DSW Reviews

I have been a DSW customer for several years and recently created an online account. On November 22, I purchased a pair of GO Walk 7 shoes, having previously owned and enjoyed the same style. Although I received confirmation of payment and shipment, the shoes did not arrive the next two weeks. Upon visiting a local DSW store, I was informed that, contrary to the website's notification, the shoes were actually out of stock and had not been shipped. Unfortunately, I was not informed of this discrepancy, and only discovered it by investigating the delay myself. This experience has raised concerns about communication and customer service, as I would have been charged without receiving the product if I had not followed up. Transparency regarding order status is essential for customer trust and satisfaction.

On November 28, 2025 I initiated a return for a pair of New $174.99 Blake McKay Dixon Chukka Boots because of poor quality, with a large scratch in an obvious area. This item Was Not available in store near me. DSW for reasons unknown, has acknowledged multiple times now- once on December 8, and a second time three days later on December 11, that they received my boots back. FedEx detailed tracking confirms they got them back on December 8th, 2025. If you can't buy your shoes in store, this could be your experience.

On November 22, 2025, I ordered shoes after receiving an email from DSW that the shoes were back in stock. A week later, having received no notification regarding shipment, I called to learn the shoes had never shipped. The representative immediately sent them out. Today is December 8, 2025, and still no shoes. Tracking has had repeated changes in delivery. I wouldn’t order from them again and will call the Better Business Bureau.

I went to the DSW store in Raleigh 3604-110 to look for winter boots and sneakers. After being there for a while, I approached an employee (Aaron) and asked if could use the restroom, this young lady stated “I can let you in to the restroom but we don’t have a public restroom unless you’re buying something.“ Apparently, as a ** female, she assumed I must be homeless. I stated to her, "Do I look homeless." No response from her. She seem to assume I wasn’t buying anything. I was but, after her disposition, my husband said, "Let’s go, this isn’t the only DSW." Christ like behavior. Umm! Jesus, you know. Why do some ** think they can say and treat other races a certain way. Her response was unprofessional and all that extra comment wasn’t necessary.

Something I have noticed with DSW shoes is when I put a pair of shoes in my car after I’ve signed in and it shows free standard shipping, once I get ready to check out they want to charge me $7.95 for shipping. I have tried this several times and both pairs of shoes show free shipping and when I go to the cart it says free shipping but once I put my payment choice in there it wants to charge for shipping. Watch out for their devious practice regarding shipping. I’ve tried contacting them but AI can’t seem to handle that issue.

I have been having heel pain and was excited to get a new pair of shoes to relieve this. I went to the Green Bay location to shop one day while it was snowing. Due to the snow I was the only shopper in the store. There were two employees at the desk who barely said hi or even saw that I was standing there. I asked them if they could help me find shoes to help my heel pain and I then told them the brands that I was interested in. One employee told be to go to The Heel (another shoe store) to shop and the other one totally ignored me and the other just pointed with her finger stating those are over there next to the grey boxes.

As a first-time customer, I was concerned by all the negative reviews, but I had zero issues. They shipped my shoes quickly, they arrived in perfect condition, and DSW were also the only website that had them in the color I wanted or even in stock in any color for that matter. Had a much harder time trying to buy them on Amazon and the actual brand's website. Will be buying more shoes from them in the future.

Like others, I tried to return unused, unworn shoes, well within DSW's stated return policy of being returned within a few weeks of being purchased and with accompanying receipt. I was told that the return was denied by the DSW representative at the store. Apparently, they are contracting with The Retail Equation (TRE) to monitor return activity at DSW & other stores (not sure yet which stores, but I have requested a report from them) and TRE decides if you can return items or not. Beware of being caught up by this, with no warning. I will certainly be more careful purchasing items in the future, but in the meantime, I have brand new shoes that I cannot wear and cannot return to DSW. DSW will not override TRE decision even though I emailed them for a solution.

DSW tracks your returns and can just cut you off from returning with no warning. Don’t shop there. Bought 4 pair of shoes 4 days ago and they won’t take back 2 of them. I was never told I wouldn’t be able to return.

Never. I repeat NEVER use DSW.com. My account has been hacked twice now! Since August 4th (today is October 21st) I have been trying get my refund. Just absolutely horrible! They know it’s fraud. I live in Florida. It went to California and the email address was changed!

Easy experience making the purchase. Shipping kept getting delayed, after five days of changing the delivery date I tried contacting. Disconnected four times from chat. Finally got someone on the phone. Wouldn’t validate the email address with the order number. I literally have the two match in my inbox. Worst online shopping experience I’ve had.

I purchased a pair of Sketcher's Squad work shoes that were worn for 3 days around 12 hrs. total. The shoes had a defect in the left shoe making it feel like I was walking on a incline. I returned the shoes to the store to be told that they felt the difference in the two shoes stating that there was indeed a defect. The clerk told me that since the shoes were worn that they couldn't refund my $87 dollars, that they could only give me store credit. The shoes could not be resold anyway because of the defect, so I didn't understand why I couldn't get a refund. DSW won't be getting too much of my hard earned dollars anymore. Their return policy concerning defective products is not right. The manufacturer should have to take the loss not the customer.

I received a damaged pair of shoes. I had to call to get a return shipping label; it was not straight forward how to initiate a return without calling. They tell me they are going to charge me $8.00 now for return shipping, and deduct from my total refund. I should not have to pay for damaged shoes. I will never order online from this store again.

I am a longtime DSW customer and have always loved their customer service. Those days are over. With a recent issue on a purchase, I used their chat feature where the person on the other end clearly didn't know English well and was misunderstanding what I was asking for. They then made errors in the charges made to me. I then called customer service. I was connected with someone who I could barely understand. I asked to speak to someone else. Again, my account was not credited properly. I sent them an email and the response looked like it was written by an illiterate 5 year old. What country is now handling their customer service??

I went today to the Dale Mabry branch in Tampa Florida to buy sneakers, Jacklyn was amazing and super helpful. She has a lot of knowledge about all sneakers. I like to thank her and you for having her.

I normally don’t write reviews, but I definitely read them when purchasing shoes. The last few months of shopping at DSW have been horrible. I make a purchase and the shoes wait weeks waiting to be picked up by FEDEX. Then they decide to cancel the order with no communication. I order again and I received a random pair of high heel shoes not even my size. I order one last time and I get a smashed part of a box in a plastic bag. It looks like they were ran over, seriously. Sadly, I will have to take my business elsewhere.

Ordered a gift card August 9. Never received it. Called customer service. They said that my email was misspelled. OK I was fine with that so I waited another 48 hours never received it. Call back customer service. My he reinsure me my email spelling. Told me I have to wait another 48 hours. Never received it. Today is August 16 2025. I had to call them for a refund. Customer service has gotten horrible. Do not purchase a E gift card from DSW. You probably will not receive it.

This is the only online store I've shopped where the shipping takes two weeks easily. I decided to take a chance on them again after a long time. I placed my order on 7/11, and the delivery date is STILL being pushed back, now to 7/23. The package hasn't even made it to my state yet, according to FedEx tracking.

This review is for the 803 Goucher Blvd Space 104, Baltimore, MD 21286 location. I was greeted when I entered the business which was nice. The men's sandals were not well organized. They weren't all in the same area. I almost left without purchasing anything. No assistance was offered by a store employee. On my way out I saw what I was looking for though. I mentioned to the person at the front door (maybe the manager) the situation but didn't get any response. The Hunt Valley store is nicer and more organized.

Shoes were delivered today. Box is crushed and the shoes are used!!! The soles are dirty and the packaging is missing. Very unhappy that I now have to return them. I paid full price for new shoes, this is very disturbing that they are selling them used!

I just received a USED pair of Birkenstocks from DSW. The box was smashed and torn, the shoes were just tossed inside, unattached from the cardboard hanger, the bottoms are dirty and even torn from a small rock that was embedded in the sole that I pulled out. This is illegal. You have to disclose that the shoes are worn and used. They sold these to me as new. Not clearance, not on sale. Now I have to waste my time, contacting service, boxing up and returning their mistake. They should NOT be selling used shoes, but I should have known better. This has happened to me a few times before. I have FINALLY learned my lesson and will NOT shop there any longer. Other people need to know about this.

I was treated so poorly at my local Bridgewater store. Apparently as a VIP customer I am now flagged and unable to make returns. I was never warned. I was told to look at the bottom of my last return receipt... They don't give printed receipts in this store. They send an auto email which says nothing about "excessive" returns. I am now stuck with three pairs of shoes, one came in beat up box and look worn, with no way to return.

While trying on shoes at the Firewheel location my 11 year old son ended up with a security sensor tack embedded in his foot. The manager on duty had no clue on how to assist after I requested a formal report be made. A week later 2 calls to corporate I have yet to speak with anyone willing to take responsibility for their negligence. The tack left my son unable to walk for several days. I have asked for a manager then the legal department and still no call. Next step is having my lawyer take over. Totally unacceptable!

Returned a part of unworn crocs with a receipt yesterday. Strap pushed on small toe. I walked for a short time on carpet in my home. Recently had back surgery so it is not easy for me to try shoes on in the store; thus, I bring them home or order them online. No signs of wear noted by the cashier. How is it possible to purchase shoes online without trying them on and know whether they fit or not. You might get lucky or they just may hurt your feet. In the case of one purchase I ordered multiple colors because if you like the one color ordered, by the time you go to order another pair in another color they are out of stock.

Do not buy any shoes from DSW online. When I make a purchase I never know what size will fit best as sizes are differ from one brand to another so I usually order 2 pairs within 1/2 size and size that does not fit I usually return to the store. I do wish they had shoes that I need in the store so I could try them on before buying but most of the time it is not the case. For some reason DSW feels that whatever you bought you need to keep it as they flag my account with making too many returns and when I take it back to the store the return is denied. This is terrible customer service as most of the items are sold online only these days. Their shoes by no means is a bargain and even if I have to pay a little more some place else I will but never again will be DSW customer.

I shopped at the Louisville Paddock location and Tenise was phenomenal!! She was helpful, friendly and a pleasure. I would return to this store even though I live 30 minutes away just because of her - she was great! She's a keeper - promote that girl!

April 2025 1st shipment bought online - Delivery date of the shoe was all off, and confusing on their end and Fedex. They shipped my order from a Returns facility with no packing slip (clearly someone had returned, they decided to re-route to me as a new shoe). Shoe packaging was terrible. I emailed them right away but they lied to reassure me that the shoes were new and unworn. I returned the shoes. May 2025 2nd shipment - once again shipping details were all off. Fedex said the shipping details were incorrect. DSW had shipped it to my old address (5 years old address). They then re-routed it to my current address. Fedex caught this error. The whole company is a mess and how incompetent are the staff?

Ordered timberlands online in black. Sent totally different shoe in wrong size and sent shoes cheaper than I paid for needed for event. Which now I'm having to search elsewhere at last minute. Thanks!!!

RETURN POLICY - watch out.... So in the fall I probably ordered about 7 pairs of boots at once to wear with a specific brown dress. The color was very hard to match. I am also totally into supreme comfort, so I can be hard to please with knee/hip issues... It's my deal. Unfortunately all these had to be returned. Then this April I had a wedding to attending. I was getting dresses from rent the runway.... Orders had not arrived so I had no idea what colors I would need. I ordered a bright silver and a hot pink Vince Camuto to go with black dress. DSW shipped silver, and in ERROR a blue floral in this shoe. So I went to store to resolve, returned the blue floral, reordered the pink and got the black as well... as RTR had lost my dress order and I had to make all new selection.... So at this point not sure what color would work. Black dress arrived, pink shoes looked great.... even though they were so uncomfy/low heel, I kept them.

I made a purchase online because they didn’t have the item in store. I needed this pair of pumps for an event. When I received them they were defective. I contacted customer service through email and waited for a response. I included my receipt and photos. I was told that they would send me out a replacement pair. I waited for an extended amount of time. Then after contacting them again. I was told that the replacement pair never got processed. This is unacceptable. This has been a very time-consuming and disappointing retail experience.