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| - Yikes, I am so sad to write this review as I had read all the previous reviews of this store and was excited to give them my business. However, unfortunately I just had the most UGLY interaction with the store owners and feel like I need to share this with others.
I purchased a pair of new size 39 black sandals (product code 250 L8 M6) from this store on June 12th and paid $113. When I bought the shoes an older gentleman who told me he owned the store with his mother assisted me and the interaction was very pleasant. I tried on a couple of pairs and was happy with my purchase. I left a happy customer and actually told a couple of friends about the good service I had received and the great prices in the store.
Over the next few weeks I wore the sandals and began to break them in. This process was as was expected. I didn't do anything abnormal in the sandals, I wore them around normal day to day activities in the city. After around 2 weeks I started to notice that at the inner side near my big toe the sandals were starting to tear on both shoes and then I also noticed the same at the top of the shoe (above the Birkenstock stamp). The exact same thing was happening on both shoes, and I hadn't got the shoes caught in something or anything like that, which told me that this was a problem with the leather and the shoes were likely defective. I was disappointed about this as breaking the shoes in had been a fairly uncomfortable (but not surprising) process.
I returned to Village Shoe Boutique today, July 8th, and the same man who had served me and his mother were both in the store. I explained what had happened and they both told me that they had never seen this happen before. I acknowledged this and explained that it seemed like this pair were an odd defective pair, that I was very happy with the shoes apart from this fault, and would just like to exchange them for the same pair. When I said this they both became defensive, telling me to contact Birkenstock directly because they had never seen anything like this. I stated that I would prefer to exchange them at this store as this was where I had purchased them. They then offered to exchange them only if I paid an additional $50. I explained that I wasn't willing to do this as the shoes were faulty and it should not be my responsibility to pay additional money because of this.
They then became very hostile, and said that this wasn't the fault of the shoe and that it was obvious that they had been "cut" by someone with a pair of scissors. I asked if they were serious and said that of course this was not what had happened. They said "yes you cut these, you can see, it's obvious". I then summarized what they were telling me - that they were accusing me of buying a pair of brand new shoes, spending time breaking them in, then deciding to cut them myself with a pair of scissors, and returning to the store to ask for an exchange for the same shoes. They said "maybe you didn't cut them, but someone else cut them". I said this was ridiculous. They both became increasingly hostile and told me to contact Birkenstock directly. The man began to give me the phone number and I explained that I would call Birkenstock while in the store so that the company could speak to me and the store owners who had sold me the shoes at the same time. When I said this, they told me to go online to find the number and to get out of the store. I replied that I would certainly be going online and letting people know about this experience.
There were a couple in the store watching and listening to what was going on. I turned to them and recommended that they don't purchase from the store and the woman told me to "shut up" and told the couple not to listen to me. The couple said I wasn't bothering them and that I should be able to speak and say what I wanted. At this, the female store owner grabbed my arm and began to pull me to the front door. At this point they were screaming and yelling at me. I told her to get her hands off of me or I would call the police. I left the store and stood outside shaking.
I am in disbelief at this whole interaction. I was initially disappointed about the faulty shoes but this horrendous customer experience brought the whole incident to another level. I am contacting Birkenstock directly in the hopes that the organization, as a supplier to the store, is able to provide me with some assistance.
Sadly, I would HIGHLY recommend NOT buying anything at this store.
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