Oak Bay Shoes Reports & Reviews (1)
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SCAMPULSE
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SCAMPULSE
If you know any contact information for Oak Bay Shoes, help other victims by adding it!
Total money lost $79.95
Type of a scam Online Purchase
On August 6th, I placed an order with Oak Bay Shoes for a pair of women's size 10s and received email confirmation that the order had been placed. That email said "Free Shipping 10-12 Days". I presumed that would be 10-12 days from order and thought, although long in comparison to other companies and certainly, in comparison to Amazon, I could wait that long. So, I just waited for them to arrive. I never received confirmation for shipping.
When nine days had passed and I had still not received information on the shipping or tracking, I emailed the address given and requested a refund as it seemed as if they hadn't shipped them yet and, if they hadn't shipped them yet, with a 10-12 day window, I knew it would be way beyond when I would need them, so I wanted a refund.
I was contacted the next day by email and told by the person responding--Frank--that they had tracked my package and that it was in transit to Los Angeles. He provided me with a link to check the tracking. But when I went to the link, all it said was "In Transit" and all the rest of it was in Chinese. I couldn't read any of the updates. He implored me to wait 7-10 more days and that they could not "cancel" the order while it was in transit. And said specifically: "if you don't like them,please reject,i will refund after that". Then he thanked me for my patience.
I was pretty upset at this time. I have never dealt with a company that won't make a refund if the customer is not satisfied--especially if it's clear that the product is not coming in the time frame that they told me. At this time, I emailed back and said that this was a ridiculous policy, especially when I had not been given accurate tracking information--at this point, the information I had through the link hadn't been updated in nine days. I told them I wanted a refund again.
The response was that I would receive the shoes in another 10-12 days. That was it. No apology, no explanation for the delay. Nothing. Not even a complimentary close and a name to indicate who was responding to the email. That was on August 18th, now 12 days after I ordered them and within the time frame they said the shoes should arrive, yet they hadn't.
So, I waited. On August 29th, I again emailed Oak Bay and requested a refund as it had been eleven days since our last correspondence. I had checked the tracking link several times over that period and still, it just said "in transit" with no other information and no updates even in the dates. I said that I had assumed the shoes had been lost in transit. I received a response the next day again, this time from Anna, stating that she had tracked my package and that it was "in transit to its final destination" and she asked me to wait 2-3 more days. At this point, we're at 23 days since I ordered the shoes. She again thanked me for my patience.
On September 2nd, the shoes finally arrived, almost a month late and more than 20 days since I was told they'd arrive. At that time, I did try the shoes on, giving them the benefit-of-doubt and hoping, perhaps, that I might like them--making the long wait worth it--only to find that the shoes are about a size and half too big. The soles of the shoes seem good quality, but the material on the sides is clearly of subpar materials. But, mostly, they just didn't fit. My feet can slip right out of them just by walking normally. And that's fine. I understand all shoe companies differ in size a bit. I wear 10s in sneakers but tend to go into a 9 1/2 in dress shoes. But I've worn sneakers as large as 10 1/2 and work boots as small as a 9. I understand there are fluctuations in sizing. But Oak Bay, when told that the size was wrong informed me that that was what I had ordered and implied that I'd need to just deal with it since they hadn't erred in sending me the right size. I wasn't blaming them for the size difference, but if the shoes don't fit, I need to get something else and, at this point with all the frustration, I would rather just look at a different company for the kind of shoes I want.
But when I once again asked for a refund and a method by which to ship these back for a return, I was told that I could only exchange and that I would have to pay an additional $25 to ship them back. At this point, it's obvious that this is just a scam. I have gone back and forth with this company and each time they keep "negotiating" with me on how much they are willing to refund and assuring me that I'm getting a good deal because shipping is very expensive and they paid for it the first time around. They have said that I could get a refund of $10 and pay $20 to ship the shoes or keep them and they'll replace, but I can't be assured of the sizing now since it's obvious that a 10 is way off in size. At this point, their latest offer is to refund only $15 of the $79.95 that I paid for them and I could either keep the shoes (which are useless to me) or ship them back at my own expense for a return, which will cost $50-60, according to them. I know they need to go to China and they are quite heavy, so that price wouldn't surprise me. It's still ridiculous and I'm not doing it.
I am very dissatisfied with the customer service and, although a Chinese company, they advertise to Americans on American platforms, so I'm hoping the ScamPulse.com has some sway here. I will be informing the FTC as well. They should be held accountable. It is THEIR choice as a company to offer free shipping with such an exorbitant wait time for the product and, ultimately, if the shipping is going to be free, they need a free or very low-cost way to make returns and exchanges if the product is not satisfactory. Even if I wanted the shoes now--which I don't--I can't even wear them as they are too large.
I would like to see this company pay me back the full $79.95 I paid for the shoes and offer me an economical way to return what I received or choose to eat the cost of these shoes and let me keep them--which I'll just donate as they are of little use to me. $60 for shipping on an $80 pair of shoes because the shoes do not fit is completely unacceptable, especially considering that, unless you go to their contact information on their webpage BEFORE you purchase (which, who does that?), you'd not know that these were shipping from China in the first place. You assume it's somewhere in the US or perhaps Europe if they come with free shipping and with the way that it's marketed. It's meant, quite effectively, to appeal to American consumers, only to be lackluster in their actual salesmanship and customer service.