on the other hand to come up to someone outside of work and harass them would be just plain wrong.

MC

wmpdd3

Is the company you worked for still in business?

Did your suppliers give credit for every return or did you just absorb the cost into the prices?

I also worked for a few companies where all i had to do was call the manager/owner who would give customers the world. All those companies are out of business.

By the way I would have given a refund straight away based on the OPs story.

MunsterCycling

Doing very nicely and making good profits.


MC

wmpdd3

How?

Do you have a massive mark up?

Repolho

So just to close out the story and let you know the results.

I went back to the shop on Friday with my damaged runners. The manager told me to pick out another pair. They didn't have any ones that I wanted (I was specifically looking for badminton runners and they only had 1 pair which didn't fit very well).

So I asked for a refund. Manager told me that I needed the original receipt and that he couldn't give a refund without. I explained to him that a proof of purchase was all I needed and that my credit card statement was such proof. He told me it would take a few minutes and in due course I got my refund. He was actually able to print a copy of the receipt by using the credit card number and tracing it back to the date of the original transaction.

Cherubaul;

The manager reacted exactly as you described but put up no reisitance once I put my case to him. Thanks for your help.