Cup of Blonde Investigates: Why do ALDO Shoes fall apart so easily?

The material on the back of my heels is peeling off. The heel tap on my right shoe has come off and the metal is poking through. My feet each make a noticeably different “click” noise when I walk, to the point where people ask me what’s wrong. The leather of my shoes has stretched out so far they are now too big for me.

This is the third pair out of four ALDO purchases that have fallen apart. I have a firm belief the reason the fourth pair haven’t fallen apart is because I can count the times I’ve worn them on one hand.

The first pair of ALDO Shoes I purchased had a similar fate as the third. The leather stretched out, both heel taps fell off, and the nude finish rubbed off to expose black streaks underneath. I took this pair to an experienced Eastern European cobbler in town and I felt a small amount of shame when I came to pick them up. It’s like dropping your little hellion off at daycare and they look at you with daggers when you come to pick him up. He told me he tried to polish them but they’re actually not leather, it’s just a faux finish.

Upon first glance, ALDO Shoes seem like a comparable less-expensive alternative to high-end shoes from Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin. They’re pointy-toed stilettos have a similar silhouette to the designer alternative. This is what originally hooked me to buy my pumps from ALDO. A $90 look-a-like is able to satisfy an appetite that cannot afford a $675 dream.

While $90 sounds like pocket change compared to $675, for a girl with a monthly student loan and car payment, it’s a substantial amount of money to spend on shoes. It’s enough to where they shouldn’t fall apart after a few weeks of wear. I already had to deal with your judgmental sales people who talked me into overspending, don’t add insult to injury. If they were a $30 pair from Target, I would understand.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. ALDO was able to fool me three times. So I thought I would do a little investigative work as to how they pull the wool over consumers’ eyes.

Their Website
Their Stessy shoe has let me down twice: once in nude and another in black. The listing for the materials of this shoe is very vague.

Material upper: Leather
Sole: Synthetic
Heel: Synthetic

Synthetic what? Synthetic could mean any man-made material. It could be nylon, polyester, acrylic, acetate, spandex, orlon, lastex, etc. It makes sense that ALDO is so vague regarding their materials, considering they have a claim that they “do not warrant that product descriptions or other content of this site are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free.” The more vague you are, the less you have to worry about accuracy and lawsuits!

Reviews
ALDO boasts an average 4.4 star rating for the Stessy on their website. This is an interesting conclusion considering the majority of reviews I found were in the 1-3 star range.

Sashoic gave a 1 star review, stating that she was “disappointed” and they “didn’t last.”
Cvieira wrote that the heel taps fell off after four days. She left a 3 star review.

Several reviews state how the heel tips fall off or the material started peeling after a short amount of wear. Maria, a customer service representative for ALDO commented on one of the reviews that customers have 90 days to return or exchange defective products. I found this contradictory to the other reviews stating the store associates wouldn’t refund or exchange the shoes.

After this third disappointment, I vow to never purchase shoes from ALDO again. With the money I spent on these shoes I would be well on my way to my first pair of Louboutin’s. Quality over quantity.

Take the pledge with me and swear off these cheap sheep in lion’s clothing!