eight bridesmaids? that seems like a lot.

If the $7 restocking fee was disclosed when purchasing, and she's returning because they didn't fit, then that's fair. If she's returning them because they were all sent at different times then I suppose that's not fair IF she wasn't able to cancel the order upon learning (days later) that half were backordered.

Either way, shipping shoe boxes in plastic bags is not cool.

Guess Zappos didn't have these shoes?

@jeteplumererie: Who cares?

A few sisters on each side, high school best friends, college best friends... you get into the more bridesmaids than you can count on one hand situation pretty quickly.

Holy crap, matching shoes? Really awesome that she bought them for her bridesmaids, though. My friend insisted on a dress style that only ran in certain sizes, the smallest being 4 sizes too large for me. I ended up spending twice the cost of the dress in alterations.

sorry, I know that is not relevant. I have had awful experience with online shopping in the last 2 months- companies are using USPS for shipping more than FedEx or UPS, and they all have the voice automated customer service so you can't straighten things out.
online shopping is supposed to be more convenient! now it seems it's better go go to an actual store.

cute shoes though. any in size 6.5?

@hillsrovey: I just looked and nope, Zappos doesn't have them. Neither Endless nor 6pm.com have them.

@jeteplumererie: I actually kind of prefer USPS, because at the very least the mailman has the keys to my building, so he can leave the box by my door. With UPS and FedEx I have to beg them to leave it in the lobby.

Have you tried calling your local post office? Usually they're better at sorting things out then on the national side. They've always been able to get me in touch with a human.

@Spaceman Bill Leah: I ran into a similar situation. I had a few friends I wanted to be bridesmaids, and Mr. Pi's sister, and before I knew it, my list had grown too big to sustain. I ended up picking only a few of my closest friends.

Do they run small? I can wear a 9.5 or 10 in formal shoes, depending.

@hillsrovey: Nope, I checked -- was looking to see if they had fit information.

@Kelly Lum: If she is buying them, then go for it, but if I was required to pay for matching shoes, I would be peeved.

@hillsrovey: The issue is that she needs 8 pairs, and ordered 8, but they only have 4 (and then sent them in such a way as to damage those). Now if she wants matching shoes for the wedding she is SOL.

And if she wants to return these, they will charge her for it.

@Kelly Lum: I let my bridesmaids pick from a few styles that I liked that would flatter different body types. One of the dresses even had a little hidden pocket, so we stashed a pack of mints in there.

@jeteplumererie: Maybe she should have had you plan her wedding and weed out all the undesirables from the wedding party.

Wrong shoes? The title makes me think they sent the wrong shoes out, or wrong sizes, but it seems like they were the right shoes that just didn't fit. Considering it's a shoe company, probably dealing with MANY returns for shoes not fitting, a restocking fee seems fair.

As for the shipping, while it may not look nice, it sounds like all 4 pairs got there safe.

Updating online inventory once per day is quite common. There is much we don't know about Steve Madden's operation (Number of fulfillment centers, whether or not they Fill from physical stores, etc..)

The costs associated with maintaining an up-to-the minute inventory can easily exceed the costs associated with disappointing a customer. I believe that Online portals only have to maintain a 95% ship rate to fulfill the FTC requirement.

Three words: Quickie Vegas wedding.

@AlteredBeast: Yes, but she ordered eight, and as such her order is incomplete. When she placed her order, it said all eight pairs were in stock, and presumably she would not have ordered all of the shoes if it weren't for the fact that all the sizes she needed were in stock.

Now she's stuck with only part of an order, and she's being forced to either return the pairs she has and deal with a restocking fee, or wait for the rest of the shoes to ship (which puts her in limbo, considering she has a deadline).

@HungryTuna: I ordered a pair of shoes from Endless a few weeks ago and it said there were only five pairs left in the size and color I wanted. After I placed the order, I wanted to show a friend the shoes so I went back to the page and saw that the page had been updated to say that only four pairs were left. So whether it's just for show or not, I don't know, but some companies are capable of showing people how many they have left.

There's some shared responsibility here (Steve Madden didn't send all of the shoes, but she also ordered the wrong sizes), so I'd think a compromise might be fair, like paying one restocking fee (which includes a shipping label) and shipping the shoes back in one shipment. Just because Mr. Madden shipped them out separately doesn't mean they need to go back separately too.

Looks like a pretty crappy place to order shoes online. No exchanges and a $7 restocking fee? I'll pass.

@Kelly Lum:

You obviously don't live in Chicago. :-)

@Michael Belisle: Well it doesn't say she ordered the wrong sizes, just that the shoes didn't fit. Feet aren't all the same. I can tell you my shoe size, but I bet you can find a ton of shoes that wouldn't actually fit me properly. I wear a different size in flats than I do in pumps as well. A lot of women are like this.

@jeteplumererie: Yes, because clearly that was the point of this post.

@AlexTNOA: I was going to say, I try to never let anyone near my door. It's unavoidable right now, since I actually do have a door facing the street. But I'm moving to a high rise apartment soon and I'm definitely not letting anyone go inside the building and leave a box at my door...which wouldn't work anyway, since my building doesn't let delivery people beyond the lobby.

@pecan 3.14159265: My basis for that statement comes from the full post, which makes it sound like someone made a mistake (as it was discovered before the shoes arrived):

Between the time I ordered the shoes and the time they arrived, we discovered that neither of my girls who I ordered the 10 for would be able to fit them. I had ordered one of the 7.5s as an extra size because a few people were in between sizes.

@pecan 3.14159265: See, that is what she said she was GOING to do, because I am skinny, another was super big busted, and the other was really overweight, so no matter what, someone was going to lose. I don't know why she decided that we just HAD to have identical dresses when we were all so different looking anyway.

What's funny is she's the same size as I am, so you'd think she'd understand that getting a size 6 dress down to a size 2 isn't exactly easy or cheap.

@pecan 3.14159265: I have 2 sisters. It was a little harder to boot them from the bridal party. :)

@Michael Belisle: I see, I see. In that case...I would've skipped Steve Madden's shady practices and ordered all of my shoes from Zappos. But that's beside the point. Mistake or not, I think that she shouldn't have to pay a restocking fee because Steve Madden still has the other four pairs of shoes hostage. She needs to get that part of the order canceled ASAP.

There's no point to her getting the shoes unless she actually still wants them. And I doubt she really wants to work with a company like this again anyway.

@pecan 3.14159265: Besides, it doesn't really matter if she ordered the wrong size or Madden's 10 wasn't the 10 she was expecting. The restocking fee applies absolutely, regardless of the reason for the return.

I didn't find anything in their policies about backorders or partial shipments, so some negotiation and escalation should be able to achieve something fair.

@Kelly Lum: Aw I hate it when people go back on their word. I learned to just go with the flow, cause when it came down to shoes, I told my bridesmaids "silver, that's all I request. Formal, silver shoes" and I didn't care if they were $15 at Payless or $400, as long as they looked nice and they were suitable for the length of the dress. I had more important things to deal with, you know? Like wedding cake tasting!

1. The title implies that Steve Madden made a mistake by sending the wrong sizes or styles, but I don't see any indication that they sent something that was not what she ordered. Could someone show me where it says that?
2. She says "I clicked to chat with a Steve Madden representative online to explain find out what I had to do return the remaining three pair. We'll just call her Jane. She sent me a return authorization email, but said that I'd have to pay a $6.95 restocking fee per item.

Whoa whoa whoa. Why should I be penalized when Steve Madden misrepresented their available inventory online?"

I don't understand how she can blame her ordering the wrong sizes on their inventory not being up to date.

3. The daily updating inventory is a compromise companies sometimes have to make for technical reasons. We don't know why it is the way that it is, but we can be pretty sure that Steve Madden would prefer to have instantly updated inventory.

4. She has a point on the boxes, though as long as the shoes were in good condition I think it's kind of a petty complaint.

Call me ignorant, but if you ordered the wrong size shoe, you should expect a restocking fee. It's not the retailers problem. Also, why should they put the shoe box in another box to ship it? Seems like a bag would be just fine, since the shoes are in a box anyway. She didn't say anything about any damage.

@Cant_stop_the_rock:

I probably would have canceled the whole order after seeing that they were backordered if I needed them quickly

@CorporateTool:

"and then sent them in such a way as to damage those"

She didn't mention anything about damage. These are shoes, IN A BOX...I don't see how that's unsafe.

@Cant_stop_the_rock: Michael Belisle (see further upthread) pointed out that on the blog where the post originated (the OP's wedding blog) she mentioned that she made a mistake in ordering. Steve Madden did send the wrong size, but it was because she ordered the wrong size, I think. But that has less to do with the fact that Steve Madden reported that these sizes were in stock, when in fact, they weren't.

According to the company, she's required to pay the restocking fee for the shoes that were in stock, not the ones that weren't - presumably, however, once she received those and wanted to return them, she would be subject to a restocking fee, which is why she should escalate the matter.

Has she tried to contact Andrew, the VP listed on their site: [www.stevemadden.com]

I contacted him for an issue I had with my issues and he quickly resolved it to my satisfaction.

@HungryTuna: Yeah, I run into this sort of thing a lot. One of the even more annoying issues is when ordering from a car / bike supplier that uses the manufacturer parts fiche that displays prices for everything without any indication as to whether that part is still available or not (many vintage vehicles have parts that are out of production and unavailable new). The standard treatment I've gotten is that the parts supplier will send out the parts that are available and just not charge for the parts that are not available. Nothing like trying to finish a job with only half the parts you ordered

@jimv2000: Even the end of the article jokes that cute, never worn shoes are available. No mention of damage. Just poor choice (in the customers opinion) in shipping method. Again, they seemed to arrive safe, and if shipping in such a way caused damage, I'd think they'd stop that method.

Also, it's not an issue of the shoes being out of stock. She could have probably canceled her order when first notified that some pairs would ship seperately. If she did, this would be a different issue.

But she got the shoes. Not shipped how she'd like them shipped (but no damage) and not when she wanted them (yet she was notified of this prior to shipping).

It seems like the ONLY real issue is returning them because the didn't fit.

Unless I am missing something, it's not like she ordered the shoes, and didn't get them all to her surprise. She could have canceled it all before when she was first told it wasn't all in stock. If they said "NO", then there is a consumerist issue.

@jimv2000: Dude. Learn to read. No one ordered the wrong size shoe. They just didn't fit. That happens a LOT with shoes, especially with women's shoes.

A bag is not just fine. She got lucky there was no damage, but what if something had gone wrong?

@Cant_stop_the_rock: "She has a point on the boxes, though as long as the shoes were in good condition I think it's kind of a petty complaint. "

LOL, what. She has a point ... but it's petty? No. She got lucky that they weren't damaged. But she still has 4 other shoes.

@pecan 3.14159265:
Re: restocking fees -
She said she only wanted to return the three pairs that didn't fit, that's why it struck me as odd that she thought the inventory mistake should nullify the restocking fees. If she had to return the shoes because Steve Madden couldn't fill the whole order, then she shouldn't have to pay restocking fees. If she had to return the shoes because she ordered the wrong size (which appears to be the case) then the restocking fee is justified (though should probably be waived if she returns for an exchange rather than a refund).

@nakedscience: Actually, that's pretty much the definition of "ordering the wrong size". Whether it's because you clicked the wrong number on the order form or because a 7.5 or 10 in a high heel doesn't fit your foot, this constitutes "ordering the wrong size".

She clearly states as well that for the 7.5s, she ordered a couple of pairs because some of the bridesmaids weren't sure which size they would be (understandable - I wear a size 7.5 in flat shoes and a size 8.5 in strappy heels).

As much of a bummer as size differences between brands and styles is, it's still a matter of you purchased a size of shoe that, for whatever reason, did not fit. Thus you are held accountable to the restocking fee.

@nakedscience:

Yes, I'm saying she makes a good point about the shoes being inadequately protected when shipped, but because only the boxes were damaged I think she's being petty. I understand that some people like to save the boxes for storage, but a broken box is not that big a deal.

@nakedscience:

If the shoes had been damaged, then the company would need to replace them.

@Kelly Lum: My friend let us vote on a few different options... the dress just arrived and it not only fits me, but I'm actually legitimately planning on wearing it again (to another wedding in a few months). Who knew that actually happened?

@Cant_stop_the_rock: And that's the thing - they weren't damaged. I understand that some people like to keep the boxes, but I definitely don't mind that they ship in plastic bags, as long as the items aren't damaged. We reuse those bags (for cleaning up after the pets - it sounds really weird and uptight, but little dogs make a lot of poop and we need all the bags we can get) and it feels like less waste in the long run.

Pay the 28 bucks and end this saga.
when a retailer disappoints and then refuses/can't/won't/doesn't know how to help you drop them.
there are plenty of pretty shoes out there I'm sure so you get all 8 ladies together shop and then do some girls night out thing.

problem solved.

@Ronin-Democrat: After thinking about it, I agree. She's planning a $12,000 wedding and probably has bigger fish to fry than haggling over $28 (0.2% of the total budget) restocking fee.