Cotswold Outdoor Reviews 

I placed an order more than two weeks ago. I have had no communication. Cotswold don’t reply to any emails. I am placing this here in the hope that they actually do respond. I am very disappointed with the whole experience. I am £115 out of pocket and it seems that I have no prospect of receiving my item. Going to now contact my credit card provider and ask to charge back. Customer service non existent.

bought a pair of shoes online, got the notification to collect yesterday so left tonight to get them. As I arrive I get an email saying there has been a mistake on the price and they are cancelling the order over 24 hours after saying ready to collect, waste of time and fuel and now a customer that will never be back

Non Existent Customer Support!
Purchased a pair of shoes which unfortunately had a printing defect so filled in the customer contact form with photos however after waiting over two weeks I’m yet to hear anything back, not withstanding the fact I sent a follow up email asking for a response but still nothing!
This is shocking customer support from just another private equity owned company that’s no doubt been stripped to its bones. Never again!

Bought a Rab jacket online and both cuffs came unstitched after 11 months. I returned it to a store expecting a replacement but was told their policy was for them to send it off to”customer service” as a warranty claim (11 months!). After hearing nothing for 4 weeks I called and was told it had arrived at their depot and they would chase it. A further two weeks I called again and was informed that customer service would email me. They did email, to say it was down to wear & tear. I’m currently waiting for a response to my consumer rights claim as Cotswold are selling supposedly rugged jackets that won’t let you down but when they do Cotswold do too.
Update-they have now emailed to say that it now looks like external damage such as a rip or cut ( on both cuffs in the same place🙄) Never mind Rab customer service is far superior & helpful. Sent it off to Rab who repaired, and returned it in a week ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Confusing website information and no customer service. Rucksack name says 65L but there are actually two sizes: M and L. Descriptions of both say 65L - so what makes their size different? Which is 65L? Their website says to ring a store with questions. No one answers the phone. I rang their head office and was told to ring a store. I told them no one answered when I tried that and they said they'd ring a store and ask them to call me. Not a word.

Bought an expensive pair of walking boots which have split in several places even though hardly worn yet . Trying to return by post as it’s a 100mile round trip to nearest store . Customer service online is appalling. No reply to my initial email detailing the defect with photos as requested. I have rung company twice and I’m told someone will call back following day but no response happens .
Will be asking for a refund instead of exchange and will not be using this company again as this is second pair this has happened .

I purchased a pair of Merrell Mens Claypool 2 Sport Low GTX Shoes in September 2025 from Cotswold Outdoor. By February the lace loops had begun to break and by March the shoes were almost unwearable as they couldn't be laced up properly.
I contacted Merrell who said I needed to go through Cotswold Outdoor as the retailer. Cotswold responded to my first email and asked I send the shoes to them for inspection which I did straight away - at my own cost.
The shoes were delivered to Cotswold on 23 March and as of today (29 April) I have had zero response from Cotswold Outdoor despite chasing several times for an update.
The outcome is I spent £100 on shoes that proved unwearable within just a few months and then more on sending them back to Cotswold who have since ignored me.
Don't buy these shoes and definitely don't buy them from Cotswold Outdoor.

I bought a pair of hiking boots. The sales person was really helpful. She encouraged us to take the boots home to try on. Since we don't live near the shop it took us a few weeks to return them. Even though we bought another pair they wouldn't refund us since we were just over the 14 day limit for returning a "sales" item. Apparently there was some tiny reduction in price so it became a "sales item". Indeed we had specifically asked about returns and there had been no mention of this. My advice - by all means try them on in the shop but go online get them cheaper and get a more reasonable return policy. I won't be back to cotswold outdoors.

Ordered trainers online for delivery and when they arrived they were laced, had the tags removed and had dirty soles. I didn't think that I was buying second hand trainers, but these have clearly been worn and returned by another customer. Contacted cotswolds via their online form and email, but still no response 5 days later and they are not picking up phone calls.
Avoid this retailer, zero effort to help customers and selling used products.

These people took my money, stated that they had dispatched my purchase via the UK's worst parcel delivery company: Evri. When my purchase did not arrive, big surprise, they ignore all my emails. Clearly they want my money but don't want to provide my purchase; there a word for this: theft.

I paid £6.99 for next-day delivery which did not arrive on the scheduled date. I emailed them to request a refund but received no response. This is the last time I will purchase from them.

Dreadful company, no customer service, waste of time and money….

Goods never arrived and no refund

Avoid avoid avoid

Disappointing experience - still waiting with no answers

I placed an order with Cotswold Outdoors and have had a really frustrating experience from start to finish. One item was cancelled without much explanation, and my original delivery date came and went with no update or communication about when to expect the rest of my order.

Getting through to customer services has been a struggle — long waits and a chatbot that keeps resetting, meaning I've had to start the same conversation over and over without ever getting a resolution.

I finally got through to customer services to ask for an update on expected delivery and they accidentally cancelled my entire order, probably for the best!

For a company of this size, the lack of communication and follow-through is really disappointing. I'd expect far better, especially when customers are spending significant amounts of money. I wouldn't feel confident ordering again based on this experience.

Cotswold Outdoor has always been one of my go-to places for outdoor gear. They offer a great range of high-quality products at good value, and their physical stores are genuinely excellent, the staff are knowledgeable, helpful, and clearly passionate about the outdoors.

Unfortunately, that same standard doesn’t carry over to their online store.

The shopping experience itself is fairly standard, but things really fall apart when something goes wrong. In my case, a delivery issue has been dragging on with very little progress. It took around two weeks just to get a reply to my emails, and even now, there’s still no resolution, just updates saying they’re waiting on the shipping company.

To make matters worse, the courier they used (DHL eCommerce) was extremely unreliable. The parcel was misdelivered, and while there have been apologies, nothing has actually sped up the resolution.

I understand that delays and staffing issues can happen, but the handling of this situation has been very poor. It’s disappointing, especially given how strong their in-store experience is.

(Update! After a couple of phone calls, each waiting on the tone for ~40 mins, finally, there is a resolution. Well, at least they are trying to amend for the mistakes)

Overall, great products and fantastic in-person service, but their online support and delivery really need major improvement.

I was shopping for my son’s expedition and after looking at Mountain Warehouse and Decathlon I finally went to Cotswold. I am extremely grateful to the staff there, who spent an hour explaining what my son would need and not need. The prices were more expensive than the other shops, but the quality was so much better. I didn’t realise that there were shops in this day and age that had this level of dedicated (and knowledgeable) service. There were a few items that weren’t in stock and these were shipped to my home the next day for free. I am not only very impressed by Cotswold, but extremely grateful to their staff!

Ordered a pair of Meindl boots which are next day delivery. i ordered them 3 days ago and needed them quickly. I also ordered a pair of boots from Trekkit to see which were the best fit. Trekkit boots arrived next day, Cotswold are still not here. If they don't arrive I may well be away on a trip and not in to receive the boots. Basically, Cotswold say they have stock but either don't or are just rubbish. Who knows? So, lesson is --- Go to Trekkit. (I'm hoping 2 star is appropriate. If the boots don't arrive before I leave I'd make it a 1 star)

I needed advice on buying walking boots, having been very uncomfortable in my previous boots. I was given excellent advice on fit and size, even to the extent of having my feet measured, which hasn't been done since I was a child.The assistant spent plenty of time discussing and advising me, and checking what the boots would be used for. What I bought is just what I hoped for.

Terrible experience, false advertising prices to bait people into purchasing then they’ll refund without telling you and drop the discount rate to make more money. Seriously avoid!

Cancelled my Order of superblast 3 Trainers without any email or contact whatsoever. Seems like I’m not the only one either. Now I need to wait 7-10 days for my refund. Disgusting service, will never go anywhere near them again.

IF I COULD GIVE 0 STARS I WOULD. SHOCKING CUSTOMER SERVICE OR RATHER NO CUSTOMER SERVICE.
EACH DELIVERY NEVER ON TIME, WAITING OR JACKET NO.4 AND NO.5 AND STILL NO ANSWER TO EMAILS.

DO NOT TOUCH COTSWOLD OUTDOOR OR SNOW & ROCK. VERY VERY CLEAR THEY ARE SISTER COMPANIES.