Vivobarefoot Reviews 

I was expecting something much better from the world-recognised company, especially when Dr Chatterjee promotes it. However, there is no option for exchange, sizes are through the roof, and it's not easy to find or log into my account on mobile. On top of that, I need to pay to send the shoes back. Well, I say, if I could exchange them, I would probably keep them, but I am not going to bother anymore. Look for another supplier of minimalist shoes.

I placed an order which has not arrived, the tracking links they sent have not updated in over 7 days. When trying to contact via every available channel (live chat, whatsapp, email, phone call, FB messenger) I get no response.

Bought several pairs of shoes from Vivo and had good experiences, however bought a pair of walking boots for christmas and they arrived with a rip in them - have been trying for 5 months to get this resolved and nothing, constantly bounced between AI responses and chatbot loops leaving me over £100 out of pocket with no support - wont be buying from them again!

Update: Vivo did contact me about a free-return label, saying they had emailed it to me. I had to chase them for the label, and received it a few days after they said they had sent it. Still rather disappointing customer service; using TrustPilot to prioritise customer service is not the best approach IMHO

I purchased new shoes and got them promptly in the mail. The box said obsidian (black) but the shoes were tan (light brown). I did some googling and on the vivobarefoot website they said the best way to fix an incorrect order was to return the shoes (and pay for postage), and place another order for the correct shoes.

I emailed customer service to express my displeasure at having to pay to return the shoes, and fix an error which was not my fault.

It has been 10 days since I contacted customer service, and I have yet to receive any response.

This is my first order I have ever placed with vivobarefoot, and I'm am extremely disappointed.

Absolutely appalling service.

Ordered shoes on April 26th. Never received any order updates beyond the original order confirmation day-of purchase. Contacted customer service on May 19th after no further information. They immediately cancelled and refunded the order and said the item is just not in stock and they have no idea when or if it will ever be back in stock. Their branding/marketing clearly does not match their actual practices.

I only made the above purchase for my husband who really wanted a pair of Vivo shoes. I already would never buy from them again personally, after I purchased shoes whose seams started coming undone within the first few weeks of wearing them. When I contacted customer service about the issue, they said it was just aesthetic and not something they would address. But it really damaged my perception of the durability and quality of their shoes.

Slow getting through to customer service on the phone but when I did, I received very helpful assistance from Reem, who sorted out the website issue I had.

The adviser was super helpful with arranging a replacement for my daughter's trainers which had a fault with them and went above and beyond in trying to help get a new pair out to us before a trip away.
We have both been wearing Vivobarefoot shoes for about 7 years and I am so happy with them and the service we get. The repairs option is brilliant.

Worst customer service I've ever dealt with, not to mention the poor shoe design.
I've gone barefoot most of my life, so my feet are a bit wider than standard. Several friends recommended this company, and I was very excited to find what looked like a quality barefoot shoe company. These shoes are much too narrow, even when I went a size larger than usual.
Now I'm trying to return them, but Vivo only gives me an option to return them to a dropoff location about an hour away that I never go even near to. I have UPS pickup available to me, but they don't allow me to use it. And I have yet to find customer service that's not an AI bot repeating instructions I've already read on the website.
Very disappointed. This company is bordering the scam line.

On December 27th, I purchased a pair of Tracker Textile AT II JJF shoes from the online store. They were faulty and, on March 6th, I returned them to a physical Vivobarefoot branch.

The staff were helpful, but I was told I couldn't be issued a refund in store immediately and would be issued one within a couple of weeks. I purchased a new pair of the same style of shoes from the store and left.

It has been almost eight weeks since I returned the original shoes and I have not yet received a refund.

Additionally, the second pair of shoes I bought have begun to exhibit the same problems (glue coming unstuck and holes in material around the toe fold area).

I am now down several hundreds of pounds and have gone through several faulty pairs of shoes.

I've really enjoyed wearing these shoes as they are comfortable and great to walk in, but it is disappointing to spend so much money and have them last barely two months.

Thank you for the thoughtful and respectful reply. It is genuinely appreciated, and far more constructive than the silence many customers often experience elsewhere.

I chose Vivobarefoot because the philosophy behind the product resonates deeply with me — durability, natural movement, health, and a more grounded approach to living. That is why the customer service experience felt disappointing in comparison to the values being promoted.

Before I invest again through the direct website, I will be paying attention to whether meaningful improvements are reflected through consistent action across Trustpilot reviews, customer experiences, and the wider community around the brand.

Modern companies often rely heavily on influencers, marketing, and outsourced systems, but long-term trust is still built the old way — through reliability, accountability, and how customers are treated when problems arise.

At least consumer protection and card issuer refunds still offer some reassurance when issues occur.

For now, I remain open-minded and hopeful to see positive change reflected in practice over time.

I honestly feel like this company might be a scam. I ordered shoes during a promotion for delivery to Europe, paid in full, and never received my order. What’s worse — I never got my money back either.

I contacted customer support multiple times by email. At first they kept replying that the issue would be resolved and that the refund was being processed, but after a while they completely stopped answering my messages.

Months later, I still have no shoes, no refund, and no real explanation. Extremely disappointing experience, especially from a brand that presents itself as premium and trustworthy. Be very careful before ordering.

Covent Garden shop had so few vivos in my size to try on, only one in leather. I ordered online, confident about comfort after 10 years wearing vivos. How wrong I was. The vegan vivos leave your feet bruised and sore after walking for an hour. It seems they need breaking in. Surely s contradiction for barefoot shoes. So disappointed. I did not buy them from V so cannot return. They did cost 50% less bust still cost £100 for an uncomfortable canvas shoe. Looking for another brand. They are destroying their reputation.

Thank you for reading and replying. A swop to non vegan shoe would have been appreciated. Stuck with very uncomfortable Vivos! Grim walking.

AI bot never understood my concerns and, after going around and around with its nonsense, never connected me to a human being. Then tried to submit my concerns via Vivo's website and found that exercise just as fruitless. I like my boots but for the price they did not hold up to normal use and, in less than a year, are falling apart. I would not recommend buying from Vivobarefoot until they improve their product quality AND their customer service

I am very unhappy with the service provided. It has now been 10 days (8 business days) since my order was placed and it’s still stuck on ‘processing’. I have reached out on the WhatsApp support, to be informed to wait another 7 working days for an update. I am not happy with this, and this is the first time I have experienced such negative service from a company, with a severe lack of communication. I no longer wish to have the product after waiting so long and would like a refund issued as soon as possible, very disappointed

Unfortunately they have reduced the quality of materials used in the shoes. They used to last at least a year of everyday use, now they are wearing thin on the soles after 3 months! and I use the trail shoes too! really sad to see Vivo follow the fast fashion poor quality road. This is the last pair I'll buy from them.

Bought a pair of shoes using a discount voucher and their guide to measuring feet. They don't do half sizes, so their app/tool suggested a UK size 8 for my order. I generally wear 7.5...

When the shoes arrived, they were too "long" (the term they use on the returns options on their website for bigger size, I guess). Reaching out to their CS was an appalling experience: on the phone, I joined a queue which announced 8 minutes wait at the start...had to cutoff at 40 minutes with still no pickup.

Also had an online chat running in parallel, hoping that would work in case the phone route didn't. Took ages to get past the bot that kept giving general/generic answers for exchanging the shoes for the next smaller size (7). Finally got through to Aziza; this was over 10 minutes after the bot handed me over to a human operator. Yet again got a bolerplate response from her, referring me to a link to the website to follow a returns procedure, immediately followed with a "rate my CS performance" feedback form. There was no proactive willingness to engage in a conversation on the issue, instead immediately asking me to return the pair but had no solution to the fact that I would lose the discount when I reordered (no exchange workflow in their online returns in the UK and US). Her words: "Unfortunately as stated, we do not offer an exchange and the promotion has now ended". I asked her to talk to her manager. She shot back with "The management will advise the same. This is the policy I am afraid".

Their online feet measurement tool failed to give me the correct size. If I exchanged the shoes, I could not get them at the original price I paid (voucher code no longer available) and I would have to pay for the postage to send back the poor fitting ones!

The shoes may be a "premium" product but the overall service when things go wrong is downright appalling.

I ordered a resole from them. They took the money on the day I ordered, and for some unknown reason again the following day! They then cancelled the order. So now I have paid twice and received nothing. Absolutely awful service. Never dealt with a company this rubbish! Support have been unable to understand what charges have been made even though I can see everything from my credit card. Appalling!

1 Star – Terrible Customer Service and Refund Handling

This has been one of the worst customer service experiences I have had.

The shoes became defective after only around 2 weeks of wearing them. After that, it took almost 2 months of repeated attempts via email, WhatsApp, AI chat support, and other channels before I finally received a proper response explaining where and how I could even send the shoes back.

The returned package was delivered to Vivobarefoot on 14.04.2026, and now more than 3 weeks later I still have not received my refund or an answer.

It is unacceptable for a premium brand to treat customers like this. Not only did the product fail extremely quickly, but the support process has been exhausting, slow, and highly frustrating from beginning to end.

At this point I am considering legal escalation and consumer protection action due to the lack of proper handling of this case.

I will definitely not order from Vivobarefoot again and cannot recommend this company based on my experience.

Customer service has been fantastic. It is great to deal with a company who will stand over their products and solve problems immediately. I dealt with Sukaina who was very quick in responding to me. Even though I had an issue with my child's footwear the overall experience was very positive and my issue was dealt with quickly and satisfactorily.