ECCO Shoes, Transaction Costs, Reputational Norms, the Limits of the Legal System, and Internet Disintermediation
posted by Jeffrey Lipshaw
On October 15, 2007, at the recommendation of my wife, I bought a pair of ECCO shoes at what, for me, was an ungodly amount to pay for a pair of shoes. The reason for the investment is that we live in a city now, and I do a lot more walking. (For comparative purposes, I buy all of my shirts from Lands’ End, and my pants are whatever Dockers – pants for the bigger butted man, as my daughter Arielle and Dave Barry say – are on the table at Costco. So buying shoes at a chi-chi store on Newbury Street was an unnatural act.)
About six weeks later, I happened to notice that the heel had worn through. I wear these shoes a fair amount, but it didn’t seem to me that a pair of shoes at this ungodly price should wear through in six weeks. You can’t just take shoes back to the ECCO store, however. You have to order a prepaid bag from customer service, and send the shoes away to an outsourced “warranty service,” which makes a unilateral judgment whether ECCO will do something about the problem. I duly packed them up and send them away.
The warranty service received them yesterday, and the following is now posted online under my repair ticket: “WEAR IS NOT A DEFECT NORMAL WEAR NO DEFECT.”
From time to time, I teach contracts! I think there’s at least a fact issue whether a sole wearing through in six weeks of relatively normal wear on a pair of $190 shoes constitutes a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability under Section 2-314 of the U.C.C. I channeled Ronald Coase a few minutes ago, and he told me that in the absence of transaction costs, clear default rules, and freedom of contract, the initial allocation of legal rights as between ECCO and me would be irrelevant to an efficient outcome. And when I channeled Frank Easterbrook, he referred me to Hill v. Gateway 2000, and told me I was bound by a warranty disclaimer that was available on the ECCO website if I had read the sales slip and clicked my way through to find it before I wore the shoes.
I am not finding either of those results particularly satisfying at this minute. But wait! I also channeled Lisa Bernstein who has studied diamond brokers in New York City, and they don’t rely on formal law. Do a deal, say “mazel v’broche” (luck and blessing), and reputational norms will do the rest. Hmm. I wonder what that means, if anything, in a world of internet information disintermediation. I’m kind of a “you pays your money and you takes your chances” on this kind of stuff anyway. Personally, that’s the last pair of ECCO shoes for me. But you can make your own decision.
December 20, 2007 at 9:27 am
Posted in: Contract Law & Beyond
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Responses (9)
Logical Extremes - December 20, 2007 at 10:55 am
I bought a pair of ECCO boots several years ago, and had them nicely broken in but still in great condition when the soles were worn down. I tried to take them to get re-soled, but apparently most modern shoes are not manufactured in a way that allows them to be re-soled. You’ll have to look long and hard to find shoes that are compatible with environmentally-friendly reuse. So I won’t buy ECCO again either, but for a different reason. Sorry, I couldn’t channel any cases that would have helped this situation.
Nat - December 20, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Try posting/email The Consumerist (http://consumerist.com) : wide distribution & I think they’ve had a pretty good success rate at helping consumers with such issues.
David Meyers - December 20, 2007 at 8:15 pm
If there was a short interval between purchase a your warranty claim you may have a good claim here. Take this to small-claims and disclaimer or not you can’t lose. Be sure to name both the retailer AND ECCO. The retailer is not going to be too happy and certainly doesn’t want to go to sc court. There is case law and there is small-claims court. They are not the same.
Despite the small amount the issue makes ME angry. It would be an interesting exercise for you if you have the time.
Jamison Colburn - December 20, 2007 at 9:34 pm
One quick counter point on the evolution of brands (and companies): I bought a pair of Ecco shoes (from a shop on Charles Street, as a matter of fact) about 12 years ago. Still have ‘em, still love ‘em, and many pairs of shoes have come and gone during their “useful lives.” Jeff’s experience is much like my own with recent shoe purchases, though. . . .
Bill - December 20, 2007 at 11:19 pm
I’m surprised that ecco didn’t just replace ‘em. I have 2 pairs of eccos–one is 3 years old, the other is 7 years old, and the soles in both show no signs of quitting.
John Schinina - July 1, 2008 at 5:24 pm
On September 2007 I both a pair of ECCO sandals at the Nostrom store in the international mall in Tampa, Florida. My experience has not been great. The construction and quality is very poor. I have repaired the straping a number of times and the material the sole is made of, marks my flooring when wet. I expected better, since the price for the sandals were not cheap. I have many different brands of sandals that I still wear and have never repaired. Sorry, John Schinina
Richard Ahern - January 3, 2009 at 11:19 am
I recently joined the ranks of the ECCO-amazed as I watched the heels on a pair of black dress shoes disintegrate in a single day. On taking them back to my shoe dealer (Richey Shoes in McClain, VA),I stood in line as the customer in front of me told the salesman that the soles on a pair of hers had just done the same thing. The salesman observed that it was an issue with most of the ECCOs he sold and produced from the back room prepaid bags that ECCO apparently provided to send the shoes out for “possible repair.” When we asked why he continued to sell a product when he knew this was a problem, he simply shrugged and smiled. We left the store amazed; and ECCO and Richey’s lost two more customers.
Fredericka - June 16, 2009 at 11:44 am
I have (or, “had”) a pair of Shakers. They were not worn much, and they were very well cared for. The soles showed zero sign of wear. The tread was fully intact. I had looked at them top and bottom no longer than one month ago. One day I wore them and noticed something flapping suddenly. I picked up my foot and discovered a whole chunk of the sole was missing. I looked at the other sole, and a chunk (a large chunk!) was missing there, too. These soles did not “wear out,” they disintegrated – suddenly. The shoes went to Nu-Shoes and came back: “out of warranty” and “new soles will not bond to the shoe.” They sent me a $25 voucher/discount thing for my next purchase of Eccos!!!! Ha ha ha!!! I have now called Ecco back at 800-886-3226. They suggested I send the shoes to them at 16 Delta Drive, Londonderry, New Hampshire 03053 – after they gave me an RMA number. They would not pay for shipping. The woman I spoke to said that $25 was their standard compensation for a shoe out of warranty. This shoe should have easily lasted 10 years. The horrible thing is, these are the most comfortable & perfect-fitting shoes I’ve ever owned. They had about 2 years’ worth of wearing, tops! Next I’m going to talk to a higher-up. I got her voice mail, and she sounds tense and harried … no wonder. I want to know what’s really going on. Are they still making shoes with this defect or not? If they’re not, and if they’ll refund the full purchase price, I MAY buy another pair eventually, although the fit and materials seem to have cheapened since a bought this pair. A friend who bought his last April is having the same trouble, so it’s NOT because mine were older.
Ecco Homo - September 22, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I owned several pairs of Eccos, dress and casual (Cross). The soles on a couple pairs disintegrated, even when I hadn’t worn them for several months. I thought it was my bad luck so I bought new pairs of the same line. Seeing the same problem again, with other shoes this time, I took two of the pairs to Nordstrom’s, where I bought them. The sales person there told me that Ecco shoes have a problem wherein the latex (or is it the polyurethane?) in the sole disintegrates even when the shoe is sitting on the shelf; they sent it in to Ecco and after speaking to them a couple times, they are sending me replacements.
My question is: are the replacements (i.e., new shoes/models) any better than the old ones? Are they as likely as the old to disintegrate even while just sitting on the shelf? Has Ecco fixed the quality problem or am I going to have to confront this issue once again in the next several months? What has been your experience?
Ecco the company simply has lost all credibility with me.
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