Complaint Review: The Good Feet Store - Phoenix AZ

Quite simply, I was thoroghly impressed with the sales associate and this store. From the second I walked into the store, the sales associate began their pitch and it was something to behold. 

As I walked in, the sales associate was wearing a lab coat, possibly to make you think she is either a doctor or a scientist. She was pleasant and greeted me in the same manner that a doctor would, asking me how I felt today and offering the opportunity to help make me feel better. She grabbed a clipboard with documents attached and sat down with me as if she was taking notes about my 'condition'. At this point, it felt very professional and I could see how many people less skeptical than I could believe this person had expertise in the medical field. 

As she asked me for background about my ailments, she would throw out several medical terms for your ligaments and tendons, explaining how all of these things are tied together and that your feet are often the culprit of your pain. Your ankle, knee, hip and back pain all stem from poor foot alignment, weakness in your foot muscles and tendons and lack of support for how your specific foot should rest on the ground. Sounds reasonable, and parts of that were not untrue. 

After her 'diagnosis' I asked a question about the price, and she quickly retorted that they run from $60 up to $400 depending upon your needs. She quickly jumped to discussing what my needs are and how she believes the over-the-counter orthotic insoles I am using are of poor quality and obviously have not been effective [duh, I am in their store]. She stated that she would like to do an "analysis of my foot to prescribe the right orthotic". I acquiesced and participated in her demonstration.

First, do demonstrate how out of balance/alignment my feet are, she had me stand and place my hands at my stomach while she pushed down on them. As she did this, I began to fall forward and my heels raised up. Then she placed an orthtic on the ground and had me stand on them and do the same exercise. This time I didn't fall forward, evidence that the orthotic was providing ample support and corrective measures to align my feet properly. 

Now, at this point, gullible people would be convinced by this doctor's scientific experiment that provides overwhelming proof that you need their orthotics. Unfortunately, and am a cynical and skeptical person, and I was trying very hard to contain my laughter at this sham. I have to hand it to her, she was GOOD! And I will say that I wasn't giving her any indication that I thought she was scamming me or full of it. The fact of the matter, this "experiment" is flat stupid. SHe pushed down on my hands and pulled away from my body slightly in the first test. In the second test, she did so less outward, but any amount of material under your feet will disallow you to lose your balance forward. These 'tests' prove nothing about my feet in any way. But this is about psychology, not scientific methods. Everything to this point was to get you to believe they are medical experts, including doing sham physical tests you never normally have done.

Next up was even better. She had me walk on a ink pad to make impressions of my feet as I walk. She took the prints and marked them all up and wrote the parts of your feet in latin, so that I would know that she is a doctorish type person. Then she showed where I lack support, and what areas are taking the load of my foot steps. Now, this may actually have some value in that I could see that the areas of pressure were also areas that callous, and that those seem to be areas where my feet get sore. Her presentation was to show me where I need support and she recommended a product line based on that. I have a feeling that her 'recommended product line' is the same product she sells to everyone, but she went to the back and pulled four boxes of orthotics. 

Others have described the system Good Feet sells, so I will spare you. She went through these and expressed that they do have less expensive orthotics on the market [not at the store apparently] and that she feels in her expert opinion, that I need these upgraded products. She grabbed a pair of new shoes [because my old shoes wouldn't feel as good] and she had me try them out.

I asked her what would happen if my foot pain didn't get better and she explained that 99 percent of the customers she has had, are satisfied with these products and she guarantees that I will like them. This is her first mistake as a sales rep. When someone asks about warranties or return policies, it would seem that quoting the rate in which customers are satisfied would be convincing. Yet, stating 99% of anything is simply hard to believe, and it really doesn't answer the question. We went back and forth about this, me trying to be polite and not call her out on anything, and she kept stating the same thing over and over again. Finally she relented and stated that if I wasn't satisfied, I could come back for an adjustment and that should help. If I was unsatisfied after that, I could exchange them for store credit, meaning I could get other products from their store. I wasn't quite sure what other products they had, but it seemed that what she was saying is that once I hand her the money, it is hers and I could only take inventory they already have off their shelves, and they don't care what inventory I take. 

At this point, I then asked what the system would run and she stated that it was $1,290. I could no longer withhold my disbelief. I stated that I didn't think I needed two of the 'stages' and she said that only two would run $990. 

Here is where I believe I saw the real person come out. I stated that was a big decision and her response was 'I don't see what big decision you have to make. I showed you that you need these and that 99% of people see relief, do you not want to get better?"  I told her I have to think about it and she said "I don't understand what you have to think about?"

What is clear to me is that these salespeople are well trained in tactics to get you to believe they are experts, use sham techniques to convinve you of both the quality of their product and the neccessity of it, and offer up no ability to get your money back. As I always say, if someone is selling you something that 99% works, then they should be willing to give your money back without question, because they would only be risking 1% of their revenue. 

The Good Feet store is a complete and total sham. You might buy products from them that are real and do what they say [like their shoes or something], but you are supporting a vulture business that is built upon the concept of scamming people who are in pain. I say we boycott these terrible people.