Christopher R. Cooper | Questionable Uses of Time

This is an update to a previously written review on the Vibram FiveFingers barefoot running shoes.

I finally received my replacement pair of FiveFingers from TravelCountry.com after an arduous wait involving many phone calls and far too much time spent rock-hopping in big fat soled trail shoes.  It took some time coordinating the replacements as apparently Travel Country had to go through Vibram for a replacement authorization before they could send me a replacement directly.  I was told Vibram was having some internal problems that caused some delays though as well.

As a side note, Travel Country had quite good quality customer service albeit a bit slow.  It was nice to be able to reach a native english speaker and not have to navigate through a 10-step phone system to do so.  Once things were straight with Vibram and the authorization (I suppose credit back) was cleared, I received an equivalent replacement set within 3 days.  The replacement set is a slightly newer model, as my original pair were a 2008 closeout.  One of the representatives I spoke with told me he had seen several returns with similar problems.

The construction of the new pair does not seem any bit different from the originals, although the color is just ever-so-slightly different.  I'd been without my FiveFingers for about 2 months and it was great to break into the new pair with some rock climbing around the James River in Richmond, VA.  I have since put a solid 20 or so miles on them and have not noticed any of the problems I had seen with the previous pair.  One thing is for sure: next time I find myself in need of a replacement pair of FiveFingers, I'll be searching for a quick replacement source, living without them for quite some time certainly reduced my athletic enjoyment.  I will also be keeping my eyes open for closeouts and sales, I could always use an extra set!