SOFT MOC = SHADY BUSINESS PRACTICES

Location: Ontario, Ottawa
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: Head Office

I am writing because I recently experienced the powerlessness of being a consumer. I recently went to Soft Moc and bought their weather protectant spray. On the bottle it states it is good for all fabrics. Just to be sure, I asked the clerk who agreed it can be used on every kind of shoe. On the bottle, it says to test spray on an inconspicuous area. I followed the directions, waited a couple of hours (the recommended time on the bottle) and checked the shoes. No stains. So I sprayed my $110 shoes and now they are ruined! They were black shoes and now they have white spots everywhere - on the fabric, as well as the rubber soles. When I returned to the Billings Bridge location, I brought along my ruined shoes and explained to him I wanted $110 so I could replace my shoes. The clerk seemed annoyed with my problem, just shrugged and said there was nothing he could do about it. Because I bought the shoes at a different store, there was no remedy for my problem, or so they said.

When I called head office, the woman on the other end was extremely rude. She stated this was store policy and I was just going to have to "deal with it." I asked to speak to someone in management and she said they were going to say the same thing to me. I insisted and finally got through to someone higher up. This woman said she would be sending me a cheque for $13.19 for the cost of the spray itself, in the mail, but there was nothing they could do about my ruined shoes because they weren't purchased at Soft Moc. After 3 days of calling management, they offered me a $25 gift card for my $110 shoes.

When you sell a product and it's defective, how is that the consumers fault? The company should be responsible for its failures, not the customer. I sent them pictures of my shoes, and I even offered to send them in the mail - at my expense - if they simply gave me my $110. They declined. You would think, at the very least, the company would want my ruined shoes so they could test them and see what is wrong with thier spray. Was it a bad batch of spray? Or does their spray simply ruin shoes from quality locations? Either way, this is unethical business practice, and I figured this is the only way I can hold them accountable.

In the end, I turned down their $25 gift card because I cannot shop there in good conscience. Now this company is continuing to sell it's spray without taking my ruined shoes and looking into the problem. How many more consumers will be duped into buying this product, only to find that it has ruined their footwear?