James Taylor and Son Reviews 6

After almost two years still not been able to provide a fit for purpose pair of shoes. Make every excuse possible. I'd reccomend you avoid this company. Their attitude is they made the shoes, even if they not fit for purpose so no refund. The shoes were not for me but my 90yr old mother. I believe they took advantage of her vulnernability I'd recommend you never get involved with this company. Note, there was no requirement for 'special' shoes. Just ones to fit a narrow foot. The cost is 'exhorbitant' and they now claim they cannot guarantee their product will be fit for purpose even for something as simple as a narrow foot fitting. In reality they saying they can provide any useless, deformed product after almost two years and that is acceptable. I'd AVOID this company!

great shoes, expensive but fantastic fit, made all the difference. I got a pair of orthopaedic shoes and they make a tremendous difference. They’re more supportive than any other shoe I’ve tried and I no longer have pretty constant niggling pain. I will be buying all my future shoes from this shop and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them despite the expense, it was worth it.

Our son wears an orthotic ankle/leg brace after a spinal injury which means he has foot drop, and we approached James Taylor as we had heard that bespoke shoes could make a big difference to walking comfort. We live in New Zealand but made sure to make an appointment when we visited the UK - over five years ago now - and James Taylor measured and created lasts with unbelievable professionalism and accuracy. Their knowledge, attitude and care with such a very specific and specialist fitting was impressive but we were still apprehensive, given the cost. The process took a long time, over a year I think from start to finish (this was over Covid so that impacted) but when the boots were finally shipped to us, our son found that they were perfectly fitted and supportive enough that he no longer needed to wear his brace. This has made a huge positive difference to both his comfort and gait.
He has twice since had the shoes resoled, each time with exemplary professionalism and care. Our son was working from home but is now in the office more, so the shoes are receiving more use; he has other shoes but these are just so much better, he wears them all the time. Consequently he is now contemplating buying a second pair and aims to do so in the very near future: they are expensive, but they're also an investment for life and nothing else compares.

I can totally empathise with Mrs Featherstone's negative and disappointing experience. I, too, had several visits to James Taylor’s starting in 2020 just before the Pandemic, when I was living near London. I moved away later that year, having heard nothing, which I attributed to lockdown. However I eventually chased them up after a considerable time and they sent me the plastic prototypes - they were completely the wrong ones. I sent them back & they sent me the right ones which seemed ok. However I subsequently had to make several trips to the shop over the course of about 18 months (I was living 130 miles away by now) and the two pairs of shoes I eventually received were never right, despite my frequent queries. They were far too big and cumbersome and didn’t stay on my feet. The manager told me they would fit once the soles were more flexible - that is absolute rubbish. They have never fitted properly and are the most uncomfortable and dangerous shoes I have ever had. A complete waste of a very considerable amount of money. I would have posted this review before but I was just so disappointed that I have tried to put this awful waste out of my mind. I have had the shoes for about 2 years now but cannot wear them.

James Taylor & Son have now made me three pairs of bespoke orthopaedic shoes. I am really pleased with them.
I have very complicated and difficult feet, and have struggled with footwear most of my life. Despite that James Taylor & Son have managed to make me shoes that are both attractive and comfortable. They employ a very likeable and professional team and I would not hesitate to recommend them.

I spent over £2000 on a pair of shoes which I in the end gave to the local charity shop. The managing director was very confident that he could produce a pair of shoes for me which would help with the debilitating foot pain I was experiencing. From October 2019 I travelled 4+ hours for several fitting appointments which did not produce a pair of shoes which I could wear, they certainly did not helped with the pain. In the end the man blamed me for giving wrong instructions!!! What a waste of money, effort, time and good will - deeply disappointed. My last appointment was actually in 2021. It took me so long to write this review as I was actually ashamed of having fallen for such extraordinary claims and was prepared to pay £2000 for a pair of shoes.