r/GoralShoes

Summary:
I am documenting the timeline of a dispute with Goral & Son Ltd regarding a pre-order. After roughly a 3-month delay beyond the original estimate, the order was cancelled on May 6, 2026. On May 14, the company admitted the refund had failed and promised a manual payment by May 15. As of May 20, 2026, I still have not received the refund despite multiple missed deadlines and repeated follow-ups.

Timeline of Events:

• 24 Sep 2025 – Pre-order placed for a pair of Buxton Brass Wire Boots via PayPal/Klarna.
• 10 Feb 2026 – First inquiry sent regarding missed delivery estimate.
• 11 Feb 2026 – Goral confirms the boots are in QC.
• 24 Feb 2026 – Goral admits the boots were returned to the supplier (William Lennon) due to a “missing lining” issue.
• 25 Feb 2026 – I request cancellation due to the uncertainty and lack of timeline.
• 26 Feb 2026 – Goral states cancellation is unusual at this stage but says they will “liaise with the team.” A new estimate of “late March” is provided.
• 17 Apr 2026 – Goral attributes the delay to a machine breakdown at William Lennon and promises delivery within “the next working week.”
• 30 Apr 2026 – No delivery received. I follow up again.
• 04 May 2026 – Goral offers a small discount, a refund, or the option to continue waiting. Given the repeated delays and uncertainty, I choose the refund.
• 06 May 2026 – Goral confirms cancellation and states: “I have cancelled the order... you should receive a refund to your card on file.”
• 13 May 2026 – I follow up after still not receiving the refund.
• 14 May 2026 – Goral admits: “The cancellation was processed on May 6th... however this was declined.”

Promise made:
“I have forwarded this onto my boss who will manually process the refund... This will be completed before tomorrow end of day.”

• 19 May 2026 – After the promised deadline passes without payment, I send a final notice requesting confirmation and proof of refund.
  • 06:52 AM – Automated response received.
  • 04:45 PM – Goral replies stating they were “busy on Friday,” had been unable to liaise with their boss, and that the matter had now been passed to the commercial director. They also state that “funds can take time to be visible.”
• 20 May 2026 – I request the transaction ID and set a final deadline for receiving proof of payment.
  • 09:23 AM – Goral replies: “Please bear with me whilst I request the transaction ID for you.”

Current Status (20 May 2026):

• Refund: Not received.
• Transaction ID: Not provided.
• PayPal: Dispute rejected due to the 180-day limitation, despite the refund issue itself occurring in May 2026.
• Klarna: Chargeback filed under “Credit Not Processed,” citing Goral’s May 14 admission and refund promise.
• Next Step: If the matter is not resolved promptly, I intend to pursue recovery through the UK County Court system (Money Claim Online).

Additional Context:

Around the same period, I placed a separate order directly with William Lennon, the same supplier repeatedly cited during the delays. That order was completed and delivered without issue.

For context, these are the William Lennon boots that arrived without issue during the same period:

Custom boot from William Lennon in Horween Natural Chromexcel

This suggests the production capability existed and that the problems in my case were likely internal to Goral’s order handling, communication, or refund process.

Observations:

• All updates regarding delays and refunds had to be initiated by me.
• No proactive communication was provided regarding missed estimates or refund issues.
• I retained the full email chain, including the admission that the refund failed and the written promise to manually process it.

Advice for Consumers:

1. Keep all communication in writing.
2. Do not assume a cancellation automatically means a refund has actually been processed.
3. If a refund is promised, ask for confirmation and transaction details immediately.
4. Escalate quickly if agreed deadlines are repeatedly missed.

I will update this post if the refund is received or if formal legal action becomes necessary.

TL;DR: After roughly a 3-month delay beyond the original estimate, I cancelled my Goral order and was promised a refund. Goral later admitted the refund failed and promised manual payment by May 15. As of May 20, I still have not received the money or any transaction ID confirming payment.

Wanted to share a frustrating experience with Goral.

I bought one of their mystery box shoes. The pair I received actually looks great, no issue there. But their sizing runs way differently than expected. I ordered my normal US9 (their UK8 equivalent) and the shoes are far too small.

I contacted customer support asking if they’d allow a simple size exchange. I even offered to pay return shipping and said I didn’t care about changing the style.

Response: mystery box items are final sale, no returns or exchanges.

I get “mystery” regarding style/color. But fit shouldn’t be part of the gamble, especially for an online-only purchase where sizing conversion is already confusing.

Feels like a missed opportunity for customer goodwill because I genuinely liked the shoes and probably would’ve bought more pairs later on.

I just saw on here that the Buxtons are discontinued.

I pre-ordered the shoes before the first drop.....what, March 2025? and got a pair in June. Despite saying they fit like their other boots, they run larger so I sent them back for exchange. In the meantime I also bought a pair of bloodcore SMUGS which arrived on time (but have stitching issues).

Since then I've been emailing them on a monthly basis with customer services. They kept on fobbing me off with "Production issues, we'll have a batch coming in next week/next month and you'll get one" and here we are. I even made funny memes to keep it light!

I doubt anyone at the company is looking at this and even if they are I doubt they'll reply, they haven't to my last 3 (polite) emails.

Just a heads up for everyone here, If the shoes are good, you're good. If they're not you're in trouble.

Edit: I’ve been contacted by Goral and I think we’re going to have a good resolution. What they’ve said gives me some faith and I’ll keep everyone updated. It should be mentioned when things go right AND when they go wrong!
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