French Sole

"French Sole has a wonderful selection of comfortable and great looking shoes. Today I bought two pair. The service was friendly and professional, and they shipped them so I don’t have to squeeze them into my suitcase."

"What a horrible business model !! They hide a sign under one of the chairs [see picture] about all in-person (store) purchases being final (non-refundable). The return policy on their website does not make mention of this. I bought a pair of flats and wanted to take them home to see how they match my purse. After the sales guy ran my credit card it was printed on the receipt Final Sale non-refundable. The item rang full price. He NEVER mentioned anything about the return policy prior to me charging the card. I went back to the store 10 days later and the manager (A VERY UNWELCOMING man) saw that the shoes were completely new in the box as I had purchased them, and then he pointed under the chair to their return policy [No Refunds] under any circumstance. BEWARE they are scammers!! I am definitely sabotaging this brand"

"Walked in today and received great, friendly service from Donald. He was knowledgeable about the fits of different shoes and genuinely interested in how customers felt about the new models they just got in. Thanks Donald, will be back for sure!"

"Customer service was a complete joke. Literally thought I was being punked when I called about my recent order, extremely rude and unprofessional. Do NOT order online unless you are certain about sizing. While their website does clearly state a 30 day return window, it does NOT state that if you exchange an item and it still doesn't fit...that return must be received within 30 days of the ORIGINAL purchase date. Impossible timeline for me to meet when they delayed sending a return shipping label and finally mailed my exchange 10 days after my return arrived at their store."

"So disappointed in this company. I excitedly ordered a pair of shoes from them, and was so excited to get them in the mail. I ordered my normal size according to the fit instructions on French Sole's site, but they were tight. I wore them around my house for the day to see if I could "break them in" - maybe they were just new, I thought. The next day it appeared that, nope, they were definitely a size too small. One day after they were delivered, I meticulously repackaged them in all the original packaging to send them back for an exchange per the company's policy. I had to pay an expensive FedEx shipping fee out-of-pocket because the company doesn't offer free returns and exchanges. French Sole then REFUSED to exchange them and basically told me, too bad they don't fit, we're sending the too-small shoes back to you. Apparently, the "wear and tear" from me walking from my home office to my kitchen to get coffee for two hours the day I received them meant "too much wear" and they refused the exchange. I'm now stuck with a $160 pair of shoes a size too small, and out $15 from the cost of shipping them back to the company only to have them returned to me. I'm so disappointed that a supposedly luxury company would treat a customer this way. Every other luxury retailer I've worked with or shopped with would write off the shoes in their inventory and send a pair that fits to the customer - not make them pay for the return shipping, then say "Too bad" and send them back the same expensive shoes that don't fit. I was excited to buy more cute shoes from this company, but I'll never, ever shop with them again. After researching the company, I found so many reviews on Yelp and Zappos that the shoes run too small and people were unhappy with them, and also that French Sole pulled the same refusing-an-exchange trick with other people, too. Buyers, beware! EDITED SEPTEMBER 19: This company is now threatening me with legal action for writing a negative review of their product online. I received the original shoes back today and inspected them again for the "deep, etched gauges" and a "completely worn out sole." Yes, there is wear - see attached photo - but this is from walking around the hardwood floors of my house for two hours to see if the shoes needed to be broken in or were just too small, not from "running on concrete" as they so condescendingly accused me of doing. Perhaps the shoes themselves should be better made to ensure that a few hours of around-the-house wear doesn't cause immediate wear and tear on the soles on the first day of use? It seems from many of the online reviews I've found of this company (wonder if they threatened to sue those people, as well?), they'll find any reason to refuse your return or exchange. ALSO - if you read the fine print of their exchange policy, they charge you $12 shipping and a 15% restocking fee."