Bizarre experience today.
Issue is with Marathon Sports policy, not so much the employees. Although really, if you're a runner working in a running store, you should be questioning questionable policies.
Been running 45 years, mainly marathon distances. Been a Marathon Sports customer since 2001. I rarely visit this Yarmouth store because I'm not down the Cape all the time.
Asked to try on a pair of shoes. Was given a pair of store socks to try them on with. I said I had on my own pair of socks.
Store: Our policy is that customers must wear our socks - not your own -- to try on shoes.
Me: Why.
Store: hygiene. Some customers have pets and the fur from the socks gets inside the shoes and they're hard to clean. It's policy in all Marathon Sports stores.
I didn't say this but remembered later: This is not true. In fact, at this store around January or February I tried on shoes and also tried on several pairs of orthotics. Not once was I asked to switch out my socks for the store's. Not once in my quarter of a century of doing business with Marathons Sports have I ever been made aware of such a policy. In fact, I was always told that wearing the socks I normally use for running is absolutely necessary for a good fit.
Back to today. So I put the store socks over my own to try on the shoes. BTW they were bulky and not socks that I normally wear when running.
The employee said I didn't have to keep on my own socks.
Me: "But you don't trust me so why should I trust you?" I wasn't being snarky. I don't know where these socks have been or what they've been washed in. I NEVER wear socks that belong to other people. And when I buy socks I wash them before I wear them.
Here are real stories about how your policy affects/ will affect me.
1. I have allergies. Like I said. I don't know where your socks have been or what they were washed in. I could truly have had an allergic reaction-- broken out in hives. I will not use any socks but my own when trying on running shoes. I run too far and too often to feel comfortable doing otherwise.
2. I have a family member with foot fungus. There's no way she'd take off her socks in public. So she's someone who can't shop in your store now. Last year I bought her two pairs of shoes at another Marathon Sports branch. It was a $200 spur of the moment purchase.
3. My dad, also once a client of Marathon Sports, had cardiac failure-related gangrene on his right foot. It was actually painful for him to take off and put on socks. And you wouldn't want to see his feet. With the help of staff at another branch, he got fitted for great shoes though. If he were alive today and still walking, I would not be able to take him to your store anymore. Have you considered how this policy will affect those with issues like my dad?
4. Like many runners, I wear orthotics. Luckily, the shoes I bought are shoes I already have, so I didn't need to insert my orthotics. But I would have needed to do that if I was buying a different or updated shoe. Obviously, using my own orthotics to try on your shoes would violate your hygiene policy. So how do I go from here? I can't try on your shoes!
Marathon Sports is not consistent with its own "hygiene" policies. You allow people to try on bras, shirts, shorts for example, on skin that maybe hasn't been washed recently. Then you put those unsold items back on the floor.
You use the same measuring tape for every client. I know this because I got measured for calf sleeves -- tape against my bare skin -- while I was there. The employee didn't clean the tape before using it or after using it. A little unhygienic perhaps?
And also. As far as running socks go, those are some of the most personal and most important items we runners need to wear in order to make sure our shoes fit correctly. Requiring me to try on shoes while wearing strange socks I don't normally run in could absolutely affect the fit of my shoes.
I estimate that since my first Boston Marathon in 2001, I've bought at least 80 pairs of running shoes from Marathon Sports, probably closer to 120 pairs if you count the shoes I've bought for family. There were plenty of times when I could have gone elsewhere and paid less. But I felt a loyalty to the store because with the help of Marathon Sports and all the shoes you've fitted me in, I've finished nearly 100 marathons.
BTW, I chose to shop at your store today even though I have a $60 credit with Road Runner Sports and could have easily shopped there instead. I wanted to support your store.
I'm pretty sure that your manager came out and stood at the desk while I shopped, keeping an eye on me because I complained about the policy and said I didn't trust the store re: using their socks to try on shoes.
Today left a very bad taste in my mouth. I'm thinking maybe my business doesn't matter to you.
But certainly your policies matter to me. read more
