Anything I can do

falsers

Ok so had my childs christening recently and a relative bought her a pair of shoes to go with her dress. They gave us the receipt too incase we needed to change them. Then we noticed the shoes looked terribly familiar and realised we had bought the same shoes from another retailer but when we looked at the prices there is a 2000% mark up on the pair that were given as a gift.
We contacted the retailer who said not possible we must have gotten them on sale or at a reduced price, which isn't the case. Also the ones given as a gift were sold with a "designer" label attached when they are the exact same pair of shoes we bought in another store that would never be considered "designer". Now I don't really care about this aspect but surely this is some sort of false advertising? Is there anything at all I can do about this? I don't want refunds or anything like that, I am just sickened they are making such massive profits off the back of lies

jor el

Nothing you can do. Any shop can sell a product at any price they like. Just never shop there.

dudara

The only way this could be an issue is if the second shop was selling on the goods from the first shop i.e. selling Penney's shoes but charging more.

If they are "generic" shoes which can be bought by several retailers from the wholesaler, then there is nothing to stop each individual shop charging what they want.

falsers

They are shoes from one store but with a label stuck on pretending they are designer. So say the store was penneys, on the inside sole of the shoe the pennys label has been replaced with a designer name.

coylemj

When you say but with a label stuck on pretending they are designer can you say exactly what you mean, do they mention a specific designer like Hilfiger or do they just say 'designer' or some name you've never heard of but which you assume to be an upmarket 'designer'?

The generic 'designer' tag is so hackneyed these days that it is completely meaningless. You seem to be implying that 'designer' shoes are superior to shoes you'd buy in Penneys, you wouldn't get far trying to pursue this in court, you'd be laughed out of the place.

Every shoe has to be made from a design so even the cheapest pair of shoes can be validly called 'designer', it's only if they falsely use a specific designer name like Hilfiger that you could take an action against the retailer.

If your beef is based on your understanding that the term 'designer' implies superior design and manufacture, the law would say that that is an opinion held by you based on clever brainwashing advertising, it does not mean that a shop cannot use the term as part of it's sales pitch since the term is effectively meaningless.

mdebets

dudara wrote: »

The only way this could be an issue is if the second shop was selling on the goods from the first shop i.e. selling Penney's shoes but charging more.

Why would that be a problem (in legal terms)? Surely every shop is free to buy its merchandise wherever it wants.

dudara

Dunnes (for instance) sell only to the public. They do not sell their goods on for resale. They would be very interested in knowing if someone was selling their goods on.

mdebets

dudara wrote: »

Dunnes (for instance) sell only to the public. They do not sell their goods on for resale. They would be very interested in knowing if someone was selling their goods on.

That might be their policy, and they might refuse to sell to someone whom they suspect being a re-seller, but I don't think they could do anything if someone sells their merchandise, if they have bought it legally (and it didn't just fell off a truck).

oneweb

Off topic but why would someone buy 'designer' shoes for a christening? It's not a fashion show surely?

If it's a well-known designer label you might want to get in touch with the company being represented, in the possible case that their name is being used on counterfeit goods.

seamus

falsers wrote: »

They are shoes from one store but with a label stuck on pretending they are designer. So say the store was penneys, on the inside sole of the shoe the pennys label has been replaced with a designer name.

There are only so many ways that you can make shoes. Just because the shoes are identical, doesn't mean that the retailer rebadged them.

Both Penneys and this designer label could theoretically source their shoes from the same factory, all you pay more for is the designer label.

This goes on all the time in most goods - that bag of tesco value rice is processed and packaged from the exact same factory line as the "branded" bag of rice which costs 50c more.

Unless you can prove that the retailer is reselling Penney's shoes or they're selling actual counterfeits, there's not a whole lot you can (or should) do.

bongi69

seamus wrote: »

Both Penneys and this designer label could theoretically source their shoes from the same factory, all you pay more for is the designer label.

This does happen. The other half used to work in Pennys, and they once got in a delivery of bangles; and a few of the boxes had items in them that were tagged for a well known high street chain for €10, whereas the exact same thing that they were selling was €2.

wmpdd3

Yep happens the whole time.

smelltheglove

Mark ups are disgraceful, ok how do I put this without saying what is what lol, my pal is getting an item, say shoes from a wholesale friend, the high street price for that item is 7 times the price the pal can get it:eek: They can mark uo however they like!

skyline1515

i work in the retail industry and it is not unheard of for 2 different stores to carry the same stock, i work for a branded name company and we are having problems with a supplier who is also selling the same stock to other shops in the area.. all they are doing is stitching on different labels.. legally there is nothing that can be done. however i do understand you point, i do not blame my customers who come back to me complaining that an item they bought from me can be got in a supermarket down the road.. however once we are aware that this is happening we take the stock from the shelves, pack it up and send it back to the suppliers.... the industry is a joke at times

foggy_lad

mdebets wrote: »

That might be their policy, and they might refuse to sell to someone whom they suspect being a re-seller, but I don't think they could do anything if someone sells their merchandise, if they have bought it legally (and it didn't just fell off a truck).

But what if they buy dunnes products and re-lable and re-package them as their own to sell them?