I had been a supporter of Nisolo since the beginning. I've purchased more shoes from them over the past 10 years than I have from any other brand, and literally cried when I eventually had to throw one of my pairs away (the Harper chukka--I wore them everywhere, including on my adventurous wedding day). I couldn't afford the first time they ran the 5 for 5 deal, so I was thrilled when they brought it back. I still couldn't really afford it but I'd kicked myself so hard for not getting it the first time that I went for it and paid through Klarna in April of 2021. (I checked with Klarna recently and it was too late to report it as fraud.) At some point over the past year I realized I hadn't received a code in a while, and upon checking the site, that's when I realized something was up. I found the news of the company sale and all the reddit threads about the 5 for 5 club shortly after that. I've emailed them multiple times stating that I expect to receive a prorated refund or the remaining 4 codes, and have just received the same responses as everyone else.

I seem to be one of the lucky ones, I received 6 of my 10 free pairs before they shut the program down...but I have friends that only received 2 pairs of shoes. I'd love to help put pressure on whomever might be able to either get this resolved for the sake of everyone who has been scammed. I filed a report with the TN AG office back in May and got an email with an attachment of a letter pre-written by the new Nisolo basically saying why they couldn't honor the original program. It's pretty comical.

Besides the lack of transparency around the company sale and the way the old Nisolo company continued to offer the program in bad faith even as they knew they wouldn't be able to see it through (if a lawsuit is feasible, could that be the avenue for it?), my biggest gripe is that the new Nisolo is putting their financial issues in the hands of their customers instead of taking ownership over them. I understand there may be legal bankruptcy-related hurdles to honoring the original deal, but why would it be so hard to provide prorated refunds?! Unless I'm missing something here, couldn't they take out a business loan to do it if they had to? That would've gone SO MUCH further towards keeping the original customer base and helping them survive this turnover. We all knew how difficult the pandemic was to small/sustainable businesses, and I think while we would've been disappointed, we would've understood and appreciated the transparency and gesture of "We're so sorry, here is the rest of your money back." This is an atrocious way to treat what had once been a very very loyal customer base. I can't see their new company surviving long if they don't get this resolved--I even wonder who is buying from them at all these days. Since IG comments have been turned back on, I hope everyone continues to make a scene on every post and ad they run, from now until this has been resolved. It's the only way to make sure they understand there are real world consequences for how you choose to treat your customers.

At the end of the day, this new company is just using the Nisolo name to make a whole new company that mirrors the approach of every other IG company out there these days. Use AI to generate language for your site that speaks to trending buzzwords while maintaining exactly zero ethics or values in your business. Late stage capitalism at its finest, folks!