I had a good first impression of this place as they seemed to have a wide selection. But quality assessment + customer service experience = 2 stars :(
I bought a dance shoe from the rack where they sell shoes they don't make themselves (which is.. uh.. most stores). I paid just below $100 for a dance shoe.... from a shop that specializes in... dance shoes (not Payless lol). I spent a good deal of time making a choice and trying on shoes, talking with the owner guy, etc.
I was surprised when one of the straps came unglued on my 2nd hour of light wear. I'm a dancer and my dancer friends mentioned a dance shoe even of average quality should last 8 hours of wear everyday for 3 months before something like that might finally happen!
I can deal with a shoe breaking and having to bring it for repair and what not. The reason I dock 3 stars is the owner guy's way of handling me letting him know what happened. His response was defensive, unapologetic, and put all the responsibility on the customer for having this experience.
I'll state his argument which was repeated robotically and which will likely be repeated here again if he responds to this review. His stance is "that's why we have big signs saying sold as is", "that's why we have a half off rack", "we don't know how people treat the shoes that cause them to break."
What he is failing to validate is that a shoe that fails after the first 2 hours of light wear IS the shop's responsibility. Most shops don't make their own shoes, but will take care of the customer by conveying, "I'm sorry... yeah a dance shoe shouldn't break that easily, even when it's not the most expensive shoe we have. And I hear you that you only wore it lightly, of course that's NOT your fault. I take responsibility for the products I sell in my store of unknown quality, because that is the risk I take as a business owner. What can I do to make it right?"
The guy did reluctantly agree to gluing it, but I did not feel truly invited to bringing the shoe in for repair. He also said if I did, I "wouldn't be allowed" to make another purchase from the particular rack I bought from. Okay, so your customer service strategy is... punishment?? lol
Again, a shoe breaks. You repair it. It's not about all that. It's the attitude lacking accountability. Lacking acknowledgment that this is not the customers fault. That it's not reasonable or "okay" that a shoe came unglued within 2 hours from a supposedly high quality shop.
The irony?? This simple accountability and acknowledgment would have earned the business 2 more stars with 1 docked for the surprisingly low quality shoe! I wasn't asking for a refund or anything. Just a customer care attitude. Rather than a repeat of justifications why it was a-okay that this happened. I will be honest to my dancer friends about my experience of this shop. read more