Lanie L.
Yelp
I had the weirdest experience here, and I feel the need to tell this story because it was definitely a WTF moment.
I'm in the market for new snowboard boots because the ones I have are the very first boots I ever owned, and I've been overdue for an upgrade for a while. Since I haven't shopped for boots in years and I have advanced in my skills, I wanted to come into the store to get my feet sized properly and try boots on in-store.
As I browsed the selection, an employee quickly came out to greet me. I tell him what I'm there for, and he tells me he can absolutely help me. Perfect! I point out a few boots I'm interested in trying on, and then we sit to size my feet.
I let him know my feet are actually 2 different sizes: Women's 7 & 7.5. My current boots are a 7.5, but I'm thinking of sizing up to an 8 so my right foot has a little more room.
He measures my feet and tells me that I am, indeed, correct that my feet are 2 different sizes, but that I am actually a size 5-5.5!
Wait, what?
But before I can say anything, he disappears to grab boots from the stock room. He comes out with 2 boxes: a size 5 and a size 5.5.
Since I'm a newbie at buying snowboard boots, I thought maybe the style I wanted came in unisex sizes? So I didn't protest.
I STRUGGLED to get my foot into the boot. It felt like I was going to break my ankle getting it in. He told me that new boots are very stiff and that it was a common problem. I tried and tried, standing up and putting my whole weight onto it. No go. I was breaking a sweat!
I tried the 5.5....same problem.
He says...let me go grab a 6! He does, and I was able to get my foot in, but my toes were so smashed. I finally ask him...Excuse me, I'm a size 7 IN WOMEN'S SIZES. Are these WOMEN'S SIZES??
For some reason, he still didn't register that he was thinking in men's sizes. I insisted that he grab me a size 8. He actually sounded hesitant! But he relented and grabbed an 8.
And what do you know, my feet fit! And without having to jam my foot in with potential for injury! But by this point, I was tired and didn't trust him anymore, so I left without trying on other styles or sizes. What a waste of a visit.
So in conclusion, I spent 20+ minutes trying on boots that were obviously too small for my feet and getting gaslit by a man to make me think I was a different size than what I literally wear on a day-to-day basis.
And here's the fun part: I went to a different location where the employees were CLEARLY knowledgeable. They explained to me that Snowboard boots are NOT unisex. There are men's boots in men's sizes and women's boots in women's sizes. He pointed out the ONE unisex boot that exists in the store - uncommon, he said, and designed for more advanced riders - and priced at a whopping $650+.
So Sports Basement Presidio: please train your employees better on literally the basics of men's vs women's sizes.
Oh, and parking ain't free here, so I literally paid money to be told that I don't know my own foot size. Cool.