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Plaintiffs Question Benefits of Skechers Shoes

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San Diego, CAIt is the ultimate irony that more and more consumers are coming to view the perceived advantages of Skechers Shape-up shoes as "sketchy." That's because of the number of injuries that have been reported, allegedly due to the new-age shoes that promise a toned body just from walking. A Skechers Shape-up Shoes Consumer Fraud Class Action suggests that such claims ring hollow.

Lisa Baseet is one former Skechers devotee who now thinks differently. According to a report aired in January by 10News of San Diego, Baseet suffered a serious injury after using the allegedly beneficial toning shoes. "I twisted my ankle and heard something snap," she told a reporter from 10News.

Baseet indicates her Skechers Shape-up' Shoes injury includes torn ligaments and tendons in her left ankle. The Ventura woman is one of 37 plaintiffs named in a class-action lawsuit against the shoe manufacturer. Litigants who had purchased Shape-ups or Tone-ups allege the shoes were not properly designed and tested, and have fostered serious injuries—from torn cartilage to fractures of the hip.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the tone-up shoes lawsuit note that the simple act of walking has been a part of the human condition since evolution. However, the rounded soles of the shoes at the center of the controversy allegedly alter the way people walk, and consumers are bound to have problems.

Some plaintiffs are injured from the simple act of walking with the allegedly problematic shoes, while others are hurt from a resulting fall.

10News San Diego noted the tribulations of Danette Reando, a resident of the College Area region of San Diego and an avid hiker who donned a pair of Skechers Shape-Up shoes when she was unable to locate her regular shoes normally used for hikes in the mountains.

Hiking up Cowles Mountain in California State was not a problem. However, descending the mountain was another matter—and even though she was making her way down slowly via what was described as a straightaway, Reando fell.

"I took a step and instantly I was on the ground," said Reando. "I looked down and my right foot was horizontal." The stricken woman had to be airlifted to the hospital and was treated for torn ligaments and broken bones.

10News reported that since airing its original story on Skechers, reports from disgruntled consumers have increased. The current crop of 37 plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit is expected to double in size.

Skechers issued a statement to 10News, saying in part, "The injury rate attributed to Shape-ups is comparable to or lower than the estimated injury rate for other types of footwear, including high heels, or for other balance training exercise equipment."

As for Reando, she states, "You don't get a piece of paper inside warning you about anything…I really wish as a product they would have done a better job, and then I wouldn't be sitting here today in a wheelchair." It is not known if Reando is one of the original 37 plaintiffs in the Skechers Shape-up Shoes Consumer Fraud Class Action.

SKECHERS CONSUMER FRAUD Legal Help

If you or a loved one have suffered losses in this case, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a consumer frauds lawyer who may evaluate your SKECHERS CONSUMER FRAUD claim at no cost or obligation.

Reader Comments

Posted by

on
I purchased a pair of sketchers and I kept falling I thought I was just getting old so I purchased another pair thinking maybe the first pair was getting old but I have fallen even more in the pair I have now. This time I messed up my knee Andy foot now I know it's the shoes not me

Posted by

on
I have 2 pairs of them and I wear them to work as I was a bartender and on my feet all the time. I was off balence for a while then had I started being careful as I fell. Then I started to have trouble with my hip to my foot. My leg would come off from under me and I fell a few times. The last time my leg came off from under me I couldn't walk. I went to the doctor they couldn't fine anything wrong or any reason for it happen. After a month of this I couldn't work and I stop wearing them and sometime I still have problems but not as near as before. I do not wear them and wouldn't

Posted by

on
I bought my sketchers because I was told that they would
afford me the maximum benefit since I like to walk all the time.
I kept falling a lot, but I thought it might be the result of me getting older and unbalance. I hurt my back from these falls,
but did not go to the doctor because I had no insurance. A friend suggested it might be the shoes. I quit wearing them
and stop falling. I am still experiencing back pains because of
the falls, but can't afford to go to the doctor.

Posted by

on
My husband purchased my Skechers as a surprise for me. He had seen me looking at them once at the store. I was interested in them, but didn'l want to spend the money at that time. He went back at a later time and read how they could increase the benefits of simple walking because of their unique design. The literature mentioned improved toning and shaping up of my legs as a result of wearing their Skechers.

I was thrilled to receive them! I started using them right away, however, I quickly found out how "off balance" I became when wearing them. I was contstantly feeling "top heavy" like I was falling forward. I thought I just needed to get used to them. Neither my husband or I remembered reading any warning about being careful or the possibility of becoming "off balance". I'd had them about a month, and continued to use them off and on. That was until I fell one day when I heard my granddaughter cry for help outside. I ran out to see what had happened. In the process of running across my yard and onto the cement driveway I tripped and fell. While I had scraped my knees and elbows in the fall, I got up right away to get to my granddaughter. She was alright, but I was pretty skinned up. I still have a scar on right elbow where I took the brunt of the fall. I didn't go to the doctor with these injuries. My husband helped clean and bandage the wounds. (He's had 25 years of first aid training in the work that he did.)

Needless to say, I put the Skechers in the garbage. I didn't even give them to the Good Will because I didn't want anyone else to get hurt like I did.

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