Selfridges refusing to refund £875 shoes- help!

[Shoedisastor]

I ordered a pair of Louboutins on selfridges online to wear for my wedding day. This is the second pair I’ve ordered online. The first were from flannels. Ordered them tried them on, on carpet, way too big in size so I sent them back and they refunded me a couple of days later. They didn’t have the size down in stock but Selfridges did so I ordered from there. They came I tried them on, again on carpet and didn’t love them on me so took them back to the Selfridges store. The staff were really helpful and suggested I try them on in a different colour and I loved them and asked to exchange mine. They said since my shoes were an online purchase they need to go back online. Since it was only 2 weeks till my wedding I bought the new pair in store (as the tailors need me to be wearing my shoes for the final fit of my suit) and I repackaged my shoes and sent them back to Selfridges. A few days later they’ve contacted me to say they’ve rejected my return as the shoes are damaged (red sole). Ive emailed back (and called) and explained that I only tried my shoes on carpet and sent them straight back! I packaged them up in their original packaging, dust bags and packing intact exactly as they arrived to me. As I did with the first pair I returned. They were pristine when they left me. Am I going to have no choice but to accept these shoes back? (That I won’t wear and don’t suit me)

Apologies, my first post was a crossover.

Don't change your story.

I would speak to someone at PayPal on the phone and see if they can help under some category.

Those don't look worn outside or on a rough surface to me (I used to work in a fashion shoe shop as a student and had people trying it on with returns all the time).

The sticky label is pretty much intact, there's a bit of pitting but no scratches, scuffing or loss of finish.

You're allowed.to try them on indoors and they're not walking boots so they have to allow for a very small amount of wear and tear to reflect this when there's such a glossy sole. Of course they can't be worn outside or on concrete, but similarly they can't expect them to be like they were straight out of the factory. Shops sell shoes that have been tried on 100 times.

I've never bought Loubs so I don't know how the sole wears but they look genuinely saleable to me.

Check the policy and keep pushing back. Both directly and speak to PayPal to see if there's anything they can do. Maybe under faulty goods? That's kind of what they're claiming now if they cant be resold (bollocks). Lean into how you've bought another pair (loyal customer, not timewaster), show receipt, and it's for your wedding (goodwill).

@Treaclescourer - no, they don't only have to accept a return if it's faulty. Distance selling regulations, for a start. She can return for any reason she likes.

Also, I've shopped online and in person at Selfridges a million times. You can return for a refund (or replacement) as you like.

It is NOT in the OP to return them in "pristine" condition. If she received them marked, she returns them that way

How stressful op

They think she has damaged the item

The shoes do look ‘worn’ from those images

Unfortunately this is a risk to ordering online

OP, quote their own website at them:

"If the item is new and unused, with all the labels and tags intact, and in its original packaging, you'll get a full, no quibble refund"

Your returned shoes are all those things. The red has not scratched off )and it would quickly the second you wore them outside). Dump it on them re you followed the suggestion to try them on on carpet. Really emphasise they must prove you damaged them and you didn't check on receipt because, why would you? Not your problem. You're not a retailer and you didn't keep them.

All you have to do is be a thorn in their side and they will buckle.

I second a PP who said to hype the goodwill element - I did this with NAP once. "SUCH a shame you're behaving like this. Was going to order bridesmaids' stuff through you, set up my gift registry at your store" etc etc

@Treaclescourer - what they THINK versus what they KNOW are two entirely different things. OP is a consumer; they are a corporation. The law sides with the little guy.

If they are denying her her money, soz, the burden is on them to prove why.

They're not new and unused though, are they?

OP doesn't know if they caused the damage or if that was from the shop and they arrived like that, but they're not new and unused. They're not badly damaged or scratched either, but that doesn't mean they tick the "new" box.

I'd agree that the best course of action here is going to be to stress that you followed all the instructions in the box, tried them on once on carpet, and then repackaged them to return.

PayPal won't be interested in a change of mind return. If you funded PayPal via a card, they might cover you, but you'll likely lose your PayPal account as a result, and it's not clear cut, as legally PayPal is a third party and the law doesn't cover payments that go through an intermediary.

I would go into Selfridges and inspect the soles of other shoes on sale to see whether any have marks like yours. Because they are marked and it doesn't look like it would be from carpet. So either:

• they were like that when they arrived and you didn't notice
• you have damaged them somehow trying them on
• they have been damaged in transit on return to selfridges
• they've been damaged on arrival there.

You should try selling them on Vestiaire Collective. You could probably recoup a good bit of the cost if they've never been worn.

I know nothing about Louboutins, but what makes you sure the shoes aren't new and unused from the pics? They look new and unused to me.

Agreed, be a polite pain in the arse. I've just done this (different circs and sadly with some tiles, nothing like as gorgeous as your shoes!) and eventually got a full refund.

Emphasise that you've followed their advice to try on on carpet in good faith. That's their advice.

If any markings have been caused by wearing briefly on carpet then it has been caused by their advice as you wouldn't have taken the risk if advised otherwise.

So if I try on a pair of shoes at the Louboutin boutique (aka on carpet) and don't buy them, is the next customer wanting them actually about to buy "used and worn" shoes? Don't think so. This line of argument is also irrelevant - we're trying to get OP her money back!

I'd go and tweet them over this, OP. As I said, be a thorn, you'll get your money back.

Chances are they have been previously sold and returned.

Keep at it as clearly they have not been worn other than trying on and they cannot prove you made the scratch.

Tell them that you have only worn them on the carpet to check for size, tell them that if they are in an unsaleable condition that they sold them to you in an unsaleable condition and ask them if these are display or previously returned shoes. Tell them that you would like them to escalate this to their customer service manager immediately and if they don't find a satisfactory solution that you are of a mind to pursue the matter in a small claims court. It doesn't matter that you won't do this but it will get the attention of the manager who has a higher level of discretion about waiving any standard protocols.

Go with the truth. You tried them on properly, you didn’t hit check the soles beforehand

You followed the instructions

When I’ve had Louboutins and worn them outside they are scratched to high heaven with even the slightest graze of the pavement! Those look resaleable to me! I’m not sure what their issue is.

Yes - if they had been worn outside, the red would be scratched (and it isn’t). The soles are incredibly delicate. I would follow advice above, particularly Desecratedcoconut and FakeMiddleton and if need be, take them to the small claims court!

Part of the problem must be that the red sole is the most important thing about this shoes. Whoever buys them next is likely to notice they aren't pristine as soon as they start preening them. I picture many of the people who buy these shoes would sit stroking them within the silly little dust covers.

Can Selfridges prove that the pair sent back to you were the same pair you sent them? Can they prove that no one in their returns department thought 'Ooooh, Louboutins in in my size' and walked around in them for a while?

Ideally you would have photographed the shoes as you removed them from the packaging when they arrived and before you returned them. But if you didn't, how do they plan to prove that they're the original shoes?

I have several pairs of Loubs and the soles mark very easily. Those don't look worn outside though as they'd be more damaged.

I, too, wonder what they were like when you received them

The burden is on them to prove you caused the damage and you didn't receive them like that
Of course it isn't.

Regardless of the condition of the shoes, is the shop legally obliged to refund them simply because they were the wrong size? I thought this was only the case if the item was faulty.

It's never going to work, is it, given that OP didn't mention damage when she sent them back.

You could ask for the shoes back and sell them on yourself.