ENG: It is a very small shop, supposedly belonging to the Riker distribution network, conveniently…read morelocated on a busy commercial street near the local Saint Symphorien church. They have a number of different shoe makes and brands, unfortunately the positives end here. TLDR: The owners are a rude crazy woman - who will scream obscenities at you in front of other clients, and a grumpy old man, who will sell you bad shoes and decline responsibility, hoping you're just another clueless tourist, who will never return to Versailles. Avoid absolutely!
RUS: - ( ) , .
We've been living in Versailles for the past 10 years, and oftentimes we have passed by this small shop, wanting to try out buying something from it, but never had the occasion to do so.
On 11th of January we went there to buy some winter shoes ("bottines") for my mother, who often travels to and fro Versailles and within Europe, but needs a translator from time to time, as her vast knowledge of languages has left her, recently. She has a complete understanding of the French language, including its intricacies and vernaculars, but very limited command, She is a card-carrying Riker, Salamander, Ecco and Mephisto shop member and walks every day - so far none of her shoes gave her any reason to doubt those distributors.
We bought a pair of blue winter shoes of the "Yves de Saint Cyr" brand (which happened to be discounted from 109 euro to 80 euro - but discounts do not matter to us - quality and beauty does), which we assumed would be a good local brand, and we intended to both try it out for potential purchases, and for the sake of buying shoes for rest of our big and friendly extended family of 20+ people.
You cannot imagine my mother's surprise when after the !first hour! of wear the rubber heal of the shoes started to mushroom out and there were 2 stones stuck inside the rubber sole, unfortunately the shoes, which fit nicely in the shop, were one size too small, as well so my mother went to the shop, by herself, on 12th of January to replace them with a larger pair.
Before doing so, my mother washed the shoes by hand using ecco shoe care products and carefully extracted the 2 stones from the sole, thinking it would be expected and polite for the client to
The man, who I suppose is the shop co-owner, told her on 12th of January to return next Tuesday 17th of January, for a reason that is mysterious to me even after my visit to the shop with my mother this afternoon of 24th January 2017.
Anyhow, when we came to the shop today, with the original shoe packaging, bag, clean shoes and the bill, the woman owner refused to acknowledge us, lied that no shop in France accepts shoes which were worn even a single time (Usines Center, Salamander and pretty much every Riker shop Europe-wide - Russia, Germany, Norway - accepts returns and exchanges for a minimum of 14 days or 2 work weeks , and even the little shoe repair shop next door to Chaussures Armel offers a 3 MONTH return policy on old refurbished shoes - talk about a real return policy), and then started to scream at my mother (a 67-year old woman) in front of the 2 other clients, saying that "I don't know what hole you are coming from, but this is how things are in France, I have been working there for 30 years and it has always been this way".
If that person is ever going to read this - Madam, this is not how things are in France, because we have been visiting the Western Europe for pretty much 3 generations (100+ years) and living there for almost 30, but you simply do not deserve our business and the business of every tourist coming to your city, it is a wonder that you are still open.
There was one young woman vendor who was much calmer, and I suspect an employee ("an owner, after all, cannot fire herself for unacceptably rude behavior" - a very just remark of my girlfriend after going to the shop with us and silently witnessing all the scene), who tried to contain the situation and I am happy that even in such shops there are reasonable people who try to save the image of an undeserving owner.
However, we left and went to resole my mother's shoes to the shoe repair shop, as she won't be wearing them anyway, but is going to give them away to a friend, as she often does with the shoes which do not fit.
Do not go there, do not buy the "Yves de Saint Cyr" shoes
