Customers accuse shoe store of not delivering orders, issuing refunds

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A shoe store that specializes in custom made shoes is being accused of not delivering orders and failing to follow through with refunds.

Walk Rite for Life recently expanded to three locations in the Bay Area and formally went by the name of Foot Solutions. The name may have changed, but the nature of the complaints remain the same.

Carolyn Davis of Los Gatos waited eight months for the shoes she ordered from Walk Rite for Life and they never came. "And I said, 'where are my shoes?' Oh they're coming I just heard from them. Oh she was good at telling stories," she said.

Campbell resident Frances Lee heard those stories as well. "The typical answer is like kicking the can down the road. There's always an excuse," he said.

Those are just some of the nearly 20 complaints we received about Walk Rite for Life during the past two years, so we decided to invite some of the customers to our studio.

Michael: "Who had a problem with Walk Rite for Life? You'll have you raise your hand again if the problem was in getting your product."

None of the customers we talked to on camera received their shoes and the refunds they demanded took up to 14 months to arrive. Two people 7 On Your Side spoke to are still waiting.

Sunnyvale resident Margaret Cote placed her $900 order 26 months ago. "And they just kept stalling me and stalling me and stalling me and finally in June of this year I said, 'I had enough. I want a refund."'

Nic Erdei bought his shoes in October of 2013. "I wouldn't send them my worst enemy. I just would not send him or her there. I wouldn't be that cruel," he said.

Erdei said the store broke several promises to give him a refund.

7 On Your Side tried to pay store manager Chris Bonsall a visit, but he locked the doors when he saw us and either sneaked out the back or hid inside until we left an hour later.

Bonsall runs the store with his mother Marj. He refused to talk to 7 On Your Side on camera, but told us by phone, "I'm sorry we get complaints, but that's what we deal with. All we deal with is people who have problems."

Bonsall says he credited Erdei and Cote's credit card with refunds, but both say that didn't happen.

Three years ago, Walk Rite for Life operated under the Franchise Foot Solutions. But the corporation received so many complaints from consumers , its CEO asked the Bonsall's to leave the company.

Ray Margiano told 7 On Your Side, "We had gotten a number of calls from customers and other people. We invited them to move out of the system. There was no option. We asked them to leave," he said.

The customers we talked to accuse Walk Rite for Life of trying to wear down its customers. "They just give you the runaround, excuses and I think they hope that you get tired of coming back," Lydia Robinson said.

Dirk Hodges says he heard all kinds of excuses, including the shoes were coming from China and they don't track products in China.

Dianna Borrego points to all the negative reviews on Yelp and its rating of one star. "I think they're frauds. That's how they function," she said.

Walk Rite for Life has stores in Palo Alto, San Jose and a recently opened store in Gilroy. Bonsall described the decision to leave Foot Solutions as mutual.