name: J. D.

city: 20882

problem: 02/04/2000

I have three pair of custom molded orthopedic shoes that I obtained through Richey Walking Center. I am satisfied with only the first pair, which fit my feet very comfortably.

These are very expensive shoes, currently selling for $700.00 per pair. The two newer pair does not fit my feet as well as they should, and I have been unable to get Richey Walking Center to make the necessary adjustments.

As for the second pair of the three, when I had the first pair made, I asked Mr. Richey himself if I could keep the casts for future use. He said that I could not, because my feet would change, and those old casts would no longer be useful. I attempted to persuade him otherwise, that as I had paid for those casts, they were therefore mine. He fed me one lie after another, and I left in disgust. My reason for wanting the casts was that since I had spasms in my left leg, I was not certain that I could ever get another set of casts as good as this one. These fist shoes fit fine, and I preferred that any successive shoes that I might obtain through Richey Walking Center should be identical to them. If the first pair of shoes should become too tight, then, and only then, it would make sense to have another set of casts made. I eventually ordered another pair of shoes from Richey Walking Center, because I could not find another source of them. The second pair was much like the first but was too loose, both in width and in depth. As such, my spastic left leg would not relax when I wore them. Moreover, because they fit so loosely, they wore out much faster than the first pair, which is in much better condition, despite its being older.

Since then, I have had a third pair made, again through Richey Walking Center. For this pair, I had them send my first pair to Abernethey (the manufacturer), with specific and unambiguous instructions that the new pair should be an exact duplicate of the first pair, with several exceptions. The left shoe's lift should be one quarter inch lower; the Velcro straps should be positioned such that when pulled tight, the seam between the two types of Velcro should not pass through the ring; and that there should be four straps, rather than three, with the additional strap directly over the toes' knuckles. Furthermore, I was very specific in stating the sole material and tread pattern should be identical to old shoes'. The newest pair was so far from my expectations that I initially demanded they refund my money.

1. This pair was not made according to the first pair's design, for, while my right foot is larger than my left, the left shoe was longer than the old pair's right shoe.

2. The shoe itself was anything but snug, it was necessary to insert several contoured slices of foam under my foot in order to achieve a snug fit.

3. The shoe salesman thought he could take my decisions for me, and allowed the manufacturer to use a sole material and tread pattern other than what I had specified.

4. There were only three Velcro straps, with the one over the toes being twice the width of the others.

5. The original pair's left shoe has a contoured lift, designed to compensate for my tendency to turn my ankle, with a greater elevation at the heel, while the new pair's left shoe has no contour.

I ordered these shoes in mid March of '99, and have been vainly attempting to have Richey Walking Center make the necessary adjustments to at the very least, make these shoes usable. It is now late November, and I have given up. After over six moths going back and forth to Richey Walking Center in a vain attempt to have them honor my specifications, I now turn to the law to force Richey Walking Center to:

1. Give me the product I specified in March, I don't care what they do with these other shoes, for I have no use for such awkward shoes.

2. Compensate me for all the time that they denied me the shoes that I ordered.

3. Compensate me for the pain and suffering that they inflicted upon me by their denying me that for which I paid; their continually insulting me with lame compromises; and their steadfast refusal to refund my money, when they could not produce that which I had desired from them.