HP #23 - End in sight, my quest for skates (part 4)
Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See my first HP post for the full notes on these.
Background: Part 4 of my ongoing quest to find new skates.
Side note - Those soakers are one of the best purchases I've ever made, firstly because they look so much fun and secondly because everyone at the rink is insanely jealous of them; own this look I tell you! Own your child-marketed, ice skating paraphernalia and it will reward you tenfold in envious glances and parents beleaguered by their children wanting some too. Every time I hear a child say "Mummy, look what he puts on his blades, it's a nice doggy," then I mentally fist pump at my extravagance. In a way though, they're also the worst purchase I ever made as I managed to snap the elastic in one of them relatively early on. Poor husky; he now sits all sad and droopy on the side of my desk. But this actually ended up as a plus because I got another pair of soakers, penguin ones, to replace the snapped husky, so now he has a friend and my other blade has a soaker once more. Mix and match! Double the child envy I tell you! DOUBLE! Moving on...
The day came when my skates arrived and I proudly showed them to my family. My dad picked up one boot to have a look and, while looking at the blade, said,
"Coronation Dance, my my, I didn't realise you did ice dance?"
WHAT?
I picked the other boot up... Both boots had been fitted with a Coronation Dance blade instead of a Coronation Ace! What a pickle! I hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have known the difference (heel end of blade is shorter in dance blades most notably), so I was quite relieved my dad had spotted it before I'd used them.
I refused to believe that the rogueishly good-looking guy that served me at Nottingham's store could possibly have made a mistake when he wrote up my order details, so I chose to believe that some back office bureaucratic finagling had gone on and that was to blame. Absolutely that. Not the very attractive man. Never him, he could never do any wrong. I suspected he had a girlfriend, but I could forgive him that detail too.
I called up the Nottingham store (fortunately it wasn't the attractive guy that answered) and they asked me to e-mail their stock manager. I did so, explaining that I understood these kind of mistakes happened and I wasn't interested in making a fuss, I just wanted to get it sorted out. I also included a glowing review of the attractive guy, because he had actually been the most helpful person I'd met so far in my quest... Honest that was why I was so full of praise! A few days later they e-mailed me a free return label and I bid goodbye to my nice boots and wished them a speedy journey back. A week later, they returned. Not wanting to hold my breath given how long it'd taken me to get to that point I opened them up with a bit of trepidation, what if they didn't fit like they did in the store?
I tried them on, all seemed fine and the blade was correct. At last! I was done. It had taken about 3 months to get to this point from first being told I needed to get new skates, and what a ridiculous journey it'd been. The one thing I'd learned along the way is that either no one seemed to know anything about ice skates, or they were reluctant to advise you on such an expensive purchase in case it turned out wrong. Seeing a specialist fitter was clearly the smarter choice, but you can probably get away with most things so just find something you like the look or feel of and give it a go, which is, funny enough, the same conclusion I reached when I bought my first set of skates. It can seem like an expensive mistake, but you can make most things work at the end of the day as long as the fit feels okay - alternatively just see a fitter, much safer.
PRAISE BE FOR NEW SKATES!
The sad part is the size ended up being wrong. Hey ho. I'm just staggering on in them anyway to this day.
Background: Part 4 of my ongoing quest to find new skates.
-------------------------
At last, my trip to Nottingham had been fruitful and I had a pair of skates on the way! Giddy with excitement, I went nuts and splurged on accessories. I ordered some Chloe Noel husky soakers (you are never too old for animal soakers, seriously, see below on this) and also some Rockerz skate guards in purple and blue (I know they're expensive but I'd already spent so much on the skates and blades I figured why not go all out?) |
| Pretty hard to resist. |
Side note - Those soakers are one of the best purchases I've ever made, firstly because they look so much fun and secondly because everyone at the rink is insanely jealous of them; own this look I tell you! Own your child-marketed, ice skating paraphernalia and it will reward you tenfold in envious glances and parents beleaguered by their children wanting some too. Every time I hear a child say "Mummy, look what he puts on his blades, it's a nice doggy," then I mentally fist pump at my extravagance. In a way though, they're also the worst purchase I ever made as I managed to snap the elastic in one of them relatively early on. Poor husky; he now sits all sad and droopy on the side of my desk. But this actually ended up as a plus because I got another pair of soakers, penguin ones, to replace the snapped husky, so now he has a friend and my other blade has a soaker once more. Mix and match! Double the child envy I tell you! DOUBLE! Moving on...
 |
| Am I right? |
"Coronation Dance, my my, I didn't realise you did ice dance?"
WHAT?
I picked the other boot up... Both boots had been fitted with a Coronation Dance blade instead of a Coronation Ace! What a pickle! I hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have known the difference (heel end of blade is shorter in dance blades most notably), so I was quite relieved my dad had spotted it before I'd used them.
I refused to believe that the rogueishly good-looking guy that served me at Nottingham's store could possibly have made a mistake when he wrote up my order details, so I chose to believe that some back office bureaucratic finagling had gone on and that was to blame. Absolutely that. Not the very attractive man. Never him, he could never do any wrong. I suspected he had a girlfriend, but I could forgive him that detail too.
I called up the Nottingham store (fortunately it wasn't the attractive guy that answered) and they asked me to e-mail their stock manager. I did so, explaining that I understood these kind of mistakes happened and I wasn't interested in making a fuss, I just wanted to get it sorted out. I also included a glowing review of the attractive guy, because he had actually been the most helpful person I'd met so far in my quest... Honest that was why I was so full of praise! A few days later they e-mailed me a free return label and I bid goodbye to my nice boots and wished them a speedy journey back. A week later, they returned. Not wanting to hold my breath given how long it'd taken me to get to that point I opened them up with a bit of trepidation, what if they didn't fit like they did in the store?
I tried them on, all seemed fine and the blade was correct. At last! I was done. It had taken about 3 months to get to this point from first being told I needed to get new skates, and what a ridiculous journey it'd been. The one thing I'd learned along the way is that either no one seemed to know anything about ice skates, or they were reluctant to advise you on such an expensive purchase in case it turned out wrong. Seeing a specialist fitter was clearly the smarter choice, but you can probably get away with most things so just find something you like the look or feel of and give it a go, which is, funny enough, the same conclusion I reached when I bought my first set of skates. It can seem like an expensive mistake, but you can make most things work at the end of the day as long as the fit feels okay - alternatively just see a fitter, much safer.
PRAISE BE FOR NEW SKATES!
The sad part is the size ended up being wrong. Hey ho. I'm just staggering on in them anyway to this day.
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