Consumer forum asks Reebok to pay for damaged shoes

Reebok India has been directed by a consumer forum to pay

Rs 7,999 compensation to a customer for not repairing or replacing a pair of shoes which got damaged within three months of purchase. The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum passed the order relying on the unopposed allegations of the customer as neither Reebok nor its authorised retail shop chose to pay heed to his claims despite notices sent to them.

The forum directed Reebok to pay Rs 4,999 to Delhi resident Ramanand Sharma as refund of the shoes’ cost and ordered the retail shop to pay him Rs 3,000 as compensation. Sharma, in his complaint, had alleged that when he had bought the shoes on October 28, 2010, the retail shop had assured him about the quality and durability of the pair. The shoes got damaged within 90 days of purchase, but neither the retailer nor the company repaired or replaced the footwear, Sharma had alleged.

The sportswear brand suffered a set-back in India after German sports major Adidas, which acquired Reebok in 2006 accused by its former MD Subhinder Singh Prem and COO Vishnu Bhagat of alleged Rs 850 crores fraud.