Aibu to just keep the bloody shoes? So annoyed

[Sodthemess]

I ordered some trainers from a big retailer that I'd been trying to get but were out of stock. Kept checking online and eventually one came up in my size, so I quickly ordered them.

They arrived today (click and collect), as soon as I got them home it became clear that they'd already been worn. Very dirty soles (definitely worn outside), and also a great dirty black mark on the side of the shoe, faint marks inside too.

I emailed photos straight away to customer services. As I suspected they don't have any more to exchange them, if I want any kind of refund or discount I have to take them into store for an inspection or pay to post them back.

Trouble is I really love the shoes and I may be able to clean them up, the store isn't close at all so would be inconvenient to go back again now.

But on principle I don't see why I should keep a pair of used shoes that I've bought as new. I'd have been happy with a small discount and I'd have tried to clean them up, but it's going to cost me to go to the store which will cancel out any kind of discount anyway.

Wwyd?

I had this with a pair of shoes from M&S many years ago. They accused me of wearing them myself. I ended up just keeping them as I couldn't be arsed to fight.

You could let them know you’d be happy to keep them for a partial refund? I’ve had this before and they offered me 25% refund. Not much but like you I was after these shoes for ages, so I accepted that and cleaned them myself

Send them back, you can fight them to refund the postage.
www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-to-refuse-paying-the-cost-of-returning-a-faulty-item

Yes that's what I asked for, I'd have been happy for a part refund or even a gift card, but they were adamant I'd have to take them in store for an inspection or send them away to be inspected before they'd do anything. Which would more or less cancel out any refund.

I thought that the photos would be enough.

If you used PayPal to pay for them then you can make a claim for the return postage through PayPal too.

Can you post this on their FB wall to see if they change their minds then?

Was this SD? If it was you've got no chance based on previous stories of this kind about them.

What the hell do they need to inspect them for? They'll take one look at them and say 'theyve been worn' and you'll say 'yes, I know, that's why I brought them in for inspection'. waste of everyone's time!

Tbh they've got no way of knowing who wore them. Maybe this is a scam that's pulled all the time. To be honest if they are a store that it's a real pain for you to go in for no reason I'd just keep them

Leave a bad review on their website and SM and wait to see what they do?

Twitter is usually good for these things!

If the trainers are faulty you shouldn’t have to pay for return postage

Thanks, it's JD sports.

My dd bought an item last week and the stitching was coming undone on a seam so she returned them, and also exchanged them for a smaller size. When she tried them on at home they were too small. She returned them again and picked up the original size, which turned out to be the item she’d returned in the first place! The shop had just put them back in the rail even though they were damaged 🤦🏼‍♀️

Phone them rather than emailing.
They tend to be more accommodating over the phone because they don't have time to make excuses or think about what they're saying so if you push you're more likely to get a beneficial outcome.