Good Shoes - Poor Strategy

They have wonderful quality shoes, but I will not buy them there on principle. The salesman encouraged me to buy 'today', because the shoes were "On Sale" (there were discount signs 20-50% off all over the store, including on the shoe itself). I asked how much the shoes were and he gave me the same price as they were marked. I commented that the posted prices seemed high and asked what the pre-sale price was (like were they 20% or 40% off the original). The salesman said that there was no pre-sale price; the shoes were always on "sale". Well this kind of bait & switch is illegal. I didn't report them, but I don't want to fund them either.

To be clear, the shoes were marked with a "Sale" price tag, without any original price.

My worst customer experience--ever. I bought a pair of boots, and was told that I'd have 7 days to return them if I changed my mind. I came back 3 days later, and the salesman didn't know how to process the return. He told me to come back to the store 5-10 minutes later, after he spoke to the owner, but he still didn't know how to process the return when I came back and told me to come back in another 30 minutes. So I came back an hour later, only to find out that the salesman still didn't know how to process the return.

I spoke to the owner on the phone and he told me to come back another day and assured me that they'd be able to process the return then. Needless to say, I was not happy about the prospect of having to come back a 4th time, but agreed to come back that Saturday.

When I came back, they fiddled with the debit machine for 30 minutes, saying that there wasn't something wrong with my debit card (i.e., that it's scratched). I pointed out, however, that I don't have problems with my card elsewhere and, moreover, had used that card to make the purchase at their store only days earlier.

They called TD Bank to figure out how to work the debit machine. They relayed that TD said it wasn't possible to process returns via debit. I thought that was strange because I've done returns using debit without any problems. I asked them to pass the phone to me, upon which I learned from the TD Bank rep. that the store had opted not to have the capacity to process returns on their debit machine--so all their fidgeting with the machine was pointless!!!

They told me that I could come back to pick up a cheque from them or that they could send it via mail. I told them that I wasn't going to come back a 5th time to the store and that, frankly, I didn't trust them to send a cheque via mail. Since debit didn't work, I wanted cash. He told me that "sweetie" it's not possible because there wasn't enough money in the till. I told them that they could get it from the bank. Finally, the salesman took $150 out of his wallet.

All in all, their incompetence (and perhaps even dishonesty) = a waste of time and energy. Will not go back to this store and I advise other chicks not to go either!

If you want uber comfortable quality shoes, you must check out The Blue Shoebox. They have 2 locations. One on the Danforth (499 Danforth Avenue) and a brand new location on Queen St W (693 Queen St. W).

I popped in here last weekend while my husband was looking for some comfortable shoes to walk to work in. They carry several brands for men and women and all shoes have two things in common: comfort and quality. Owner, Eliseo says he refuses to carry anything that isn't comfortable. That means ladies, you won't find a heel here higher than 2 inches, but if you want comfortable low heeled boots or shoes they've got you covered. You needn't sacrifice style either as they have plenty of sweet options to choose from.

I bought these cute low heeled shoes (pictured) for $100 on sale. They are Born's "Situla" shoe and are as comfortable as slippers. Honestly, these are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. Born footwear is handsewn and made using recyclable organic and natural materials. In addition, all packaging is made from recyclabled materials right down to the soy and water based inks. You can see their other styles at www.bornshoes.com

Eliseo is equally concerned about the environment and told us he plans to phase out their plastic shopping bags in favor of recyclable bags he will be bringing in shortly. Our service was exceptional and we both left with a pair of shoes that are wonderfully comfortable and stylish. We'll definitely be back.