"They will have had my money for 5 months without me receiving any wearable shoes!!"

I ordered a pair of Overstone Hi Derby - All White Calf (order #18089) valued at almost £300 and had to wait 9 weeks which is perfectly fine as this is the stated wait time. The shoes arrived with noticeable defects. I contacted customer services who responded 4 working days later to basically say "send us the shoes back and we'll make you another pair". So Crown will have had £300 of my hard earned money for nearly 5 months with no pair of shoes in my possession? The customer service operation is atrocious and don't even expect to get anyone on the other end of a phone......this was my first order (placed 21st December 2024) and I was so excited about receiving these shoes....very very disappointing.

"These People Lost Their Mind…"

Who is the heck is going to pay these prices for shoes and then wait FOUR MONTHS to receive them? Furniture doesn’t take this long to make. Ridiculous.

"Very disappointed"

I bought a pair of Woodford Desert Boots. At the time of purchasing I did not mind waiting two and a half months for delivery and the price of £300 because I thought would receive a high quality, comfortable product that would last.
Having now had the shoes for 4 months I no longer consider the price or the wait to have been worth it. In fact, I now regard the shoes as a waste of money.
They are made of a stiff, hard, unforgiving leather that I have been unable satisfactorily 'break in' making them very uncomfortable for anything other than short periods of wear. The quality is not as expected - glued joints are already separating; brown paint on the white soles is coming off and, a minor point, but the laces supplied were too long and thin and after I tripped over them several times had to be replaced.
I would not buy from Crown again. I will go back to high street shops where I think I can get a better shoe for less than half the price.

"Inner sole issue"

I have recently purchased 3 pairs of “made to order” Crown Northampton Overstone Derby trainers at a total cost of circa £900. The top inner soles in the most recent pair (which arrived in July 24) have started to wrinkle up and separate from the underlying layer despite fairly minimal wear. I’ve never experienced this problem with much cheaper “off the peg” trainers eg Nike, Addidas, Puma, Camper etc, nor have Crown responded to my concerns when I emailed them a couple of days ago

"I ordered the wrong size of the…"

I ordered the wrong size of the cordovan shoe. It was a hassle free exchange. I love the shoes and I think they look great …although they may take a while to break in.

"Update"

In addition to my earlier review...unfortunately the promising 'early signs' were not accurate...still waiting for an update on my order from 6 July!!!!
Emails have stopped. Contact with the company non existent. Will give a few more days then cancel my order and shop elsewhere. White trainers in Winter?

"Crown Northampton = TERRIBLE service"

Ordered £290 pair of leather trainers from Crown. They quote 9 weeks for delivery of these shoes. After 9 weeks had passed, they sent me an email stating that there would be an additional 2 to 3 weeks delay due to various reasons, including their factory being closed for summer holidays. Waited 12 weeks, still had not received shoes or any further communication from Crown. Had to send multiple emails following up. Eventually got a reply stating that the shoes would not be shipped for another 2 weeks, bringing the delivery time for 1 pair of shoes to nearly 15 weeks.

Asked for the order to be cancelled and refunded. Have had no reply from Crown. Have had to initiate a charge dispute with credit card company. Hoping this does not become an expensive first time failed experience with this company.

Communication, terrible. Customer service, terrible. Adhering to promised delivery time, terrible.

Overall experience, TERRIBLE!

Don’t buy!

"I was really hoping to leave a 5 star…"

I was really hoping to leave a 5 star review when I placed my order, but after spending £290 and waiting for 3 months, I would not recommend buying from Crown Northampton if you have never purchased from this brand before.

I moved to London for an international assignment with only 2 suitcases, I wanted to get a pair of leather sneakers that could supplement my limited wardrobe. Instead of going for Italian leather which I should have done, I thought since I am now in England, might as well support the local shops and buy something made in England that would be a souvenir as well as serves functional purposes.

Through a Youtube video I came across Crown Northampton. I did my research and reviewed its website carefully, everything looks legitimate so I ordered my usual size after reading “All of our collections are made to an F fitting as standard. This is an industry average fit that will suit most feet”.

I waited 9 weeks, and the shoes came. They are the widest, heftiest and chunkies looking shoes, yet somehow feel incredibly narrow. I thought this must be the leather, after all the leather is quite sturdy and thick, thicker than all other leather shoes I have. Fast forward to a month later, after several coffee runs and short outdoor walks, I was still not able to break in. Then I compared the insole to my other shoes, turns out, it’s significantly, and I meant SIGNIFICANTLY, narrower than all my other shoes.

I reached out to customer service looking for solutions, and this is their response on the width of the shoes “When customers ask for the widths of our Lasts we prefer not to send them out as it can be misleading” and “Now that you own and have tried on a pair of the Wholecuts - you should able to gauge if a G fitting will wide enough if you wanted to re-order.” In other words, there is nothing we can do and you just have to buy a new pair. Yea no, no way in hell I am gonna spend another £290 and 9 weeks of my life just to have a chance of getting something that actually fits.

Crown Northampton, can you really claim that your shoes are made to an industry average fit when it’s narrower all other brands? I never had to go for a wider fit in my entire life and I have a lot of shoes from a number of brands (Nike, Adidas, Nobull, Allbirds, Ecco, Gucci, Bottega, Prada, Ferragamo, Maison Margiela to name a few). I’ve uploaded a few pics comparing Crown Northampton and Maison Margiela to demonstrate the differences in width, I am always happy to share more.

I would have given 1 star based on my shopping experience, the fit of the shoes, the time spent on waiting, and the price I paid, but 2 stars because the leather and stitching do appear solid.

TLDR: if you have never tried shoes from this brand before (and it’s impossible try them in store because no retailers carry this brand), be EXTREMELY cautions before you pay for £290 and invest 9 weeks of your life waiting for the shoes. Chances are it’s not worth the money and time, you might be just as disappointed like me.

"Lux Hand Made Sneakers on point!!"

Quality hand made products are hard to find these days. So glad I found Crown Northampton. Website definitely user friendly and customer service is on point. Got my first pair - Overstone Derby white. So clean and crisp. Be prepared to wait though, as the shoes are made to order. But trust me, the wait is worth it. Looking forward to my second pair - Harlestone Handstitch Derby in Horween Dark Cognac Shell Cordovan.

"I purchased a pair of whole cut…"

I purchased a pair of whole cut Horween chromexcel in forest green, had to return them as size was off, had no problem as the Customer service was excellent with help to get the right size. It took a few wears to get them broken in (but not as long as my army combat boots from new issue) after that initial period these are the most comfortable shoes i have ever worn, I have worn them EVERY day since I got them. Highly recommended.