Marks & Spencer not exchanging a faulty pair of shoes - what should I do?

Noddy1

hamish222 wrote: »

My mum took back some shoes to marks as had stretched after she had wore them a few times. But had been months as hadn't worn them straight away. Cashier had said just need to check with manager. I was browsing at time and happened to be where manager was when cashier came over to speak to him. (she didnt know I was with mum) When she asked him? He said how does she look? Cashier said she is very well dressed and wearing a nice coat. Straight away he said give her full refund. Mum was more delighted about being described as well dressed than getting her cash back.

I see, now it makes sense. I went in wearing ordinary casual clothes i.e. jeans and fleece.

From the very get-go they were saying a solid no "that's not something we can do anything about." In fact, I didn't like the way the first person I spoke to was talking to me.

notbritishgas

Noddy1 wrote: »

I see, now it makes sense. I went in wearing ordinary casual clothes i.e. jeans and fleece.

From the very get-go they were saying a solid no "that's not something we can do anything about." In fact, I didn't like the way the first person I spoke to was talking to me.

No it would be the hat with a bell on that did it.:rotfl:

DUKE

I returned a cardigan to M&S as it went all bitty in the wash & looked like something really old rather than new. They said I couldn't get my money back as I'd washed the cardigan & that's what caused the problem. I argued that it shouldn't look like that after one wash, & they gave me a credit note. Also I returned shoes when I realized that they'd been put on sale for half of what I'd paid. I told them I'd got the wrong size then acted all shocked when they told me they were in a sale. I got 2 pairs with the money I'd saved. I'd go to another M&S. Failing all else you could try putting a bit of polish on them. I had some lovely comfy boots but unfortunately they faded a bit & looked pink rather than red, so after buffing up with polish, they're now back to their former glory. Good Luck!

POPPYOSCAR

Never had a problem returning anything to M&S no matter what I have been wearing.

Just try another store.

Blether

s_b wrote: »

that just reiterates why im a die hard matalan shopper now
brother bought a £36 coat from marks i bought same coat from matalan for £7 his zip broke before mine he took his back and they changed it,i threw mine away and wore replacement 2 i still had another 3 in my stock
his second one broke its zip and he then agreed matalan is suitable for work clothes and a proper money saving option

marks are now too expensive and are living on their past laurels

Totally agree. Do buy out of Marks but always as a final reduction and have had some terrible items. A jumper that was supposed to be £39.50 and it stretched to about double the size and bobbled terribly. I felt done and I had only paid about £9.00. Regularly buy from Matalan and there clothes last as well and cost a lot less.

Enterprise_1701C

I had a problem with some shoes we bought from M&S for my DS for school. He was VERY rough on his shoes, but I would not accept shoes advertised as boys school shoes practically wearing through on the top of the toe within a month. They tried to refuse me but I managed to burst into tears (easy with a bit of practice, used to use this quite regularly pre-MSE) and the manager came out who could not cope with a crying woman so I got a full refund and went and bought some from Clarkes!

Infiltrator_2

Firstly, when they refused to refund or replace, I'd have asked (politely) for their names, and I'd have written them down and made sure they were spelled correctly. Asking for their names always seems to take the discussion to a new level. Then ask how to escalate the complaint, or ask to talk to a manager.

Elvisia

I would second the post where you say they're not fit for purpose. Try again, and ask to speak to a manager, and say they're not fit for purpose, and as a gesture of goodwill you'd like an exchange. If they still say no then ask where to send them to at HQ. I used to work on BBC Watchdog and it sounds like the sort of very simple case we'd get queries about every week, M&S have to at the very least exchange as you would expect shoes to have a reasonable life.

I was in M&S the other day and a woman wanted a refund on a not refundable (manager's reduction) dress, she had bought it in a size 14 and said she couldn't get it anywhere near her so it wasn't a 14 and therefore not fit for purpose. They told her they could do nothing and to try head office. Personally I had to bite my tongue to stop from interrupting and saying "Madam, blatantly you are a size 18 at least, I am surprised you managed to get so much as a leg into that dress".

But anyway my point was ask to speak to Head Office if they still don't exchange.

BargainJunky

My mum had a problem years ago with a pair of M&S shoes. She wore the shoes out in the rain just after purchase - one leaked the other didnt. She took them back to M&S and they told her their was nothing they could do as she had been walking in puddles! She was over 60 at the time and I dont think she enjoyed jumping in puddles. I wrote a letter to the manager and hand delivered it to Customer Services within an hour I had a telephone call asking me to return to the store where they would arrange a full refund.

Noddy1

I sent the following email to M&S and await their reply. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to inform you of a shocking experience I had at the High Street Kensington store on 19 March 2012, where I was unjustly made to feel like an illegitimate fraud by your customer service staff. This email address I am using to contact you was provided to me by one of the posters on Moneysavingexpert forum, where I have posted details about the event to ask for advice.

On the 26th of February I purchased a pair of AirFlex shoes from M&S for £60, to replace the previous Autograph-brand shoes which I have worn for the past 3-and-a-half years and which have only now begun to look a little worn out.

After wearing the shoes for only 9 days from 8:30-17:30, and 3 days from 8:30-12:30, the shoes were tattered so badly that, to me, the damage seems beyond repair. After informing my mother about the situation, she told me to take the shoes back to M&S since she has had good experiences from you with these sorts of things in the past.

So I arrived at the exchange & refund desk and began speaking to the cashier, trying to explain my situation to him. However, the cashier looked almost frustrated that he had to listen to what I was saying, and interrupted me after about 30 seconds asking “so what’s actually wrong with the shoes?” When I showed him the shoes his immediate reaction was “no, sorry, that’s not something we can do anything about.” He said this without even taking the shoes in his hands, or making any attempt to examine them.

When I said I was surprised since I think there really must be something wrong with the material for it to get damaged so quickly, he told me to go and speak to his colleague in the shoes department, someone called “yyyyy” (a mysterious “shoe specialist” that I never actually met). When I arrived at the shoes department, they were surprised that I had been sent there and a man called xxx took me back to the exchange & refunds department. xxx spoke with the man I originally spoke to (cashier), and then listened to my story more fully. After hearing my story, the two went off into a backroom and discussed my case. On returning to the desk, there were 3 people (a 3rd man had joined them).

At this point, although I maintained a calm demeanour whilst in your store, the behaviour of your staff becameextremely offensive. xxx asked me if I still had my receipt, at which point the cashier took on a mischievous grin on his face looking as though he fully expected me not to have one. I said “yes, of course.” xxx asked “May I see it?” And I took the receipt out of my wallet, and all three of them looked shocked.

The 3rd man then looked at the receipt and said “this is from last year, it’s out of date!” To which xxx responded before I had a chance, “no, it’s from this year.” The man insisted saying “no it’s not,” but after careful inspection of the receipt he agreed. The 3rd man then said “well, is it the correct receipt for these shoes?” xxx checked a reference number and said “yes, it’s for these shoes.” The 3rd man was then cheeky enough to ask xxx “are you sure?”

I am shocked at how your staff so clearly and openly demonstrated that they thought of me as some sort of fraud, expecting me not to have a valid receipt.

After this episode, xxx told me to wait whilst he went and spoke to the mysterious yyyyy “shoe specialist” character. xxx returned in less than a minute, and told me that yyyyy had looked at the shoes and decided it was my fault. The shoes had become damaged because I had hit them against something.

I said to xxx that this was odd since the damage was mostly on the inner aspect of the shoes, to which xxx responded by saying I must be hitting them against each other. I then told him that I'm sure that must be true since the material would not come off just by itself, but why are these shoes getting damaged so easily when none of my previous shoes have ever become damaged so quickly, and my last shoes are only now looking as bad as these do? I asked if the material was of poor quality. xxx responded saying “no, the material is fine, it’s just a matter of how you wear them. If you walk a lot then shoes will become damaged, even in 10-15 days.”

At this point, xxx said that if I wanted he could send them to a technician at head office, but he was confident they would say exactly the same thing. I asked him how I would go to work in the meantime with no shoes, and xxx just responded by saying “that’s the price you’ve got to pay.” At this point I took my leave by saying OK if that’s the way it is, I will come back when I have brought another pair of shoes from my family home so that I have something else to wear at work.

The way I was treated by your staff was appalling. Furthermore, I have been provided with advice from fellow posters on the MSE forums regarding my consumer rights. They tell me that when I buy any product, it should be:
• of satisfactory quality – last for the time you would expect it to and be free of any defects
• fit for purpose – fit for the use described and any specific use you made clear to the trader
• as described – match the description on packaging or what the trader told you
I hope you agree that I do not spend £60 on a pair of shoes expecting to buy a new pair every month. The shoes have not been used in any strenuous environment. As a hospital doctor, all I have used these shoes for is to travel to work, walk about in hospital, and come back home. They are, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst quality pair of shoes I have ever owned.

I hope to hear from you regarding what action you will take to prevent this sort of ridiculous behaviour being perpetrated by your staff at the High Street Kensington in future. I would also appreciate a prompt resolution to my issues, taking into account my rights as a consumer.

Yours sincerely,
xxxxxx