Mismatched Shoe Policy

As you know, I am going to NYC in a matter of 11 days! In preparation for my trip, I had to buy a few things. One of those things was a pair of shoes to go with my new cocktail dress. Well, today I visited the DSW - St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville, FL to purchase that pair of shoes. I found the perfect pair of shoes and went to the register to purchase them. The cashier checked the shoes and told me they were 2 different sizes (the difference was a 1/2 size). I told her I found them on the clearance rack, so she went back to find the matching pairs. She was unsuccessful, and decided to check the back of the store. When she came back to the register, she told me that the matching shoes were not in the store and it was the last pair in the store. I told her that was ok, and that I still wanted to buy the shoes because I couldn't tell a size difference when I put them on. She then informed me that she could not sell them to me mismatched because of a store policy. I understand the policy in theory because they do not want to sell mismatched shoes if the matching shoes are in the store, but in my case their matches were not in the store at all. That leads me to believe the other shoes were sold as a mismatched pair. After she told me the store policy, I asked to speak to her manager. The manager told me about the same policy, and so I asked what he would do with shoes he wouldn't sell to me. He told me that he would send them back to his vendor and they would be recycled. I was shocked that he was unwilling to sell me the shoes and send them to be recycled!! Recycled!! He would rather recycle the shoes than take my money! I like to shop at DSW, but the manager was unsympathetic, and unwilling to make a sale. Basically, the lack of attention to detail caused a mismatched pair of shoes to be sold and the other mismatched pair to be left in the store, and my perfect shoes could not be bought. Fortunately, my awesome mom was with me and encouraged me that we could find another pair of shoes just as great. 2 hours and 6 stores later, we found them. I like to shop, but I have never spent so much energy to find shoes to go with a dress! My mom is a trooper to go to all of those stores with me. Thanks mom!