A man in Melbourne, Australia is out nearly $20,000 after buying seven pairs of sneakers from a then 17-year-old student that he now believes are fake.
In October 2023, Jayson Martinovic took the minor and his father, Damien Digby, to civil court to ask for a refund on shoes he purchased from the teen between June 29, 2020 and Oct. 7, 2020.
According to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat) court documents, Martinovic purchased four pairs of Dior x Air Jordan 1s ranging in price from $3,200 to $6,700 as well as three pairs of Nike Jordan 1s in Chicago, Royal and Bread colorways for $1,800 each.
After receiving the first pair of Dior x Air Jordan 1s, Martinovic told the Vcat that he noticed “defects” and contacted the seller for a refund – but did not receive a reply and went on to contact the teen’s father.
The filing stated that Digby said if Martinovic established that the sneakers were counterfeits — by having their authenticity tested by a non-biased sneaker authenticator who is acceptable to both parties — Digby would accept responsibility and “sort it out.”
Following this action, Martinovic visited Secret Sneaker Store for this authentication. According to the documents, authenticator’s “faces completely dropped” on hearing the name of the teen, acknowledging that he was allegedly a “fraudster and a scam artist” who had been blacklisted from the store. The authenticator reported that all sneakers were counterfeit, court documents said.
Martinovic also claims that Digby offered to remedy the situation by offering him $2,700 in compensation, which was rejected. Digby then offered $6,700 in compensation, which was also rejected.
Dismissing the claim in December, Vcat member Katherine Metcalf said that due to the fact that the seller was a minor when the shoes were sold, he was not legally able to enter into a contract or liable to make any refunds under law. What’s more, the court found that the father was not liable for payment as well, thus dismissing Martinovic’s claim on Dec. 22.
“Had the agreement been entered into when [the seller] was 18 years old the result might have been different,” Metcalf wrote in her dismissal. “Whilst the law generally protects minors from the consequences of their own actions, it could be argued that in the present circumstances it is not the minor who needs protection, but rather the people with whom he chose to do business.”
As for the Dior x Air Jordan 1s, more than 1,800 fake pairs of the hype shoe model were seized as part of a larger bust by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in August 2020. The total value for the entire shipment of counterfeit footwear eclipsed $4.3 million.
