Donald Pliner is an upscale footwear retailer selling dress shoes and casual footwear. This page aggregates customer reviews and ratings from RetailCoupons.com shoppers to help you decide whether to buy from donaldpliner.com.
donaldpliner.com Reviews
What Shoppers Say About donaldpliner.com
Shoppers report that Donald Pliner shoes have experienced a significant decline in quality despite premium pricing. Multiple reviewers note that shoes fall apart after minimal wear, lack the craftsmanship the brand once offered, and appear to use cheap materials (particularly Chinese manufacturing and minimal real leather) while commanding high price tags. The brand's shift away from its original Italian heritage has disappointed long-time customers who felt they paid for superior quality that no longer exists.
Beyond product issues, customers describe problematic service experiences including shipping delays (orders arriving days later than promised), refusal to cover return shipping costs, unresponsive customer service, and a company unwilling to take responsibility for order errors or fulfillment failures. Shoppers consistently advise others to avoid the brand and purchase elsewhere.
Customer Reviews (9)
Sorted by: Most recentI used to swear by these shoes years ago, but not anymore. The brand has changed hands multiple times and the quality has gone downhill. The shoes don't have the same attention to detail, style, or durability they once did. It's disappointing to see such a well-respected name get ruined by focusing only on profits. I find it odd that the original designer still allows his name to be attached, but I guess money talks.
I should have looked at the other reviews first. These shoes come with a hefty price tag, but like many people have mentioned here, mine started falling apart right after my first time wearing them. Don't assume that spending more money guarantees better quality and durability with this brand.
I paid 30 dollars for 2-day shipping, ordered Tuesday evening, which should mean Wednesday through Friday. Instead my package didn't arrive until Monday. That's four days no matter how you look at it. These folks are straight up ripping people off with their shipping promises.
They shipped me the wrong shoe and then refused to cover the cost of sending it back. Their customer service took forever to even respond, and I had to email multiple times before I heard anything. When I finally did get someone, this agent named Sergio said he was the only person available and there was nobody else in their department to talk to. Steer clear of this company and anything sold by Sunrise brands.
This company refuses to take responsibility when something goes wrong with orders or returns. I ended up losing money on both the shoes and the shipping. Do yourself a favor and shop somewhere else.
These shoes have really gone downhill. They keep trading on their old reputation of being crafted in Italy, but that's ancient history now. These days you're getting cheap, stiff Chinese-made junk with barely any real leather in them. They mark up what amounts to 25-dollar shoes and slap a 300-dollar price tag on them, then act like you're getting a steal at 100 dollars on sale. When you complain about quality, their attitude is basically take it or leave it, and good luck returning anything. You end up donating shoes you wasted money on. Think twice before buying.
What a letdown. I got two pairs of the VIXI line in different colors. The brown pair fit great and was super comfortable to wear. But the white pair? Couldn't even get it on because the toe box was way too tight and clearly defective. Same shoe, totally different feel. When I tried to return or exchange them, I found out they have a really short return window of only 20 days instead of the standard 30 days most stores offer. Mine were just past the cutoff at 22 days, so they flat out refused to help me. No refund, no exchange. Their customer service was awful and the workmanship is clearly lacking. I won't be shopping with them again. I've seen lots of complaints online about this exact problem with overly narrow toe boxes on some of their shoes. It's weird that the brown version was totally fine but the white one was completely unwearable. This is clearly a manufacturing issue, and now I'm stuck with shoes I can't wear and money I can't get back.
I grabbed several pairs of sandals from Donald Pliner back in May 2024. Two pairs are still holding up nicely, but one pair just fell apart. I barely wore any of them from May through April, so I reached out to their customer service about the defective pair. At first they got back to me pretty quick saying they don't offer repairs or replacements and suggested I take them to a cobbler. I told them about all my other Donald Pliner sandals that have lasted me years without any problems, and that this one seemed faulty. I asked for a replacement but never got a response. I even contacted someone in their production department, but they just sent me back to regular customer service with the same answer. They didn't seem interested in fixing the problem at all. You'd think they'd want to keep a loyal customer happy, but nope. Once I mentioned I might stop buying from them, they stopped responding completely. I want people to know that while most of their shoes hold up okay, if there's an issue, they won't fix it or stand behind their product.
Their customer service is a joke. I placed an order and paid an extra 25 bucks for expedited shipping. When I called right away, the representative told me I didn't need to spend that money since I was nearby and they could get it to me in time with regular shipping. She promised to take off the charge, but it never happened. I tried to fix it when I returned my order and they kept the whole 25 dollars. If I'd known they weren't going to follow through on what they said, I would have cancelled and reordered with standard shipping instead. There are way better options out there. I'm never ordering from them again. They won't even put a real name on their customer service emails, just a generic "Customer Service" signature.
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