Well, I got it! My first shipment of ShoeMint arrived yesterday
while I was in the office. I was very excited to open my box for the first time
to see these fabulous shoes designed by Steve Madden. I opened the shoe box
which was packed tightly in a shipping box with a few more pieces of ShoeMint
advertising. I looked in my box... to see previously worn shoes.

It was obvious that these shoes had been returned to ShoeMint.
Just by looking at the bottoms of them, I could tell they had been scuffed up
from at least one use outside on black pavement. Unless of course, Rachel Bilson
slid her little size 5 tootsies in them, which I doubt, means that these were
returned shoes. Not that it is a problem in itself, mind you! I am a firm
believer in walking around in your shoes a bit before returning them. The first
thought that popped up in my head was: What's wrong with them?

I slipped on the right foot. Beautiful teal color, 8.5 fit
perfectly (I'm usually an 8, but since I tend to go for a larger size in Steve
Madden's, I chose to go up one just in case - it was a good call.) The weaving
on the Lea ballet flat was rough against my feet, meaning that I would have the
leather digging into my feet, especially my toes, for a a few weeks until they
would break in. I could understand how that would warrent a return by their
previous owners.

I then reached for the left shoe. I knew right by looking at the
right's sister that it was defective. The toe was narrow, woven too tightly to
fit the ball of my foot into. I tried stretching the leather, hoping that it
would loosen the weave and allow my foot to squeeze in. Well, it squeezed in! No
way I could walk more than a few feet before my toes cramp up and I wanted to
tear off those boys to choose a trusty pair of flip flops!

So, ShoeMint... sending off shoes that were defective one time
is OK. I get that. But a SECOND time?! Completely unacceptable. My overall
rating of my first experience with ShoeMint is 2 out of 5 stars with the
following breakdown:
 
Style: 4 stars
Color: 4 stars
Comfort: 2 stars (on the right foot that is)
Customer Service: 1 star
Packaging: 1 star

So, paying almost $80 for under par shoes is unacceptable! I am
planning on shipping these shoes back this afternoon once I get back to my home.
I'm a little confused regarding the returning shipping label as it has my
information in the center, with ShoeMint as the return address. I'll have to
call the corporate office to shed a little light on my product, as well as where
I can detail to them that these shoes are obviously defective and should not be
sold again.

My final question: Should I even exchange them for a
different pair?

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