Ecco Shoes - They rot whether you wear them or not!
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makintracks
Posts: 66 Forumite
Some years ago I found some really nice Ecco ladies boots that were so comfy and good looking that I decided to go back and get another pair to save for later. At the time I went back to the store, the staff told me that this particular style of shoe was to be discontinued shortly, so I decided to buy a couple more pairs to keep. I hate buying shoes and finding comfy shoes that look nice too..... well it is nearly impossible for me.
I wore the first pair for a good few years and eventually put them out to pasture when the soles started to degrade. I started wearing the second pair and after only a few years, the soles again started to degrade and literally fall to pieces. However, I figured I had a reasonable amount of wear from them, albeit not nearly as good as the first pair. I was now onto the third pair and grateful I had bought them!
The third pair started to degrade after only a year or two with the soles again starting to fall to pieces. This was very disappointing on shoes that cost in excess of £100. The whole reason I am prepared to pay more for supposedly decent shoes is that they last longer than cheap rubbish. I thought it would be best to write to Ecco about this and popped them in a cupboard while I moved onto my last pair of shoes.
Procrastination led to the final pair starting to fall to pieces in exactly the same way before I got round to discussing this problem with Ecco in the UK. The final pair again only lasted a year or so. Disgraceful for a top quality pair of leather shoes. However, I thought the fact that I had in my posession two out of four pairs of shoes that failed in exactly the same way, would mean some help would be forthcoming from Ecco. In the meantime my husbands Ecco boots started to do exactly the same thing.
We sent the three pairs of shoes to Ecco by courier and waited for a response. After a few weeks a letter arrived to say that the ladies shoes dated back some ten years and they were not going to do anything about this as it was old age that caused the degradation. They were however prepared to give my husband a new pair of shoes at a discount - not free, because they felt he had not had full wear from his shoes before they degraded!
We telephoned to explain that although the model of ladies shoe was indeed old, these shoes had been stored and not worn for the majority of the time due to buying extra pairs. They were simply not interested. Silly me for thinking that a brand like Ecco could be trusted for quality. Whatever you do don't ever buy more than one pair of shoes, even if you really like them, because whether you wear them or not - THEY WILL ROT!
I will certainly never buy another pair of Ecco shoes. Ecco is another example of a company that couldn't care less about the people that pay their wages. They spend millions in advertising to get new customers, but compensating those who have loyally supported them for loss due to no fault of their own is obviously a bridge too far. Shame on you Ecco.
I am posting a poll to see if anybody else has had similar struggles with shoes degrading, be they Ecco or not.
I wore the first pair for a good few years and eventually put them out to pasture when the soles started to degrade. I started wearing the second pair and after only a few years, the soles again started to degrade and literally fall to pieces. However, I figured I had a reasonable amount of wear from them, albeit not nearly as good as the first pair. I was now onto the third pair and grateful I had bought them!
The third pair started to degrade after only a year or two with the soles again starting to fall to pieces. This was very disappointing on shoes that cost in excess of £100. The whole reason I am prepared to pay more for supposedly decent shoes is that they last longer than cheap rubbish. I thought it would be best to write to Ecco about this and popped them in a cupboard while I moved onto my last pair of shoes.
Procrastination led to the final pair starting to fall to pieces in exactly the same way before I got round to discussing this problem with Ecco in the UK. The final pair again only lasted a year or so. Disgraceful for a top quality pair of leather shoes. However, I thought the fact that I had in my posession two out of four pairs of shoes that failed in exactly the same way, would mean some help would be forthcoming from Ecco. In the meantime my husbands Ecco boots started to do exactly the same thing.
We sent the three pairs of shoes to Ecco by courier and waited for a response. After a few weeks a letter arrived to say that the ladies shoes dated back some ten years and they were not going to do anything about this as it was old age that caused the degradation. They were however prepared to give my husband a new pair of shoes at a discount - not free, because they felt he had not had full wear from his shoes before they degraded!
We telephoned to explain that although the model of ladies shoe was indeed old, these shoes had been stored and not worn for the majority of the time due to buying extra pairs. They were simply not interested. Silly me for thinking that a brand like Ecco could be trusted for quality. Whatever you do don't ever buy more than one pair of shoes, even if you really like them, because whether you wear them or not - THEY WILL ROT!
I will certainly never buy another pair of Ecco shoes. Ecco is another example of a company that couldn't care less about the people that pay their wages. They spend millions in advertising to get new customers, but compensating those who have loyally supported them for loss due to no fault of their own is obviously a bridge too far. Shame on you Ecco.
I am posting a poll to see if anybody else has had similar struggles with shoes degrading, be they Ecco or not.
Have you experienced unusual sole degradation on shoes? 135 votes
Yes, They were Ecco shoes
17%
24 votes
Yes, They were another brand
22%
30 votes
No, I have owned Ecco and had no trouble
25%
35 votes
No, I have never had any problems with any brand
34%
46 votes
0
Comments
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I had a pair of Timberland Boots which I wore for a few weeks and then forgot about until about 5 years later. When I wore them the rubber sole started to break off. It's old age pure and simple.The man without a signature.0
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vikingaero wrote: »I had a pair of Timberland Boots which I wore for a few weeks and then forgot about until about 5 years later. When I wore them the rubber sole started to break off. It's old age pure and simple.
I think your right, they are bound to dry out and then I suppose become more brittle and suseptable to being damaged easily?
Well I would think so anyway0 -
makintracks
The value is not what dictates how long something lasts
A year for a pair of ecco shoes is perfectly reasonable
Many factors come into play when assesing individual wear
Customers,weight,any foot or back problems which affect the way your foot sits in the shoe,how much your feet sweat,if you wear socks/hoisery ,if you expect to wear them most days without rotating shoes,do you drive in them,how do you treat them if you get then wet etc...how the shoes have been stored & where
I think your unreasonable I think you got good wear for your money in my personal opinion as someone who has worked in footwear retail for over 20 years"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes." :cool:
All truth goes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Then, it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident.0 -
I looked into ecco shoes a couple of years ago and was going to buy a pair. I went onto their web site and used the store locator to find my local stockists. When I went there I found it was no longer a shoe shop. I asked the owner and he told me there was a shoe shop there but that was 5 YEARS AGO!
I was so hacked off I sent an e-mail to ecco customer services and guess what, the e-mail was undeliverable...
A company that has a store locator that is more than 5 years out of date and does not update it's public customer services e-mail address is not a comany that cares about it's customers.
I 2nd the OP (but for different reasons), shame on you ecco.0 -
I've got a pair of Ecco boots which are still going strong after three years. However, recent shoes I've tried on are not as comfortable, and my mum says the same after wearing them for years.0
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When my MIL died I found about 5 pairs of good quality shoes stored away in her wardrobe. Great, I thought as we were the same size but on closer inspection all the soles had disintergrated. The local shoe mender said this is a common problem with rubber type soles if they are not used. They need to be worn and kept flexible.Doing voluntary work overseas for as long as it takes .......
My DD might make the odd post for me0 -
I've got a pair of Ecco boots which are still going strong after three years. However, recent shoes I've tried on are not as comfortable, and my mum says the same after wearing them for years.
I can beat that. I recently unearthed some Ecco boots I had packed away after having several blissful years from them.
I worked out that they are older than my son, who is 19
Having said that, I haven't managed to find any Ecco shoes that are as comfy as the older Eccos (I have more pairs of indeterminate age) - I heard recently that Ecco aren't Ecco anymore? 0 -
Yeah... trouble is, materials do degrade.
Leave a rubber band on a windowsill for a few months - watch it crumble when you pick it up. Same principle.My TV is broken!
Edit: refunded £515 for TV 1.5 years out of warranty - thank you Sale of Goods Act! :j0 -
missymugwump wrote: »makintracks
The value is not what dictates how long something lasts
A year for a pair of ecco shoes is perfectly reasonable
I guess if the general public has such low expectations as mentioned in some of these posts, shoe manufacturers can charge more and give us less. After all, the quicker the shoes fall apart, the more they get to sell.
As for missymugwump - I am sorry, a year from any pair of shoes is most certainly not reasonable unless you are talking about a childs pair of shoes that would generally take a lot of abuse.
Good quality leather walking boots should last for many years. You may not have noticed that at the start of my post I said that my first pair lasted for absolutely ages. I recon it was at least 5 years if not more.
If the knowledgable shoe store owners /employees like missymugwump and the manufacturers already know that the soles will degrade with time (whether used or not), why were they not honest enough to tell me that when I purchased several pairs to keep?0 -
makintracks wrote: »
If the knowledgable shoe store owners /employees like missymugwump and the manufacturers already know that the soles will degrade with time (whether used or not), why were they not honest enough to tell me that when I purchased several pairs to keep?
How are they supposed to know what you intend to do with the shoes?0
This discussion has been closed.
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