I wanted to share a recent experience I had with Birkenstock's customer support which left me deeply dissatisfied, especially considering the brand's reputation for quality. My wife has worn them and sworn by them for years so I figured it was time for me to give the a shot... so I purchased a pair at the end of September 2023. Despite minimal wear (less than once per week -- you can tell, that grey stains so easy) the sole began to separate from the upper part of the shoe in 3 months.

I thought, surely a $160 pair of shoes should last longer than 3 months... what company would charge that price and not stand by their product? So I did what I thought was fair. I sent customer support an email detailing the situation to see if this was a known issue and give the company a chance to remedy the situation before sharing my experience with other potential buyers. Woof... did they miss in their response (but maybe I'm off base? you tell me). They claimed that since each person wears their footwear differently and there's no specific warranty or guarantee, this did not appear to be a manufacturing defect. Consequently, they refused to offer any kind of resolution.

I followed up with the rep who then copy/pasted the same initial response (which probably exists b/c this IS a known issue) and took it a step further to tell me that their quality control expert looked at it and agreed, IT IS NORMAL FOR THE TOP OF A BIRK TO SEPARATE FROM THE SOLE IN 3 MONTHS. Mind blown.

Attached are pictures of my shoes showing the separation and the email chain with their support team (with the representative's name removed for privacy -- dudes just doing his job and it's not like he has any control of the situation /shrug).

It's alarming that a brand known for quality and durability would dismiss a clear case of early wear as normal. Maybe it's b/c they IPO'd and don't care about quality or customer experience but man, seems short sighted to me.

It's disappointing to pay a premium price only to receive a product that fails prematurely. Dealing with a customer service team that is unwilling to acknowledge or rectify the issue was just the cherry on top of an already bad situation.

Hope this helps anyone who is considering a purchase.

Images:
https://imgur.com/a/43qCwQC