A Story of Redemption

Some of you may remember my story from the end of the Syrathon race series last fall. I was surprised and disappointed by how Fleet Feet handled the shirt distribution. By the time people were supposed to arrive to pick up their shirts (noon on a Sunday) most sizes and almost all of the shirts had been given away. I saw several people get turned away without a shirt and confused that showing up "on time" had led them to lose out on a fun perk they had been working for since March.

I wanted to speak up for the little guy (actually it seemed to be mostly women) but I waited to see what Fleet Feet put in their next newsletter. When they didn't mention the problem, I decided to write an email explaining what happened on shirt hand-out day. They didn't answer. And another couple weeks went by without a response and without any mention in their newsletter. I was shocked. For a store that is so good to customers, it didn't make sense. I started sharing the story with you guys as I ran with you. Saying that for the first time, I was disappointed in my experience with Fleet Feet.

Then a couple more weeks later, I got an email. They explained their reason for what happened and also noted that they were printing more shirts and would have information in their next newsletter. Also, they wanted to specifically make good to me due to my email, and were setting aside a shirt for me for me to pick up at my convenience.

I didn't tell anyone the follow-up to the story. I wanted to have the shirt in hand before I did. And I didn't get to the store and didn't get to the store...but I finally went over there a couple weeks ago (three? months after the email), and sure enough: they made good on their promise and still had a shirt for me.

So, I wanted to share a picture of my shirt and the store of Fleet Feet's redemption. They are back in my good graces and back to being the recommended shoe store of TRY. You can beat their prices if you shop online, but does that online store support most of the local races you run? Does that store take back sneakers after you've worn them? After you've bled in them? Fleet Feet is an excellent resource to central New York runners. I recommend that everyone keeps supporting them for your running needs.