NIKE GETS UP BBC’S NOSE

From BBC TV Watchdog programme. Written by Rob Unsworth.

You might expect a pair of football boots to start smelling after you’ve had them for a while. But Watchdog has received complaints about Nike’s Mercurial and Total 90′s ranges that start to produce a very unpleasant odour after their first use. Boy in gas mask

Made popular by footballers such as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Nike’s Total 90 and Mercurial ranges can cost anywhere up to and over Â£100.

Matt Vickers is the goalie for the Hatch Warren Saints under 13s in Basingstoke. He bought his Total 90′s for Â£50. They started smelling after the first time he wore them which was on a wet day.

“We weren’t sure whether one of us hadn’t had a bath, it was so bad. We had to drive with the windows open, it was really pungent” Matt’s dad, Mark explained.

Matt says that a lot of the guys at training had been laughing at the smell. He has now lost faith in Nike because of the stink they’ve caused.

Matt Jones from Burton upon Trent was badgering his dad all summer to get him a new pair of Total 90s to kick off the season in. He noticed the smell after the first one or two games. He says: “I got accused of keeping the cat in my bedroom because it smelt like cat wee.” When Matt’s family finally worked out the smell was coming from the shoes, they took drastic action, banning the shoes from the house. Eventually they couldn’t bear it any longer and they forked out another Â£40 for a new pair by a different brand.

We took Matt’s pair of football trainers to Nike’s flagship store to find out what the public thought of the smell. One person said: “They smell like they’re old and someone has had their feet in them for years.” We’ve also discovered that the disgusting smell can start even in shoes that have never been worn.

We wet a brand new pair of Total 90s and left them out to dry for four days. When we returned after four days they smelt very strong. This shouldn’t happen. Other boots and trainers can be soaked right through the season and even put in the washing machine without smelling this bad.

To find out what’s causing the smell, we took the boots to Kevin Guildford who is one of the UK’s leading footwear specialists. According to our expert, what’s causing the smell is surprisingly not people’s feet. It’s the materials that are used in the footwear.

Nike has told one angry customer the problem started because they replaced some of the man-made lining just under the laces with a cotton canvas. Kevin says that when the cotton canvas gets wet, it rots. The moisture can’t escape because the man-made materials around the cotton don’t allow it to breath.

Nike says that the quality of its products and customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to them.

When Watchdog contacted Nike, the company told us: “We have seen a very small number of cases where boots start to smell (distinctly beyond the normal smells from sweat, rain or prolonged usage after football). While this does not affect the performance of the product, we understand the inconvenience it causes in those isolated instances where it occurs.

“We are continuing to explore the exact cause so we can ensure that the problem doesn’t occur moving forward. As with all our products we encourage people to ensure they appropriately clean and care for their boots. However, in the isolated instances where this problem has occurred, we recommend returning the product to the retailer where the footwear was purchased, be that a Nike store or another retailer, where a refund or replacement will be offered.”

Nike also apologises for any inconvenience experienced by consumers.

Reproduced courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk/blogs watchdog

Article by Felipe. View all posts by Felipe.

Updated: 08/02/12


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Pete

Are you all total 90′s like this???

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john matthew

i bought my son mercurial vapour last year and they smell alot and total 90 and they are the same how do i go about returning these as the mercurial vapour were from pro soccer direct and the total 90 were bought from jjb sports

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olivia ennemoser

i bought my son mercurial vapour a while back and quickly they started
to smell.we went back to the shop that we got them from to return them. we asked was it common for this to happen and they said no so we got another pair “big mistake.”
within a couple of days the started to smell so we took them back again and decided to give up on mercurial vapour’s.

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Suzana

I have bought several nike boats for my sons that play football and they all smelled terrible.
Nobody can be next to the boats it smells like a dead cat…
They are footbal players and they play 5 days a week, after 2 days I have to wash them.

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Karen

take the shoes back to a Nike store, thats what we did with our sons Mercurial, they gave us a credit and he choose another pair…now we have the same problem with his T90 so willbe returning them this week…they STINK !!!!! lost my faith in Nike now so will be choosing another brand

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Collette Smith

I had a terrible smell in my house which resulted in me totally ripping all my units out, lifting flooring up, treating walls, replastering walls and putting new flooring down. After getting the room revamped I noticed the same smell came back now and again, only to find out the smell had been y soons brand new Nike Total 90 football boots!

Not only had this cost me a new pair of foot ball boots but also over Ã‚Â£1000.00 refitting my play room!

I thought it was just that pair of football boots so i bought a second pair of Total 90′s tht my son has worn once in the rain and low nd behold the same thing has happened AGAIN!

HOW UNLUCKY AM I?

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ROBERT RAMAGE

bought these total 90,s brand new and my son aged 9 wore them twice and they stink so bad of cat pee smell that i,ve had to keep them outside in the green house as they are absolutly stinking.i,ll be buying adidas from now on and never again nike.
totally disgusted as these cost alot off cash.does anyone know where nearest nike shop is in scotland

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Zoe Thompson

My son has worn his nike boots a few times before they started to smell, my entire house out of cat’s pee. I thought it was due to the fact they were left 2 days before they were cleaned. But they are disgusting.. Is there any way i can exhange or refund my money?. I am not impressed with this problem. I hope Nike have removed this product from the shelves.. I will not be purchasing Nike again. You have now lost a very good customer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..

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Zoe Thompson

Never ever will i purchase Nike again, what an disgusting smell.. where can i get my money back? I hope Nike has removed them from the shops..

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Zoe Thompson

Today i tried to return my son’s boots and the shop would not refund or exchange them.. Is there anything else i can do about this????? Anyone know?
Not Happy at all..

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sinead dunne

i bought my nike footie boots 3months ago and they smell really bad its smells like someones been sick in them i dont think my child can wear them no more how about getting a refund or exchange

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joe fisher

I bought total 90′s from Decathlon in stockport My son worn them once and they started to smell like cat pee.
I took these back to decathlon and after complaining very strongly finally got a refund.
They admitted there was a problem with Nike boots smelling, but insisted they were only refunding my money as a goodwill gesture. Nike need to sort this out now.

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Martin Willis

I bought total ninety lasers in the sale for Ã‚Â£30 pounds reduced from Ã‚Â£120 pound and i played in the wet first time and when i got home my mum said what the hell is that smell i smelt the boots and they stank from the cat pee smell they arent very good boots and i will be with adidas forever now i am disgusted wiith the product and i am happy i didont buy these boots for Ã‚Â£120 pound.

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Julian Bishop

I got my T90 Lasers right when they came out, really excited about the bright colors and modern look. Little did I know that after my VERY first game, a foul smell would “erupt”. Now I’m stuck with all of my gear smelling terrible, including my bag. It spread to the family cars, and even my room. I’ve come to a point where Im wearing my old R10′s and Legend II’s.

Thanks Nike.

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Sarah C

Thank goodness I’ve found this article – my 6 year old son has a pair of Nike Total 90 football boots, and the smell is driving me mad! The insides of the boots are fine & smell ok, it’s the outer leather that smells as if a cat has had an accident on them.

I hung the boots out on the washing line for most of yesterday to “get some fresh air” to them – but had to bring them in during the night……this morning my kitchen smells stale – so they’re back on the line again today! I can’t see Sports Direct taking them back, so I think next time my son needs new boots, Adidas it is!

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Dave

This is an old report but NIKE STILL SELL THESE WITH THIS PROBLEM

This is just not good enough, yes the shops will refund if you take them back.

My problem is this My lad loves the Nike boots, we bought some online and yet again the same issue. I contacted the website asking if I can return to a store as my son needs a replacement immediatley rather than wait for their conclusion. They won’t allow me to take to store for replacement/refund so basically I will have to pay out again to buy new boots whilst we wait for thm to inspect these ones

Nike as big as you are you should really sort this out, it is an old problem, sort it out NOW !!!!

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Avlonitis Sandra

In 2008 I purchased online for my son, a pair of nike mercurial vapour football boots, after a couple of times of use they develeoped a VERY STRONG SMELL of cat wee!! I contacted the site and a replacement was made immediately, Last year 2009 I purchased the nike mercuiral boots, which never had any problem. This year I have purchased yet again the NIKE MERCURIAL MIRACLE boot, no only does it smell, but the quality of the boot is inferior, it is starting to come away from the sole, these boots were only available after the 18th October, he wears them maybe twice a week once on sundays and once on Wednesday in his games it is not even the middle of Dec, come on NIKE, a company of your magnituted should get its act together…..as your prices are not exactly cheap, and especially for cheap synthetic material!!!!

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Sculler2k

Is there any way we can stop them smiling?

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Rensters

My son has had several Nike football boots/trainers and they all smell terrible! I find they’re absolutely fine until the weather is bad and they get a good soaking and then they tend to release an almighty strong smell, not disimilar to cat wee! Totally toxic! It’s not just the T90 brand, but mercurials aswell. We switched to Adidas last year because of this and they were absolutely fine. We assumed the issue must be resolved by now and recently bought a pair of silver and orange T90s but I’m beginning to get that familiar whiff around the house again! It’s so bad I can’t even sit next to him when he’s got them on! His school trainers are adidas and he has several pairs of cheap ones from next and they all smell ok so I’m pretty sure it’s not just his feet! Come on Nike – sort it out. This is beyond a joke

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Paul Clonton

Throw them away – that should wipe the smirk off their faces.

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