I bought these skates on Amazon and they don’t/won’t/can’t/aren’t…
This is a story that we hear literally every day. There is a reason that people buy skates and skate gear on Amazon: it’s easy, they buy everything else there, skates shouldn’t be any different. The same reasoning applies for people who buy their skates and/or gear directly from the manufacturer and we hear similar stories from them. If you know exactly what you want (and can find that exact thing) on Amazon or through the manufacturer website, go for it, why not, it only takes a couple clicks and it’ll be on its way to you soon.
Now that we’ve covered the first half of that sentence, let’s get into the second part. This can go a lot of ways, greatly depending on what you were shopping for.
I was buying skates for…
- my daughter/son/grandkid and they don’t fit
- myself and they don’t fit
- indoor skating and they don’t fit
- outdoor skating and they don’t fit
- roller derby and they don’t fit
Are you seeing a pattern here? Fit is defintely the most common problem. There are many more that we get from skaters just hoping to find a solution to their specific problem.
I was buying skates for…
- indoor skating and they won’t really roll
- outdoor skating and they won’t roll smoothly
- roller derby and they can’t hold up
- the skate park and they aren’t allowing me to do tricks
- rhythm skating and they don’t slide
- roller derby and they aren’t working for the skills I need to learn
Regardless of what you set out to buy (and what possibly didn’t work out with your Amazon/Manufacturer order), this is our time to shine. We know (from horror stories and personal experience) that if you have a problem with your order, you’ll likely get a return label from Amazon and a voicemail to leave a message from the manufacturer (we wouldn’t hold our breath waiting for a call back). There are very few exceptions, and we REALLY love those manufacturers that are the exception to the rule – you know who you are because you’re reading this article and are thinking about how much you care about your customers, too. If you want to know who the good ones are, just listen to our recommendations – you’ll never be disappointed. You could get lucky and have purchased your Amazon item from an awesome skate shop like us that will reach out to you when you submit a return request and offer to help you find the right skates or gear for you (there are a couple of us out here). More and more though, manufacturers (not the good ones we were talking about earlier) are deciding to sell direct on Amazon, and their goal is quantity, not quality. So they’re going to sell as much as they can and not worry about the customers (you) that are not happy with their product.
For those customers that don’t know what size to get (whether you bought the wrong size already or just contacted us from the beginning), we’re going to take the time to help you find the right size for you. You don’t even need to worry about the rest of those problems above, we’re going to ask you questions throughout the entire sizing conversation that will help us make sure you’re also picking the right skate for your size and style of skating. You’re going to love your skates, we’re sure of it! If you happened to get lucky on the sizing aspect and have another problem, we’d love to talk through it with you and help you find the problem as well as a solution.
Our highest priority here at Devaskation has always been to educate. You’ll see how much of ourselves we pour into the articles on our site to give you the best information, whether you’re buying something from us or not. We want to help you get what you need the first time, so check out our information pages below for tons of great knowledge, and always feel free to reach out to us by phone or email for even more great advice for your specific skating style and needs.
Happy Skating!!
YOUR Devaskation Team