Run Run Away

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Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci. Keywords: Cc: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I also purchased a pair of shoes from Holabird Sports, through mail ord r. They did send the right size, but standing in the two shoes, one felt d fferent [snip] Luckily I returned them to Saucony through a local running store, but I was out a pair of shoes for a while while Saucony inspected them. I will not order shoes through mail order again. Don’t generalize that all mail order companies have the same behavior. I have been using Road Runner for years and have had excellent support. I have sent back shoes because they did not fit/feel right even after wearing them for 100 miles. Full credit etc etc.   No, I have no affiliation just good service.   — Doug Freese  All opinions are mine. IBM Tele: 8-292-7752 -5814

Ditto.  I’ve used Holabird, Eastbay and Road Runner over the past decade and have yet to have any kind of a problem with any of them. Scott Newman

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  Here are a couple of other tips for dealing with mail-order problems:   1 – ALWAYS pay with a credit card. If you have problems, the credit card company will look into the matter and they decide in favor of the customer about 99 percent of the time. I speak from experience: a very bad experience with Arlington Computer Products. It took two letters to VISA, but I got ALL my money back. Including shipping. Credit card companies are very tough with companies that do mail order because of the many instances of fraud that occur in the mail order business.   2 – Write to any magazines in which the company that ripped you off advertises. You’ll be lucky to even receive an acknowledgement from any of them. But if we all did this when we had problems, the magazines would figure out very quickly who’s pissing off their readers. Without advertising, mail order businesses are out of business. Hope this info is useful. Hope you paid by credit card. (Get on the credit card company’s case NOW. It’s a toll-free call) Mark Roberts

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I also purchased a pair of shoes from Holabird Sports, through mail order. They did send the right size, but standing in the two shoes, one felt different [snip] Luckily I returned them to Saucony through a local running store, but I was out a pair of shoes for a while while Saucony inspected them. I will not order shoes through mail order again.

Don’t generalize that all mail order companies have the same behavior. I have been using Road Runner for years and have had excellent support. I have sent back shoes because they did not fit/feel right even after wearing them for 100 miles. Full credit etc etc.   No, I have no affiliation just good service.   — Doug Freese  All opinions are mine. IBM Tele: 8-292-7752

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because holabird sports is in the faq i feel compelled to tell folks about my recent experience with them.

Sounds terrible. You’d think that the supervisor would figure that you know your own shoe size?! Anyway, a while back , there was a post about Holabird Sports not supporting the local race either, so I won’t deal with them. Sounds like I made the right choice. Cookie

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Pablo wrote about the unsatisfactory service he received from Holabird for his exchange pair of shoes. I’d like to add my $0.02 here and tell everyone that you don’t have to put up with bad service. Remember that all businesses that make their money servicing the public LIVE on a good reputation. Do NOT put up with their bullsh*t. Do NOT patronize businesses that do not service you well–take your business elsewhere. Then make sure the store knows why you no longer patronize them, and why you will not recommend them to others. If you receive poor service, talk to the manager. If the manager tries to brush you off, talk to the general manager. If the general manager brushes you off, take it to corporate headquarters. My father-in-law (who has been in the retail business most of his life) is a prime example of someone who doesn’t take poor service lying down. He wanted to buy a pair of speakers from a chain electronics store, who advertises the costs of speakers at a PER SPEAKER cost ("Only $99 a speaker!"). When he wanted to buy the speakers, they told him the price was actually $200 because it was $99 per speaker. My father-in-law said "Well, in that case I’ll just buy one speaker." The salesman told him he couldn’t do that because they were sold in pairs–"Then why don’t you advertise the per pair price?" he asked (think of running shoes advertised like this–"Saucony Jazz–only $14.99!" and then come to find that’s PER SHOE). Worse, the sales people treated him really rudely–so he kept hounding them and phoning the manager until they settled for $159.99 for a pair (but he’s still waiting for an apology). He did the same thing with a mattress company (who promised delivery by a Friday and failed to do so) and got back $100 from them. Like I said, just my $0.02 but it’s really worth being assertive and firm about your expectations. I’m too wimpy–I’ll say things like "I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s right"–whereas my father-in-law uses phrases like "This is completely unsatisfactory. What’s your solution?" — UH School of Library & Info Studies. "Whatever the cost of our   o|<0_0——* libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant      =^-| |_| | nation." -Walter Cronkite [R.a.b.bit--FAQ Maintainer: "Think Ink!"]    _B}_B}

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hi there, because holabird sports is in the faq i feel compelled to tell folks about my recent experience with them. the first time i ordered a pair of running shoes from holabird i had no problem:  the shoes were the right size and everything was hunky-dory. this time around i ordered a pair of shoes and they came in but were the wrong size. i figured no big deal, i’ll send this pair back and also have them send me an additional pair.  i figured that they should bill me for the additional *right* size pair and when the *wrong* size pair was returned they would credit my account.  and since it was an error i figured that they should pick up the tab on shipping. boy did i figure wrong. i spoke to the saleswoman on the line and presented my case.  she said that she couldn’t do this so i asked her if it was okay to speak to her supervisor.  no problem she says.   so i talk to her supervisor and she says that for one, their policy is *not* to send an additional pair of shoes out if I’m returning a pair.  i mentioned to her that i was more than happy to pay for the additional pair.  she said *no* that that was the policy.  well i figured in my mind that okay they won’t know that i’m ordering a new pair, i’ll just call again.  but what she said next really turned me off to want to buy again from these folks. i asked her about getting reimbursed on the shipping.  well, the supervisor says to me, “sorry but our operators are trained to always repeat the order therefore *you* must be wrong.”  wow!!!  i couldn’t believe my ears.  i said i wasn’t trying to find out who was wrong rather i was looking for a fair resolution.  she said nope, our operators are trained to repeat the order and this operator sits near me and i *always* hear her repeat the order so you must be wrong.  :-( i mentioned to her that i was very disappointed with their return policy and that i had read about their store via the internet.  furthermore, i mentioned to her that i was going to write a note detailing my experience with them and that this was *not* a threat but just wanted to let people know about their return policy.  she said fine do what i want to do, that they had been in business for more than 13 years and she didn’t think that they’d lose any business if i posted this to the net. so here it is, my return experience with holabird.  what i’ve learned is that in the future i will ask the mail order companies what their return policies are and go from there. thanks for reading this. Pablo Sanchez              | Ph # (415) 390-3812 "I am accountable for my actions."

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