Monkey Feet USA is the latest retailer to ignite controversy. The Chesterfield, N.J.-based children’s shoe store and its owner, Rachael Dalfonzo, have been caught in accusations involving hundreds of alleged customer ripoff claims.
The alleged issues began as early as 2019, when customer Linda Ainger routinely bought Monkey Feet shoes — at least 100 pairs — online for her children, according to CBS News. Upon receiving messages where orders were deemed delayed or canceled, it was reported, Aigner and other customers began requesting refunds — which shed claimed were denied by the brand’s customer service representative.
“She’d give us every excuse under the sun, ‘they were stuck in customs,’ very snarky messages,” Aigner claimed.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s, when supply chains caused businesses to delay customer orders, shopper Kristin Arvallo said she saw similar complaints about Monkey Feet on TikTok. The movement caused her to create a private “Buyer Beware” Facebook group for the brand, which now has over 15,000 members — and, to her estimate, spanned over 57,000 orders, she claimed.
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Currently, Monkey Feet USA has an “F” rating of 1.23 out of 5 stars by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The organization’s Monkey Feet page states that the brand frequently received non-delivery and refund complaints from customers. The brand’s social media and website are fully shut down, and it is not accredited by the BBB. Social media users who claimed to have purchased the brand’s products are continuing to make claims about Monkey Feet’s business practices.
Court documents state that Monkey Feet was evicted from its original warehouse in Florida and sued for $225,000 for overdue rent, according to CBS News.
