HOKA Flagship Store, NY — Local services in New York

Minus Five Review for the Customer Service!!

My husband is a loyal customer of Hoka for a very long time. He gets shoes from there almost every month. Sometimes twice a month. A few days ago he saw a new pair of shoes on their website that he was dying to buy. Today (Saturday, June 22, 2024) we decided to take a walk down to the 47th and 5th Ave Hoka Store to get the one that he wanted. The store was crowded with tourists as usual. We couldn’t find the grey shoe anywhere so we asked for help to the customer service associates. Majority of the associates ignored us. The only one who responded to us was pretty rude! My husband just asked her if they have the shoe in grey, she kinda snapped and replied “whatever we have it’s right here! We can’t dig into our closets!!” We understand that weekends can be tough but I believe this is not how they should react to customers. So we decided to leave. The doorman knows us. When we were leaving he asked, “buying nothing today?” My husband replied politely, “the service wasn’t helpful, so we are not sure if we’re willing to buy anything.” Then we decided to take a walk down to 22-23rd Street and 5th avenue store hoping to be less crowded. But we didn’t know the worst experience was waiting for us. That store was less crowded and only three associates were helping the customers. Among those associates there was only one guy, may be in his late twenties or early thirties, dark beard, and white ethnicity. My husband found the shoe he was looking for. He was holding the shoe and standing there for almost ten minutes to get some help. When the associate showed up my husband asked him if they have the shoe in size 11. The associate was very loud. Without listening to my husband he pointed out the Hoka shoes my husband had on his feet and asked, “what size you wearing?” My husband said, “Can I have this one in size eleven please?” We didn’t understand if we said something wrong but we weren’t expecting the next sentence that came out of his mouth. “I just asked you a simple question.” We were surprised and just exchanged a look. My husband said eleven. Then the associate again asked, “the one you wearing what’s the size of that shoe? Is that eleven you sure?” My husband replied, “I think I know my size and thank you for your service.” He decided to leave immediately. He couldn’t take such amount of humiliation in one day from the same brand that he loves. When we were taking a walk back to home I can tell how mad he was. Out of no where he just said, “I’ll make sure they lose the MLB customers”. (My husband works for Major League Baseball). I could tell from those words that he felt betrayed by a long standing friend. I’m a communication professional and I know customer service can be difficult in times but that’s how it is. When someone sign up for this profession you need to understand doesn’t matter how frustrated you are you just can’t throw that off on your customers. I feel heartbroken to give Hoka one star review. But I just can’t ignore the humiliation that my partner faced. So the one star review is for the long standing relationship with Hoka and the comfort. Can’t give you five unless you upgrade your customer service!!! This review is for Google users. We’ll make sure that the concern authority receives the...

Today I visited Hoka and had a horrible experience.

I visited the Hoka store on 5th Ave and 47th Street around 6 pm. The visit started well, my mother needed new sneakers for work and we found a pair that she loved. Hoka has been our go-to brand for a while now so we also got a pair for my dad. When we went to checkout I told the cashier that I wanted to exchange a pair of shoes and when I checked the bag I realized I had forgotten the receipt. This is when the cashier started to give us a hard time, she said that she would not accept the shoes, I tried explaining the situation: I purchased the shoes two weeks ago for my father’s birthday but he wanted a different pair which is why I went to exchange them. I knew the exact time and date of the purchase because I took a picture of my purchase. Every time I kept trying to tell her this she kept interrupting me so we asked for the manager to which she rudely said “I am the manager”. I asked her to please help me since she is the manager, I had my credit card and proof of purchase date but she kept cutting me off. I had two pairs of shoes I was going to purchase anyway, and she ignored me, took the boxes away, and moved to the side to call the next customer several times. The customer behind us was confused since I was still at the register. Her aggressiveness was unprofessional and unnecessary, I have never seen such an ill-mannered employee before, much less a manager. I didn’t catch her name, but she was Hispanic; she looked Puerto Rican, had dark hair and dark eyes, and was about 5’2.

This attitude is so unacceptable. This is who she is because I noticed she acted the same way as another employee. While we were waiting for the attendant to bring our shoes out, we saw her arguing and yelling with another employee at the register using aggressive body language. She even took her off the register signaling for her to leave. We tried waiting for another cashier but no one ever came. This was such a headache for no reason. I wanted to exchange the shoes today since it was my day off. I work down the street but it is hard for me to bring the shoes to my job since it doesn’t fit in my locker. I commuted to Manhattan today specifically to visit the Hoka store, which is far from me since I live in Staten Island, it is a 2-and-a-half-hour commute. I couldn’t even purchase the shoes I found in-store today, which were the last pair in the size and color. When I got home I was disappointed since I came home empty-handed and the receipt at home. I now have to go on another one of my days off to return the shoes due to her unprofessionalism and insufficient skill since she could have searched up my purchase in the system with the date and time but chose not to. She is a horrible representation of Hoka.

Edit: I visited the store (two days later) and I noticed that the return policy at this location says purchases within 30 days can be refunded via store credit. I asked the manager about this during my initial visit and she yet she still denied me a refund. Her aggressiveness does not...

Just for context, I am a nurse from the West coast so I know comfortable shoes. I love Hoka shoes. This is just based on customer service from the store 3/16/24 st pattys around 2pm

My 5 star review goes to the one person who made sure I had a wonderful experience here. I love Hoka shoes. I own so many pairs. So coming to an actual store was on my bucket list.

I come in and the store is packed. I see shoes I want to try on. I asked a sales guy and he got me my sizes. Never came back to check on me. I look around and I’m seeing everyone else trying on shoes and get asked “did they work out?” And I’m here just invisible. I needed to size up and when I go try to get someone’s attention, I asked another male if I can get it in X size. He said sure. Never did. He went to another female to help her out instead.

I go to my husband and he said a female sales went to him and asked him if he needed a shoe size. Mentioned that it was for me. She got me my shoe size. Now this girl helped me out so much. She made me feel comfortable. Came in to check one me constantly. Asking me if they were working out or if I needed a different size. She became my go to.

Just when I felt like I was not seen as a customer, almost to the point of just leaving without anything and going to REI instead, she came to the rescue.

Kathy if you ever read this, thank you so much for helping me!!!! If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have bought anything. Give this girl a raise! And train ur male sales to treat everyone the same.

When all the sales people become like Kathy, I will return.

Oh and if ur a female coming in, show ur cleavage to...