It's BRILLIANT advertising. They just convinced a bunch of luxury shoe shoppers that they can get great deals at Payless for quality products.
Also, if you read the article, you would see that everybody "scammed" got their money back AND got to keep the shoes.
Everybody was a winner here. Except the "luxury" shoe stores on Park Avenue that might now see less foot traffic (pardon the pun).
I’ve been in Payless stores. They’ve got a few good brands, and a lot more inexpensive cr@p. My bet is Palessi wasn’t trying to pass off some of the inexpensive cr@p as designer.