It seems the common factor among all the shoes here is the direct attachment of the upper and sole, and the TPU outsoles. The outsoles have already rotted away, and I'm hoping and praying that the midsoles hold up, as they seem to be still in good condition.

Anybody have the same problem here? Let's share and help each other.

I use only Ecco and Hotter shoes and have done so for over 10 years. Imagine my horror when the soles of my best Hotter shoes just disintegrated after I'd carefully kept them for special occaisons only.
The shopkeeper who sold them says that Hotter shoes must be worn 'often' to get your money's worth as time does more damage than frequent wear.
If that is so then these shoes should be sold with a warning that they should be worn frequently and not carefully kept as 'best'. Like white wine they must be consumed within a few years otherwise.......

willitee of hermanus south africa

It is quite disappointing that Ecco has refused to publicly acknowledge the problem, nor issue a worldwide product replacement/refund/recall policy. Unfortunately one anonymous post from an Ecco Canada employee does not get there, although at least seems Ecco Canada has a good replacement policy.

My Tracks II have a sticky gooey mess for a sole, and I'm not the only one. The shoes were expensive when I bought them (years ago) for a trip to Germany in winter. Only time I wore them, stored in a box under the house, and when I pulled them out recently I'm sticking to the floor as I walk!

Ecco Australia has been particularly unhelpful, trying to hide behind a 'fair wear and tear' attitude. Yep, out of warranty but no-one expects shoes to fail like they were perishables - they're not tomatoes (or maybe they are). Further, there was no warning or guidance from Ecco about the problem or that any special shoe care was required. Unfit for purpose I say.

The way the anon Canada Ecco Sales rep puts it, seems clearly like a manufacturing defect - moisture/water absorbed during the making of the soles.

What's worse is there is no indication the problem is fixed. There is a new version of the Tracks - Tracks 5 - now being sold in Australia, which I discovered when I took my sticky blobs to the Melbourne Ecco store. They have a different sole by the looks - however Ecco National Operations Manager in Australia refused to confirm the problem has been fixed.

As an employee of Ecco Shoes Canada, I feel I should let you know WHY your soles are “disintegrating” and let you know what I know as a salesrep. Ecco’s soles are attached to the upper via a process called direct injection. We are not the only company that uses this process, though few do because of the price. Blundstones also use direct injection, and I have seen some of those with hydrolysis as well. We use polyurethane soles, which are composed of two separate liquid compounds. Once our leather uppers are finished, we place them in a mold and inject both liquids into the mold, when these liquid compounds interact they form a solid, and this is the most effective way of attaching an upper to a sole, as there is no glue. (Note: this is not true for ALL Ecco shoes, but for most, especially men’s dress shoes. The only ones that have shoes attached with glue/cement are ladies dress shoes.) If water mixes with the two compounds which create polyurethane during this process, it can create problems later, specifically the crumbling you’ve noticed. This is called hydrolysis. I am under the impression that an extremely humid climate could cause this.
Polyurethane is considered a superior material for soles to be constructed out of for a variety of reasons. It USUALLY wears much better than rubber, or foam. Polyurethane has a good deal of flexibility and give, the sole should cushion your foot, and should not compress. Rubber soles have very little flexibility, and foam compresses within 6 months of standard wear. Also, these soles are glued on which does not last as long as typical polyurethane. As an employee I have seen men come in with shoes 6+ years old, with only slight wear (and obviously no hydrolysis). This is not typical for Ecco either, but I have seen it just as often as I have seen hydrolysis.
I have worked at an Ecco store for almost 2 years, and have seen several pairs come back with this hydrolysis. The only styles I have seen come back are men’s dress shoes that are no longer produced. It is our policy to replace these shoes, if they do not appear extremely or excessively worn. We are a separate entity from Ecco U.S. however, so I cannot tell you what their policy is. However, I can attest to the fact that we have a very lenient warranty policy. I have had my shoes repaired and even replaced by our head office. This is more than I would expect as an employee who subjects her shoes to excessive wear, and purchased them at a significantly reduced cost. (I doubt they make any profit on employee purchases, so I feel this really shows to what extent they support their product.)
During my time with Ecco, I have seen them issue a product recall on a pair of boots. As far as I am aware, this was never done for any of the styles I have seen on this website. This would lead me to believe that this is a problem that has not occurred in many pairs. Also, I can assure you that I have NEVER experienced hydrolysis with any of my shoes (I stated above that I had had shoes repaired, these were not direct injected soles, and only broke because of extremely excessive wear. Also, the damage on the repaired/replaced shoes was not to an extent that I was upset, my supervisor OFFERED me the replacement.) Also, I have seen none of the recent styles come back with hydrolysis, I believe that this was a problem isolated to styles from 2007 or earlier, as I have been here since 2008, and have seen none of the styles I have sold come back with this problem.
In reference to who we get to attach our soles, and where, I can tell you Ecco is a vertically integrated company. We produce our own leather (from the tanning process), and attach our own soles, and sell in our own stores. We have total control over the soling process. As far as where they are produced, it depends on the shoe. Ladies dress shoes, and many of the ‘receptor’ line ARE produced in china, and while I can’t be sure, I think the handbags are as well. Men’s dress shoes are made in Slovakia, Thailand, and Vietnam. I believe the dressier shoes are made in Slovakia, and the rest mainly in Vietnam. All of the production process is run by a CAD/CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) process. The shoes are also inspected several times throughout the production process. Usually you’ll see a small white sticker with a pen mark on it in the inside of the shoe, this is from the inspection process.
As a final note, I have seen complaints about soles splitting, or cracking down the forefoot (horizontally) and would like to clarify on this as well, as far as I know it was a defect on one shoe called the Business Comfort. However, this can happen with other styles as well. Usually, it is because the fit is not proper. All shoes are intended to bend at a certain spot, and when you purchase the wrong size, your foot bends in a different spot than was intended. When this happens, the place your foot is actually creasing in is not intended to hold up to that stress, as the intended spot is. This problem is a little difficult to explain over the internet, but I hope that made sense.
Also, I would just like to let you know that I am in NO WAY a representative for Ecco, I just wanted to let you know what I know as an employee, and all of this information should be told to you in a store if you were to experience these problems.

To conform to other comments here, thanks for publishing this web site/page as I had the same sole disintegration problem from brown Tracks bought in Australia. I thought it might have been a one-off, and was about to buy another pair, but def not anymore

Has anyone developed foot problem after wearing Ecco?

The last year I bought a pair of nice Ecco summer ballerina golden sandals, which felt comfortable. even walking in them for about an hour in the shop. After wearing them for about 2-3 months although they were still very comfortable I developed a serious foot problem without recognizing the problem. The sole wasn`t disintegrated, it seems to be a very good quality but my nerves in my toes are painful and the sole of my feet are in agony. I changed my shoes and got better but when I tried my Ecco shoes on again, the pain came back in 2 seconds.
I am happy that I found this website and read a lot about disintegrated Ecco shoes but I would like to hear about the bad constructions as well, because if your shoes fall apart is much "better" than wearing them a long time and get a distorted foot!
Has anyone had similar problem?

Ecco City Classic Black - purchased 2004, and worn them several times a year. Last time I wore them was a month ago when I noticed the heel was crumbling into chunks of material. Upon inspection I noticed deep cracks through the heel material all the way to the sole. Otherwise, these shoes are in great shape. I've kept them in box, regular cleanings, shoe trees... and very light use. I have shoes 10+ years old and no where near this defect.

I've heard that all companies in every nation are now having their shoes made in China including those in Spain, Brazil, England, and Italy.
Apparently, there are no shoes made by any other nation.

Guess we're all walking in the footprints of China now.

Anonymous on Fri, 03/05/2010 said:

I bought a pair of Ecco dress shoes and ....

Ecco doesn't even make a dress shoe as nothing with an artificial sole is anything more than casual at best.

To spend half as much as a pair of Aldens for them is nothing less than a mistake.

Back in 1999 I bought a pair of Ecco dress shoes and had my heel exlode aboout 18-months after purchase. ECCO fixed them, no questions asked and explained it was a manufacturing defect.

In 2007 I purchased a pair of ECCO City dress shoes for $185. Beautiful chocolate brown cap toes with woven leather. They had the Comfort heal and I must admit I'm partial to my Allen Edmonds when I wear slacks so my ECCO's got little use, maybe once a month wear. I pulled them out of my closet in August 2009 and while walking through my office I felt like I had a wad of gum stuck to one my heels as my balance was off. I inspected my shoe and noticed my heel had completely dry totted and blown out the side with large chunks crumbling off the back.

I went down to my local ECCO store, they identified the problem and said no problem, they will fix them for you. They sent me out of the door with a shipping bag.

They denied my warranty claim and sent me the shoes back. I emailed corporate and they said the shoes were out of warranty and there was nothing they could do for me. I will be sending in pics shortly so you too can see the carnage.

As I needed a pair of brown dress shoes I plunked down $220 for a pair of Allen Edmonds that were on sale from $295. This makes my 5th pair of Allen Edmonds, they have never left me down and I will never purchase a pair of ECCO's again in my life.

Well, I did not read all the comments, nor am I trying to one up anyone, but check out my sad tale. Bought a pair of Track II ankle height boots a few years ago. Did not need them right away as I have several pairs shoes/boots so I stored them in the box that I purchased them in from a store in Charleston, SC. They were in my closet where I have stored or kept shoes for many years. Shoes should not break down simply because they are sitting unused in a closet in a controlled environment. Well today, March 3,2010, I took the tags off and put them on for the first time. Wonderful comfort ! And I know comfortable shoes. The shoe soles lasted 2.5 hours. Thats 2.5 hours. Actually, not that long but I was at my doctors office and didn't want to walk out around in there barefoot. Peeled off or dropped off in chunks. I do not know what kind of compensation or satisfaction I may get, if any, but I can promise you I will never buy another pair of their shoes. I may be swayed by a remarkable customer service but it does not sound like I can bank on that pipe dream.

I am so suprised to find this site. I was looking for the name of the Ecco Ceo to send a letter to, because I had no luck with the customer service department to get a replacement pair for my shoes with soles that deteriorated. I, as well, will not buy Ecco shoes in the future.

Bought a pair of Ecco Loafers after trying them on in the shop for a few minutes. First time I wore them, after half an hour my feet were in agony. Wore them 2 or 3 more times. Same result each time. Problem appears to be the wad of stitching and layers of leather where the top meets the side of the shoe. Sent them back and pointed out that I was not complaining about manufacturing quality but about design. Were they interested? no! I was told that the problem was a fitting issue and that 'fitting' is not their responsibility. So I have $100 worth of shoe that I can't wear. Will I buy more Ecco shoes- definitely not.

ECCO is aware of this problem and have addressed it. Customers with defective soles can contact ECCO and request refurbishing bags, which include complimentary pre-paid postage. Those shoes deemed to be defective will either be re-soled or replaced via retail merchandise vouchers.

TPU stands for "Thermal Plastic Unit". Most ECCO shoe soles are made of heat-mold injected polyurethane, NOT rubber. Polyurethane is a man-made chemical compound. With ECCO shoes, it is squirted into a mold as a liquid, then it solidifies to form the sole. The TPU process involves the chemistry of this polyurethane and it addresses the disintegration problem. The same sole disintegration issue occurred with certain "Cross", "Seawalker", "City Walker" and other models; new releases of these shoes also have TPU stamped into their soles.

More often than not, this issue occurs on those pairs of shoes that are worn in-frequently. For some reason, the defective soles would break down on shoes that sat unworn. To my knowledge, ECCO shoes worn on a regular basis rarely had the problem. I know very little about chemistry, but I do know that TPU stamped ECCOs will NOT disintegrate.

Like many others on this site I am wearing a pair of Eccos boots with the soles crumbling. I have no complaints otherwise, but this is pretty terrible to see so many people with the same problem. These were $200 boots 5 years ago and get seasonal wear. Looks like time for a new pair, but I will definately be trying to find something else.

I have the same problem as many others with the soles. There is a rubber "cap" that goes around the entire bottom of the shoe which helps keep moisture out. The shoes are goretex lined and supposed to be waterproof. However, the right cap came off and now water is soaked through the porous sole like a sponge so the shoes are still wearable but not at all waterproof. What a waste of goretex. The stitching for the uppers is incredibly strong, I wish ECCO put as much attention into the soles. It's like having a Ferrari with exploding Firestone tires.

Dear All,

My shoes are gone! I brought them to my dealer to show them what had happened during a bycicle ride. The soles were off the shoes and in the pedals. I continued the ride on socks.
After a long time they offered me a refund. I could not agree. I wanted my shoes back. They have ended in the shredder they told me.
I am very happy to have found this site.
What can we do to stop ECCO ripping off customers?
How do we get our shoes back?
Can we start some action?

Kees Veerman Holland

Hadn't had the opportunity to wear my lace up ankle boots till today - cold and icy outside. I put them on and found I was sticking to the carpet - the soles have begun to turn into tacky goo, so it's not likely they'd last the week out! I've never worn them, and never will now!!!

My Ecco Track shoes have not been used very much over the years. They look almost new and hardly any wear on them can be noticed. One exception: the sole (starting at the heel) falls apart. The soles provide a good grip in cold conditions with ice and snow and it is possible because of the use of this soft rubber. But the unfortunate side-effect is that the rubber disintegrates and falls apart. Just add me on the list of unhappy Ecco customers, paying premium price for a low-quality shoe!

As much as it pains me to say it about one of my favorite brands, I have to agree with most of what is said here.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ecco does make the most comfortable shoe that I have found to date in any brand or price range.
I have been a huge Ecco fan over the years since my first pair of Ecco Track, a pair of shoes that lasted the better part of 6 years, including a full 4-5 years where they were worn several times a week as my primary footwear.

When I say they are my favorite I currently have at least 12+ pairs of Ecco footwear currently active in my closet. The oldest probably around 9 years old.

I have seen the disintegration problem 4 times now.
Brown Nubuck Limited Edition Track Shoes, extensively worn, Ecco refused to warranty
Mahogany Track Boots, moderately worn, Ecco refused to warranty
Brown Track , brand new, Ecco sent a new pair
Brown Ecco Cross, like new, recently sent to Ecco (will update)

Aside from the Brown Track, my experiences dealing with Ecco directly have been sub-par. The exception with the good experience is that I bought them directly from Ecco website and problem occurred right away (only 1/2 shoes were affected though?)

One thing is for sure, on 2/4 pairs there was significant lapses between periods when the were worn due to seasonality (Boots and Cross). The LE Track were worn all the time.

All of these shoes had either a light colored bottom or the sole was very light colored in the areas where it started to disintegrate. Interestingly two of my oldest pairs identical shoe in brown and black, both have a black base sole and aren't worn that frequently. Both have some wearing away of the treads but no sign of disintegration.

These shoes are definitely very expensive both customer service and quality should reflect that. A shoe should not fall apart after 3-4 months of no-use no matter what.

Ecco needs to step up their response to this problem.

While ranting Ecco, I would like to take a minute to slam their recent light brown colored dress shoes. The problem with the shoes is that the dye comes off the leather in very short notice. No shoe polish, no matter how high quality and regardless of color will keep on these shoes for more than 1 use. Sometimes its easy to see right in the store by flexing the shoe a couple times or pushing the leather in by the toe a few times with your thumb.
This has cost me at least 2 pairs that I had to scrap because Ecco said it's not their problem and they looked so terrible they couldn't be used in dress situations. It also cost Ecco at least one customer, a friend of mine that was all Ecco and now won't wear any dress shoes made by them.

I had never given much thought to the situation as a whole, but after finding this thread and writing out my frustrations I am pretty mad.

For starters I now know to wear my Eccos more ofter... bye bye slippers looks like I'll be swapping out for the dustiest pair of Ecco's in the closet.
Secondly this will absolutely affect my choices of footwear in the future. I had a pair or two in my radar for the holidays . . .
Thirdly whenever I have the chance to go by an Ecco store, I will stop in for some mailers and send my shoes back repeatedly with the hopes something will change!

These shoes are definitely very expensive both customer service and quality should reflect that.

So buyer beware, the most comfortable shoes on earth come with the risk very uncomfortable results!

On a related note: Nu-Shoe I've sent some Gore-Tex boots there in the past and have been less than satisfied with the resulting connection of the sole to boot. The Vibram soles were nice, but water-proof at boot-sole interface they were not!

--- all of this is posted as anonymous, but I'm willing to receive comments and respond to any Ecco representative at the mail 1918 (spelled out, not the numbers) at Gmail ---

The problem you are describing is a known defect in Ecco shoes. The problem arises when the soles are molded on to the uppers (something about temperature and chemical reactions). It only happens on certain batches and there is really no way to check this before it happens. The best way to avoid this on casual styles is to by eccos with black and not the greenish soles. Otherwise i suggest you purchase your shoes from a big name department store known for its customer service ( i am not naming names but they will take anything, including tires, back) and save your recipts. Then if this happens return/exchange them.

I have owned at least 8 pair of Eccos. They are the most comfortable and long lasting shoes I have ever found.

Eccos are practically indestructible! I have never been able to wear these things out. I wear them most days for 2 or 3 years and other than looking a little "tired" they always hold up great. I only "retire" them when I see a new style I like better.

I bought a pair of hiking boots and wore it 3 times whilst travelling. I just loaned it out to a friend for her travel and guess what? She just touched down at the airport and the soles just disintegrated. The boots are so new and I aired them constantly, cleaned them etc. I can't believe it! That was like USD180 down the drain!

Okay, well some folks said that I should be happy with the fact that I have had a pair of hiking boots for as long as I did and got ample wear out of them. I'm not happy...at all. I have a pair of Merrell hiking boots that are probably 12 or so years old. I don't wear them too much as I live in a place now where hiking is not really convenient. I used to wear them often but I took great care of them. I decided to wear them yesterday and the whole area above the sole of the shoe crumbled like feta cheese. The sole fell off and I was stranded looking like a jerk with a sole-less shoe. My other shoe is about to do the same but luckily it held off. I called Merrell and they told me it was due to age and wear. So when was it that shoes had a life expectancy rate? Did I miss the memo? I have always taken amazing care of all my shoes, I unlace them, I polish them, I use Gortex protectant, etc. My nickname is Imelda Marcos b/c I am such a shoe fanatic. I spend a lot on shoes but they typically last forever. These were $200 boots 12 years ago- now they are junk. They still look brand new despite the missing sole. I am so mad. Anyhow, I called a few repair stores and they said they see a lot of Ecco's and Merrell's and I think Rockports was one as well. I asked about Vasque and most said they did not hear of issues with Vasques. My next shoe will be a Vasque- I will never buy Merrell's or Ecco's again (I used to have some Ecco's but I didn't like the fit so I donated them but now I know they are notorious I will stay away). Anyhow, I have a couple pairs of shoes from this shoe-maker that are awesome if you want a custom fitted shoe for work- they are hand-made in Michigan! http://fernandfootwear.com

Reading this site makes me wonder why no lawyer has yet to pull a class action suit against ECCO. THey should recall their product. I paid like $130 for my dress shoes think it is a joke my sole is breaking apart.

Same problem with the soles deteriorating on my ECCO shoes. I took them to my local shoe repair shop and they wanted $65 to replace the soles. The owner commented that the he sees this all the time with ECCO shoes (his joke was that they call them "ECCO" because they keep getting returned!). Given his comment, I thought I'd see if others were having the same problem. Clearly there is an issue here. I called ECCO and they said they'd send me a postage paid bag to evaluate them for warranty repair.

I have always been a big Ecco fan since my first pair of Cross in the mid-90's. They were more comfortable and a better fit than Mephisto, more comfortable than Allen Edmonds, more comfortable than Pliner, and more stylish than clunky cheapo Merrells.

I wore out multiple pairs of Cross shoes and had no issues until around 2004 or 2005. One day a relatively new pair of Cross began leaving crumbs under my desk. I kept seeing these little foamy crumbs and could not figure out where the mess originated. I searched and searched. Huge mystery for me until I felt wetness on the bottom of my foot at lunch. I looked at my shoe and discovered a large hole in the middle of the forefoot sole. By the time I got back to my office, the other shoe had a large hole. The shoes were absolutely like brand new in every respect - I had worn them no more than a dozen times - yet they were destroyed.

To Ecco's credit they did replace that pair of Cross shoes.

Then I noticed that other pairs of Eccos were behaving the same way. A pair of City wingtips had crumbling heels. Large pieces of heel fell off and those shoes I had literally worn twice (I don't really like wingtips). Then a pair of Arlanta's began to crumble. I haven't checked my Track II boots and I am terrified to check my golf shoes (the only golf shoes I have ever had that were really comfortable).

I haven't complained to Ecco yet on the City or Arlanta shoes. I hope they will stand behind their product and repair or replace them. If not, I will not buy another pair ever again.

Did Ecco change manufacturing around 2004? Are they made in Asia?

I must say that since that first Cross failure I have bought mainly Allen Edmonds and Pliner shoes. The Edmonds are American made and built like brick houses. Unfortunately they are *not* comfortable out of the box and I suffer like mad until they are broken-in. The Pliners are comfortable, but *not* supportive at all. They are, however, nearly as well made and durable as Edmonds.

One last shoe comment from a guy who apparently has a shoe fetish - check out Red Wings. They're a bit stodgy and blue collar, but they are exceptionally comfortable and well-built. They are nearly as comfortable out of the box as Eccos and I have a knock around pair which replaced the Ecco Cross in my closet - they're now 5 years old and severely battle scarred but still just as comfortable and with very little sole wear.

If Ecco stands behind the two bad pair (or the other two pair if they are bad) I will buy again - especially the golf shoes and Arlanta's. If not, I am done, done, done with them.

I bought a pair of ecco shoes for a Santa outfit. I wore them two nights in a row in 2007. I just put them on again to go to my best friends funeral. The soles started disintegrating at the service as I was walking by the coffin. It was pretty crappy. Someone mentioned earlier that they are a time bomb, that is exactly right. And they will indeed pick the worst time possible to fall apart.

I found this site by googling "what model of ecco is the google shoe", and it was the first result.

You see, about a year ago I read an article about all the employees of Google wearing Ecco's. I had never heard of them, but assumed them to be similar to the Puma-style ultra-thin/ultra-light/wrestling/driving sneaker or Merrell's trail/all-terrain shoe, as both were popular at the time.

I did some searching and there were very few, if any results for Ecco retailers. I absolutely could not find a picture of these mythical "Google-shoes". In any event, I had other, more-important issues at the time, like starting my job at Cisco Systems. I figured, if these shoes are really popular amongst the corporate IT world, I'd find out soon enough. Well, no one at work wears them (although they DO wear both the ultra-thin and trail-style shoes mentioned above).

I happened to be shoe shopping tonight at Amazon. I saw several styles of Merrell, and lo-and-behold... Ecco Shoes! Oh, the excitement I felt when I thought I could finally own the Google-shoe! The trouble is, they have three pages of models, varying from trail to dress to training and others. So naturally I tried to find the type and ended up at this site. Boy am I glad I did.

You have firmly talked me out of ever buying Ecco's in my life, and I will spread the news to anyone that will listen, including the corporate e-mail alias at work for "reco's" for products and services.

My wife has had her Merrell shoes for 4 years, wearing them frequently outdoors in the rain and mud for hours at a time (they are her tailgating/concert/bad-weather shoes) and they still look and perform as good as new. She loves them and swears by the comfort. I have never owned a pair, but I have a feeling I am going to give them a try.

Ecco can keep their $200 clunkers, and I will spend my money with another brand. Thanks again to the owner of the site, those who have posted comments, and to those who have uploaded their pictures. You just saved me some money and aggravation. I don't know how long Amazon has been selling Ecco products, but I would encourage the readers to log in and review the models you have owned (not spam negative reviews) with maybe a note to google "ecco shoes are junk". You might save more people than just me and the folks that read the alias at Cisco. Thanks again!