Unparallel?

Frodo Swaggins wrote:

Anyone get updates on their orders?

Got a refund.

Just got an email that my order (from Feb 9th) has shipped

Anybody have experience with their resole service (besides the one commenter in this thread)?

I’m in a very similar situation having sent out two pair to them for resoling and haven’t heard anything - which isn’t uncommon from a resole operation.

Would be a bummer to lose my OG 5.10 Moccs and old style TC pros, both on their first resole…

John Clark wrote:

I have never had a resoler send a confirmation until they charge my card and confirm resole

Dave Page Cobbler generally sends an email when they receive my shoes.

My order arrived on Friday.  They did have some socks included for my troubles. *shrug*

received my order as well.

As someone who has had 6 pairs resoled by them, ordered shoes directly a few times, ordered rubber, and placed a wholesale order, I thought I would throw a few thoughts into the hat.

Their customer service is terrible, there is no way around that. Hiring someone to deal with emails and communication full time whose first language is english would go a long way for them. What is crazy to me is that often the person who ends up answering my email questions is Sang Lee, the guy who started and runs the whole company. Why this is his job I do not know. I once asked why they never answer the phone after calling it 25 times over a week and I was told that the number on the website goes directly to the factory floor and they all ignore it. They don't have someone whose job is to answer it.

With all that said, the shoes and the resoles I have gotten have been phenomenal, even resoles on shoes from other brands. Every resole takes 10+ emails back and forth to get right, but typically their turnaround time is relatively fast or at least average. They also almost forgot to send me back one pair of shoes after a resole once though. I do wish they offered better shipping and return options however because it makes me avoid buying from them directly. 

Lastly this is not the first time they have had supply issues around rubber. Having talked to a lot of gear shops that carry them in the northwest, their lead time on wholesale order can be absurd while they deal with production issues and shortages. I once placed a wholesale shoe order and cancelled it after nearly 3 months with no update. When I ordered a roll of rubber they told me it would be cancelled because of a shortage but then shipped it anyways, but I know others who have had their rubber ordered ignored or denied at different points.

Overall the main thing when working with UP is to be persistent. Find someone who knows what is going on and will respond to your emails, and then pester them constantly until you get what you want. I wish this was not the case because it is a real pain in the ass, but it has always worked for me. 

Sam Ehmann wrote:

With all that said, the shoes and the resoles I have gotten have been phenomenal, even resoles on shoes from other brands. Every resole takes 10+ emails back and forth to get right, but typically their turnaround time is relatively fast or at least average. They also almost forgot to send me back one pair of shoes after a resole once though. I do wish they offered better shipping and return options however because it makes me avoid buying from them directly. 

Have you been sending in your shoes without contacting them first at this point? I haven’t used them before so I’m not exactly sure of the process. I’ve heard the address listed (of a gym) is no longer correct and we should use their factory address now? I can’t even get a hold of them to confirm that and get the address. I really wanna try their rubber on some of my shoes.

UP’s website currently says, “We are not taking orders at the moment due to supply issues. We hope to be taking orders again soon.”

Given this and what you you mention, unless you are willing to wait, personally I would send my shoes to another resoler that offers UP rubber. Positive Resoles, for example, has UP RH 4.2mm and RS 3.5mm. Just a suggestion.

https://positiveresoles.com

For my last resole I got RH 4.2 and Positive Resoles did an excellent job. UP rubber is pretty amazing.

Does anybody know around when the “we are not currently taking orders” message showed up on their website?

Seems like my beloved shoes are in some kind of limbo.

B Donovan wrote:

Anybody have experience with their resole service (besides the one commenter in this thread)?

I’m in a very similar situation having sent out two pair to them for resoling and haven’t heard anything - which isn’t uncommon from a resole operation.

Would be a bummer to lose my OG 5.10 Moccs and old style TC pros, both on their first resole…

I don't have direct experience but before I bought Unparallel shoes I read a lot of threads on here about them. Someone said they were the best resole they'd ever had in 20 years. Reviews on their resole work seem pretty positive, customer service aside.

The rubber industry may be a mess, but that doesn't explain why I don't get a refund for shoes I returned...

I got a shipping notification this morning for my order placed on 2/14

rock climbing wrote:

Why do you expect a refund when people begs them to take their money? A refund is based on honor an respect that they run out of 

What kind of nonsense is this statement.

VictorN wrote:

Have you been sending in your shoes without contacting them first at this point? I haven’t used them before so I’m not exactly sure of the process. I’ve heard the address listed (of a gym) is no longer correct and we should use their factory address now? I can’t even get a hold of them to confirm that and get the address. I really wanna try their rubber on some of my shoes.

Sorry I did not see this until now. The address of a gym is not where you want to send the shoes, that address is just for local drop off. In fact my buddy accidently shipped a pair of shoes there a few months ago and never heard anything since so don't do that.

The address you do want to ship to is the normal UP address that is listed at the bottom of the website. 

UnParallel Sports 2931 East La Cresta Ave. Anaheim, CA 92806.

I usually did not send them a message first, just printed and filled out the resole form and included it with the shoes. Once they received the shoes they would reach out to me by email with a time estimate, and then they would let me know once they had started on the shoes and how much it would cost. Yes there is pricing on the form you fill out but sometimes things happen like rands breaking when they take the soles off and they have to do more work. Also their time estimates are not always the best, once it took twice as long as they initially quoted me. If it has been a while and you have not heard anything, then start sending emails until you hear something back. Good luck!

rock climbing wrote:

The whole rubber industry is a mess not in Europe and US. I know retailers and gyms that could not buy shoes from La Sportiva 

https://www.european-rubber-journal.com/article/2092186/eu-sanctions-target-range-of-rubber-industry-imports

https://www.european-rubber-journal.com/article/2092286/rubber-chemical-listed-in-eu-toxic-waste-regulation

Issues with La Sportiva could be other things as well. From what I have heard anecdotally but never confirmed myself is that it is usually difficult to get shoes from them this time of year. Apparently they are reworking the factories to produce new models and get ready for sales in the spring so production typically dips. Take this with a huge grain of salt however, this was simply told to me by the shoe guy at the REI flagship store.

My recent experience: 

- Ordered two pairs of shoes 2/11/23.
- Got automated confirmation email saying they’d reach out again when the order processed.
- Card was charged.
- Couple days later their website stopped accepting orders for all shoes.
- After 12 days (2/23, pm) hadn’t heard anything, so I used their website contact form to check on order status.
- Heard back in <12hrs (2/24, am) with personal email confirming order had processed and w/ a UPS tracking number.
- UPS website says it’s out for delivery locally to my address today (2/28).
- overall, they responded quickly to my inquiry and I’m happy with my experience.
- Now, fingers crossed the shoes fit and I don’t have to exchange anything. 

I ordered my Shoes on 2/14

Didn’t hear a word- then got an email yesterday that they had shipped- 

Shoes were on my doorstep when I got home today..

the company seems to be a Hot Mess- but I love the shoes and the rubber- so I’m not giving up on them yet.. 

My conclusion - Unparallel is maybe D+ in terms of Customer Service and A+ in shoes? 

Update on my side of things - i've sent 5 messages - 3 through contact form, one via email and one on Instagram with still no response. I ordered shoes 1/27. Charge is still lingering on my card, and I have no shoes delivered and no update.

Would have been super stoked to support an American manufacturer, but it's hard to look past the lack of delivery/update/customer service of any kind. Bummer. I guess it's Italian leather for me. 

@Matt C. - That’s such a bummer.

My moccs and guides arrived yesterday, been meaning to buy UPs for several years and finally got around to it. They fit great and appear to be everything I had hoped. Took the approach shoes out last night to boulder-hop on wet talus by headlamp and they were fantastic (sized down 1/2 size per online rec’s, great fit with enough room to put in my own insole).