Instep the Birkenstock Store

The customer service here is AWESOME. I got there and was greeting right away. The staff knows what they are doing. Very helpful with information about the products they have here. Overall, very happy with the customer service here.

They have a lot of choices when it comes to Birkenstocks. Their staff is really knowledgeable and friendly. I dropped off some Birkenstocks to get repaired (oh and they do repairs, too) and they said it will be two weeks to have them ready. The cost is on the high side to get them repaired but I guess that is to be expected of the brand since they are a bit on the pricey to begin with. The rating would have been 5stars but they kind of dropped the ball on my repair order. They had a delay on the soles of my shoes for the repair but never called me even after a month had passed since I dropped them off so that’s that. Otherwise I still love this place so I will be coming back either way.

I can’t say enough good things about InStep North at the Gateway Courtyard, Austin. The merchandise is excellent and the sales associates are phenomenal. The first time I went to this store was when a Dr. wrote a Rx for a certain kind of shoe insert to relieve the pain I had from a neuroma. The sales associates were so knowledgeable, pleasant and helpful. I got just what I needed and have been able to walk pain free. I have been back for other things too and they have worked with me to figure out the best solution for me. I had not previously shopped at InStep but have since realized that their sandals, shoes, and boots are cool, the styles are current, and actually made for comfort.

Expert assistance with Birkenstock fitting– Christina provided excellent customer service in adjusting Birkenstocks so they fit perfectly. I know I can always come back here if I ever need further adjusting.

The staff was very helpful & not overbearing. Selection is the best! I will return to get my next pair of Birks!

Today was my third visit to the store. This was my second time being helped by Deborah. She greeted me at the door and I told her I was interested in my first pair of Birkenstocks. She had great knowledge on the different styles and fabrics and even provided education about shoes and what may be wrong with what I’m currently doing and how to fix the issues. During my visit about 2 months ago, I think I tried on every shoe in the store. Today, I tried on about 30 pairs. Deborah has the patience and smile of a saint.

Upon walking into the Central Austin (Triangle) location, I was greeted by Carla (AMAZING lady), who proceeded to spend the next several hours educating me on the various tradeoffs between sandals in their selection. Being the die-​hard flip-​flop wearer I was, I settled on a pair of Birkenstock Comos, my thinking being that even though they weren’t top-​of-​the-​line Birkenstocks, they HAD to be better than the flip flops I wearing (which had ZERO support)!
Unfortunately, a few days into wearing them, I started noticing some serious problems. It turns out I have high insteps and the Como’s thong was exerting a large amount of pressure on the tops of my feet with every forward step. The pain was so bad after a while that I had to go back to my old flip-​flops just for relief. Additionally, they turned out to be a size too large and I very nearly had a nasty ankle roll. Needless to say, I was frustrated due to having spent money on a pair of shoes that were giving me so much pain.
A little dejected, I made my way to the North Austin location to see if I could get any advice for my situation. I told my story to a saleswoman (her name escapes me at the moment), who listened with care and concern. She then informed me the store owner was present and that she would relay my story to her.
It was then that I had the great fortune of meeting Laura, the owner of InStep. She listened to my story with the utmost care and concern. She took a look at my feet and quickly concluded that the Comos were not right for them. She then proceeded to personally pick out shoes for me and have them try me on! Mind you, I did not come in with the intention of getting my money back. Nevertheless, Laura found the right shoes for my feet (a pair of Birkenstock Arizonas one size down) and exchanged my old sweat-​stained, two-​week old worn Birkenstock Comos back for no charge at all! Now that’s what I call customer service!
I’ve been walking in my Birkenstock Arizonas in what feels like luxury now for several months and I couldn’t be happier. They have truly made walking enjoyable again!
Thank you, InStep employees, for you knowledge and patience. And most of all: thank you Laura. You quickly perceived my level of exasperation and put an end to my ordeal in the best way possible, going above and beyond my expectations to get me in the right pair of shoes.
If you have been putting off finding a pair of comfortable shoes, don’t wait any longer! Go let the amazing ladies at InStep find the right shoes for your feet!

Went from skeptical customer (by nature) to loyal customer…
This place has possibly the best customer service you can get! I’m naturally a skeptical customer that looks for the best deal, and I’ve been won over by the folks at this place. There’s no other place we will go to buy our Birkenstocks!
We’ve now purchased sandals for the whole family. Their customer service is second to none — from helping you choose the right sandal, doing any modification you might need to make sure your sandals are comfortable, to service after the sale.
I highly recommend this store as the only place you need to go to buy your Birkenstocks! With their customer service and large selection, you can’t go wrong!

I’ve never encountered better service, with staff more attuned to the customer’s needs. The folks at InStep are absolutely great – helpful, knowledgeable regarding a multitude of foot problems and how to address them with the right footwear and inserts. I highly recommend this store.

I’ve shopped here for years and at one point I would have given them five stars but they are filling up entire sections of their shop with absolute crap you would find at a flea market run by illegals. Think bobble head kind of crap — literally — bobble head looking toys, junk toys with clocks and junk jewelry. They used to have a massive fabulous selection of shoes and insoles but now only have a decent selection with at least one two-​tier table of junk. I don’t get it. I find it so annoying that I shop elsewhere and go here as a last resort.
One of the last times I was in the store, an aggressive sales woman wouldn’t leave me alone. It was irritating for many reasons to include the fact I was without my toddler and wanted to try on numerous shoes but felt like I had to hurry and leave after feeling forced into a pair of shoes I wasn’t sure about (ultimately that’s my fault for buying them which I later remedied a week or so later by returning them). To add insult to injury she was some aging hippey chick who felt the need to use «cool dude» type slang and threw me a «high five» for being the same zodiac sign after she announced my birth date then zodiac sign to the store… which came after she announced my address and phone number to the store by talking at the top of her lungs. It. Was. Awful.
I loved the shoes but was so pissed about the experience I returned them hoping to get someone else because there were other shoes I was interested in trying. I got there and waited for so long for someone to help me that I didn’t get to try on the shoes I wanted to try on because I had my toddler with me and any 2 ½ year old can only stay quiet and patient for so long (it was at least 20 minutes). It was just a disaster. So disappointing. And I was clear when I got there — I want to try on other shoes, not just do a return and they left me standing there waiting to do a return (while holding two shoes I was interested in) then acted surprised I wanted to try on shoes and no one apologized to me for making me wait (no reason for that as there were plenty of employees to help me but they kept helping new customers coming into the store) and they didn’t care that I wanted to try on other shoes. I’ve worked retail in the past and it was clear to me I was being punished for doing a return.
That really did it for me — the giant table of junk is annoying but to be treated like that? Now I go here as a last resort. There are plenty of other excellent stores in Austin that sell the same brands with knowledgeable patient staff; and those other stores have better parking and charge the the same or less for their shoes.
12÷30÷14:
ADDITION: Interesting that I didn’t name a salesperson but my description of highly obnoxious behavior identified the person to people who work there and elicited a rebuttal about the unnamed person.
AMENDMENT to «bobble head looking toys:» — they are actually bobble-​head like plants with digital clocks on them. I can’t even go in there with my toddler now because that stuff is piled high and he wants to touch it all which would be ok since he is gentle except it would cause an avalanche of crap from the tables because it’s all stacked up.
I’m glad the owner likes ALL the junk — it’s her store and she is free to fill it with as much of that stuff as she wants and I am as free to avoid the store because I can’t stand the piles of junk and costume jewelry which has taken over entire tables of what used to be options of nice shoes to buy.

This place is awesome! After countless months of debating I treated myself to some birks. Sadly the multiple places I went either carried just one style or none at all, luckily I found this cute little boutique and they had every style and more of Birkenstocks. The employees are awesome and help you find just the right pair and even help you try them on, I felt very confident doing business with these folks. Plus they can do repairs on my new loves. Best purchase I’ve made in a long time, I’m exited to spend the years to come in my new Mayari Birkenstocks!

These people are so amazing and helpful. I was feeling pretty down on myself as my doctor had basically just told me that my extremely cute shoe collection was going to kill my feet. They made me feel so much better, they were super super patient with me, and helped me find the right shoes for my foot issues. They are amazing.
So if they read this, thank you so very much.

Bless these people. Every time I come in, they are extremely quick, helpful, and friendly. They have a solid selection.
This week, though, they went above and beyond. I decided to get a pair of Birkenstocks. This seems simple enough, but I am serially indecisive and also afraid of old foot injuries recurring. This is a fatal combination for shoe salespeople.
It took me three visits to make a choice. I would have been so annoyed to be serving me, but the people from In Step never stopped their smiling and patience. Thanks to the entire staff for being totally respectful and nice!

Absolutely the BEST customer service of all time. My Mom and I are dansko/​allegria people! My mom has bad feet and has orthotic problems and her doctor recommended Instep for shoes. We have already shopped there plenty of time. As soon as we walked in we we’re introduced by Dotty. She knew her stuff!!! She was really helpful and even got my mom her MUST HAVE dansko’s! She even helped my mom out with her doctors order and even offered me a job! If you ever go to Instep, I recommend talking to Dotty.

My original shopping experience was great from Leigh at the location on 35^th street. Yes the shoes are expensive — however my Ortho recommended I buy all new shoes — so I started with three pairs to see how they felt.
I had to go back after about 3 weeks to exchange a pair of shoes that I was having a problem with. I was exchanging them because the bottom of the soles started to separate from the shoe, and the shoes scuff easily. I did not have a pleasant experience with the sales person, however, the follow up from both the store manager, and the owner of the company have been exceptional.
It is rare of a company to not only follow up immediately, but to also follow up over a month after my experience.
The high level of customer service has earned them a loyal customer.
Thank you InStep!!!

The customer service is second-​to-​none.
I was originally told that some Rx orthotics were going to be done on a recent Friday. After going through some rehab, I was naturally very anxious to start using them and exercising again to feel good – you know, what humans do to not have chronic pain.
When I called at 11:00 am, Friday morning, I was informed that they wouldn’t actually be ready until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. I was disappointed, the ensuing weekend would be the earliest opportunity to get out and run.
At 4:30 pm the same day, they called me back and told me everything was ready to be picked up before the store closed at 6:00 pm. THIS – is what customer service is all about.
And the very amazing worker that assisted me at the counter even was able to provide the health insurance claim forms for me to submit. If you read this, [high five].

Always amusing when I go to a place that a doctor refers me to, and I find out later that the place actually has good reviews. It’s usually the other way around.
Anyway, as many others have said, Instep is a great place to go if you need insoles. I”m not sure if they can figure what you might need on their own, but I came in with a prescription from my foot doctor, and they had three options for me within five minutes. They put them in my shoes for me, had me try them, and let me decide which one I liked best. I told them that I was going to buy a new pair of shoes, and they didn’t bother trying to sell me the ones that they have in store. They did give me some useful advice on what to look for, though.
Some might feel that the price is kind of high at $ 60-​$ 65 for insoles, but I don’t know… I guess it depends on how long the insoles last. If they last for a year or more, I’d say $ 65 isn’t too bad to be walking relatively painlessly.
They do not take CareCredit credit cards, unfortunately, which was a bit of a bummer to me, but oh well.
Otherwise, I couldn’t be more satisfied.

This place rocks. Karavel Shoes and InStep are the only shoe stores in town that actually have people who are knowledgeable about shoes. I guess Nordstrom’s does too, but I think that place is frequented by the ladies buying shoes more so than men.
That said, InStep has been very helpful fixing my orthotics. I have bad feet and when one of my orthotics got chewed up by the family dog, I thought I was going to have to spend $ 300 to get new ones. InStep fixed the chewed one up as good as new.
They also have a ton of Birkenstock, Betula, Clark and other well-​known brands that are both comfortable and decent-​looking.
I love InStep and just with there were more stores like it. Sadly, customer service is the exception rather than the rule these days.

The store is great! You’re greeted as soon as you walk in and helped by a super knowledgeable shoe guru. Do I hate that my doc says I have to wear these shoes? Yes! Are they comfortable? I guess they’re supposed to be — I think my poor feet are too far gone. They are pricey, but if you need Rx shoes in north or central Austin, this is the place to go. I know people who drive in from Killeen for the Danskos. They do have a really good clearance section, but the sizes remaining usually are not for me — the girl with the mutantly small achy feet. The selection is large and if you love Birkenstocks, this place has just about every style & color you could imagine. I would give 5 stars if the shoes were comfy to me, but as I said before my feet may just be too far gone. :(

USE YOUR CREDIT CARD.
I was unaware that the return policy for cash purchases would be so difficult. I got a $ 70 item I found out the next day wouldn’t be covered by my insurance, at all. However, a foot supply store nearby was included in my program, and I got their goodies for a more affordable price. I returned to InStep the next day to get that wad of Christmas shopping money back. Or so I thought.
Apparently, the owners do not keep cash in their stores. I understand this, it’s for employee safety, but now I have to wait on a check, which I hope arrives before I fly home. Had I just used my credit card, it would have been credited back to the account.
The moral of the story is: InStep, good. Return policy, sad — and it is in fact printed on their receipts, I’d just never noticed it. And get on your insurance website and check out medical supply stores covered before you spend bunches of dough elsewhere. Dang.