Runners Need Reviews 795

I recently had a gait analysis undertaken at the Betwys-Y-Coed store following an injury. I wanted to be sure that the trainers I have weren't contributing to my issues, and found the session to be highly informative and useful. The staff member who undertook the assessment was very knowledgeable, and the personalised shopping experience was great. I feel confident that I am in the best trainers for me and my goals, and I picked up interesting pointers about my running style.

A very good experience. Thanks!

Dear Cotswolds Team & Katie,
I am writing to acknowledge the exceptional dedication of of your employees, Constantino, Kenzie, and Jack, at the Cotswold store in Kingston upon Thames. While my recent visit initially left me frustrated, I have come to recognize that both Constantino and Jack demonstrated a level of diligence and commitment that is rare in retail.

Despite the situation, it was clear to me that both of these employees take their roles seriously and are dedicated to upholding company policies. Their attention to detail and enforcement of store procedures—while at times challenging—reflect their deep sense of responsibility and loyalty to the business. Employees like them are invaluable, and I firmly believe they deserve recognition far beyond a small bonus. I would strongly recommend that Constantino, in particular, be considered for a managerial role with an upgraded salary base, as he has shown the leadership qualities necessary to guide and support his team. Jack, too, has displayed commendable professionalism and should be acknowledged accordingly.

That said, I also want to highlight a broader concern that impacts both staff efficiency and customer experience. It is unrealistic and unfair to expect employees to triple-check every step of a transaction while also managing other duties. The burden of loss prevention should not fall entirely on individual staff members, as it creates unnecessary tension and places them in difficult situations.

I strongly encourage upper management to consider implementing a more efficient system—whether through an upgraded point-of-sale process, better digital receipt integration, or improved security measures. Such changes would not only protect the company’s profits but also allow employees like Constantino and Jack to focus on delivering outstanding customer service without the additional strain of micromanaging every interaction.

I trust that your company values dedicated employees who go above and beyond. Constantino and Jack have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Cotswold, and I urge you to recognize their contributions appropriately. I look forward to hearing how management plans to support and reward such hard-working staff members.

Best regards,
Mr.Fisher

Purchased a pair of Brooks Glycerin GTS 22, as gait analysis results suggested I have overpronation in my right foot only. After 3x of only 3mile runs in the new running shoes I am now suffering knee and hip troubles in my right supposedly overpronating leg, forcing me to stop running for the last 2 weeks. Personally I feel recommendations have caused the problems, I’m extremely disappointed, and now have a pair of running shoes that are utterly useless to me.

This review is not about the service in store, it is about the inability to be able to contact store (Rushden Lakes in this instance) to be able to cancel a gait analysis appointment due to illness. Why advertise a telephone number if it continually rings and rings with no option to leave a message. Very poor customer experience and disappointing as has put me off wanting to rebook which is a shame as the service in store is probably good. Please remove phone number or ensure someone answers.
Thanks.

Extremely helpful staff, who listened to what I was looking for in my next marathon training shoe, and gave me several options to try from there. Have always loved Hoka shoes but came away with my first pair of Asics thanks to the gentleman working in the Aberdeen store. Will be back again

Booked an appointment for the gait analysis in Exeter, got there a bit early to have a look around as needed some new running trainers suitable for my daughters first marathon. The lady asked her to run on the treadmill to video her running then gave her a few different pairs to try on and run in, after about half an hour of trying on find out which ones fitted best she made the decision to buy Brooks and not Asics which she wanted first of all but the Brooks she felt fitted her feet holding better( no they are not cheap but if you want the better things in any sport it costs. Thank you vey much for a brilliant service and information i got from the lady serving us. Brilliant service and great prices overall 10/10 will use and recommend(no i dont work there). Thank you Exeter.

Terrible customer service. Bought trainers in September, and by December, the inside was torn. They’ve also caused major blisters, despite only running 100km in them so far. I requested a return as the shoes didn’t last and are causing pain, but I’ve been met with resistance at every step. There’s no store near me, and I’m being asked to cover the return costs myself. Responses are slow, and they don’t follow through on their promises. Extremely disappointing. Glad to see their partnership with Vitality has ended.

I recently visited the store in Silverburn. I booked an appointment for Tuesday 14th of January at 17:15. However, I came up earlier on the same day and it was no trouble for the two gentlemen in the store to take me earlier which was great. I am a novice runner and was looking for some advice on which style of shoe to get. After the measurement I was recommended a size 8 shoe. I then ran on the treadmill for no more than 10 seconds where they took a video of my foot placement on every stride to see if there was any pronation or supination occurring. Based on the footage they would recommend a running shoe. I went up with my heart set on the ASICS Novablast 5s. However, after trying on different running shoes recommended by the gentleman I loved the feel of the New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080v14 which I ended up purchasing instead. The team were super helpful and I highly recommend taking the time to get measured and listen to their expert guidance.

I am extremely pleased with this product and would happily give 50,000 stars! the fabric is fantastic, comfortable, not too bulky, great fit. I absolutely love this fleece, please don't ever stop making this? other colours would be a great idea (blue, green, black ecru)? I am buying two extra of these, just in case. Best top I have ever owned.

I’ve had a dreadful experience with your service that has left me unwilling to purchase from you again.

A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of trainers in-store. As my size wasn’t available, I paid in full, and the shoes were to be sent to me. A week later, I received the wrong trainers.

All I wanted was for the correct trainers to be sent to my nearest store so I could exchange them conveniently. Instead, I was told that your process requires the incorrect trainers to be returned before my correct order is sent—despite this being entirely your mistake.

Where is the customer service in this? I have paid weeks ago and am left to deal with the inconvenience of your error. This is completely unacceptable!

Really excellent experience at the Horsham store. Hanna was really excellent in performing the foot and gait analysis and going through all of the running shoes which were suitable for me. Her knowledge of the different types and styles of running shoes was astounding

Really really positive experience - thank you Hanna.

Great service at the Bluewater Store, Tim was very knowledgeable and helpful. Will definitely visit again for my next pair of running shoes.

Update - in the end I was sent the correct shoes but clearly had dirty marks on the soles, I was offered £15 as it was explained that the marks 'may' had come from someone using them on the treadmill to test them. In the end I accepted as I just couldn't face going back to the shop again.

I have so many mixed feelings about my engagement with this shop.

I am a size 9, I use the same running shoes, they work perfectly for me.

I went in to buy a pair of the same shoes I always use, the female assistant looked at the wear on my current shoes and brought out a pair of shoes that were different, an upgraded model and half a size bigger. I did the gait analysis, she said they were doing all they needed to and checked the sizing and stated that it was just as well she went up half a size and even then they were only just big enough. I liked them, they felt really secure, I tried a few others and didn’t like them as much. I asked if I could try my ‘normal’ running shoe and was brought one 2 whole sizes too big, they didn’t have my size but I could try it for comparison. Hmmmm.

The shoes were £30 more than the original ones and £40 more than I could get online, the online price I found wasn’t listed in their ‘approved’ list of price matches. So they don’t price match, only price match an approved list. In the end I was offered 15% off and this felt okay, a bit more than online but I want to support local shops. I bought the shoe and came home from what was becoming an increasingly busy and fraught shop.

The analogy I might give is if I went to a doctor and they gave me the correct diagnosis but was a little rushed, a little ‘off’ and a little ‘curt’ as if I was slightly in the way, then I wouldn’t mind as I had a good diagnosis. On leaving the shop I felt this way, the female assistant was a bit off, she was a bit curt, clearly she was lacking in patience but… the shoe was great, she was a professional and under pressure due to busyiness, some customers can be unpleasant, I am not one of those.

At home I showed my wife my new shoes, put them on and wandered around the house. They did feel snug and after a minute or two I thought this is weird they are snug yet half a size bigger than usual. I looked at the box, I had been given the American sizing, so they were actually too small, not the half size bigger I was sold, in the shop due to the ‘expertise’. Grrrr

On ringing the shop I soon found out they didn’t have my size at all, I had been sold a pair closest to my size, imagine if I had discovered this on taking them outside?

On reflection I very much feel I was sold a pair of shoes they have rather than the shoes I wanted/needed, I was actually given the wrong shoe (she said why change a good thing) that cost more and was the wrong size, the perfect shoe (in her words) they didn’t have in stock, no clarification was made so I was sold a more expensive and inappropriately sized shoe.

The doctor analysis, bad service and wrong diagnosis. Very disappointing.

I returned the shoe, I explained to the assistant who got the assistant manager to check ‘due diligence’ - he said they were too small, measured my feel and agreed I was the size I said, the female assistant was around, saw what was happening and never came over to apologise.

In the end the shop have ordered me the correct size for home delivery, but it all leaves rather a bad taste when I was so excited to spend a good chunk of money on new shoes.

At this stage I could not recommend, it would be one star if not for the way the assistant manager dealt with my issue immediately without trying to cover. Buying new shoes should be exciting, a treat, something to look forward to, I would dread going here again.

I have been familiar with Runners Need for around two years. A new healthcare policy via my employer entitles me to 50% off a pair of running shoes (once annually).

Runners Need fails in two areas,

1. The range of shoe they sell is severely lacking compared to their competitors.

2. All the top of the range shoes are only available to buy in store and the website lacks the feature to tell you what stores are holding this stock.

You can phone customer services and find out and they were very helpful, but the only stores with stock were in London and they won’t transfer to your nearest store.

Into the new year, my healthcare policy is changing partnership to a rival company who have far more range and availability and I for one am very pleased.

Visited runners need Exeter today as daughter in law is about to embark on marathon training. Service was awful she was asked if she had run on a treadmill and that was the extent of the conversation. Staff spent less than 5 mins with her to the extent we walked out awful service and not what we expected from our half hour paid for service.

Fantastic Service at Runners Need!

I recently visited the Runners Need Beverly shop and had the absolute pleasure of being assisted by Lidia. The service was nothing short of exceptional. From the moment we walked in, she made us feel welcome and at ease, patiently guiding us through every step of finding the right running shoes.

We asked a LOTs of questions and she answered every single one with incredible knowledge, enthusiasm, and professionalism. She clearly knows her stuff and went above and beyond to ensure we were fully informed and confident in our choices.

Thanks to Lidia, shopping at Runners Need was not just a purchase but an enjoyable experience. If you're looking for outstanding customer service and expert advice, this is the place to go. Highly recommended!

From a smooth, easy booking system, to fantastic, professional, knowledgeable, friendly staff that carried out gait analysis for my son. The whole experience was amazing. No hard sell, just genuine advice and genuine helpfulness. I could not have asked for service. Customer service at it's finest.

Ed in the Cambridge store was excellent. Sorted my return efficiently and really knew his stuff when it came to the running shoes. Convinced me that my new pair would shave a few seconds off my next parkrun !

We had a really brilliant experience with Rassa (apologies if this is not spelt correctly) today. She gave us gait analysis and fitted us both with very comfy shoes. She has expert knowledge, we would highly recommend Rassa.

Collection never delivered to store. Order impossible to cancel. 0 information to help consumers. Passed to AI to reduce wasted time.