Altra Running

I was gifted my Altra Vanish carbon shoes since I could not afford the $240 price tag. Unfortunately, after my first run they showed wear & tear. Then 86 miles in, there were dime-sized holes in both soles. I sent pictures to Altra. They claimed "normal wear and tear" and rejected my request for help. I've been a loyal Altra customer for 12 years. I've since researched and purchased another company's carbon plate, wide toe box shoes, and am very pleased with them. Plus, they were $100 less than Altra's Vanish. Altra lost a loyal customer.

Had a terrible experience with Altra. Ordered shoes on 26th May (£145). It's 23rd July and I'm now waiting for a refund as they didn't cover the shipping costs with UPS (I paid for them as part of postage costs). Shoes are now being returned to Altra and I've been out of pocket for 2 months and counting. They won't provide me with compensation and won't allow me to speak or contact a manager. Absolutely appalling customer service and very rude staff on the help line.

The worst customer service I've experienced in a very long time. I can't believe such a reputable company has no problem ignoring their paying customer for WEEKS, then finally responds as if nothing has happened. I was so excited about ordering shoes for my daughter's cross country season. I emailed them the day after we received the shoes requesting an RMA (as they indicate on their website) so we could get the right size. I considered buying the right size before returning the new pair we'd already received... until I didn't hear back for days, which was odd, and then it turned into weeks with NO response. I reached out again wondering if my email got lost. And nothing. Almost 4 WEEKS later I finally got an email saying "an RMA has been emailed and once we receive the shoes it'll be another few weeks until you see your card credited." No apology or acknowledging my previous emails. Cross country season is over next week.

Altra parent company has evidently changed hands again. So, if you think you're buying a product from someone with a unique idea, that person is long gone. You just have a company interested in profit now. Altra customer service is the worst. It took them over a months time- and my hounding them-to inform me that my order wasn't filled because that shoe isn't offered any more... their response: We recently changed companies. VF corp purchased Altra shoes from Icon. So we have moved our warehouses and distribution centers as well as all of our customer services. The reason none of your information is showing up is because we have brand new ordering systems to process our orders more efficiently. We apologize for the inconvenience that this transition has caused you. Ok, they've been bought and sold again and fumbled the transition... I'm not the forgiving type in this case.

DO NOT sign up for ALTRA emails unless you want to permanently be on their list. Their unsubscribe does not work. Very frustrating. And when you write the company, they respond that you will be removed in 30 days- Really 30 days- why does it take so long. And on top of that they do NOT remove you

My daughter was having trouble finding shoes to fit (she's a women's 12.5). We researched and thought Altras would work. We ordered 2 different pair online and paid for rush shipping. The shoes came and she didn't like the fit. We should have ordered larger shoes.
The problems start when you try to return items and following the instructions to return them. I have sat on hold with customer service for 20-30 minutes on 3 different occasions. (The way I cope with it is to find something else to do while waiting, balance the check book, 20 minute ab video, etc.) I picture an office with several people sitting around having a great time and answering a few calls an hour. They were always nice but their time tables for refund were off by a couple of weeks. I finally got the refund and all is well.
The lessons learned are never order shoes that you have never tried on, be nice to others when they have no control over the situations of others, and if you can't chill out for a few minutes while waiting on hold you are probably not someone that I want to see on my runs in the woods.

You have to call Altra to get the discount code for the month and then search to find where to enter it. Illogically its not on the payment page like 99% of all other web sites. Its weirdly on one of the first pages of the order. Makes no sense. Had to call and have help- and then even weirder- they didnt offer to take the order. Lucky for them I was really interested- otherwise heck there are other shoes out there w more committed service.