The Benores in DC!

Over the past 15 years I have become somewhat of a shoe aficionado. I probably started loving shoes after working at Dillard’s, a department stored primarily located in the south. I can still walk into the shoe department and identify prices of shoes based on the brand, much to the amazement of my wife. Now to be sure, I am no Imelda Marcos. I personally only have 5 or 6 shoes. They range in the $60-400 price range. My most expensive are cowboy boots that don’t get much use anymore. I also love the Ecco brand of shoes. I have two identical pair of Ecco dress shoes, one in black and one in brown. This Danish shoe maker knows how to marry style and comfort. Sizes are based on European size charts, so if you look at Ecco be prepared to also get a conversion chart. I use to be a Reebok tennis shoe snob, but I have sacrificed their classic styles for the comfort I’ve found in Rockport’s walking shoes. Sometimes Rockport shoes look like “old man” shoes, but I’ve been able to find a pair that look like regular tennis shoes but still have the comfort Rockport is known for. Plus I have found Rockports are easier to maintain and are much more durable. This is important, since I work in technology – my business attire is often a polo and jeans with tennis shoes.

That leads me in to my current dilemma, or as you may want to call it my “shoe drama”. I recently decided to replace a number of my shoes with … more shoes. One of the purchases was a pair of Rockport walking shoes. I love those shoes. Apparently, so did my youngest dog Lexi. I came home one day, after deciding to leave her in the bedroom for a few hours, with the back of my shoe gone. She had eaten them straight through. I have lost cords, credit cards, and even bedspreads … but never shoes. Like the rest of my dogs, she is used to eating cow leather in the form of rawhides but I would think shoes would be less than tasty. After paying $75.00 for the shoes, I was a bit miffed and thought “well there is $75.00 down the drain.” But the story does not end there. I bought my shoes at Zappos.com (where I have purchased all of my shoes since 2009). Their customer service is … wait for it … “Legend … dary” (shameless How I Met Your Mother reference). So, on a whim I decided to contact their Customer Service department to tell them of my plight. If anything else, I figured they’d get a laugh. So I emailed them this:

On my order XXXXXXXX, the Rockports didn’t last a month because my dog ate the back of one of them (the left one). Sounds a bit like “the dog ate my homework” but in this case, she really did. Maybe she thought it was an oversized rawhide or she really loves the taste of new walking shoes.

Obviously you can’t replace these shoes without me paying full price because this wasn’t your fault and my dog isn’t willing to pay me in anything other than milkbones, but I was wondering if you guys have any “left shoes”or mismatches on the Rockport sku# 7262451 size 13 (D)? I don’t know if you even get these types of requests … or if I just need to chop this up a total loss and replace them (as a pair). Please let me know if there is anything you can do to replace the one shoe and if so, what it would cost.

Thanks,

“Shoeless” Kevin Benore

Now when I worked in the shoe department at Dillard’s, we would never accept a return that we had no fault in. But Zappos.com went the extra mile and then went even further. I won’t share the email I got, because I didn’t seek permission – but let’s just say the response was funny and very gracious. They are sending me a new pair of shoes. And as always, shipping is free in both directions. Now, the story doesn’t quite in there. Although I specified the shoe that was damaged, they accidentally sent the other pair I had on the same order. Of course, in true great service fashion they have fixed that mistake. Additionally, they recently made me a VIP customer – which means I get free overnight shipping. That’s a privilege I have to pay for additionally at their parent company, Amazon.com. Without a doubt, I am a forever customer of Zappos.com. Their convenience, selection, but ultimately their superior customer service has made Zappos.com the BEST SHOE STORE … PERIOD!

If you don’t know anything about Zappos.com, or their culture, you should really read Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Zappos.com founder and CEO, Tony Hsieh.

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