Towards the end of last summer, I bought three pairs of Crocs Prima shoes.
One thing I liked about these shoes was that they were described as slip-resistant, and that they were suitable for wear in wet weather/wet areas. I spend a lot of time at the beach, and in the sprinklers with my daughter. I thought these would be perfect.
However, I quickly realized that they were anything but slip-resistant. I could wear them on wet sand or wet grass, but as soon as I would step on an interior tile or hardwood floor, it would be like hydroplaning. Immediate, and serious, slipping, with my feet going right out from under me.
The other day I was on the way to my daughters pediatrician, when it started raining. We were crossing a very busy avenue, in traffic, when I had the same severe slipping on the wet pavement. (Freshly and very smoothly paved.) I went face down, hard, right in front of oncoming traffic. Thanks to a good Samaritan, we were OK he pulled my daughter onto the sidewalk, and returned to grab me away from the cars and retrieve my shoes, which had flown off.
I wound up with two very badly bruised knees, scrapes on both feet and both wrists, and overall sore joints. The pediatrician helped me out with bandages, ice, and ibuprofin. But the worst was the scare, of falling flat out on a busy NYC street, with a four-year-old in tow.
I wrote to Crocs, and asked for a response. This is what I got:
From: Sarah DiMartino (sdimartino AT crocs.com)
Dear Maslowski,
Thank you for your inquiry. I am so sorry to hear about your incident. I am glad to hear that you are okay. Crocs footwear is the first product, in my knowledge, to successfully market a truly comfortable shoe. Our shoes have been shown to ease and/or eliminate stress on the lower back, knee and hip joints. They are extremely light weight and exhibit many other features that are not found in other footwear. The comfort and light weight is what has made Crocs so popular. The comfort level, or cushioning effect, of our footwear requires a soft durometer material to maintain that attribute. Soft material does not wear very well, especially, if worn outside (during hot weather) on rough surfaces such as concrete. There are many variables that will affect wear, such as some people drag their feet during the walking process. We realize that more durable soles would increase the value of our product. Our shoes were not designed to be clones of shoes that are more expensive, heavy (composed of leather uppers and a hard rubber sole), and not any where close to being as comfortable as our product. We want to be unique and are still striving to increase the durability, create new & different styles and improve the overall value of Crocs products. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me
After this, I did contact her again, asking how and if they planned to address the ubiquitous slipping problem. And what I was supposed to do with $100 worth of shoes that were unwearable after a couple of months. She did not deign to reply.
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