Shoe Centre Waterford

markobrien30

Lads just looking for a bit of consumer advice.To cut a long story short I bought a pair of pretty expensive shoes in a shop in waterford city for my daughters communion on saturday last. The day passed off beatifully but that night we noticed that the shoes had come apart at the soles on both feet so I brought them back on Tuesday as we had photo's taken on Monday and the sales assistant told me they would have to send the shoes back to the manufacturer in England. I of corse was not happy with this and went back in to speak with the manager today who told me the same even when I showed her the page off the NCA's website the states I dealt with them and they should refund me if the shoes were faulty not the manufacturer. Just wondering where to go from here, is the small claims court the only option and is it feesible.

pleasant Co.

They are 100% right, they are making the effort to determine if the shoes were in fact faulty or if you (your daughter) damaged them, and at no cost to you. Following that, if the manufacturer finds that they were faulty the shop will offer you a repair, replacement or refund - the two parties (you and the shop) come to an agreement on which one.

wmpdd3

As above, I have yet to see a

page off the NCA's website the states I dealt with them and they should refund me if the shoes were faulty not the manufacturer.

You always deal with the retailer but the retailer is entitled to verify the fault with the manufacture.

It will be the retailer organising the repair, replacement or refund.

LowKeyReturn

Have to disagree here. Shoes coming apart like that speaks for itself. Replacement or refund should have been immediately forth coming.

That said strictly speaking they do have time (a short time) to verify the fault.

Cabaal

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Have to disagree here. Shoes coming apart like that speaks for itself. Replacement or refund should have been immediately forth coming.

That said strictly speaking they do have time (a short time) to verify the fault.

Not really, shoes coming apart could also be down to misuse. This needs to be checked.

If it was down to misuse you wouldn't be entitled to anything

LowKeyReturn

Cabaal wrote: »

Not really, shoes coming apart could also be down to misuse. This needs to be checked.

If it was down to misuse you wouldn't be entitled to anything

As I say I disagree here. If the shoes where cut or burned that's one thing. Common sense is the yard stick that needs to apply. I doubt even the most advanced shoemaker is going to carry out a forensic test to establish what force, in what direction, was applied to a shoe.

The retailer can make a visual inspection on the spot and determine with the same skill as the manufacturer whether or not there has been deliberate damage to shoes. I'm unsure how you 'misuse' shoes, especially children's shoes.

This is a clear case of procedure over consumer rights, and indeed, decent customer service. That said the beauty of boards is the diversity of opinion and to be fair this is exactly what this come down to. However all this must be processed without 'significant inconvenience' to the consumer.

wmpdd3

My brothers sport shoes fell apart a few years ago and the sports shop sent them away to be checked, they didnt hold out much hope of it being a manufacturing fault and to be honest neither did I.

But the report came back saying default in placing of layer 7, and he got a refund and a voucher for a future purchase.

Tigger

if (imagine) i play soccer in dress shoes and they burst is it a manufacturing fault

LowKeyReturn

Tigger wrote: »

if (imagine) i play soccer in dress shoes and they burst is it a manufacturing fault

If you can play soccer in women's (girls) dress shoes you deserve a refund.


If they burst yes, it would be a manufacturing fault. If they tore you'd as easily judge misuse in the store; scuffing, mud embedded in the shoe, and/or attempts to clean the shoe. I wouldn't expect a decent pair of shoes to come apart or even tear though. I've a pair of very smart shoes I could probably hike up Snowdon in - my feet would give out long before the shoe.

Tigger

ok

sandin

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

If you can play soccer in women's (girls) dress shoes you deserve a refund.


If they burst yes, it would be a manufacturing fault. If they tore you'd as easily judge misuse in the store; scuffing, mud embedded in the shoe, and/or attempts to clean the shoe. I wouldn't expect a decent pair of shoes to come apart or even tear though. I've a pair of very smart shoes I could probably hike up Snowdon in - my feet would give out long before the shoe.

Incorrect - in this example the shoes were not designed for playing football so any issue that arose when playing football in them would not be covered.

As for the op, a store like the shoe centre which has been around for decades should have the expertise to know whether its a fault and not only that, they should have some local repairer who would be able to fix most issues. Possibly its on direction of the manufacturer, but still shoddy service.

LowKeyReturn

sandin wrote: »

Incorrect - in this example the shoes were not designed for playing football so any issue that arose when playing football in them would not be covered.

As for the op, a store like the shoe centre which has been around for decades should have the expertise to know whether its a fault and not only that, they should have some local repairer who would be able to fix most issues. Possibly its on direction of the manufacturer, but still shoddy service.

I think you've missed the point of the benchmark being one of common sense.

danjo-xx

Perhaps the store felt that in this case it was unclear if it was a manufacturing fault and decided to send them back to the manufacturer for clarification.

markobrien30

Results after 10 days of the shoes gone bk! we get told that the manufacter returned the shoes, and is not willing to do anything about them as the shoes were not used for the purpose they were sold for ??? Child age 7 makes her communion on sat, pay 50euro for shoes come home sat eve see the soles are coming off, bring them back to the shoe centre waterford on the monday !! girl working there says to use the shoes for wat we need them for as she will have to return them to england, so brought my daughter to have her photos taken as she needed the shoes ,photos were taken in grass and now their saying oh they have grass stains on them !!!!!!

wmpdd3

If thats the final responce from the retailer then your next stop is the SCC.

dudara

Assuming (of course) that the shoes were treated correctly, and assuming that your description is accurate, I would not accept this explanation from the manufacturer. I would write a registered letter to the shoe store, rejecting their explanation and reiterating your request for a repair, replacement or refund. I would state in the letter that I am giving XX working days to resolve the issue, or else you will proceed with a Small Claims Court case.

Make sure to keep copies of the letter as well as dates/notes of all correspondence.

sandin

What type of shoe were they?

Did you say they were for communion?

What was the weather like on the day? - many shoes are unsuitable to be in wet conditions.

Just being devils advocate here as this is what you will need to further the case.

E.g. if they were moccasin types and the weather was bad, they'd be totally unsuitable fir outdoor wearing on that day.