In October my wife found bigmen.com online and called them. She wanted to buy 12 pair of Florsheim socks. They said they were in stock. Since we live in the Boston area, she made a trip into their Boston location. They actually only had 4 pair in stock and ordered 8 pair. She had to pay for all 12 pair at that time. After repeatedly calling, they finally located the order and the socks in December. She gave them to me for Christmas. After wearing them less than 6 times, the seams started to disintegrate, first at the toes and then along all the seams.
So, in March I returned to the store to get a refund. I spoke with Chuck and he told me that it had been too long. But he said he would see if Florsheim would replace them. He never looked at the socks and refused to take them to send to the manufacturer. All he took was my phone number and name.
I spent the next 2 months calling him to find out what Florsheim had said.in the meantime, I had to replace the socks because I could not wear the ones I bought from him. He kept putting me off and finally said that Florsheim had refused to replace the socks saying it had been too long. He said, "I even sent them one of your socks to show them." Well, that was a lie since he didn't have any of my socks.
So I decided to talk to the manufacturer of the socks and was able to reach Tiffany at Keepers International. They manufacture and distribute the socks for Florsheim.
Tiffany said that she was the sole person who handled orders and issues for these socks. She knew of Stout Men's Shop and said that they had never contacted her about this issue. She apologized for my troubles and offered to replace the socks. I told her that at this point I needed a refund. She said that she would send the store replacement socks if they gave me a refund.
I contacted the store and again they refused to give me a refund. I called Tiffany and she said she would contact the store. The store refused her as well. She sent me the replacement socks and said that she was very sorry but this was the only option open to her and that perhaps the store would give me a refund if I had the socks in hand.
I went to the store and tried to return the socks. They made me wait over 15 minutes and then said, "Oh you have been here before. You just need to deal with it your head that you are never getting a refund. They still have never looked at the original socks and never acknowledge that they could be defective. As I was talking to the woman, she just started walking away to where there was another customer.
At this point I have 12 socks that I do not need. My socks usually last me at least 3-4 years. But more importantly if I hadn't been lucky enough to find Keepers International, a stand up company, I would be out not only the $90 for defective socks but also have no socks to show for it.
A final point, I am no expert, but what struck me was that the socks sent to me by the manufacturer seemed much, much better quality than what I was sold by the store. They were supposed to be the same exact model/style/size. My defective socks look like cheap knock-offs.
Robert
Southborough, MA, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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