Are the 'defects' acceptable for new shoes

[csc67]

Purchased these 2-3 weeks ago, but have only worn them 5-6 times and always stored with shoes trees. Would you consider these items returnable defects?

A portion of the tongue portion isn't the same color as the shoe:

The inside of the shoes seem to buckle out:

Thanks

 

[acecow]

Not sure about the tongue, but I wouldn't worry about it. The second thing is very typical of AE shoes, wouldn't worry about it either.

 

[bjornb17]

If you can't see the discolored tongue when you wear them, I wouldn't be concerned. Also, the buckling is not a big deal and i have a couple pairs of AE that do that. Doesn't cause any problems for me.

 

[MyOtherLife]

I wouldn't worry about it. Over time, when polishing your shoes, just remove the laces and polish the tongues.
As previously mentioned, it won't shoe anyway, and colours will eventually even out.

 

[cncrd]

Echoing everyone else. The tongue discoloration is fairly common and will never be noticed when wearing the shoes. Most of my A&Es have that same bulge on the inside, which I always assumed was because of the relative thinness of the materials in that location. Has never been a problem.

 

[SpooPoker]

are they seconds?

 

[sinnedk]

i think you should bring it up to the store and show them, they may give you a new pair or possibly store credit for another pair in future, but no one will see the tongue so you are ok,
i had a similar issue w/an eyelet on a brand new pair of boots and i was upset, told the retailer they said cant fix but gave me some store credit

 

[Patek14]

Concerning the tounge discoloration, I'm not sure I would worry or care at all. It is not visible to anybody during daily wear. PLus, I suspect as you polish it over time it will fade away with polish color deposits

I have some pairs of shoes that buckle like that, but for 5 wears that does seem like a lot. My most worn pair of AEs (probably about 100-120 wears) has minimal to no buckling. How does it look when it is on your feet?

Where did you get those shoes? They seem like older models - I don't *think* AE uses a tan interior on its shoes anymore (and I dont think they have for quite a while). If you paid full MSRP on these and the buckling is viewable during wearing, I would consider returning them. However, if you got a good price on them and you can't observe any of the buckling during wear, I wouldn't care

 

[Jangofett]

Yuck! I dont see that with used shoes, much less new shoes.
I think you should get a refund or return even though it is not normally visible.
This just shows poor quality control.
But given you worn it 5 to 6 times already, its pretty hard to do so.