A Lopsided Result For Lopsided Shoes

I was in a shoe shop recently. Browsing the sales, I saw a pair of boots I rather liked, half-price at £35. I tried them on, they seemed fine, and I brought them home.

I wore them out that evening, and one felt a bit strange. When I unzipped them to take them off, I found that they were different sizes: one a thirty-nine and one a thirty-eight.

The next day, I took them back to the shop. The manager refused to exchange them.

Manager: “They were stamped wrongly. They’re actually the same size.”

He tried to prove it by lining up the heels and soles and saying they matched.

Me: “So, why does one feel tight and the other doesn’t?”

Manager: “Well, your feet must be different sizes.”

Me: “Then every other pair of shoes I’ve had in my life has been wrong and yours are right?”

Manager: “Yes. I’m not going to exchange them; there’s nothing wrong with them.”

I told a few customers in the shop what was going on and they started to leave. To shut me up, the manager gave me the number of his head office, which I went home and called. The owner said he would ring the shop and tell the manager to give me new boots, an exchange, or a refund, whichever I wanted.

I went back and told the manager I didn’t want the boots anymore; I wanted a refund. He gave me a refund — of £70, the original price.

I didn’t tell him; he should not have argued with me.