Faulty Shoe - independent assessment required

Hello

I am new to this website and would be grateful for your help.

I have a faulty shoe which I need to have an independent assessment carried out on and was wondering if anyone knew of such a business that I could send my shoe to.

I am in dispute with a high end retailer regarding who is at fault and was advised by the Citizen Advice advisor to have this carried out.



Many thanks
Paula

I dont know if this would carry the weight you require in a dispute, but perhaps one of the more traditional cobblers rather than just a "heel bar" whats the fault, what do you need accessed?

They are a woven leather ballet pump, and there is a slight tear on one of the woven leather strip at front of shoe. There are no other scuff marks just the slight tear. I want to take this further as the shoes were very expensive.

I need to assess if the fault was mine or a fault of the shoe as I was 2 days outside the 6 month period where the retailer would have had to determine the nature of the fault....as it stands its now my responsibility. I didn't know my statutory rights but I didn't think I would have had to go this far. I would have happy if they offered to fix the shoe which they didn't.

PaulaM said:

was advised by the Citizen Advice advisor to have this carried out

Click to expand...

If they're giving out this advice can they not tell you where you can get this type of assessment carried out?

I know your dealings should be with the retailer but would there be an option of bypassing them and contacting the manufacturer? I did this many moons ago when the retailer would not investigate the complaint and was totally dismissive of me. The manufacturer replaced the item immediately when I complained.

Are you in UK or Ireland? Citizens Advice in UK, Citizens Information here, maybe it's just a typo? It just seems odd advice as I doubt if we have too many places to get shoes assessed. If in Ireland I would be inclined to ring National Consumer Agency for their advice.
http://www.nca.ie/

Hi there

Thank you for posts, the brand are french sole and I am unable to bypass them direct for manufacturer. Yes I am based in the UK and I have been in contact with CAB and trading standards but they cannot recommend as it need to be independent. Anyhow I found a company who can offer the service the bad news is that it will cost me between £200-400 excluding VAT!! Needless to say this is out of my budget, and I can't understand how the majority of customers can challenge retailers if this is the cost of such services. I am waiting to hear from trading standards.

Looking at the French Sole website, ballet flats are priced at £120 so it may be pointless to spend up to £400 to determine where the fault lies...Hope you get it sorted for a lot less than that.