Second Time Around Clothing

I am writing about my experience with STA in Beacon Hill on Charles Street. I don’t see them currently reviewed on Unilocal,so I’m just attaching it here. But my complaint does go beyond the specific location and concerns the company’s overall attitude toward customers.
Back in August I bought a pair of Tod’s loafers from them. I wore them twice and on the second wearing noticed that the soles were literally crumbling apart. Chunks of rubber were coming off and immediately disintegrating. I saw black dust on my floor and at first thought I had tracked in soil from the garden or something. No, it was the shoes.
Tod’s is an Italian brand and this shoe retails for $ 400 – 500. I’ll add that in the store the shoe looked absolutely brand new (including the soles – the entire shoe was pristine).
I asked some very fashion-​savvy friends who think that either 1. the shoe was a knock-​off or 2. it may have suffered some sort of damaged from being stored in a hot attic or some type of scenario like that.
I brought them back to STA. I know it’s generally Final Sale, but this was a very unusual situation and I thought I had a legitimate right to a refund. The store manager was very unhelpful. She said at first that I could get a refund if I could prove that the shoes were not authentic Tod’s! So put the burden onto me, right? I tried to explain to her that this was not acceptable. As well as that if she cared about customer goodwill, she would be giving me a refund STAT. (Or at least a store credit.) She instead said that I should email STA’s customer support because she «wasn’t authorized» to give refunds.
I did that, and did it again five days later. No response. I went to STA’s Facebook page and posted on their wall, Got a quick reply that the store manager would be calling me. That didn’t happen either.
Finally today I got the dispute department of my credit card company involved. After hearing my explanation, he called up the store manager and spoke briefly with her, then added me onto the call. She told me I could get a store credit. She was not at all apologetic… well, she did say that they were meaning to get back to me, but sorry that «it must have slipped through the cracks.» After she got off the call, the dispute guy and I agreed that she sounded defensive, and never would have given me anything had he not gotten involved.
I’m truly disgusted with them. All over a pair of $ 95 shoes. I’ve complained about them on a fashion blog where I’m a member. They’re going to lose potential sales over this. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Friends even say they wouldn’t have accepted the credit. I may actually take the shoes somewhere to get appraised, to see if they’re fakes. If they are, I may file a complaint. It’s illegal for a store to pass off merchandise as something when it’s not. Sorry, STA, but it’s YOUR responsibility to determine this, not the customer’s. Idiots. I’ll use their frickin’ store credit, but afterwards I will NEVER shop there again.

Well, two things about this store I guess. After seeing only one person has reviewed it… AND given it a not-​s0-​grand review, kinda makes me sheepish that I’m so in love with the place. It was a friend of mine who introduced it to me, (fashion designer), which she is all about finding awesome clothes for real cheap. Peeps, this is the spot. I must warn though, you have to be patient and dig a little. Sometime you will hit the jack-​pot, other days you will strike out.
BUT, other than worrying I might be shopping at a store secretly run by awful people, I feel nothing than love. Second Time Around, (specifically this location), is a place my friend and I adore to go and hang out for hours. Especially, since they are a lot like the establishment Savers, which is run with a color coded tag system. Depending on what color tag the clothes have on them, all depends on how much money you can save. Of course, savers is any sort of used clothing. In STA, you can find a $ 300 dress being sold for $ 60.
They only except high-​end clothing, that is in very good condition. Also, if it happens to get a rip, hole, tear, etc; or you plain don’t feel the piece of clothing is worth the price for it’s condition, you can mention this and bargain a different price.