Vibram FiveFinger FAIL.

I am so irritated.
For my daughter's 19th birthday this month I used my REI dividends and coupon to buy her a pair of Vibram TrekSport shoes.  She's wanted them long before I caved in and bought them for myself.  She's thrilled to finally have them and is following the instructions to go slow.

For Christmas this year my dad bought me my first pair. I opted for the men's TrekSport because they felt better on my feet, but I went back a couple months later and bought the women's version of the shoe and I have gotten use to the feeling of a more snug fit.  For my birthday I got a gift certificate for REI and I decided to use the second coupon and my gift card to go out and get another pair for myself while they were "on sale".
The guy at REI told me, "Oh they are discontinuing the women's TrekSport shoes." My heart broke right into two.   "No! WHY?"  he informed me that they have out the Spydridons now for women that they are pushing.  "NO! WHY!?" as soon as I could breathe again I would ask more questions.
"Because they aren't as stiff as the TrekSports and they found that women don't do the kind of trail running that calls for such a stiff or thick sole."
I wish I could have said something a little more intelligent, but I just muttered, "that's stupid. I'm a woman, I do REAL trail running, not the bike trail kind of running you're describing. I run the Western States trail where there is sharp shale, mud, rocks for miles...I NEED the TrekSports!"

I had tried on the Spydridons the last time I was in REI and I didn't like the heel.  Talking to my ex today he said he picked the Komodosport over the Treks because he liked the double strap.  I thought it was just kind of a gimmick, but he picked that shoe over a shoe he would use more because of it so it must hold SOME value.  My boyfriend bought the Spydridons because he said the Treksport hurt his toe.

So, end of story, out of fear of not having that specific shoe for the kind of trail running I do, I had to buy yet ANOTHER pair of Vibrams before I have no choice of good shoes.

How do I not do testing for this company because I believe I could do a bang up job tearing these shoes up on the trails and telling them what they can do to fix and improve ...and in my case NOT FIX WHAT ISN'T BROKEN.