A family paid over $400 for Nike shoes that lasted 10 weeks
CBC
Spencer Potter, 15, has his eye on the ball when it comes to becoming a professional soccer player.
He's been playing the game since he was three, practises several times a week with an elite team in Mississauga, Ont., and dreams of joining a pro team.
So when Nike released a limited edition of soccer cleats last fall — the Zoom Mercurial Superfly 9 Elite CR7 Firm Ground Cleats — Spencer wanted in.
"I thought they were really cool ... super bright and electric looking," he told Go Public, after demonstrating a few impressive soccer skills at a park in east Toronto. "And they have a better grip, so the ball feels nicer when it hits your foot."
But the biggest attraction, he says — the cleats were endorsed by soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He's one of the best in the world," Spencer said, and this was the last signature shoe Nike was going to make with him.
Nike's ads tout the cleats' advanced technology, providing an extreme lightness and grippy, grid mesh for improved ball control.
Spencer approached his parents and offered to ante up $150 toward the shoes, which came with a hefty price tag of $423 after taxes. His parents agreed to pay the difference, as a special 15th birthday gift.
But just 10 weeks later, the fabric on Spencer's left cleat started to tear.
Nike declined to offer a replacement, telling the Potters the issue was not due to a material or manufacturing fault.
"I was super frustrated," Spencer said. "It was a lot of money for me."
Go Public sent photos of the torn cleat to several Toronto-area shoe repair experts: all said the damage should not have occurred so early and were surprised by Nike's poor response.
"It should last much longer," said Lorena Agolli, a cobbler who's owned the shoe and boot repair store Sole Survivor in Toronto for almost 10 years.
She says companies like Nike that use the cult of celebrity to build a following need to stand by their products.
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