Zenden Scam Alert: Don't Get Duped by Their 'Experts'

I'll keep this short and sweet - the consultants at the store were straight-up lying about the shoes' properties, and the management was in on it. Even after an expert review, they refused to acknowledge the issue and refund the customers. I bought these shoes at Nord in St. Petersburg, on Prosvesheniya Avenue, at store number 19. I needed some waterproof kicks for the rainy Petersburg weather.

Pulse 219-12WA-042ST
I liked the Pulse 219-12WA-042ST shoes, so I asked the consultant, Valentina, to bring me my size. I want to give credit where credit is due - Valentina was super friendly and helpful, which made me trust her. The only thing that bugged me about the shoes was the detachable toe cap, which had a rough surface. I've had shoes with similar toe caps before, and they always ended up getting wet in that exact spot. I asked Valentina if they'd be prone to getting wet, and she confidently told me no, that it was a synthetic material that wouldn't get wet. I asked her twice, because it was really important to me, and she told me twice that they wouldn't get wet. Spoiler alert - they did get wet! Valentina also assured me that if there was an issue, we could return them. Spoiler alert - we couldn't.

33-day warrantyGiven the price (1990 rubles) and the quality, plus the option to return them within a decent timeframe, I made the purchase.

Expert verdictIn the end, I wore them exactly three times. On the third time, it was raining lightly, and after 15 minutes, my feet were soaked, right at the toe caps. I went to return them to the store, and the assistant manager, Irina, told me that I couldn't return them because I'd worn them. I mean, how am I supposed to know if they're waterproof or not if I don't wear them? Irina suggested that I send them in for an expert review. The assistant manager, Irina, didn't even wait for me to finish writing up the return, she just went to get a cup of coffee. I had to wait 15 minutes for her to come back and finish the conversation.

The Expert's VerdictI got a call from the store about a week later, and they told me that the expert had concluded that there were no defects, and I needed to pick up the shoes. Yeah, right. There were no defects because there weren't any! I didn't say there were defects, I said the shoes were leaking, and the salesperson was lying. I asked them to call their manager, and the manager, Alexander, repeated the same line: 'the expert concluded that there were no defects.'

The Shoes Don't Have a Waterproof MembraneI had to go back to the store for the third time and pick up the shoes. I looked at the expert's report, which said that the shoes didn't have a waterproof membrane or a water-repellent coating on the upper. I tried to explain to Alexander again, this time referencing the report, that the problem wasn't the defects, but the fact that the salesperson was intentionally misleading customers. His response was: 'the expert concluded that there were no defects.' I tried talking to Valentina, and when I asked her how this happened, she said: 'Koizam shoes don't leak.' Um, yeah, that's not the point. The only conclusion I can draw is that the salespeople and managers are benefiting from deceiving customers. Either they don't want to solve the problems or they're not competent.

I ended up with shoes I didn't need.

The Cost of the Expert's ReportPS. I see that the official Zendenden representative is responding. I want to point out that the cost of the expert's report was 1576 rubles, while the cost of the shoes was 1990 rubles. Is it reasonable to pay for an expert's report that's more than 80% of the purchase price, and then get a dissatisfied customer who will never come back, and a negative review to boot? And how competent are your employees, who send cheap shoes for expensive expert analysis?