Ideal Feet

These folks might be frauds, I went after hearing about their add on the radio and you can tell they get very uncomfortable when you start asking too many questions.
They start off by doing basic measurements and looking at your arches, part of your pitch is to tell you doctors are a waste of time — huge warning sign.
They tell you that you pay once for lifetime adjustments for free, that they will even change out your support for free… here is the problem, the athletic supports take time to break them in. They give you some pitch about how its 2 hours the first day and then you shouldn’t wear them and then you gradually work your way into these supports.
The athletic supports are $ 350 and they try to sell you another support for casual shoes for $ 175, so your looking at $ 525 with no guarantee and when you ask about this they get VERY uncomfortable. I asked the sales lady three times and she changed her response all three times.
The net is that there is some type of 30 day guarantee, but they can’t tell you what is for sure and being that you can’t even wear the supports full time until after two weeks you have essentially two weeks to try these.
When I asked the sales lady for a written copy of the guarantee she actually said it would print out when I paid for the support! LOL, yeah right.
She then went to ask some other lady in the back and I took a picture of the guarantee they have framed on the back wall states they will give you a refund minus a 30% restocking fee (see attached picture) However, when the lady came back out she handed me a written copy that stated they provide no refunds and only approved exchanges can be used for store credit.
This really sucks because I believe stores like this take advantage of folks who have serious foot pain and want a solution. I’m sure most folks like me would even pay the money if we knew it would work. I’m sorry though, I’ll never do business with a company that can’t give me a straight answer and in doing further research online there are some folks that have claimed their supports actually caused more serious damage to their feet… I don’t know if any of this is true, but I’m not spending $ 500 to find out.

Potential wording adjustments: Ideal feat? I’d heal feet? I deal feet?
ooooO
() —- Paul Bunion?
| (
(_​_​.) —- This is where the IRS has you under
Foot is so complicated (26 bones & 33 joints, & assorted tendons).
Do you have foot, knee, hip, back pain? Maybe it’s your feet.
Their Helpful page:
Advice: If you have significant pain, go to doctor first, to make sure there is no physical damage. Like glasses, your orthotics need to be re-​fitted as you age and body adjusts, and orthotics wear out. Hence, their argument that you could spend more on temporary cheap drug-​store orthotics over years.
Their pitch:
«Try before you buy. Only Ideal Feet offers Fit for Life. As your body and feet change with time, Ideal Feet will replace your supports with a new size for free, for the rest of your life.»
Buying their product is expensive, because essentially you Foot the bill upfront for a lifetime supply. And this is the Achilles Heel of the situation: is this a long term solution? I suspect they address the bell curve on foot problems, not being able to handle all problems, but many (since they have been in business with brick & mortar stores for awhile).
If not satisfied, I was told you get the majority of the cost refunded, but that % is not enough, IMO. But putting the shoe on the other foot, they don’t want too many casual customers that give up too soon.
Misalignment of customer satisfaction: I did a Google search for complaints. Some see them as their Arch enemy, and have gone Toe-​to-​Toe with them about trying to get a refund. Read the policy carefully.
My wife has tried many different orthotics to cure her pain. Getting old is #@$%, as the warranty of our parts are expiring. Did I tell you about my teeth?
Before I stop digressing, I will relate my wife’s pain to the foot problems of a Texas legend in history, named (appropriate for this review):
William «Big Foot» Wallace, born in 1817, was a descendant of famous Scotland Highlanders William Wallace (remember «Braveheart»?) and Robert the Bruce (King of Scotland). His tall, lean, muscled physique made him an intimidating man, and his unusually large feet resulted in the nickname «Big Foot.» His book of pioneer adventures, recorded by John Duval in 1871, made him famous among historians (
). There’s even a town in Texas named after him.
In 1836, when he learned that a brother and a cousin had been murdered in the Goliad Massacre, his clan instinct was riled-​up, and he left Virginia for Texas to fight Mexico and get even.
In 1842, he joined with other Texans to repulse an invasion by the Mexican General Adrian Woll.
In another skirmish, and under the command of «Old Paint» Caldwell, Wallace was captured. The commander ordered most of the 159 soldiers to be shot. Beans were put into a sombrero; 17 white beans, the rest black. Those who pulled out the black beans were to be shot. Big Foot drew a gray bean. They let him live and marched the 17 Texians 800 miles on foot to the brutal Perote prison in Mexico. He endured two years of hard time before being released in 1844. Thereafter, as a Texas Ranger, he was known for his tracking skills and story telling (led to the book). Example: As a postman, he drove a mail mule train from San Antonio to El Paso. One time, after losing his mules to Indians at the halfway mark, he walked to El Paso and ate 27 eggs at the first Mexican house he came to, before going into El Paso for a full meal.
My wife says her feet probably felt like Big Foot Wallace’s feet after his 800-​mile march, but I think she is telling a tall tale. It was probably like walking to El Paso.
End of digression.
I went here to check Ideal Feet out for my wife, but the sales person offered a free consultation for me (I occasionally have tendon pains). The place is full of brown couches. Consultant was nice, no pressure sales, and explained their approach very well. The analysis is based on stepping on a pad for an imprint onto paper. He writes a number down, tells me flat feet, and brings back a plastic orthotic, which I try in one of the Brooks walking shoes (a brand they can sell). He pushes on my hands before and after for some balance experiment, which I don’t fully buy into the logic. He explains that I should feel like there is a golf ball under the arch, which corrects my fallen arch. The idea is to wear that increasingly over time, and on off hours, wear a lesser one for maintenance of the arch adjustment.
Based on their footprint methodology and my wife’s experience with other orthotics, I was not ready to commit so much money with fallback hope of a most-​of-​it refund, especially based on the complaints. Call the deal a bad foot smell, if you like.
They respectfully took my concern of a mis-​Step in Stride. Thus, A-​OK.