I purchased a pair of shoes from Birkenstock Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui branch twelve months ago. The shoes have been worn twice but the soles of the inside of the shoes have started to crack. Today I returned the shoes along with the receipt to a store and explained the situation. I left the shoes with the store for further investigation. I have just received a telephone call from the store advising me that even though the receipt has the Birkenstock/Sportshouse chop on it the receipt has faded which you expect it to do after twelve months they can not prove the shoes had been bought from them. We are continually told in Hong Kong to keep the receipt as proof of purchase which I have done; it is through no fault of my own it can no longer be read. This is despicable customer service. I have attempted to call the Customer Service Department but it continually connects to the answere phone. I advise all customers to avoid shopping with this company at all costs.