So off we go to Adidas in Sandton City as the imports of the new Adizero F50 in lime green had finally arrived two days prior. With great excitement (and I mean GREAT excitement) he slips his feet into those two pieces of lighter than air and pronounces them to be "the ones". He parts with R2300 at the till ..... and my heart soars because I only had to give him R500 towards it .... he was happy to come up with a plan to afford these dream boots.
So Adidas and Nic ..... match made in heaven. Until the first stud fell off 3 weeks later. They have metal studs front and back and non-metal in the middle section. It was a non-metal one. Now understand .... football is a serious thing to someone who eats, sleeps and dreams it, he NEVER walks off the field without removing boots ... he does not walk on tar with them, or in the carpark, nothing ..... his trusted "stokies" are always there to slip on. So the missing stud on a helluva pricey pair of genuine boots was concerning. I phone up the store to tell them I will be coming in as I am coming to Sandton in 2 week's time. By then another stud has joined the big stud heaven in the sky. Shortly after he goes off to play in a 4 day tournament in Bloem so the trusty minus 2 studs boots go along. He returns with a total of 4 studs missing. So it is me. him. jess. gautrain. adidas. sandton city.
Now let me tell you Tshepo, the manager, gets a 5 star rating for customer service. He does however have to impart the ridiculous news to me that there are only 2 things not covered by Adidas in their guarantee .... the studs and the eyelets of the laces. Now I did not give a toss about the eyelets of the laces but the studs?????? R2300 boots with no guarantee on the studs by a company like ADIDAS? I mean we not talking about ADIPAS bought at the local flea market. Tshepo says they are not guaranteed by Adidas as they are not able to prove how the wearer behaved in terms of where they walked with those studs. I gently tell him that for that price you should be running on tar, but that my son took great care and Tshepo, being sympathetic to the cause (and also recognizing Nic as probably one of their best customers .... 3 trips to Adidas since end Jan and each time Nic goes there it is Ca-ching with his pocket money) .... Tshepo takes photos of the underside of the boots on his cellphone and promises to email it to the Adidas head office and take up the fight on our behalf. Because Adidas .... let me tell you ..... a fight was coming!!!
The hottest thing about these boots though, is the microchip which he has (an extra) inserted in the inside of his boot. After every practice and match, he puts the boot next to the computer and wirelessly it reads the info off the boot and Nic can see his stats on the screen .... how far he ran, how far he jogged, how long he stood, his sprints etc etc so that he can maximise his movement in a game. In the Bloem tournament alone he ran almost 30kms in his boots. Technology!!!
Today, 10 days later, Tshepo calls. ...... I kept on them, he says, and they have agreed to make a full exchange for a new pair of boots. We are just sourcing them in your son's size and once here I will let you know. We know it is urgent.
So Tshepo .... big up to you for fantastic service .... and going the extra mile.
Adidas ..... mmmmmm ........ such a huge sporting legend ........ such a massive price for the boots ....... no guarantee? and what if the studs fall off now? One would not expect it a 2nd time, but if they do, then sorry Adidas but then in future we will have to
JUST DO IT
till next time
c'est la vie xxx
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