Bob D.

I was so excited when my Albirds arrived. A breathable shoe made of natural, sustainable components - it sounded like a dream come true.

Myth 1: You won't need socks
Truth 1: I have never had a more smelly foot in my entire life than during the 20-some days of wearing the shoe without socks. It does not breathe as promised, so your feet get more sweaty all throughout the day... So, with all due respect, you do need to wear a clean pair of socks with there shoes unless you want to grow a gross bacteria farm on your feet.

Myth 2: Most comfortable shoe in the world
Truth 2: This is the only shoe that I have ever gave me a blister/sore from regular use over such a short period of time. I did not run a marathon. I did not go on a hike. I just used the shoes during the week while working at the office, and it was a painful experience... I tried to make it work by putting medical tape over my heel, which is where the very rough edge inside the shoe had rubbed off my skin.

Myth 3: No negative reviews means that it is a great shoe
Truth 3: Allbirds does not sell through regular channels, such as on Amazon. There is no convenient way to leave an honest review. I literally had to go a site called SiteJabber to leave a review - what about having a place on the Allbirds website where people can leave their reviews, whether they be positive or not positive? What about honesty?... On YouTube and other avenues, some people have kindly taken the time to share their thoughts, and it is a mixed bag. On popular blogs, reviews are shared with affiliate links - those reviews are, of course, all butterflies and rainbows.

It seems that Allbirds is not about actually supplying quality products. Instead, they go to great lengths to use sustainable materials to create, well... a garbage shoe. I got mine refunded. Yet I wonder how many people had a similar experience to my own and who just did not want to take the time to send them back. Or who felt guilting about returning a shoe that is supposedly so wonderful, or so the website claims.

The customer service team was very helpful in getting the return taken care of, but then again, I was only returning the shoe because it was absolutely nothing as described. Perhaps Allbirds is not in the business of selling shoes, but in the business of charging a premium for a shoe product that doesn't work and then controlling the narrative so that only a few people want to do a return. Is that really selling a shoe, or selling a lie?