Church's Shoes Reviews 56

Great tv ad but really expensive!
Who has 900+ to buy shoes alone!!

Crazy prices

Beware. Now owned by Prada. Call centre in Italy. Bought new shoes. Unworn, but laces deteriorated. Tried to order new laces online, but told I need to visit a Church's shop 100 miles away. Don't buy if you expect good follow up service.

Bought Church’s Jason slippers, £570 in September 2024, for a combined birthday and Golden Wedding present. They were to replace a pair of the same slippers, bought as a gift in 2020. My husband continued to wear the 2020 slippers until Christmas 2025 when the 2024 slippers were finally brought into service. Within 6 weeks holes have appeared in the paper thin soles and heals of the slippers. Church’s Customer Service response has been extremely disappointing. Initially responding to photos of the slippers they stated that the damage, ‘ is the result of heavy wear’ a second response stated that the ‘issue affecting your shoes is due to normal wear and tear’. Even had the slippers ( not shoes) been worn regularly since purchase, in a fully carpeted house, I believe it is reasonable to expect they would, at a cost of £570, last longer than 15 months and certainly longer than 6 weeks, and that if they didn’t that Customer Service would share concern and respond in a more reasonable and constructive manner.

My new Shannon went defective after one week, both heels detached at the same time. Its been 3months and my shoes are not repaired yet. « We will get back to you as soon as possible ». On the telephone they are useless, on whatsapp they are useless, they cant contact anybody, thay cant refund me. They have 1050€ of mine, my defective shoes, and i cant do anything. DONT BUY CHURCHS

We received Excellent Customer Service at the Bicester Oulet last weekend by Two Wonderful members of Staff - Ramzi & Imran - Totally Professional making it a excellent experience - Kind Regards.

All this slander of Church's shoes is totally out of order. If you are not willing to pay an indeed hefty price go for another brand.
The leather of the classical shoes like Oxfords is exeptionally good. My advise: go to a store and try different fits. That will make all the difference. And the service by the staff of both the London and Brussel stores is outstanding. So stop moaning if you cannot afford a pair of quality shoes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for personal service

I had the pleasure of being helped by Idjana at Church’s on Jermyn Street, London, and I can’t speak highly enough of her. What began as a frustrating experience with the main customer service interaction quickly turned into one of the best examples of customer service I’ve ever encountered—thanks entirely to her.

Idjana went above and beyond to not only attempt to resolve the issue I was facing but did so with genuine care, professionalism, and attention to detail. It’s rare to come across someone so committed to making sure a customer leaves happy, and that’s exactly what she did.

Her empathy, product knowledge, and proactive approach transformed my day. This kind of service is what builds lasting customer loyalty, and Idjana is a true credit to the Church’s brand. Thank you!

Relatively brand new pair Church Grafton , lace broke , opened a new spare and lace snapped when tightening shoe .
Complained to Church’s Whatapp with pictures and an anonymous respondeehas put me through the hoops with records and numerous angle pictures of a broken lace on a 1k pair of shoes .
Ridiculous attitude and nothing compared to the historical high service that Church’s offered pre their sale. Couldn’t bring myself to buy again and they seriously should invest in proper customer relations staff , not acceptable .

PRADA has scattered the brand. Rubber soles with fake seams. -Church was a brand that stood for quality.
I pay for quality not for the brand. So now I have to look further for the real thing.

The difference between a luxury item and an expensive item is not the price, which is expensive in any case, but the quality of the good and the overall experience that you have dealing with the brand. Being a luxury brand requires high-standards (of manufacturing, customer service, locations, etc.) and a maniacal attention to details.
My experience with Chrurch’s is of “just another expensive high-street dealer”, definitely not a luxury one: quality is not up to their name and attention to details and to customer needs is lacking very much behind most of the luxury competitors (including Prada which is part of the same group.
During the years, I bought 3 pairs of Church shoes:
- [ ] Desert boots- I used them on a very rainy day and the sole cracked and I had to replace it
- [ ] Black leather oxford brogue- I immediately put a rubber layer on the sole as soon as I bought them (and they are still ok) but it is simply the most uncomfortable pair of formal shoes I ever had in 20 years
- [ ] Lace-up boots brogue- both rubber soles detached from the shoes while walking

Hence quality is definitely an issue. The last one (pictures attached) is the most interesting one as they are on display at £1100 in the shop:
- bought them some years ago and just after 2 months the sole detached on the back, and started clapping at any step forward up to the point that I had to find a shoe-repair on the way to fix it immediately
- After other 2 months the same happened with the other side
- Afterwards I used them very seldom given the repair quality was suboptimal and not fit for business meetings until a month ago when a friend tells me that Church has a dedicated repair service to bring the shoes back to the original shape
- I go to the Bond street shop and I discover that this model has changed overtime and now the sole is sewn and not glued….
- I explain them my situation and the fact that even if bought many years ago, the shoes have hardly been used and there was a clear manufacturing defect that has been improved over time on the new models and it is not normal for such shoes to have the sole detached.

I had a similar issue on another quite expensive item from a different luxury brand, and the answer was:
-Dear Mr R**, we are terribly sorry, this is very unfortunate and should have never happened on one of our top products, we will be happy to repair it for free with our apologies

Church’s reply:
-Dear Mr R***, the artisans at the Northampton Factory have assessed the images and are happy to attempt to re-sole the shoes. It wouldn’t be the same sole but the Dainite storm welted sole instead – this may resolve the sturdiness issue you had with the old style of rubber sole.
The cost to re-sole would be £290

I returned a pair of velvet slippers to a Church's shop because one of them had split on the crease line within 11 months of purchase. The manager agreed they needed to be replaced but said he had no authority to do so - it was a head office decision.That was on 28th September 2024. 10 weeks later I am still waiting for a response from Church's despite numerous follow up emails and phone calls.
Church's used to be regarded as an excellent maker of shoes. It seems that have gone down hill since Prada bought them out. Truly awful customer service!

Appalling customer service. Took my shoes to be refurbished and handed over my shoes to be refurbished along with £325. Received an email 6 weeks later saying a split had been observed and that this would be repaired but would be a risk for future repairs. Another 6 week and then was told my shoes were damaged beyond repaid. No apology and had to fight to get my refurbishment refunded.

Quite obviously my shoes were written off before the first email. No response to my complaint, no attempt to make right or any gesture of good will. Refund had to come from Milan and took 3 weeks. Do not believe that these are the Churchs of Northampton, these are Prada rubbish aimed to rip off wealthy customers. The quality of old is long gone

Avoid the company like the plague

I was very surprised to read so many negative reviews, my experience was great with church's. Since my shoes needed to be resoled I brought them to the store in Milan, although I was told I could also send them to a different store via the post. (Unfortunately there is no longer a store in my country). I did not need to bring them to the store where I originally bought them, unlike some of the reviews I read.
From there my shoes were repaired and resoled, after which they were sent from Italy to me at no extra cost. The repair and resoling was not cheap (€290) but worth it considering they feel brand new.
Everyone I interacted with through customer service, through the phone and in the store was very friendly and helpful.
If I had to give some advice a tracking code to see where the shoes are in the process would be nice to see.

I had taken one of my 3 pairs of Shannon for repair in the Geneva Church's shop. After a long silence, I received an e-mail asking for my agreement to undertake the work in spite of visible “ damage” ( abimée ) and that I should take the reparation at my risk. I agreed in good faith and 5 days later I received another email stating that the shoes were irreversibly damaged and could not be repaired.

My analysis:

The repair had already started when they got in touch with me and the damage had already incurred during their“overhaul”. To avoid any responsibility I believe that they asked for my in writing agreement and as soon as I agreed here the reality that the shoes are destroyed. In other words I feel I have been tricked to avoid any possible claim for something that had already incurred during the repair.

Comment:

There is always time for learning also at my age ( I am 72) as I have been a client for around 60 years!.....A good lesson that also Church’s shoes, of which I have been a client since my childhood in UK with my late British grandmother, has “gone to the dogs”, as she would say. As I have another two pairs of exactly the same model and size, still not yet ever repaired, I will have to look eventually for a reliable repair company and of course chose another company for any other purchase of similar traditional shoes. Church 's used to make superb shoes but it seems that has now declined to complete unreliability and tricky attitude to protect their possible liability.

Awful Online Service, charged money and did not send order.

I ordered a pair of Lynton Loafers today, the online shop was not functioning properly. The Add to Basket button did not work at all on mobile nor on mac desktop. I ended up ordering via their customer service chat. They asked for all my details and then sent me a payment link. I completed the payment, it stated the money was received and the money exited my bank account, yet I received no follow-up confirmations. I asked again the customer service agent after a half hour wait. Then after 15-20 minutes I received an unempathetic reply saying the order did not through and no money has been received. I've sent the payment confirmations from both their site and my bank and received no further response. This seems fraudulent and I advise you to stay away from ordering here. Maybe the in-person stores still hold a sliver of their old service but such a poor result from a once great heritage brand.

Before Church's Shoes was bought by Prada, they were great quality. Now, alas, the quality has worsened considerably.

The online customer service is absolutely miserable. Rude, unhelpful and cocky. Extremely disappointing.

I worked for churches shoes on cheshire oaks worse company to work plus the management were terrible up there own arses..I gave my notice of termination to go and work elsewhere so the manager came in on his day off and tore a strip off me.i applied for ted baker and refused to give me a reference..very petty 😡

I bought a pair of Chelsea boots for my partner as a present, after receiving them she wore the boots approximately 1 hour the heal fell off…
The customer service I am receiving is totally shocking I want a refund and it’s not being dealt with.
Stay clear the Italians have destroyed a good English brand, disgusting.

churchs wonder why they are losing money its because they have become greedy when i worked for them you could get a pair of there shoes for £125 the same pair are now £980 things have not gone up that much which is why most of there city and london stores have gone they only have there self to blame and the quality as gone down the pan

My husband bought me some Estella polished chelsea boots for Christmas 3 years ago which was followed by lockdown so I didn’t really wear them. This winter I’ve got them out but to my horror the heel fell off!
I contacted Church immediately and sent them all the photos showing very little use as they have been kept in their dust bags and not really come out and they sent me an email back to say I will have to pay £100 plus shipping to have it put back on but they recommended I have them fully serviced and the soles & heels replaced at the cost of £290!!!
All my photos show clearly they are in mint condition but yet they want me to pay to have a full refurbishment!
I have emailed Deschanel (point of contact) again but he says there is nothing he can do…
BEWARE buying these “good quality” shoes as the heel falls off after wearing them approximately 15 times!
Really poor customer service unfortunately so I will NEVER buy another pair 👎🏻