I bought a pair of adorable boots back in late September. After two wearings, the fake leather on the toes started to flake off. I cursed myself for spending too much money (about $60) on what amounted to a pair of cheap boots, attempted to fix the toes a bit with a glue stick and then moved on.
Fast forward less than two months and the toes of my boots look like they’ve been attacked by rabid badgers. It’s not like I was going at them every night with a cheese grater. And I didn’t even wear them much (my foot still hurts too much to wear cute shoes more than once or twice a week).
I felt like the world’s biggest sucker. Until I realized that, hey, this is unacceptable. So, I brought them back to DSW and asked them what they could do for me.
Long story short, I am now the owner of a gorgeous pair of Ralph Lauren heels after receiving full store credit and chipping in ten dollars of my own money.
My boring story about shoes has a point. I swear.
Five years ago, I would have thrown those boots in the trash and moved on. Without sixty dollars or a pair of shoes. I might have gone all PA on the shoe store and boot manufacturer by not buying anything more from them. But I never would have been able to walk into a store and ask a manager to make things right. I would have been too embarrassed to stick up for myself like that.
And I’ll be honest. The gum snapping high schooler who I talked to when I first walked in made me feel like shit. She tried to make me feel like the state of my boots was my fault. But, once I got a chance to talk to the manager, I felt a lot better. I explained that it started after only two wearings. She backed me up by pointing to the purchase date. It turns out, those boots had to be sent back to the manufacturer because of quality issues.
I deserved a different pair of shoes.
I’m loving my new heels. They’re simple, but elegant. They’re going to go with almost everything in my closet. Even more than I love my heels, I love that I stood up for myself.
I should probably do it more often.
That’s awesome. I’m not very good at doing that, probably because I tend to occupy the extremes of either shy and passive or angry and aggressive. I am slowly learning that being calm and assertive might be a lot more productive. (Still doesn’t make me like talking to people, but oh well. Introverts, man.)
Atta girl, Hope!
It definitely helped that I had filled out a form online and been told to go into the store and speak with a manager. I got to hide behind a computer at first!
My new strategy is to play through a couple of possible scenarios in my head, practicing being polite but firm.
Good for you! I agree. I am now much more assertive and will speak up now.
good for you for speaking up about it! it’s not like they were a $20 pair from payless (which, im not knocking by any means. i get half my shoes from payless!). you paid good money, you deserve good quality!
That’s what I told the snotty teen – If they were $20, I would have sucked it up. I paid DSW prices for less than Payless quality. That’s not cool.
Wow! I never would’ve thought to do that! I am not a big shoe person, I wear my shoes until I literally can’t wear them anymore – but if I was unsatisfied with them after wearing them just a few times, I might’s been like the old Hope and thrown them away. Now you’ve given me a vision! Great job standing up for yourself!
Wonderful! Also congrats on the dress!!!! ^_^
I was about to throw out my boots when I realized, hey, this is so unacceptable I bet I could say something. It was definitely something that hadn’t even occurred to me before that moment.