Bonsall’s Walk Rite for Life

I am but one in a long line of casualties felled by the Bonsall Bruisers Brigade aka Walk Rite For Life Shoes. The Bonsall family owns the shoe stores.
Ordered a pair is shoes in March and after numerous in store visits and unanswered phone calls, cancelled order. Chris Bonsall didn’t like my attitude when I asked for refund and threatened to not give me refund unless I changed my behavior.
As with other customers the refund was never posted to my account. I had to file a dispute with my credit card company.
Despite abc channel 7’s (KGO) 2014 scathing expose of Walk Rites business practices and with virtually all negative reviews on Unilocal,
Bonsall Bruisers Brigade, aka Walk Rite for Life, continues to operate with impunity.
I have been reluctant to post this review until my visa bill has posted a permanent credit. The dispute takes 3 months during which time the Bonsall’s can use your money. Its called «playing the float

Terrible customer service. Never returned calls when they said they would call me back. Still waiting for my shoes to be delivered, about a month. Won’t be returning, after I finally get my shoes.

This was one of the worst transactions of my entire life! Boy do I wish I had read the reviews before I went in. This place was so terrible I filed a claim with the BBB. FYI they have 9 claims against them on there. The first day I went in I was very happy, I got a proper fitting and really liked the guy who helped me. I didn’t like the color of the shoes I tried on so he ordered me a pair in black and told me it would be a week or so for them to come in. Long story short, a couple of weeks went buy and I never heard anything so I called them. They said the shoes should have been there by now and they would call and check on the status. Again, never got a call back so I had to call them AGAIN a week later. When I did so they told me the same thing as last time. After a month went by I went into the store, one of the employees said the shoes had not arrived and he called the company and said they had been delivered to one of their other locations and that he would have them picked up the next day and that he would call me when they arrived. To no surprise I never got a call. A week later I went into the store, again, since they wouldn’t return my calls and the shoes still were not there. I tried to get a refund and they wouldn’t give me my cash back, said they had to cut me a cashiers check and couldn’t do it that day but it would be mailed to me. Never got it so I had to go the store yet AGAIN, and finally on the last visit got my money back. They lied to and avoided me for two months, worst business I’ve ever dealt with.

Don’t go there they’ve told me the shoes are made in germany. unless germany has moved to china. I’ve paid 600+ dollars my feet are worse i think I’m suing this people because they prey on peoples pain. people like this should be out of business. horrible way of taking peoples money. they always talk bad about real foot doctors just to take your
don’t waste time and money. just talk tu a real doctor

Agree with everyone who gave one star or less. Worst customer service ever. Condescending and argumentative. Will never go there again Please do not give them your business; they deserve to go out of business. Felt like I was in a Saturday Night live skit for the worst store to ever visit.

Omg I wish I would have read the reviews before I even stepped into this store.
It has been the worse experience I have ever had.
I was having a lot of foot pain & was under a Drs care whom made me custom orthodics. I decided to pursuance a real good pair of shoes, so I stopped in this store & the first thing the owner told me was how terrible my new orthodics were. She wanted me to have new ones made in her store, I said no I just want a new pair of shoes that I can wear these with.
So they told me which ones I needed & the order was placed on June 22,2015. They charged me the full amount up front $ 184.87 in which case I wrote a check which was cashed immediately. I was told it will take 4 – 6 weeks to get them. I stopped by 2 months later only to b treated very rudely & got the run around.
Over the last 5 months I have called, nobody called me back. I went into the store only to have the sales people argue with me & tell me they would b in the next week.
The shoes finally came in on nov 10 th 2015. I go in & try them on. The shoes are a size too small, and I can’t put the orthodics in them because it made them even smaller. The salesman kept telling me they just needed to b stretched. He kept going into back to stretch, I compared old shoe to new shoe back to back & it was clear that new shoe was @ least one size smaller. After him stretching 3 or 4 xs I tried to walk in them & they were so uncomfortable. I said to salesman look they are clearly too small but he kept insisting to stretch them.
The salesman pushed the shoes @ me & told me to get out & I will not get my $$ back. I pushed the shoes back @ him & left.
I am now having to look into getting my $$ back.
Moral of the story this store is THE WORST STORE EVER. THEY TREAT THERE CUSTOMERS VERY POORLY & argue with u. I WISH I WOULD HAVE NEVER STEPPED FOOT IN THIS STORE EVER !!!
I thought it was just me but after reading the reviews, I know different

Worst store ever. BE VERY careful! The quality is very very poor, the customer Service is terrible & shipping was over 3months! Not worth the cost at all! Seem to be from some cheap company. See the walking company for better products at a much more affordable price!

Legitimately the most horrible customer service I have ever experienced. The owner/​manager is the most condescending person I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. Save your money… Good lord. I left shaking. It was really really bad!

Why there is not an option to give no stars?
The Worst store you could EVER find. I can’t even list all issues I had there. Before you paid, they will promise you all stars from the sky. Next day — who are you? We don’t remember. All records are stored in the shoe boxes. Seriously??? I was going on the trip and asked if its possible to get new shoes before I leave. I was at that store 3 weeks before my trip. Salesperson said they have my size at their Los Angeles location. They promised to call when shoes arrive. And it’s not a special order! Just an athletic shoes. Needless to say there was no call for 3 weeks.
On my way to airport I stopped at the store. Same salesperson informed me that she saw my shoes somewhere but she can find them without the owner. Seriously!!! You need the owner to find the order? How stupid I am. I was going to buy an athletic shoes there for $ 172. Will not bother you with the story of receiving the refund. But will mention– same shoes I bought on Amazon for $ 84 and, of course, they arrived 1 day after my order. Will never even walk by that place.

I have never posted a review before but these guys are so unprofessional that I had to. I would give them negative stars if I could. They lie to you and force you into buying their product. They give you false estimated arrival for their product. They tell you that they will call you in 2 days and update on the status of your order. They don’t call you for 10 days and don’t return your call. After 10 days they call you and tell you tat it will take another week. All this while you could have gone to another store or ordered you pair of shoes online if you knew it would take a month instead of 3 – 4 days. These guys are super unprofessional. I won’t recommend them to anyone.

These guys are thieves. Literally – they will steal your money.
I ordered a pair of shoes in April; every time I call, they assure me that they are a week from being delivered. It is now the end of August and I am trying to just get the order cancelled and the money refunded, but every time I call they tell me they need to look into the order, and end up calling my answering machine (not the cell phone number I give them) and leave a message that they’ll be in next week.
When I flat-​out demanded a refund, they said I need to come into the store with an invoice «for my protection.» Happily, I found my invoice, if not I suspect I’d be SOL.
Avoid avoid avoid.
Update: when I went into the store, they were extremely rude to me – telling me that I was going to have to wait 30 minutes or so before they were going to be free to help me, threatening to call the police if I tried to show their customers their Unilocal reviews while I waited (this last threat was dropped when I offered to call the police myself). They finally helped me, claiming to credit a refund to my Visa card, but after 2 billing cycles it hadn’t posted to my account. Apparently, just because you get a Visa refund slip doesn’t mean that it’s posted to your account. These thieves never processed my refund, so now I am dealing with my Visa company to get the charge reversed.

OK, so it appears that one person had a good experience with the Bonsall family business. Don’t be fooled. THESE PEOPLE ARE FRAUDS, CON ARTISTS, AND THIEVES. AND THEY WILL TREAT YOU LIKE GARBAGE IN THE PROCESS. ENTER A STORE AT YOUR OWN RISK. And you’re hearing this from someone who normally doesn’t put a lot of credence in Unilocal reviews. «Oh, Unilocal only represents the ten percent of people that had a bad experience.» Not this time. WALK RITE FOR LIFE IS BAD NEWS! But it appears the only way to shut them down is to quit patronizing them. Please help. I know there are not a lot of other options in the Bay Area for the type of specialty shoes they sell. But figure it out; buy online, look for other outlets even if you have to travel a bit. Something. This absurdly poor level of service cannot be rewarded by continued sales transactions.

This store is ridiculous and Marge is a one of a kind person not in a good way. I just as soon perform Brain Surgery on myself then try to figure out their business practices or even how they manage to stay in business. So Rude and incompetent spending 2 hours on nothing only to be labeled a Glamourpuss by the leading lady there and still holding no new shoes for 3^rd time in a row in 3 years. Still Medical was billed and for what. Thanks for milking it and bad business. I will never waste my time there ever again. They Should be shut down. –ANGRY CUSTOMER!!!

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! BUYER BEWARE!
I returned a pair of shoes and the gentleman who took them back was not able to process the credit. 3 months later, 4 phones calls, 2 store visits, and NO CREDIT, NO RETURN PHONE CALL!!! Everytime I call, I am told the manager will call me back, and they never do. Everytime I go in, the manager is not there to help me. I just want a credit for the shoes I returned! Pretty simple! Returning a phone call is pretty simple, too!

sigh i guess the reviews were right re the rudeness and promises meant to be broken :-(.my initial meeting with Chris when i was shopping around for shoes was really great customer service (of course they want to sell shoes :-) and Chris did told me that my order will be here in 3 weeks otherwise he won’t sell me shoes that won’t arrive on time. Now, it’s already 5 weeks and when i called them inquiring re my orders, they told me not to call them unless they will call me. if i don’t receive a call from them that means the shoes not there yet and they don’t want me to call them.
The lady that i talked over the phone said that medicare has a lot of «red tapes» blah blah blah
i wished i have checked with Unilocal first before going in to this store.

I am absolutely not surprised by the very low rating on Unilocal for this business. I work in a clean room lab and need white, very comfortable shoes since I’m on my feet for much of the day. I was browsing Westgate shoe stores and walked into this one.
The staff were unbelievably rude. I tried on two different shoes, and on the last one I said I could feel some of the contouring in the sole through the liner. The sales woman looks at me and says: «these shoes don’t have anything there to make a bump». Me: «Well I feel something there.» I took it off and found with my hand where the bump was that I felt, then pointed it out to the sales woman. Her reply: «It’s the princess and the pea!» then she walked away and essentially ignored me. I said «Thank you for your time» as I walked out and didn’t even get a nod or eye contact.
Also, the podiatrist that was there, an older woman, wouldn’t stop talking about how her clients are all doctors and lawyers, and how she has an exclusive contract with Intel for their employee’s shoes. When I said I worked in a clean room, she said «So you work for Intel?» When I told her no, she said, «I thought Intel was the only clean room company around.» I can guarantee that she name-​dropped Intel at least 10 times (no exaggeration) in the few minutes I talked to her.

On September 28, 2013, I ordered a pair of Akaishi Sandals from Bonsall’s Walk Rite for Life. I paid $ 195.75 in advance and was promised to receive the sandals in 1 month.
After 3 month, I still did not receive the shoes and the owner of the store told me that the manufacturer was moving and my order was delayed indefinitely.
The shoes did not arrive. On January 9, 2014, I asked for a refund. It’s March 3, 2014 and I still have not received shoes or a refund (though i was promised to be sent a check multiple times by the owner and sales people).
This place is not to be trusted and should be avoided at all costs.

After visiting their Morgan Hill store, we were sent to the main store on Hamilton Ave. The selection was pretty good and there were 3 sales people in the store. Pretty much, everyone had something to contribute regarding my specific foot requirements. It didn’t occur to me at the time that our sales person was probably not all that experienced. Hind sight is ²⁰⁄₂₀.
I decided on a shoe that I chose from a catalog, which had to be special ordered. it was Sunday, so we were told the order would be placed on Tuesday and I should have my shoes by the end of the week since they were coming from Southern CA.
Let’s just say, I was clearly misinformed. After calling the store to find out where my shoes were, I was told it could take 8 – 12 weeks. Not a happy customer, especially considering I promptly paid the $ 217 for shoes that I have no idea when I’ll see. These are not play shoes — my feet hurt people. I need them NOW.
Several calls to the store — they don’t answer the phone and their message says they will call you back the next day — claiming that their level of service prevents them from interrupting a customer to answer the phone?
They have my money and I don’t have my shoes! If I have to make an in-​person visit to find out what is going on, I will be really unpleasant.
Too bad i didn’t read the reviews on Unilocal BEFORE I spent my money — shame on me.

Well, I guess I should have read the reviews here first BEFORE I went to this place. I have been waiting for 4 weeks now for my shoes. When I ordered them they said it would be 2 weeks to get the shoes. I am still waiting for them.
After 3 calls I finally got someone to call me back and advise me of the status of my shoes. They told me my shoes are on the way, but not sure when they will arrive. I don’t get it. In this day of instant tracking, I don’t understand why they can’t determine when the shoes will arrive. I called them back, but of course didn’t get a call back. I don’t understand why they don’t like to return calls.
My overall impression is they don’t seem to really care that about customer service and the client. I have had foot pain for 2 months and my Dr. said to get some new shoes asap.
I told the sales person this and now 4 weeks later, I wondering if they even care?
They might be a great place to buy shoes, my advice is that you only buy what they have in stock. Do not order any shoes unless you can wait a few months.

3.5 stars only because i have not received my shoes yet.
Other than not answering their phone, you are better off going in person, where they are very determined to help and make sure you get the right shoe for your feet.
Very knowledgeable as well. Just not a fan of not knowing when my shoes will arrive.