How to find out if something is fake?

aliasojo

Ages (and I mean ages) ago I bought a pair of Kickers boots. I've worn Kickers shoes and boots for years as the fit has always been pretty standard no matter what type of shoe it is and suits my foot well.

Anyway, this pair arrived and they were far too tight, I couldn't even get them on. I put it down to experience as it wasn't the seller's fault they didn't fit me.

I was going to sell them on again to try to recoup some of the cost but someone has just pointed out that she thinks they might be fake. Looking at them again, this does seem possible I suppose and maybe that's why the fit was so off.

How would I find out for sure? I obviously wont be selling them if they are fake but nor do I really want to dump them, they cost me £50.

Any suggestions please?

charlottevwa

Good morning

You need to take them in to a shop which sells kickers and ask one of the employees there, they will look for the signs of them being fake etc. Any shop will do, so long as it selles kickers HTH

aliasojo

Thanks Charlottevwa. I didn't realise it was so simple, lol.

As far as I know, there's only Schuh near us that sells Kickers so I'll try them.

brettcta

you might have to ask a manager to have a butchers at them

paisley_lass

your local trading standards can confirm this also.

aliasojo

Never thought about them, thanks paisley lass.

I phoned Schuh and they said someone would be able to look at them for me and confirm whether they are fake or not so I'll try that first.

Hintza

charlottevwa wrote: »

Good morning

You need to take them in to a shop which sells kickers and ask one of the employees there, they will look for the signs of them being fake etc. Any shop will do, so long as it selles kickers HTH

Bit of a kick in the teeth for the shop. I don't want to pay your prices but I want to use your expoertise for nothing is basically what you are suggesting!! Not very fair.

aliasojo

Not sure I agree with that Hintza. It's not like people would do this every day is it?

The shop might view this as an opportunity simply to be helpful. Not everything has to be about money, they had 2 basic options here.........help or dont help.

If they help, they put themselves in a positive light with regards to people skills and customer service and someone like me may well consider shopping there in future as a result whereas normally I would not have thought about buying from there purely because it's always seemed a bit too 'young' for me.

If they dont help (when it would cost them nothing but a few minutes of their time), then they run the risk of alienating possible future customers.

I could see your point if this type of thing was a frequent occurrence but I wouldn't have thought that was very likely?

I dont think it's unfair to approach someone more knowledgeable than yourself for advice, even if it is their business. They do have the option of refusing.

When I called, the lady who answered the phone had no problem at all about having a look at them, she was only to happy to help, she obviously knows the value of reputation and service.

Having said all that, it's only opinion at the end of the day and we wont all feel the same. :beer:

superskilly

contact the shop/ trading standars then email the seller explain it was a while ago but you ahve reason to belive they are fake and that you have no choice but to pass their contact details onto the correct authority, and see what happens