Oct 20 2008
I Hate Earth Shoes, I Heart Zappos
Well, I officially heart Zappos.com.
Kara and I have raved about the comfort of the Earth shoes that we’ve now both bought. The negative heel construction is an amazing thing. Unfortunately, their quality of construction is poor, as I found out today.
The right shoe of my four-month-old pair has developed a crack that goes all the way across the sole, directly under the ball of my foot. The sole has actually split in half. I’ll post a picture when I get a chance, but it’s amazing — I’ve never had a shoe that did such a thing. These are the shoes I wear to work, too; it’s not like I’m rappelling down mountains in them. What annoyed me most was reading through the manufacturer’s online forums and finding that many other customers have had the same problem. Some combination of the design of the shoes and the construction of the sole just does not work.
So of course I was hopping mad. I had paid $150 for a pair of shoes that was extremely comfortable — for four months. I called up Zappos, from whom I’d ordered the shoes, not expecting much and really just wanting to whine and rat out the manufacturer.
Zappos offered me a full exchange on the shoes, despite them being four months old and in no way resaleable. They’re paying for the return shipping and they’re sending me a replacement item (a much more mainstream pair of Rockports) via next day air so I don’t have to spend another day in broken shoes. I am in awe.
The moral of this story is: Don’t buy Earth shoes. They’re a neat idea, but crappily constructed. Buy something else, and buy it from Zappos.com. Their exceptional customer service is well worth the extra five bucks you’ll likely pay.