Wait one minute Mr Minit!

Mr Minit ruined my boots and I am not happy. However it has raised a dilemma that I’m struggling to resolve and would love to have your thoughts.

On Sunday, I asked Mr Minit if he had any black spray to restore my suede boots and make them look new again. No, he said, he didn’t, but he did have this bottle of black stuff I could simply paint on. Having only used the spray, I was dubious.

‘Do you need to brush it after?’ I asked

‘No, it just soaks in.’

Okay. He’s the shoe guy. I believe him. I spent the $10.80, took it home and painted my boots.

And OMG – this stuff just dried solid on them. I tried brushing with a wire suede brush, a suede pumice block (yes, I have all this at home), all to no avail. So I decided to head back yesterday with the hope they’d be able to use their wire wheel thingy and get them back to suede.

My sad boot

Close up of ruination...

But no. All I got was grief.

After explaining to the guy there – not the guy from Sunday - I got, ‘No, we can’t do anything.’

‘Right….’ I said. Long pause.

‘And….?’ I prompted.

To cut a long, awkward conversation full of long pauses short, some highlights included me saying (and I am not proud about it)

      ·      Is this a franchise?  (It was)

      ·      Are you the franchisee? (He was)      

      ·   So, what’s your responsibility??

And him saying:

      ·      What do you want me to do? (an acknowledgement or apology might be a start)

      ·      Well if this is true, and I’ll need to talk to the guy who was working Sunday…. (Yes, because I would so make this up)

And finally me (this is the bad bit)

      ·      Under Section 52 of The Trade Practices Act, you have sold me a product that was not fit for purpose, so you are legally liable!

He suggested I paint the boots all over. I said I wasn’t after that look. We’d reached an impasse.

‘Well, you can have the product back’, I fumed, slapping in on the counter before turning on my heel and leaving.

I got outside and thought WTF?? I’ve now left the evidence if I do decide to persue this and I didn’t even get my $10.80 back!! I looked for the receipt (couldn’t find it) so went back, asked for and got the product back.

Fuming, I Twittered. I felt better.

I got back to the office and called Mr Minit HQ (Head Quarters) and got the most empathetic Lesley. Leave it with me MWW, she said, we’ll get back to you shortly.

So who got back to me? Yes, the offending Mr Minit!!

‘I believe we have an arrangement to come to,” he said. This wasn’t getting better.

‘What do you suggest?’

‘In these situations, we usually try to replace the shoes.’

Usually? You weren’t offering that a couple of hours ago, buddy.

I said I’d look online and even eBay and see what I could find – even used.

He asked how much they were new, I said $160. He assured me he knew someone who got a pair exactly the same ‘off eBay’ recently for $60.

I’ve looked online, including second hand and eBay and all I can find that are the same are new boots, same brand – but now $199.

So here’s the dilemma: I’m not certain that he’s deliberately infuriating with appalling customer service and trying to avoid responsibility or if he’s just not that sharp? Should I let him know my only option is $199 (plus the $10.80 for the product) or should I just ask for $60? I really want to replace them as I was wearing them at least twice a week and am desperately missing them already.

I’d really love your advise because I have totally lost perspective……