I ordered a pair of Vasque Momenta Trail Running Shoes on-line through Sierra Trading Post. The total bill with shipping was 51.91. There was a problem with the shoe fit, rubbing around the ankle. I wanted to return them in exchange for a trail running shoe made by another company for the same price. They told me I would have to deduct the return shipping cost of 5.95 from my credit. At this point, the original shipping charge of 7.95 + 5.95 (return shipping) puts me at 13.90 thus far. This totally surprised me. I have ordered discount and full price items through other on-line stores and shipping was free if you needed to return/exchange an item. No special programs, deadlines, or other annoying technicalities. Sierra Trading Post does not warn you about return shipping charges. Or at least not on the medium to large print of their website.

I ordered a less expensive replacement shoe and two pairs of socks to compensate for the 5.95 return shipping loss. I was told- as if this is a bonus- I get free shipping on the replacement shoes they send to me. As long as I reorder within 7 days.

Because I paid through PayPal I can not use their “return express” procedure because Sierra Trading Post would need to bill the return shipping rate to my credit card. Ironically, I used PayPal in to avoid giving out my credit card number. Under this policy, if the original shoes I return do not arrive in their warehouse within 7 days I will lose the free shipping “benefit” on my replacement shoes.

Sound complicated? It is and ridiculous too.

I did send back the replacement shoes as they were a worse fit then the original shoe I ordered. I was charged an additional 5.95 shipping. All in all- I started out paying Sierra Trading Post 51.91 for a supposedly good brand of trail shoes (I guess the reviews were trumped up) and have ended up with 26.91 credit and 6.00 socks I really didn’t need. I still do not have the trail running shoes I needed two weeks ago. I lost a total of 20.00 in shipping costs.

I do not recommend buying anything on-line from Sierra Trading Post unless you are absolutely certain of the fit and the item you are purchasing. Otherwise you may ring up a shipping bill amounting to more than the purchase price of the item you ordered.

Furthermore I have been to their outlet store in Reno and am not impressed.