-- A.P.

A. And I thought I had problems when I tested this offer some time back. Despite the infomercial's repeated pitch, "Three for free," my phone call to order North's Slim Down started with the question, "May I have your credit-card number, please?" I learned shipping and handling for the 30-day free trial was $17.95, one way.

Fitness news you can use As the ankle turns Basketball players wearing shoes with air cells in the heels were four times more likely to injure their ankles, found a study reported in the March British Journal of Sports Medicine. Researchers suggested that air cells make the heels less stable. The Australian study of more than 10,000 mostly recreational players also found that players who did not stretch before playing were more than 2.5 times as likely to injure their ankles, and those with previous ankle injuries were almost five times as likely to do it again.   Walk this way Women who walked only an hour a week at an easy pace still had about half the risk of coronary heart disease as sedentary women, according to a study of nearly 40,000 subjects published in the March Journal of the American Medical Association. "It's very encouraging," said researcher I-Min Lee. "So long as you walk at least an hour a week, it doesn't matter how fast or how slow you walk. Even doing a little bit can be helpful." More, however, is still better: Women who did more vigorous exercise had an even lower risk of heart disease, found the study, part of the Women's Health Study.   On the shelves "The Pilates Workout Journal" by Mari Winsor with Mark Laska ($12, Perseus Publishing) includes space for daily journal entries as well as an overview of mat-based Pilates, inspirational quotes, training tips and posture reminders. Winsor is author of "The Pilates Powerhouse."

The package included a videotape, three audio tapes, appointment book, organizer, cookbook, meal plan and one meal-replacement bar. If I'd kept it all, the cost would have been $137.65. To stop at $17.95 (plus the return postage), the instructions said I had to have the box back in the warehouse 45 days from the initial shipping date. To get the full 30-day trial assumed shipping each way would be only about a week. Plus, the paper said, I had to return the package intact. What if I wanted to taste the bar?

It took a few calls and some patience with busy numbers and being on hold to get the OK to take a bite. I did manage to return the box within 30 days, and not be charged further.

But I've also heard of folks who haven't been able to return unwanted products and their credit cards were billed even after deciding not to order at all. Many folks are, to put it delicately, unhappy with both North and E4L, the company contracted to manage sales.

E4L (an acronym for "Everything For Less"), formerly known as Quantum North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October. All the phone numbers I could find for E4L either are busy, have been disconnected or go directly into voice mail, which wasn't returned. I did speak with a woman at Larry North Total Fitness (214-526-6784) who said E4L had cut off contact with them, orders had not been filled, credit cards continued to be charged, and even North took legal action because he hadn't been paid. They advise customers to dispute charges with their credit-card companies.

You can also file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission (202-326-3131; www.ftc.gov), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (206-442-6141 or 800-372-8347; www.usps.com/postalinspectors) and the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org).

Q. What is with athletic shoes lately ? The last several pair I bought, the laces are so long I don't know what to do with the length. Even with double bow knots they flop all over. I resent buying a $70 pair of shoes and needing to immediately replace the laces.

-- V.B.

A. Those annoying laces actually can have a purpose, says Chase Mueller of Foot Zone Capitol Hill. "Sometimes when the laces seem kind of long, there will be that extra set of eyelets that make you wonder, `Why would I want to lace my shoe up over my instep?'" But he says they can be utilized for a special lacing system to increase the heel lock in the shoe: The left lace is run straight from the next-to-the-top left eyelet to the last, then back through the next-to-last; then you do the same with the right. Loosen up those straight sections to make loops (upper figure), cross the laces over and through the loops (lwe figure) and pull tight and tie as usual. "You can see that it actually draws a direct angle from your heel up," Mueller says, "and it improves heel lock 100 percent." A customer who likes everything about a shoe except the slipping heel often finds this technique fixes that problem.

What if the laces are long and there is no high set of eyelets? A manufacturer may have been using an old lacing pattern that no longer matches the laces, or the laces are left over from other shoes. "And sometimes," Mueller says, "there is no rhyme or reason."

Molly Martin is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. She can be reached by calling 206-464-8243 or writing mmartin@seattletimes.com or The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98101.