Friday, October 1, 2010

Cat pee, Nike? Seriously?

A non-bike post today.

So, for the record, most of the sneakers I've owned have been Nikes, and one of my current pairs is from Nike. And I like them! I like their innovation, with the Apple tie-ins, etc.

In the past, I've bought a mix of Nikes and Adidas and who knows what for my girls for Soccer, and Juli's current cleats are Nike. Or were, I should say. I bought these in I think March or so. They're series 90 or something like that -- have a couple of big 90's on them, in any case. And oh my God do they stink like cat pee!

Now, I don't have a cat, and the shoes weren't left somewhere someone else's cat could pay them a visit. And they didn't start out smelling like that. No, according to what I found online, these shoes start to smell that way when they get wet. And of course in New England, kids practice and play soccer on wet fields. And of course if one day you notice that your kid's cleats smell like cat pee, the first thing you do is what? That's right, you wash them, and then let them dry in the sun. Only in this case, washing them just makes it worse because then the shoes are well and truly soaked, and whatever it is about the materials in the shoes that makes them smell like cat pee is activated just that much more. Nice.

It's easy to find reports on Google about this, and it would seem that Nike isn't (or wasn't) taking responsibility for the problem. When I spoke with Nike this morning, my customer service rep was friendly, but either didn't know anything about the problem or wouldn't acknowledge any known issue. I'm going to send them in to Nike to return them and we'll see if they do anything for me, but the 'net has set my expectations low on that score. OMG these things stink -- I have that one there sitting next to me after my customer service call, and it's unbearable!

In the mean time, I will have to hit Sports Authority this weekend to buy Juli a new set of cleats. Adidas, I think.

All for now,

J

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My son has played soccer for the past eight years. He's worn both Nike and Puma cleats and the Nike cleats, every pair, have smelled like cat pee. I pleaded with him to stop choosing Nike since the odor is so bad, but the Puma cleats just don't grip the turf or strike the ball as well as the Nike cleats. I feel your pain, though, and Nike knows their product is flawed but they won't fix it.

Word of advice - don't leave the soccer bag in your trunk...

in August...

in south Louisiana...

poo-yigh that stinks!

John Ellsworth said...

Follow-up:

Nike denied the claim.

Sorry, Nike, but you've lost me as a customer forever.

J