WALK AWAY FROM THE RUNNING STORE!!!

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies!

In the interest of providing a public service, I want to make you aware of some things about The Running Store in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The store was originally established as Tri-Running.  A friend of mine suggested we go there as they offered great service.  The employees were educated about how to determine one's gait to establish whether one had a neutral walk or something else.  (There is discussion that this is not important in determining the best shoe for walking or running.  You make the call.)

At any rate, we visited there, received a lot of good information from the employees, and purchased walking shoes we liked.  While the pricing at Tri-Running was slightly above Zappo's and other online retailers, plus we had to pay tax, it wasn't significant enough to cause any concern.  We made that decision consciously.  And we have recommended the store (Tri-Running) to a lot of folks we know, some of whom we know for certain have been there.

This past week, we both had a need for a new pair of walking shoes.  We went back to the store where we had had success in the past.  We were surprised to find the name changed and the store space cut by more than half!!  The two young men there were very nice... but they offered no actual "services" other than asking about our size and if we had any preference of brand.  Hmmmm.  This should have clued us in that things had changed... and not necessarily for the better.  However... in the interest of shopping locally, we moved forward with trying on some shoes.

After finding a pair we liked (we both liked the same pair!), we checked out at the register.  We left the store thinking the price of the shoes was rather high.  Later on, we decided to check Zappo's for the pricing there.  While Zappo's is not a discount store, they do offer good and typical pricing.  Surprise!  The Running Store charged full MSRP for the shoes, a substantial $30 more than Zappo's (and a huge number of other online retailers including Nordstrom's!).  This was a 25% higher price.  Hold on!!  We're all about supporting a local business... but this is not acceptable.

So... I took both pair back to The Running Store in Lake Charles a day-and-a-half later.  Neither pair had done anything but ride in my vehicle.  They had not been touched.  I was very surprised and confused when the young man there told me they did not issue refunds on shoes.  They would only issue store credit.  What?!?  Other than a clearance sale, who doesn't refund on unused items?  I am typing below the exact wording printed on the credit card receipt.  Bear in mind, there was absolutely NO posted signage within the store indicating there were no refunds on shoes.  I guess one had to purchase a non-refundable item before finding out it was non-refundable?  Hmmmmm.

Printed on the receipt (exact words although in much larger print than is on the receipt!):

"Exchange Policy.
Shoes:  If after several test runs you find your runs painful as a result of the shoe, please exchange them within 30 days of purchase and we will apply your exchange toward another product.  Special orders for styles/sizes/colors not in stock are subject to a $10 shipping fee.
Other items:  Refunds are granted only when exchange item is unused (with tags or packaging) and within 30 days of purchase with receipt.  Electronics may only be exchanged if unused and in unopened packaging."

Alright.  After you have read it, how do you interpret it?  It appears to me that if I USE the shoes, I can only exchange the shoes.  That's fair.  One cannot sell used shoes as new!  I get it.  If I return used shoes, I should not expect a refund.  However... the policy stated does not seem to address returning NEW, UNUSED shoes?  In fact, the "Shoe" section clearly only addresses shoes that have been used.  That's my take.  Wonder what the legal eagles would say about it?  Hmmmmm.

At any rate, the young man reached out to the "new" owner (now we have confirmed the store was sold).  He spoke with me on the phone.  I asked him to either refund the price and I would leave the shoes... or at least refund the price difference and I would keep them.  At this point, the new owner made it quite clear (implicitly) his interest was strictly in profit and customers were not important.  While he tried to tell me he had to pay shipping to receive the shoes and he couldn't not charge tax, I simply responded that Zappo's (and other onine retailers) actually paid the shipping to get the product as well as to ship it out to customers!  Zappo's even pays return shipping if the product isn't satisfactory... for ANY reason!  I knew I would pay tax purchasing locally.  He continued that he had overhead that Zappo's didn't have.  Uh... I wonder if Zappo's is aware they have such little overhead!  *chuckle*  They might argue that point.

Let's just say this about all that.  If you don't mind paying full MSRP for something you can get a lot of other places for at least 20% less, overnight in some cases, without paying taxes or shipping, please feel free to give The Running Store your business.  If you believe that fair pricing and customer service are important, I suggest you simply walk away from The Running Store.

Until next post...