Fleet Feet Upper East Side — Local services in New York

I visited this Fleet Feet on July 4th with the goal of purchasing a new pair of running shoes. I’d previously had some sizing issues with my sneakers, so I wanted to try them on in person to make sure I liked the fit and feel.

Initially, I worked with Carlos, who was friendly and helpful in getting me started. He had to step away to take a store phone call, so I was then assisted by Venkat. I let him know that I was mainly looking for a new pair of running shoes because my current ones felt a little snug around the toes.

Venkat immediately began explaining that I needed a pair of $60 insoles based on my foot scan. I mentioned that I’d never had issues with my feet or legs while running, aside from the recent fit issue with my toes, and that I thought I’d be fine without them. He said he would bring them just in case and returned with three pairs of shoes, the insoles, and a pair of socks.

While I was trying on one of the sneakers I liked best, he inserted the insoles into the other shoe and had me put them on to feel the difference. I told him they felt pretty much the same but that I liked the sneakers and wanted to buy them. He then offered to let me try on running socks and handed me the packaging before I told him I already had plenty and didn’t need more. He responded with, “Ok then, so it’ll just be the sneakers and the running insoles for today?” I again let him know I didn’t think the insoles were necessary, but if I experienced any discomfort down the line, I’d be open to coming back.

As soon as I said that, his tone and body language shifted. Up until that point he had been professional, engaging, and communicative, but now he looked and sounded noticeably annoyed. Without a word, he gathered the shoes and other items, avoided eye contact, and walked away toward the register. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to follow him or wait, so I stayed seated while watching him. After he put the sneakers behind the counter, he finally looked up and gave a small nod for me to come over.

At the register, he rang me up in silence, only speaking to tell me the total and ask if I wanted a bag. I told him I was fine without one since I had my own and said, “Have a good weekend.” He looked at me, responded with a quiet “Mm,” and walked away.

I understand that the staff may have sales goals to meet, but that should never come at the expense of the customer experience. I was still purchasing a $180 pair of running shoes, and the change in attitude just because I declined the upsells left a bad taste in my mouth. Leaving the store I told myself I had still accomplished my goal because I had gotten a nice pair of comfortable New Balances. But as more time went on I kept thinking about how unprofessional and rude the interaction was.

In the end, I returned the shoes a few days later, solely because of how the experience made me feel. I’ve been to other Fleet Feet locations and never encountered this kind of pressure or attitude. It was a disappointing experience that made me second-guess returning to this location...

This has to be the most frustrating shoe purchasing experience I've ever had in my life.

The feet scan queue took very long, the process post-scanning wasn't clearly followed and people after us were served before the reps attended to us.

There was no focus on consistent customer service on display, even though I empathize with the fact that they were understaffed and were trying to do their best.

In short, the store needs more staff and better training to ensure adherence to the outlined process by all reps.

Detailed review follows:

The positives - the staff is generally knowledgeable and provides sound advice on shoe recommendations.

Here's the step by step of how it went down:

Step 1: Shoe scanning: This new technology that provides a scan of your feet is novel and somewhat helpful, but took 45 minutes (there were 4 people ahead of us). This is a crippling bottleneck in the shoe purchasing experience and needs a better resolution (another scanner ideally)

Step 2: The endless wait:

After the scan, the rep told us to take a seat and wait for another rep to help us (given he was about to clock out).

We wait and wait, but it seems the reps forgot about us and continued to help others who came after us. After 20 minutes, we went back to the rep to tell him that no one had helped us yet, and he said he will get some shoes but reiterated that he will hand us off to someone else given he was about to clock out. We get a few shoe options, but they aren't a good fit, and we need alternate sizes. No one was available to help us for another 10 minutes. When the next batch of shoes were still not the right size, it took them another 20 minutes for them to arrange a higher size (it seems the rep forgot about us or was too busy with something else). Finally, I give up and just pick the only shoe that fit and call it a day.

What is needed is clear tracking of the customer queue and match of store associates to the queue so that people aren't jumping the queue and everyone is served.

I am hopeful they can better train their staff and improve...

I visited this UES store today, ready to buy a much needed pair of sneakers. The store was busy so I didn’t mind that I didn’t get greeted at any point and after looking at a few shoes for what seemed like eternity, I asked somewhat with a name tag labeled Nova if he could please help me after he was done with the current customer. He prompted conversation and I explained that I was looking for a shoe with arch support (they put some sort of device inside the displayed shoes to hold the shape/price but kind of a pain to take it out of each shoe as one is trying to see its insole..) he proceeded to tell me that shoes didn’t offer arch support but instead were shaped for stability, and insoles where available for sale, and if I wanted to try anything on, there was a wait list (and something about getting my feet scanned).. I had already waited so thought, well, I might as well/ decided to put my name on the wait list.. about 10 mins+ went by and they called a name which sounded like mine and although the person was accommodating and cordial, it was not worth the wait. I asked about the scanner and he politely explained it but didn’t offer me the option.. and the fact that the whole store is carpeted (I only noticed when I was trying on the shoes) defeated the purpose of me trying to evaluate the shoes’ support, stability, and comfort. I cannot think of one place I’ve worked out where the floor is carpeted. I walked away wanting to thank the nice guy who brought me the shoes but didn’t see him on my way out. Weird vibe, long wait with no organization or communication about what to expect and a bit of cockiness from some staff members sent me right out of there (I actually had to tell a nice couple about the wait list, they tried to get on it and soon after finally speaking to someone at the register, I saw them wisely walking away. I should had done the same). The 2 stars are for the nice kid who retrieved the shoes I...