What's up with these AE Sanfords?

[Whiteknight]

I bought these from ebay last week and it almost looks like the shoes or the caps are crooked, pointing inward. Is that just how they're supposed to be?

<a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/vqky8m.jpg">

Top</a>

<a href="http://i51.tinypic.com/f4qp7p.jpg">

Bottom</a>

[alan]

I don't actually own a pair, but I'm inclined to say "no". However, I'm not sitting in front of a pair of Sanfords to compare at the moment.


While AE doesn't sell shoes that are functionally damaged, they do sell "factory seconds" (which have cosmetic flaws) at a discount through their outlet stores. This may be one such pair.

[alan]

The more I look at them, though, the less sure I am.

[trash]

I did a Google image search for these, and didn't see anything that looked like your pair. They definitely look off, I'd guess they were seconds.

[Acousticfoodie]

I had to return a pair of Store bought Strands because of this issue (first quality too!). They are not suppose to point inward like that

[alan]

Just stand in a "V" whenever you wear them. That'll give the optical illusion that they're straight. ;-)

[RHStansbury]

The caps certainly appear skewed. I wonder if a refresh from AE would be able to fix the issue.

[alan]

@RHS: I'm suspect that is highly unlikely. If it is indeed a flaw, it appears to be a fundamental one. The phone call is free, though. So it never hurts to find out.

[LesserBlackDog]

Are they marked as Sanfords? If not, maybe it's a discontinued model? A really, really weird one?


If the angle wasn't noted in your eBay description or pictured, I'd say you have fairly reasonable grounds to force a return, if that's the route you want to go. I'd get in touch with the seller first... maybe they'd be willing to offer a partial discount. Misaligned caps on captoes strikes me as a fairly serious aesthetic problem.

[RHStansbury]

@Alan, you're probably right. Never hurts to ask, though. While it may not have been noted in the auction specifically, I think it would be a tough fight if pictures were provided.

[Whiteknight]

I contacted the seller and he insists that they are first run and that he used them for several years and got "many compliments." I also contacted AE customer service and included the photos. We'll see what they say.

[kmarizo]

The bottom pic shows numeric values written in marker on the bottom of the soles. Don't retailers mark factory seconds using a marker or hole punch? Or maybe that was marked to indicate it was a customer return.

[DrBenji]

I really love the "many compliments" trope. It's so multipurpose. And what is many, anyways? Two? Three?