Buyer beware when purchasing a pair of shoes on sale at Plamondon Shoes. Saturday, called the store to let them know a pair of shoes purchased from them on sale less than a month ago were coming apart at the toe. I no longer had the receipt. Could they find there copy of the sale, I paid cash, had the original box and bag. They told me they'd look for receipt on their end and call me back asap. Tuesday morning, no word from the store so I called them. They could not find the receipt but told me to bring in the shoes and they would see what they could do. Merrel, the company who made the shoes, may give them an issue with a return since the shoes may be more than a year old. I am confused what this has to do with me getting a store credit and a different pair of shoes from Plamondon. Friday morning, my husband takes the shoes in. He is told they will send the shoes in to Merrel and it may take up to two weeks with no guarantee of a store credit or a return of the $100 paid for the shoes. At this time, and for the first time, we are told of Plamondon policy that there is no return or exchange on any sale items. My husband is upset about all of this and lets the Manager and Assistant Manager know. They do not diffuse but inflate his frustration. My husband asks for an owner or higher authority and is told they're on vacation. He leaves the shoes with the employees and is told they will send them into Merrel. I call the store upon hearing how he was dealt with and ask how they believe this is appropriate customer service. The Assistant Manager is mild mannered and ask me to let him speak. He explains the same as my husband had already told me about the Merrel policies and Plamondon policies. He asks me if I understand. I find this offensive. I fully understand but I do not find it acceptable from either the retailer or the manufacturer. The Assistant Manager tells me I can come get the shoes, contact Merrel, and send them back myself. So, why did a patronize your store? The shoes were on sale, that is why Hindsight is 20/20 as my family had tried to patronize this establishment weeks prior and were completely ignored by at least three sales associates working that day. We swore never to go back but their sale lured us in. Now we have no shoes and $100 in limbo. I contacted Merrel and they told me that even the shoes were brand new the adhesive could have deteriorated from just sitting on the shelf. They admit they use faulty adhesives, so this makes me not want to buy another pair of Merrel shoes. They told me they apologized for the way the retailer handled the situation but each retailer they deal with is on a different return policy. Merrel also told me I could send the shoes back to them myself but they could not expedite the return process. As of now the shoes are being returned through Plamondon. I asked them to retry looking for the receipt, that I could've made a mistake on the purchase date, they could've been bought on a different one. They use carbon copy receipts and have no way to track a cash sale. They said it would not help as it is up to Merrel and not them at this point since the shoe was on sale and possibly more than a year old but they would try to find the copy of the receipt. This is the kind of situation you would expect from a large volume car dealer and not a local small business specialty shoe store. Maybe if I would've just liked a pair of full price shoes we would've been treated differently.
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