Hello,

Thanks for the automated birthday wishes although it’s really a slap in the face after how poorly I was treated by the staff at your Sydney boutique.

Between my wife and I we have collectively bought over the past years:
• 5 pair of Tod’s
• 4 pair of Hogan

A couple of years ago I bought 2 pair of the City Gommino with tassels, one in blue and another in black

I bought these on sale and wanted to wear them on an overseas trip to of all places Italy.

Unfortunately the black pair fell apart after a couple of wears and I was left with only one pair of shoes for the month.

This was upsetting enough but I was not prepared for the treatment and in my opinion stupidity of the manager of Tod’s in Sydney when I returned the shoes.

I was confronted with a blank face when I suggested that they could either have the shoe fixed which I later found out in her opinion could not be done, or substitute the shoe with an equivalent.

I wanted a replacement not my money and she suggested I wait until the next sale. Imagine telling someone this. A sales person telling a repeat customer of their brands to come back some time later when there is another sale.

I would have though a business such as Tod’s pumping out these shoes by the tens of thousands would look after a customer and simply replace the shoe with a similar shoe regardless of whether it was on sale or not.

So, your birthday wishes are not appreciated, and since I see that you are also being investigated in Italy right now for poor labour practices and your greed in how you treat your customers and based on my recent experience of a decline in the quality of your products (I also own a loafer that needed a new heel rubber, only to find the heal itself was made of PLASTIC with a wood veneer which made a wonderful sound when walking on hard surfaces) your birthday wishes are almost an insult.

Can I also suggest that you review the blank face attitude of your staff in Sydney because quite frankly they not only lack any personality or savoir-faire but are unable to move beyond their scripted approach selling a product that is supposed to be something a little better than the average.

This approach may work well with tourists but not with me.

Regards