Menu
Login
Replied
When the soles of my Ecco MX hiking boots turned to gel and layer underneath disintegrated and tracked black gunk all over the carpet and tile, I thought that I had a truly unusual situation. I had worn them only a couple of times, stored them in an air conditioned closet with no humidity or UV. While looking for company information, I came across this website and was amazed that this was clearly a manufacturing defect. Even more amazed at the company's lack of interest or attention. So I wrote an e-mail to Ecco customer service. No response, two weeks later. However, I give credit to Dillard's, where I purchased the shoes (2 identical pairs, no less @$225 each), as they made an adjustment for my inconvenience. By my count, I have purchased at least 10 pairs of Ecco shoes over the years; based on their lack of response, I'll now turn to a competitor. I can't believe, from what I've been reading on your site, that I am precisely the type of return customer that they're alienating! Oh well, nothing lasts forever...
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
I'm in a predicament! I prefer the older models made in Slovakia. I just bought a nearly new pair off eBay for $70. They were made in 2009.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125047534635?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
As soon as I got them I noticed how sticky they were. I thought maybe the seller cleaned them with a cleaner that left a residue that would wear off quickly. I put them on and walked out to my mailbox and back. During the 50 foot walk the soles fell completely apart by time I got back to my porch. I contacted the seller immediately. Only 52 minutes went by from the time of delivery to me contacting the seller. She is accusing me of soaking them in acid or other chemical. She offered no motive. I googled "ecco soles crumbling" and found this page. I sent her the link and now she is accusing me of switching the shoes. She has the original receipt and can't believe that soles would do such a thing, especially from a respectable company like Ecco. She also said she's not responsible for the shoes after they leave her possession. But I feel that she should have never sold them to begin with. There is no value without soles, especially ones in this bad of condition. I'm not sure what to do. $70 isn't going to make me or break me but I feel I have nothing but trash to show for it. Can I still send them to Ecco? Can I get them resoled?
Ecco winter boots for use in temperatures down to –40°(C or F). Wonderful, warm, comfortable leather uppers. Crap midsole disintegrated into black crumbles after a year. Shoe repair expert said they could not be repaired.
I shook out the crumbles and poured in a lot of glue (contact cement, general-purpose glue). This repair kept the soles stuck to the uppers for 2 years of frequent use. Now repeating the glue treatment, though there's less left of the midsole than before. Wish me luck!
Definitely will not buy Ecco again, though.
Let's face it, in comparison to other brands Ecco is just crap.
Had at least six pairs where the sole literally disintegrated and several more where it separated on the bottom layers.
I sent several back and got refunds or credits, but it is horrible to be walking around in a restaurant, club, store, etc. and leaving black tracks.
Also awful to have to limp along because a sole is coming off.
Not spending 100.- or more for shoes that will likely be defective before they are ever worn out.
No more eccos for me. Doesn't happen with Clarks, even though they are not usually as comfortable.
Trying other brands now.
I have worn my Ecco lace up boots maybe 10 times in 15 years. They were in an indoor closet under room temp.
I put them on to wear and the right side boot sole dissentigrated. This is the second pair that has dissentigrated after more use than this current pair.
Hydrolysis is not the issue in my case, it appears to be poor quality of materials used by Ecco.
Good luck to those that choose Ecco products...bring a spare pair of shoes!
We took a trip to Salzburg Austria in December of 2022 for a friends 50th birthday and ate at the Michelin 2 star restaurant Esszimmer. I wore my black Ecco oxfords to the occasion. We walked from our hotel to the restaurant and when we got to the restaurant and I sat down at the table it felt like there was something on the floor under the table or something was stuck to the bottom of my both my shoes. I looked down and to my horror it was the soles of my black Ecco oxfords falling apart on the floor under the table. It was like the soles of the shoes were disintegrating. When I looked back through the restaurant you could see pieces of the black rubber soles on the path that I took to our table. How embracing to go to a Michelin 2 star restaurant and have your shoes fall apart. I could not believe it. When my friends asked me what was wrong I told them you're not going to believe this but my shoes are falling apart. Right away they started to give me a hard time. Luckily these were close friends and we could laugh at the situation. This would have been horrible if I were entertaining business associates. Ecco, you need to get your act together and solve this issue or have a recall so that your current clients don't run into this issue in the future. I am sending my shoes back to us.Ecco.com for the warrantee and I will update this sight with the results but that does not solve the issue for all the other customers with Ecco shoes that could fall apart at any time.
I read your post and I am looking forward to the update that you said that you would post. And I'm hoping it was a positive experience!
Just had a second pair of my ECCO shoes have both herls disintegrate at the same time in an inconvenient place and time. I did return the first pair to fo so and received a number for replacement In the USA. This time I am traveling in Japan and will be simply tossing the badly made shoes in the trash rather than toting them around on my trip and tgen getting a new pair of Ecco shors! Indeed m, I will toss my remaining ECCO shoes when I return to the USA as I can never trust this brand ever again. It is an unspeakable problem to have shoes fall apart in use… and a despicable embarassment to be reduced to appearing as a down and out hobo in consequence! No more ECCO shoes for me ever again. And as to the 1% return rate cited by the company due to hydrolysis, I do not believe the number as many like me will simply toss deficient shoes and not bother with the procedure to get a replacement from the same company! I am surprised that ECCO remains in business and has vendors still prepared to sell this very unreliable product.
BTW, Ecco is one of the few companies still doing business (operating stores) in Russia despite the sanctions. Don't support them.
Mary M from KS
Well, thank goodness I found this site ( and very easily, I might add, due to the sheer number of complaints about these soles) or I would think I was just the victim of very poor luck and circumstances or that I was somehow capable of ruining very expensive and hypothetically, very good quality shoes, simply by wearing them more than once.
For the third time, I have had a pair of Ecco shoe soles disintegrate, seemingly out of nowhere, but definitely not without being noticed by the people at 1) the wedding of a family member, where large pieces of the soles followed me with every step I took, 2) the solemn religious ceremony where they just cracked in half, making my gait look like I had had far too much to drink, and 3) today, at a formal funeral Mass, where the soles broke off in many, many small pieces, littering the aisle leading up to and away from the casket, in addition to my entire pew.
Each pair of these shoes was approximately 10 years old, but all had been worn infrequently and stored/cared for appropriately. Each pair of these shoes cost over $120.00 10 years ago at Dillard's in Kansas City, when even $50.00 or $60.00 shoes would have been considered somewhat expensive and expected to last the better part of a lifetime.
How is this even possible? Aside from the embarrassment and discomfort I have felt at each instance of my shoes disintegrating and having no option to change them (especially while wearing dress clothes for the occasions) or even hide the mess they were making, I am pretty angry and I feel pretty stupid, as if I should have known this might happen, so it was my own fault. This is why I came home from the funeral and looked up Ecco shoe soles disintegrating. Oh, my, the internet was replete with options for finding the cause for and instances of disintegration.
Frankly, I don't care if there is a known cause, except to say that if Ecco has known this since 2010-ish at least, why were these still made and sold? And really, why do I have to do the work of authenticating this disintegration, dragging myself to Dillard's or the Post Office or anywhere so that Ecco 'believes' that I didn't just pick apart my shoe soles out of boredom? I probably should have just taken a photo of the mess on the floor at the funeral, but that seemed even more tasteless than leaving 'droppings,' as it were, in my wake.
Never, ever again, Ecco, will I spend my hard-earned money on your products. I simply do not have the wherewithal to document this phenomenon right now, so I will just chalk it up to an expensive and embarrassing lesson learned. And I will share that lesson as the need arises, if anyone I know is contemplating Ecco shoes.
same thing happened.
I had 2 pairs of ECCO shoes disintegrate. One while I was wearing them going through security at an airport. I had to go through two days with crumbling shoes because all sure does were closed by the time I landed.
These literally could all over the place and made a mess. I didn't know that ECCO had admitted to making defective shoes and had already thrown them out but I did take some photos at the airport.
I've had 3 pairs of ECCO shoes so only 67% were defective. This was an expensive lesson to but better brands.