Dr. Martens Reviews 

The return experience is terrible. Have to handle the return / exchange of an item is a painful experience. I’d never buy online again.

Bought a pair of Dr. Martens 1460 Smooth Leather boots for around €200.

After about 1.5 years of light use, the leather cracked completely at the flex point, even though the outsole still shows very minimal wear.

This clearly wasn’t heavy use — the sole condition proves it.

Contacted customer support with photos and proof of purchase. The response was a standard rejection based on warranty expiration, with no willingness to offer any goodwill support.

Disappointing experience from a brand that markets itself as durable and long-lasting.

Would not recommend the smooth leather models.

Truly terrible customer service. I ordered some boots which arrived and were too big. I followed all their return instructions and went to the post office to return the item. It got lost in transit and I messaged them when I could see the tracking had not moved. They take at least 5 days to respond and it’s impossible to call them to resolve any issues. When they did respond they wanted me to go to the post office and search around for the missing boots!! (I had already gone there to ask, without success) I pointed out the law to them (Consumer Contract Regulations) which states they must refund within 14 days of return (proof of postage was sent to them) and I am still waiting for a response and my refund. I expect they will come back to me and ask some further pointless questions just to delay matters further. I will NEVER buy from them again.
Further update- I have eventually received confirmation of my refund but only after I threatened the company with small claims court, trading standards, negative reviews, constant emailing and bank chargeback. Maybe try this if you also have issues but expect to have to send them multiple emails. My advice - don’t buy !!

Brought a handbag reduced from 90 pound to 65 pound and when it arrived it was like something off of Temu
It was so small I couldn’t even fit my mobile phone inside

I’ve been a loyal Dr. Martens customer for around 15 years and have owned several pairs of their boots in the past. Historically they lasted me well over 10 years, which is why I felt comfortable spending the money on another pair.

Unfortunately my most recent pair of 1460 boots has been very disappointing. After only two winters of relatively infrequent wear, the leather on the side of the boot has split near the sole (around 2 cm long). Because of this the boots are no longer waterproof.

The boots were purchased for £180 October 2024 and have been properly cared for using leather balm and waterproof spray. The rest of the boots are still in good condition, which makes the failure of the leather even more surprising.

I contacted customer service with photos and proof of purchase but was told they could not help because the boots are outside their 12-month warranty period. Given the price and reputation of the brand, I would expect boots like these to last significantly longer than this.

It’s very disappointing to see such a drop in both product durability and customer support. Sadly this will be the last pair of Dr. Martens I buy.

The quality of the shoes are terrible. The Customer Services take forever to respond. I would not pay for another pair of Dr Martens.

Horrific customer service.

Boots received damaged. Been round the houses for two months not being able to wear them.

I’ve followed all the instructions. Sent many emails and photos.

Waited weeks for responses.

Tried calling. Thought this worked, was offered a 20% refund as compensation. I mean they will get scraped up I was happy for a discount on a very expensive pair of boots.

And still nothing has come back to me to follow this up.

I bought a pair of Jadon boots and some leather care products from this store around three years ago. They were expensive, but I chose Dr. Martens because of their reputation for durability and because I prefer to buy products that last.

Unfortunately, despite wearing the boots only about once a week and taking good care of them, the sole detached along most of its length without warning while I was out one evening. The uppers are still in good condition, but the boots suddenly became unwearable.

I contacted Dr. Martens with photos and proof of purchase. Their response was simply that the boots were outside the 24-month warranty period, and they declined to offer any repair, replacement, or goodwill gesture.

For a premium brand known for durability, I expected better product quality and better customer service.

Thank you to the lovely lady called Sophie in meadowhall today,she is so nice and patient, and so polite and kind, definitely a credit to the company.

I brought a pair of boots for my son for Christmas
First time he went out in the rain with them they have developed big water marks. These boots are quite expensive. I contacted customer service and basically they said they did an assessment of the boots just by looking at the pictures I sent there is nothing wrong with them. How they can do an assessment this way is beyond me. As soon as I contacted them it’s was clear they were not going to help
Absolute disgrace

Extremely disappointed with how this order was handled.

I ordered a pair of boots for my wife’s birthday. She had been talking about them for a while and this was the one thing she genuinely wanted. I placed the order, the payment was accepted, and I received confirmation. A few days later, I was notified that the order was canceled due to overselling stock and that a refund would be issued.

The customer service representative I spoke with was professional, but the only solution offered was to sign up for restock notifications and try again, with no guarantee it won’t happen the same way next time.

This isn’t about hype or limited inventory. It’s about process. If an item isn’t secured, payment shouldn’t be captured. Accepting a customer’s money and confirming the order, then canceling days later because inventory wasn’t accurate, is a systems failure. When the purchase is tied to a birthday and specific plans, that breakdown has a real impact.

I’m not leaving this review out of emotion. I’m leaving it because this is a preventable issue. For a brand with this reputation, inventory control and order validation should be tighter than this. I hope it’s addressed so other customers don’t experience the same problem.

Every pair has been sent back absolutely useless always too small

My docs failed in the 13th month of ownership. It was quite a catastrophic fail especially after not a lot of wear but still just outside of the guarantee. I contacted them in the hope I’d at least get a discount on a new pair! Nope. Full refund and 15% discount on my next pair of docs. Brilliant customer service. Thank you! I’ve been wearing docs for 40 years. This is the only time I’ve had a problem. And sorted so well. Thanks again!

The website didn't have a way to register for the $15 discount, and after I bought the shoes and tried to communicate with the company to ask for the discount I just received spam-type responses from customer service. I would advise potential customers that the $15 discount is not actually available, and that Doc Martens doesn't respond to its customers.

This company is a shell of what it once was. I was brought a pair of mules, these are not cheap shoes. Within a week a wear the stitching has come away, unfortunately these were a gift for me. From that point customer service has been abysmal. They are literally making the purchaser send photos of the receipt, box, damage, etc. It has been an absolute headache for what seemingly is a manufacturing issue. I’ve been a big fan of this brand but on this occasion, they’ve completely lost my buyer confidence. For this, I can no longer recommend this brand.

Unfortunately, Dr Martens gave me and my husband pompholyx for the last 3yrs which is probably going to be lifelong.

Great Shoes and always great quality

Ordered doc shoes last Wednesday, still not received then it’s now 8 days later, emailed 3 times no reply. I have purchased a lot of docs over the years always received them within 2/3 days. Really disappointed with dr martens

Such a shame how this brand has gone downhill recently.
Have bought 4 pairs of boots in the last 12 months and 2 of them have failed within 6 months of purchase. 1 pair the leather cracked and progressed to large holes and the last pair left me with soaked feet after wearing them in the rain.
Never received any acknowledgement of my first 2 emails on both purchases and then got a standard reply requesting photographic evidence. Sent that and then everything went quiet for over a month despite regular emails from me.
Finally got a response that just said they do not guarantee that their boots, despite costing £170 per pair, are water resistant. I questioned this last email and, unsurprisingly, have had no response.

I would like to say thank you Ana R. from customer support. My package was lost but she did a great job to help me get the item I ordered. Very satisfied!