Tag: walking shoes

I recently bought a pair of OC Cloud 5 Waterproof lifestyle shoes in Cocoa/Frost. OC is a company based in Zurich that employs Swiss engineering to design their shoes. They have a company philosophy of sustainability and limiting their corporate footprint on the planet.

They came to my attention when I was doing research for a walking shoe for an upcoming trip. They made the cut on several lists for best walking shoes. I am a true US size 8M in shoes. Whenever a size 8M shoe doesn’t fit, there’s usually no fix because the next size up will be too big.

The day I received my shoes I tried them on. They were tight all around, length and width. I sent them back the same day, but decided to try the 8 1/2 because they were really cute and recommended by so many different respected groups. (I don’t mean review sites, I mean “best of” lists by walking and hiking publications and groups.) Thus began my ordeal.

Somehow the shipping label got mixed up when they sent me my exchange pair in the new size, and instead of delivering the shoes to me, they went to OC’s office or warehouse, or who knows what location. Fine, mistakes get made. But it wasn’t easy to straighten out the issue or get ahold of customer service and have someone actually figure out what happened and where my shoes were because they’re so automated, I kept getting emails saying my shoes were on the way or delivered already.

Over 4 weeks passed and I didn’t have my shoes or a refund. They’re not cheap shoes. I was angry and frustrated. I disputed the charge with my credit card company and coincidentally (not!) the very next day someone reached out from the company and explained what happened.

They offered me a discount for the hassle and I agreed. I finally had my size 8.5M a couple of days later. Then the real pain started, literally.

I’m going on my trip in August and I was researching shoes early so I could get the “breaking in” over with before then. I wanted them for urban walking. The first day I tried them out on a walk around my neighborhood. They felt a little snug, but I thought they might give a little after some use. They caused horrible blisters on my Achilles tendon.

I persisted because at this point they couldn’t be returned since they were used. I wore them daily on walks for over three weeks before they finally ceded enough to be comfortable without causing any blisters, but they’re still not great.

Now, in all fairness, the company calls this model a “lifestyle” shoe, not specifically a walking shoe, but unless your lifestyle consists of only walking from your destination to your car and back, these shoes won’t cut it. I’ll use them if I’m hanging out at a bar or a friend’s house or something, but they’re not suitable for a day of running errands or hitting the mall. I honestly think there’s some design flaw or dimension mistake in their manufacturing. Maybe it’s just this model or something happened with this color because I noticed they’re no longer offered in the cocoa/frost on their website. Who knows?

Lesson learned for me. No more mail order shoes or accepting any size but my tried and true. Several people have recommended the Hoka line of walking shoes, including my primary physician, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ll be off to the sporting goods store soon.