J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by The Meercat

Dear Glyn

Ok here's the deal from my own experience in December 2007

I spent umpteen days doing nerdy anal research on the whole ski hire scenario for my much planned and hugely anticipated new year ski trip in Chamonix.
Here is the information that I gathered for Chamonix ski rental at New Year.

1. The Ski Set "discount" via this web site was the same as if you book direct with them. In fact if you do some more searching via some of the voucher codes sites you'll get a bigger discount.

2. Sport 2000 offered a similar and, depending on your choice of ski, mostly cheaper option.

3. Armed with the Sport 2000 info I found out exactly who the franchisee's were.

4. Once I had that info I approached them directly and not only could I specify exactly which ski I wanted (rather than what you're given in most shops) but I saved 40 Euros ski hire cost for the week!

5. All I can say is that the saving added up to a few extra ice cold frothing lagers for a very happy new year.

Good Luck

OK so the issue with my original purchaser reads as thus:-


1. They would not give me a full refund, but only half the value of the boots I purchased in the form of a credit note.



2. I considered taking them to the small claims court which can be a long winded process, but eventually took the credit and exchanged it for various accessories:-gloves hats etc.

3. I paid the price for NOT going to a shop with COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL BOOT FITTERS.

4. The moral of the story is that in my opinion, due to my own bad experience,

If you want to buy a pair of professionally fitted ski boots, then I recommend that you

DO NOT BUY SKI BOOTS

from FINCHES SNOW AND SPORTS IN FOREST HILL, SOUTH LONDON UK
because of exactly the reasons I have stated above.i.e. they cannot "FIT" boots.

5. I will gladly respond to anyone who has anything else to add to this, because as a member of J2SKI I feel a responsibility to the rest of this community to share as much info as possible; good or, unfortunately in this case, not so good when it comes to buying the most important piece of hardware we rely on.

So very pleased to be "fitted" for my very 1st pair of ski boots in March 2006.I spent a few hours trying on different pairs of boots in a shop in the UK.
After 3 days skiing I experinced discomfort on the balls of my right foot.

I returned to the shop and they decided that the problem may be solved by ironing out part of the footbed on the painful foot.
Off I went again and after 6 more days skiing the boots still never felt right. By this stage I was experiencing heel lift. Back I went to the shop once again still unhappy with the "fitting" service I had paid for. They tried to the best of their ability to solve the problem by selling and fitting me heel inserts and neoprene liner socks to reduce volume.

Off I went skiing, confident that my glitches had been re-solved.
By the end of the 1st day skiing between Christmas & New Year 2007 (My 9th day in theses boots) my left foot had gone a bit numb.
By the end of the 2nd day,of the much anticipated holiday, the pain on the ball of my rightfoot had returned and become unbearable. This was new year's eve and I determined not to let this ruin my long planned and expensive holiday.
The only thing to do was to seek local help in the resort.

I was recommended a guy in Chamonix. I went to the shop and I explained my problems. He then did something which I hadn't experinced in my initial "fitting".
First of all he took my boots and removed the liner then he asked me to put my sock free foot into the shell and put my foot forward so as my big toe was just touching the front. Then he shone his torch down the heel of the boot to see the gap.
"Do you have any brothers and sisters?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied. " I have three sisters"
"Well you could fit them all down the back of there!"
So you see, my problems stemmed from have the wrong sized and too high a volume boot.
"What on earth could I do about it right now" bearing in mind that it's new years eve and the UK ski shop was(a) along way away and (b) closed for the night.
So I'm left with 2 options either rent a pair for the rest of the hol or buy a new pair as my boots were now unsk-iable.

I thought about this long enough to realize that I'm probably not going to find many places in the world where I would be as confident about having my feet FITTED for a pair of boots as this particular guy.
The reason being, that he just happened to have fiited boots for 43 world cup firsts, 5 world Championship golds, and 4 Olympic Gold medalists including Anton Denariaz and Anja Paerson. With that kind of record, I can understand the different levels of correct ski boot fitting.
I seized the opportunity and bought a brand new pair.

The next day, which was a demanding back country day which we'd booked in advance, involve much hiking and well as demanding skiing on heavily wind blown snow. The pain in my feet had gone, even after such demanding conditions for day 1 of new boots, it's just a shame that my skiing was not as good.
I have since learned that my skiing will take a little while to adjust how to ski correctly in boots that actually fit !

So here's the big question do I demand and should I expect a full refund from the shop I bought the original boots from, or should I be happy to accept a credit note for 50% of the value of their value (as has been offered)
I personally feel that because under the 1979 sale of goods act that I have been sold goods that are "Not fit for purpose" i.e not able to ski in them and cosequently want a full refund, but have been told that when I left the shop I was happy with them.


What should I do?
:( :(
I VALUE ALL OPINIONS PLEASE