Quality Shoe & Foot Care

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2016/06/06) */
Our business policies include the following:
1) Shoes are accepted for repair either pre-paid or with a depositThis has been our practice, as well as industry standard, for many years, due to the problem of large numbers of abandoned shoes
that have received (a sometimes significant amount) of work time and materials expenseEven with deposits, we have dozens of unclaimed and abandoned repaired shoes each year that we donate to charities (Homeless Shelter, Salvation Army, and American Cancer Society Discovery Shop are most frequent recipients)
2) The claim ticket issued to the customer when the shoes are accepted has a piday (Mon - Fri) for the completion of repairs, typically 3-days after drop offThe ticket includes the message, "Not responsible for shoes left after days."
3) It is our customary practice to include a courtesy phone contact to customers whose shoes have been unclaimed for at least daysThe 30-day guideline on the ticket is to stimulate quicker pick up, but the shoes are always held for a longer period of time for our customer's convenienceIf for any reason we are unable to contact the customer by the phone number provided when they dropped the shoes off, we move the shoes to a separate box and do not donate the abandoned repaired shoes to charity until at least months, and sometimes a year or more, after their original pickup dateIn good faith, we do attempt the initial courtesy contact but are unable to make repeated calls due to the large volume of shoes
It is not uncommon for a customer to come in with a claim ticket, looking for shoes that they had already picked up without the ticket, because they forgot to bring it inCustomers have called on many occasions to report that they "found the shoes" at home that they had just attempted to claim, apologizing for the time that we spent looking through dozens of shoes at the shopWe are certainly not claiming that the customer has the shoes at home, only that this does happen, in our experience, particularly with customers with a very large number of shoes
By the customer's report, she left the shoes a minimum of seasons - fall through spring - she does not give dates and did not provide a dated receipt, only provided the claim ticket, which has a day of the week on itOur claim tickets change numbers every 10,customers and it appears the customer's claim ticket may be well over one year old, but without a copy of the dated receipt, we would have no way of knowing the exact original drop-off date
We regret the customer's misunderstanding and perception concerning typical shoe repair practices and that the communication of our policy was one of lack of concern for herThese have been our standard policies for the 35+ years that the business has been in Bakersfield, as well as the two generations of shoe repair in our family preceding this businessOur customers have always understood that we are unable to hold shoes indefinitely, due to the thousands of shoes that move through the shop and our limited storageWe appreciate and care about our customers, have built our business on quality and integrity, and always strive to be friendly and respectfulThis is a family business, father and son, and customer satisfaction is very important to us
Business Owner's Resolution:
The customer indicates that, "there was no offer to reimburse me for the amount I prepaid on repairs." To our best recollection of the exchanges with the customer, she did not ask for a reimbursementIt is not our policy to reimburse for the work time and materials expense we provided in good faith on a pair of shoes that have been abandoned, but we are willing to reimburse this payment to her due to the customer's misunderstanding of typical shoe repair practice, once we have knowledge of the amount paid (not indicated in her complaint)
Also, although we have not had other expressions of concern by our customers regarding abandoned shoes, we will seriously consider the customer's suggestion of posting a sign inside the shop, indicating that due to storage limitations, all shoes left more then days after repairs are completed may be donated to charityWe will continue our practice of holding repaired shoes for at least days before donating, for our customers' convenience and to also attempt a courtesy reminder call, as long as time and workload allows
The customer's expressed desired resolution is for acknowledgement of "bad business," which we are unwilling to doWe believe that we engage in positive and ethical business practices and are not responsible for the customer's abandonment of her shoesHowever, we do acknowledge sincere regret that this issue resulted in an unhappy customer
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2016/06/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I appreciate the response from Quality Shoe RepairHowever, they seem to miss the point of what is meant by "bad business"
I did not ever request nor am I requesting reimbursement for the prepaid amount for repairing my shoesThe issue is customer careMy concerns were of no concern to either father or sonFrom the onset, I was wrong; they were right and there was no offer of understanding to any degree in our conversationsThe father and son were both dismissive and, frankly, rude in their conversations with me....that is bad businessThe longevity of a business does not exempt it from considerate care and being open to listen
Finally, while the practice of donating someone's property without their consent is a common practice in the shoe repair business, it may surprise the owner to know that not everyone is aware of that practiceAssuming all customers know or should know about and accept that practice is bad business
In the end, a simple, "I am sorry you are upsetI don't blame you Let me explain..." would have resolved the whole problem for meAnd, the addition of, "you know posting a sign might be s good idea" would have made me a customer for life....that would be "good business"
Again, I thank Quality Shoe Repair for the time invested in responding to my complaintI hope they have a better understanding of the real meaning of "good business practices"
Final Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2016/06/20) */
In our original response to the customer's complaint, we expressed sincere regret that she is unhappy, explained our customary abandoned- shoe policies, offered to reimburse what she paid to us for performing repairs on her shoes, as well as indicating that we appreciated her suggestion for posting a a sign in the shop with our abandoned-shoe policy in addition to our practice of having a time limit on the claim checkWe apologize if we were dismissive or rude to her in any way on any of the three visits she made to our shop to continue to inquire about the shoesBeing rude or dismissive to a customer is surely not a good business practice, and we would not willingly engage in this uncharacteristic and inappropriate responseWhen the customer continued to come back multiple times, we may have needed to more thoroughly and patiently explain our policies, rather than allowing ourselves to become frustrated with the demands on our limited timeWe have not ever had a complaint of this type before, and it is apparent by the customer's reaction that we did not handle it as well as we could have in this particular situationWe hope that both parties now have a better understanding of the issues regarding this complaint and can now resolve and move forward
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 16, 2016/06/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Quality Shoe Repair remains relentless in defense of their policies and practices in this matterMy complaint is very straight forward and based strictly on customer serviceI remain steadfast in the fact that they were rude, self-righteous, indifferent, and dismissive to my questions and/or concerns from the first time I attempted to pick up my shoesThere was never an overture of any kind to collaborate toward a resolution until contacted by the Revdex.comIt is a case that, from the beginning, merely required a simple, sincere apology that is not shrouded in excuses and a commitment to honest reflection on customer service practices