New(ish) shoes falling apart - advice please!

mattelton90

Hi everyone, thanks for clicking!

I recently purchased some very nice Nike Blazer shoes from a store on eBay called 'topbrandsinternational' which had a nice discount on and looked great. They arrived and were great too! I bought them on the 28th May, they arrived at the start of June, and at the start of this month I noticed two huge tears in the fabric on the heel had appeared, perfectly in line with each other. I've had a few pairs of these shoes over the years and they've all served me really well - my last pair are still going after 18 months. I've arguably used these new shoes much less frequently so I'm a bit perplexed as to how they could have started falling apart so quickly.

I emailed the seller on eBay on the Sunday I found the issue, along with pictures - they replied first thing on Monday to tell me that they'd spoken to the supplier and that it wasn't normal wear and tear but damage done to the shoe. I guess I'd probably be saying this anyway, but I really do look after my shoes and I've never torn such perfect rips in even a throwaway pair. They're suede shoes and I can't imagine ripping them like this by accident while out walking and not noticing. I replied and stated that I didn't feel the shoes were fit for purpose and a £55 pair of shoes should be expected to last longer than a couple of months. I requested anything to resolve it; a refund or a replacement. Again, they refused and told me they weren't willing to do anything.

After doing some reading into the Sale of Goods act I think I am entitled to a refund, or at least a replacement, as they can't be of any decent quality if they've started tearing up already! However it's been long enough that I fear that they could claim I've already 'accepted' it? I wore the shoes once after noticing the damage, and it was just to get home to get new ones!

Am I entitled to, well, anything here?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Oops, I couldn't include the link to the Imgur album. If you're really interested I could put them in a message I suppose!

JJ_Egan

Is the damage along a joint or stitch or in the centre of an area .
The latter suggests damage .
Are they in fact genuine Nike product .

I take it these shoes are canvas type trainer type as opposed to leather shoes .

mattelton90

They're 'Nike Blazer Premium Retro Vintage' shoes, and they're suede. The two tears start where the white sole meets the start of the fabric, and they stretch up about an inch to the white 'swoosh'. I have also noticed two smaller tears on either side of one shoe just along the edge of where the fabric meets the sole, and these two do seem pretty close to the stitching.

Due to how crappy they've gotten I did kind of suspect they might have been fakes but I didn't want to throw out an accusation I couldn't back up! I sent Nike an email asking how I could check but I haven't heard back.

frugal_mike

The Sale of Goods Act has two main phases for consumers, pre-acceptance and post-acceptance. In order to be able to insist on a full refund you must do this pre-acceptance. However your rights don't end after acceptance. If you subsequently find out the goods don't conform to contract you can still insist on a remedy. The possible options are a repair, replacement or a refund. You can't insist on a remedy that is disproportionately costly, so effectively the seller gets to pick the remedy.

Acceptance happens usually after a reasonable amount of time has passed, which I'd say it has in your case since several months have passed. So the question is, do the shoes conform to contract? If the tear happened because of user damage then the seller is not responsible, but if it was because of an inherent fault then you are owed a remedy.

Within the first 6 months the burden of proof is with the seller, so they have to prove the shoes are not inherently faulty. You could argue that they did this by getting the manufacturers opinion, but then you could also argue that the manufacturer is not impartial. If they won't budge then you will have to get an independent report that claims the fault is inherent. If it finds in your favour the seller will need to reimburse you for the cost of the report too.

I'm assuming here that the seller is a business registered in the UK. I'm also assuming there are no ebay-specific options available to get your money back.

mattelton90

Yeah, it has - eBay's protection doesn't last beyond 45 days. I could open a dispute if it comes to it though. I don't deny that at the time I was perfectly happy with the shoes, so acceptance was given then... I guess my main doubt about it is whether two months is really an acceptable amount of time for a pair of shoes to start showing such significant wear and tear. I've not worn them every day, and it's not as if I've gone hiking in them...but it's difficult to know where my idea of reasonable lies compared to the law's. And it's not like I can definitively prove that I didn't damage them...

pinkshoes

If the same tear has appeared on each shoe, then it is highly unlikely to be the consumer that has torn them!

It implies that they are faulty, or perhaps fake??

2 months is not an acceptable amount of time for shoes to last! I've had my Sketchers over 18 months, wear them daily, and they're still great!

Assuming it's this company:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Top-Brands-International/Returns.html

Then they give their address as:
Top Brands International
Unit 10B Lyon Way
London
UB6 0BN
United Kingdom

I would write to them stating that the shoes are faulty, then ask for a refund, repair or replacement as per the Sale of Goods act 1979.

Could you take them to a Nike shop to see if they would verify them as being genuine?

mattelton90

pinkshoes wrote: »

If the same tear has appeared on each shoe, then it is highly unlikely to be the consumer that has torn them!

It implies that they are faulty, or perhaps fake??

2 months is not an acceptable amount of time for shoes to last! I've had my Sketchers over 18 months, wear them daily, and they're still great!

Assuming it's this company...

Then they give their address as:
Top Brands International
Unit 10B Lyon Way
London
UB6 0BN
United Kingdom

I would write to them stating that the shoes are faulty, then ask for a refund, repair or replacement as per the Sale of Goods act 1979.

Could you take them to a Nike shop to see if they would verify them as being genuine?

Maybe I wasn't quite clear - the two tears are about an inch apart on the same shoe. But there are two other holes, again on the same shoe, which are in different places! (I really wish I could include links now!) I guess not being able to prove that I haven't damaged them has put me off chasing it more, but you're right - two months is no good! Ironically a friend has a pair of fakes of a similar style and his have lasted two years!

frugal_mike

You can post 'broken' links (such as www(dot)yourAddressGoesHere(dot)com), and someone else will repost it as a real link.

mattelton90

Okay, thanks! Here's a couple of pics I took of the rips, but not of the ones further down the shoe. I can take some more of those later. I really don't get how this could be accidental damage, they're not the thickest of materials but surely I'd need something sharp to do it that cleanly/straight?

imgur(dot)com/a/FCmf7

frugal_mike

https://imgur.com/a/FCmf7

neilmcl

I have to say that looks like damage to me rather than a fault. It does look like you've scraped or caught the heel against something sharp, possibly without realising it.