Busy Streets

Of all the things women buy, shoes are probably one of the most important items we could get. It is critical to get good-fitting and comfortable shoes as the wrong pair can ruin your mood for the day, wreck your feet, and woe to people around you when that happens.

I usually buy my office shoes at Francesco. I have always liked their designs, their shoes are comfortable, and their prices, reasonable. Typically, a pair would last me 2-3 years but twice in the last two years now, my shoes would only last a year.

Would that be a reflection of product quality? In the last two years, I have always had trouble with the heels — the bottom part of which appears to get brittle over time and then breaks apart. It then reveals a hollow heel and of course, you can’t use your shoes anymore. In the past, I have had the shoes repaired at Mr. Quickie but since the repaired shoe does not really last that long after, that doesn’t seem to be such a sensible alternative.

Just about a month ago, my shoes got destroyed again. I went out to search for shoes, purposely avoiding Francesco. I went to other shoe stores — but either I did not like the styles or I liked a style but they did not have it in my size or if the size was available, the fit was not good.

I ended up returning to Francesco and of course, found another pair there. I don’t know what it is about their shoes. They just seemed made for the size and shape of my feet.

When I was paying for my purchase, I decided to tell the cashier about my experience (2 destroyed shoes, same nature of problem, two years in a row). She mentioned that some (or a few) customers have also had the same experience and it seems to be connected to the quality of the plastic that is used nowadays.

The good part about my raising the problem though was that I found out that if my shoe is new and it gets destroyed, Francesco will repair it for free — just bring it to the store. If the pair is old (I forgot to ask what is old), they will still repair it but there will be some fee. The fee will depend on the amount of job/repair that is to be done.

So, I will be returning my old shoes to them for repair soon. My shoes may not last that long nowadays but at least I like the style, the fit is good, and my feet look thin and small wearing Francesco shoes. Thanks to the cashier who was very friendly and open-minded. (I went to the Robinsons Galleria branch by the way). But I really do hope they find a way to go back to how it was before when my shoes lasted more than a year.