Terrible Aftercare
I have been purchasing footwear from Pretty Small Shoes since 2018 and have always been happy with my purchases. Since 2018 I have purchased a number of shoes, in that year alone was 9 pairs totalling over £900. My husband also buys me a pair of shoes at least once a year from them.
In December 2024, my husband purchased a pair of boots (Jinny) on behalf of my stepson as a Christmas gift for me (given to me on Christmas Day). I started wearing them from early January, averaging once a week, some weeks twice. I must add that I drive to work and work in an office, so I'm not walking around all day in them. By the end of January the front of the boot (pointed front) was wearing away. When I looked at the sole, there was no sole protection to the front point of the boots. I should have contacted Mizchi then, but we had family health issues going on which took priority. A week later (early February) I could no longer wear these as the wear on them looked terrible, as if I'd had and worn them for a lot longer than 5 weeks. I contacted Customer Service (Toni) explaining my issue, to which I got a lengthy response about how people walk and that she'd read an article about Michael McIntyre's issue on walking.....(????) I reiterated my issue (I wasn't particularly concerned with Michael McIntyre's article). After numerous emails exchanges, I was told to return my boots for 'testing', with the postage covered by Mizchi (when I contacted customer service I used the email confirmation my husband received when he purchased the boots in early December. It was now early February). I was told to go on to the website and start a return. When I done this it said I was outside the 30 day return period. When I prompted this, I was told 'apologies, we've made a mistake'. I had to pay the postage, which I thought I'd get reimbursed for... no, only part payment. In one email from Toni she stated:-
In all honesty we don’t quite know why you continue to be so angry.
Toni was misreading the situation, I wasn't angry I was just after some resolution, not a condescending response!
I returned my boots so they could do some 'testing' on them. This involved rubbing against bricks (apparently)....! These boots are made of a 'fine leather', as I was told, but Toni could not grasp that the fact that there was no sole protection to the whole sole, up to the front point, so when I'm walking, the front is taking the impact from the ground. So it wouldn't take much for the fine leather to wear away with no protection. This exchange of emails went on for 2 weeks. There was no gesture or accountability from Mizchi, just implications on how I must be walking. The testing they carried out 'proved' this and that was that in their eyes. There was video evidence which I never received on email nor WhatsApp (I was asked for my mobile). At this point Mizchi still had my boots and twice I asked where do we go from here. In the end I was reluctantly given a refund and told:-
If you ever buy shoes from us again (which we presume you won’t) please note that we won’t be able refund in similar circumstances.
Since using Pretty Small Shoes (Mizchi) I've been happy with all my purchases (and there's been a lot). To encounter such unpleasant customer service is truly disappointing. If there had been some gesture of goodwill, I would continue shopping with them, but unfortunately this hasn't been the case.
I purchase a lot of footwear from Michael Kors (and their sale is fantastic), and have now come across PiccolaShoes which have a great selection of footwear for small feet. To have such a perverse attitude to any customer, let alone a good one, is hard to comprehend. The only agreement Toni and I had was that I'll never purchase from them again. The last email from Toni Bad attitude and service. No company is too big to be this arrogant.