MBTs - Polyurethane soles turning into sponge cake

[Gingernaut]

Was just scammed on ebay and have opened a dispute

Are any MBTs worth having?

Do they all crumble into spongy bits?

These are the shoes. Straight out of the packet. 😡

I didn’t realise they were still made!

I had some when DS was a baby (he’s 17 now) and was unable to replace them when they wore out. I’ve just looked online, and the shops are mostly in mainland Europe.

The MBTs I had just wore through the bottom of the sole, they didn’t crumble like that. Has the side of the sole been damaged?

I guess they're relatively old and it's to do with the material of the sole - Ihad this happen to a pair of walking boots that I'd hardly worn, but were quite old - walked down the road and the thick moulded soles just crumbled away to nothing, it was astonishing. Looked it up and found it's a certain mix of materials thatdoes this if not worn often. But yes you should have a refund

I know when buying running shoes, you’re advised that after 2 years the spongy sole material starts to break down. Have these been unused on a shelf for a long time?

All unknown

Bought them, apparently pristine, from ebay

The sole surface, a different material, is pristine

The rest of the body of the sole is crumbling, after bring compressed into a plastic bag and knocked around the Royal Mail parcel system

And SURPRISE!!!! the seller is not responding to the returns request

Ebay have helpfully stepped in to remind me that I can take this up with them directly on 15th April

Hell yeah. It's over £30 I can't afford to lose

I had this happen to my Buffalo boots - got them out the back of the wardrobe after a couple of years off and the soles crumbled to dust before I'd got to the tram.

It's probably the rubber they're made of.

My first pair went like this. I wore them quite a bit before this happened right enough. One day I just went to put them on and they literally crumbled away in my hands.

i had my first pair of MBTs in 2004 which I wore continuously until 2007 when I returned them to MBT to have *replacement soles fitted. They last another few years. With the second pair I had contemporaneously with the first pair, I didn’t wear them for a few years. Wore them to work one and had to get a bus home as they were falling apart on my feet. By this point they were 9 years old

*Service no longer available

The vendor is quibbling

Hello, Thank you for your message. The condition of the shoes was clearly shown in the listing photos and reflected in the low selling price. Looking at the photos you provided, it appears that the sole has been pressed with fingers which caused the hole. The shoes were not sold with holes in the sole and were exactly as shown in the listing when shipped. Because of this, the damage seems to have occurred after delivery. Please let me know if you can clarify this. Kind regards

I explained that I was aware the shoes were second hand and there was no sign of any damage in the pictures

The shoes were squashed into the packaging, came out crumbling and they were clearly part of the defective batches of MBTs

I await the reply

09:50 today - The seller asked us to review this case and make a final decision

10:08 today - We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase. We're issuing you with a full refund.

Yay. Win.

What do I do with the defective goods I've received?