FOSTER AND SON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

[Pedro Moreira]

Hi everyone,

I want to come here and share my first (and last) experience with Foster & Son. I hope my case was an unfortunate event.

I will try to keep it short, because the whole story was eligible for a Monty Python sketch.

On December 18th last year, decided to purchase a pair of shoes from Foster and Son, before the Brexit kicks in, since I live in Portugal. I purchased a pair of black oxfords, model Highclere with dainite sole and a Stag Handle Shoe horn.

Upon reception I noticed that the shoes had leather sole, not dainite and the shoe horn was not the one I ordered but a cheaper one.

Only on the beginning of January I was able to get an answer from them. Politely that present their excuses and decided to sent me the right pair of shoes and the right shoe horn, along with a complimentary cloth and shoe cream, asking me to send back the wrong ones, which I did.

A few days later, DHL contacted me asking me if I was willing to pay the customs and VAT taxes, catching me by surprise. I told them, that since it was an exchange of a purchase done before the Brexit, I would not pay again VAT taxes that were paid upon my order and I would not pay customs taxes, because it was an exchange, not a purchase. Upon calling F&S, again the apologised and asked me to refuse the package and they would send me another pair TAX FREE, which I agreed.

A few days later, DHL contacted me asking if I was willing to tay the customs and VAT taxes of the new package, AGAIN... Upon calling F&S again and again, calling portuguese DHL in order to solve the issue, I inform F&S to sent to DHL UK a "LOA" for tax purposes, in order to receive the shoes. If I hadn't do that, DHL would sent back the shoes themselves. I had to pressure F&S to send the "LOA". They did it on the eve of the last day.

So, when it was all final and done at portuguese customs, today on February 22nd, 2 months and 4 days after my order I finally received the shoes.

I opened the package and the shoe horn was the one I purchased. So far, so good. I opened the shoes box and inside a letter from F&S apologising for all the worries. After reading the letter, I thought to my self "Maybe I should give these guys another chance and make a new order".

I started unravelling the rest of the goods, and the left shoe was ok. It seemed to have a small creasing, but I think to myself "let it go, it is you being picky about it". When I saw the right shoe, I was left for dead. An enormous creasing showing intense use. It was tipically a pair of shoes used in stores to be tried on.

After a first email to F&S showing the shoes and telling them that I had it with them for good and I would keep the shoes and donate them to charity, just to avoid to deal with them again, I decided to call them saying that I changed my mind and I want my money back".

Sadly the story doesn't end here. I opened a PayPal claim, and very fast F&S answered me asking to send back the shoes and they would issue a refund. When I asked who would pay the shipping costs to return the shoes, they said: "YOU".

They already had the pictures I took, they knew the problem and yet they still want me to pay for the return of DAMAGED SHOES. Just Unbelievable.

What I told here, it's just 10% of the time I wasted back and forth by email and phone calls to F&S and DHL.

Just see for yourself and compare the right shoe with the left shoe. I am writing this not by spitefulness or hate towards F&S. Everybody I talked with from F&S, were very polite and friendly.

But if I can forgive a first mistake in the first order sent, the rest of it, ending with the reception of USED shoes is too much to disregard. I hope this story is just an unfortunate event by F&S.

 

[Noblekostas]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them.

Curious though, why upload the pictures as PDF??

Anyways, I don't think they will care that much, as their RTW business seems to be over. Not sure if you have missed the news about their closure.

Also, Brexit is garbage and full of issues. I ordered a fountain pen from the UK and it has been in Swedish customs for 2 weeks.

As a retailer myself, shoes are returned, leather creases often even if you are the most delicate person ever. They have to be resold. They are practically new. In your situation, yes it obviously looks way more tried on, could be a display or floor model. You could probably tell by the condition of the sole. They should have informed you or give you a discount, at least that is what I would have done. Did you get the shoes at full price? Then I would be definitely very very unhappy.

To share a personal experience, when I worked at Suitsupply Stockholm they told me to sell floor models with literally worn soles as new at full price. I couldn't ethically do that.

 

[Pedro Moreira]

Hi Noblekostas,

thank you for your reply. About your question, I upload as a PDF, because on jpeg they didn't allow me to upload bigger than 300kb or so. And the image was very poor. The initial picture had 33mg each.

I heard about their closure and that's why I bought a pair from them. I didn't need another pair of black oxfords.

Since the sole was dainite, it's be very easy to conceal the use of it. But I agree with you. It is indeed a display model to be tried on by customers.

And yes, I did paid full price for the shoes. And I am very very unhappy. I will pay for the return costs. I don't want to wait for PayPal intervention because of 15€ or so. And I want to end this story for good.

 

[Noblekostas]

Hi Noblekostas,

thank you for your reply. About your question, I upload as a PDF, because on jpeg they didn't allow me to upload bigger than 300kb or so. And the image was very poor. The initial picture had 33mg each.

I heard about their closure and that's why I bought a pair from them. I didn't need another pair of black oxfords.

Since the sole was dainite, it's be very easy to conceal the use of it. But I agree with you. It is indeed a display model to be tried on by customers.

And yes, I did paid full price for the shoes. And I am very very unhappy. I will pay for the return costs. I don't want to wait for PayPal intervention because of 15€ or so. And I want to end this story for good.

you are right I forgot it was Dainite. Good luck in your future shoe purchases. There are some great brands and retailers out there, sometimes we just have good or bad experiences.

 

[Pedro Moreira]

There are indeed. I own EG Galway, JL boots and deck shoes, C&J chukkas, several pairs from Church's, Paolo Scafora, along with other brands such as Cheaney, Loake, Barker, Carlos Santos.

Never had a bad costumer experience with any of those brands or retailers such Herrings or Skoaktiebolaget. Just Foster and Son...

 

[classicalthunde]

As a retailer myself, shoes are returned, leather creases often even if you are the most delicate person ever.

recently ordered a pair of shell cordovan shoes from Alden of Carmel and they explicitly noted several times that any shoes with creases or evidence of try on cannot be returned at all. It was fine for me since I knew what my sizing in that particular last was, but I can't imagine placing a $750+ order blind and closing the door on exchanges behind you..

 

[Noblekostas]

recently ordered a pair of shell cordovan shoes from Alden of Carmel and they explicitly noted several times that any shoes with creases or evidence of try on cannot be returned at all. It was fine for me since I knew what my sizing in that particular last was, but I can't imagine placing a $750+ order blind and closing the door on exchanges behind you..

At the same time, some returns I have received are shocking. You (not you in particular, I mean the customer) should also respect the retailer (as the retailer should respect the client).

I had a doctor from France return shoes in a massive box branded with ****** opener tools, thrown inside with no tape, no foam, nothing. Another one said they didn't crease at all when they came back as garbage.

Both parties should respect this, in the end it is leather and it will eventually crease a little. Just some extra afterthoughts I had.

 

[mhip]

At the same time, some returns I have received are shocking. You (not you in particular, I mean the customer) should also respect the retailer (as the retailer should respect the client).

I had a doctor from France return shoes in a massive box branded with ****** opener tools, thrown inside with no tape, no foam, nothing. Another one said they didn't crease at all when they came back as garbage.

Both parties should respect this, in the end it is leather and it will eventually crease a little. Just some extra afterthoughts I had.

Were you able to re-purpose the ****** openers as designer shoe horns?

 

[classicalthunde]

At the same time, some returns I have received are shocking. You (not you in particular, I mean the customer) should also respect the retailer (as the retailer should respect the client).

I had a doctor from France return shoes in a massive box branded with ****** opener tools, thrown inside with no tape, no foam, nothing. Another one said they didn't crease at all when they came back as garbage.

Both parties should respect this, in the end it is leather and it will eventually crease a little. Just some extra afterthoughts I had.

Agreed, to be honest I appreciated the up front-ness of AoC and as a repeat Alden customer it wasn't that much of a barrier to entry.

But then again, I specifically chose to get my first two pairs of Aldens (both were in different lasts) at a brick and mortar store where I could try them on first rather than ordering from AoC, despite AoC having more interesting shoes for this very reason.

I think either a store should be very explicit with their policy on this or have some sort of system in place to deal with it...maybe F&S never got around to that part before throwing in the towel. Its a shame because I've always appreciated the firm and its history

 

[Noblekostas]

Were you able to re-purpose the ****** openers as designer shoe horns?

It was empty. I shared a good laugh with the guys at the counter though. I would have called them "The Stretcher".

@classicalthunde there are a lot of people that don't read descriptions, make outrageous demands, expect perfection from $300 shoes, don't read the return policy etc. Of course it's best to try shoes in a physical store, but a good retailer is there to give you proper advice with their experience. I get daily emails thanking me for pushing them to take X size.

In any case, I hope they keep their Bespoke Department or get some sort of funding. Luckily Alfred Sargent made it in one way or another. Brexit hurt them a lot, they were so unprepared too. It's a pain to ship and receive now.

 

[Pedro Moreira]

Agreed, to be honest I appreciated the up front-ness of AoC and as a repeat Alden customer it wasn't that much of a barrier to entry.

But then again, I specifically chose to get my first two pairs of Aldens (both were in different lasts) at a brick and mortar store where I could try them on first rather than ordering from AoC, despite AoC having more interesting shoes for this very reason.

I think either a store should be very explicit with their policy on this or have some sort of system in place to deal with it...maybe F&S never got around to that part before throwing in the towel. Its a shame because I've always appreciated the firm and its history

As I told Kostas, I was aware of their financial problems and that was one of the reasons (the other the last is quite beautiful I have to admit) I decided to purchase another pair of black oxfords, because I already have a pair of "Alfred" from Cheaney and "Dubai" from Church's. Enough for what I need these days. It was really to help such an ancient house to keep up their business afloat. As you I was always fond of their history.

I don't know what happened, because the first pair I received, while it was not what I ordered, they were brand new. It just went south from that point onwards.

Well, at least the stag handle shoe horn is astonishing...

 

[Pedro Moreira]

Just to put en and in this thread. I received today in my bank account the refund from Foster and Son, concerning the shoes I returned because they were used ones.
So, despite their financial difficulties, they refund me, no questions asked.

Despite all the hassle about the purchase, hats off to them.
I hope they can manage to stay afloat, not only because of their history, but because “we” (the shoe community) already lost one of the Great names of English shoemaking (Alfred Sargent).

 

[JFWR]

At the same time, some returns I have received are shocking. You (not you in particular, I mean the customer) should also respect the retailer (as the retailer should respect the client).

I had a doctor from France return shoes in a massive box branded with ****** opener tools, thrown inside with no tape, no foam, nothing. Another one said they didn't crease at all when they came back as garbage.

Both parties should respect this, in the end it is leather and it will eventually crease a little. Just some extra afterthoughts I had.

****** opener tools? LOLOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLSDFSDFSDFSD

 

[Noblekostas]

****** opener tools? LOLOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLSDFSDFSDFSD

You know those stretcher things ??? I didn’t bother look for the technical term

 

[JFWR]

You know those stretcher things ??? I didn’t bother look for the technical term

Speculums, yes, but still. That made me laugh out loud and I am in a Zoom class right now!