DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse

The lines here are sometimes ridiculously long but the huge assortment of shoes makes up for it. The assortment can be overwhelming at times. They have some very pretty stuff. I’ve gotten several compliments on my shoes from here. One pet peeve is they seem to have everything but my size sometimes. They can be pricey but once in a while they have a good sale. Plus the clearance area in the back is pretty big.

I’m debating canceling my DSW Frequent Shopper membership (which I’ve had for less than a week) because of my experience at this store. Hopefully my home store makes up for the insidiousness of this one.
Before I move on to my story, DSW has an impressive selection of shoes for any lifestyle. It’s pretty well organized in rows with displays of each shoe and the sizes easily visible. This store, also, because it’s pretty new, is very clean. Not to mention the HUGE, somewhat hidden room in the back with clearance shoes ranging from 30% to 50% off the marked price. Lots of good deals back there. They also have high quality brand names for the shoe snobs. All of this is why I chose to become a frequent shopping member. Now, onto the insidiousness.
Went into the store to buy some awesome Chuck Taylors that I’ve had my eye on for a while. It was kind of like a Goldilocks and the Three Bears kind of thing. Tried on one size which was too big, but the next size down was just right… or so I thought. I made sure to walk around for a little bit in the store, wearing the shoes and didn’t have a problem. Considered the sock factor and even bought thin socks so I could wear them right away. After a couple hours of errands (not crazy running around or anything), I’d earned myself a huge blister, through the sock and everything. Called the store to ask about return/​exchange policy and was told that I’d be able to exchange them, even though the policy states that they only exchange unused shoes. I made perfectly clear with the girl that answered the phone that I’d worn them for a couple hours, but she said that it wouldn’t be a problem. I raced home to get the box and the receipt, then raced to the store before closing time, only to be denied. I argued, without being too bitchy, about having been told I could exchange them. The lady I spoke with, claiming to be a manager, said that she couldn’t make that decision, that I’d have to wait until the next day and talk to a higher up manager. Apparently, there were only three people working at the time I called and she asked each of them if they’d talked to me and they all said no. Not wanting to get into trouble, perhaps?
Returned the next day to talk to the «real» manager. The same lady was there when I walked in. She greeted me, took my shoes and the receipt, and brought them to the male manager. They had a little powwow for a couple minutes before coming back to talk to me. Denied again… as it started pouring outside (totally irrelevant, I know, but I’ve taken to parking as far away from other cars as possible). The manager guy kept saying, «I’d really like to help you, but…» I repeated that I’d only worn them for a couple hours, not doing anything strenuous and that’d I’d been told that I could exchange them. Even wore my Unilocal Elite shirt, thinking that they could, maybe, possibly, know the powers of Unilocal.To no avail.
For the record, you could barely tell that they’d been worn. If I were to take a wet paper towel to the soles, they’d be good as new. The soles seemed to be the thing they focused on.
The thing I’m so irked about is that I was told one thing, I raced around to get it done, then was completely denied. It seems that they didn’t believe that I called or talked to anyone. Seems that they were trying to cover their own asses instead of trying to make the customer happy.
Now, I have some fabulous Chuck Taylors that are slightly too small (and blister causing) and I’m stuck with them.