I just needed a new pair of skates for ice hockey so I went to a pro shop at one of the rinks. As a semi-newbie, I don't know a whole lot about what makes a skate good. So I asked the people at the shop for advice...what size I would wear (skate sizes are different than shoe sizes), what the skate should feel like, which brands are the best for someone of my skill level, etc.
In retrospect, the people didn't seem to be too knowledgeable at all. But at the time, I thought that they, being hockey players themselves, knew what they were talking about. To find the right pair for me, they kept pulling out the cheapest skates, pair after pair, until I found a skate that seemed to fit right. I asked if there should be so much space in the toe, and the guy said that was normal. I asked if a pair so cheap would be decent, and he said that it would be no problem, that they're all pretty much the same and that his skates only cost him like $60. I didn't think much of it at the time, because I was getting a decent pair of skates for $69 -- at least that's what I thought.
Fast forward a few days until this afternoon, when I went with one of my friends to buy skates. We went to a different pro shop where the men who work there spent a lot of time with my friend, helping her buy skates. They used a skate sizer on her feet, told her exactly how the skates should feel like on her foot, and made sure that she was getting a good pair of skates. I told the guy there that he seemed more knowledgeable than the people who work at the other rink. I told him that after watching him size my friend, that I may have made a bad decision at the other place. I told him the make and model of skates I bought and he explained that those were not only cheaply made skates, but they also haven't been made in years. He asked me what size I wore, so he could let me try on a pair of skates at this rink. I told him what size they gave me (that they said based on my description should be fine). He then sized me and told me that they were two sizes off.
I eventually bought the skates that I tried on at the second rink, but now I'm feeling really screwed and ripped off from my first pair. They're two sizes too big and poorly made. The blades have already been sharpened, so they're not returnable. I told my dad my situation and he told me that I should call them up and complain and try to get my money back. Do you think that complaining to them is reasonable? Am I right in feeling that I should be compensated in some way? I'm not quite sure what my next course of action should be. All I know is that I feel ripped off.