My wife has been wearing Tod's for over 16 years. She has had dozens of pairs and swears by the quality and craftsmanship of the shoes. Unfortunately recent experiences in the NYC and Beverly Hills boutiques have proven that the sales and customer service end of Tod's leaves much to be desired. If Tod's shoes cost $50.00 per pair as opposed to $450.00 I could understand this breakdown in customer service - but when you run one of the best shoe brands in the world, your customer service has to match.
During a visit to the NYC boutique my wife, who has been wearing a 39.5 size for many years was assured that a sz 40 driving moccasin was exactly what she needed - this by Carlos, a sales person who was servicing two customers at once and couldn't be bothered to either greet his customers or check sizes for accuracy. Carlos proceeded to ring up the sale while my wife was still shopping for other shoes. Essentially he wanted to close the transaction as fast as he could in order to get the next transaction. That's not the service that Tod's sales people are known for.
Upon returning to LA my wife found that Carlos was indeed incorrect and despite his assurances, the shoes did not fit. In the defense of Tod's, since they are handmade there are occasional small sizing differences. But in retrospect this seemed a case of a salesman wanting to make a buck as opposed to taking time to service the customer correctly.
My wife decides to visit the Beverly Hills boutique in order to exchange the shoes. She promptly finds a suitable pair. The Manager of the BH store - Stephanie - insists that the NYC pair has to be returned to NYC. So instead of using common sense and exchanging the shoes right then and there, Stephanie insists that my wife has to leave her shoes and WAIT for NYC to send the VERY SAME PAIR that Beverly Hills had in stock right there. What kind of nonsense is that?
Days passed - no shoes. After 1 week had passed without any word from Tod's my wife called and was assured the shoes would be sent the very NEXT day. Another week passed - still no shoes. My wife called the Beverly Hills Tod's again. The call was handed from one person to another and nobody had any information whatsoever. She was told this needed research and someone would call back. Nobody did. The shoes arrived and at that point my wife was so sick and tired of this mess she returned the shoes to the Beverly Hills store. By the time this episode was concluded my wife was seriously considering driving the 47 miles to Costa Mesa ( the next closest Tod's store). There is a silver lining in this story - my wife returned the mailed shoes with the help of Jen, and Assistant Manager in Beverly Hills, who handled everything with the usual aplomb and efficiency that we have come to appreciate over the years.
Its is incomprehensible to me how a brand that prides itself on quality and craftsmanship can fail so completely in the customer service department. It makes no sense. read more