At Broad Street two years ago I bought a pair of Frank Shorter running shorts because he’s the GOAT. They have become my favorite pair of shorts.

My current stock of Eastbay’s are wearing down so I decided to order three pairs of the Frank Shorter shorts instead, big change!

I found this shitty little website – www.nationalrunningcenter.com – and they carry his brand. Great! I order three pairs.

I got the three pairs they absolutely stink. I shouldn’t say they stink, but they’re not at all what I’m looking for and they aren’t the same as the pair I have.

  • They sag when I sweat
  • The pockets on the back are too big and clunky and weigh down the shorts
  • The material irritates my easily-irritable skin

So what do I do? Here are the three options:

Return Them
I pretty much never return anything. As someone who works directly with customers who return stuff, it sucks. I can swallow the $75 I spent on the off chance that this little website would be crushed if I asked to return these.

Review Them
I thought about giving these a 1 or 2 star review and saying how they’re not for the serious runner. But honestly, these are probably great for 90% of all runners. I’m in the minority because of how much I sweat and the fact that I don’t carry anything on my runs so I think pockets are useless.

Keep Them
I can wear these shitty shorts around the house as basic underwear so it’s not a complete waste and let nationalrunningcenter think they made a great sale to a great customer.

And keep them is what I’ve decided to do.


Is that wrong? Should I be demanding my $75 back since I’m an unsatisfied customer and the customer is always right? Should I be leaving a review so the next ‘elite’ runner who looks for those shorts isn’t disappointed when they order them and see how mediocre they are?

Maybe I’m setting up a world where all the products suck and no one says anything about it. But I just don’t feel right doing anything other than accepting responsibility for my purchase and making the best with what I got.

I guess that’s just the low-t beta cuck in me.