Cotswold Outdoor Reviews 

Bought some walking boots in November 2025. By March 2026 they were leaking so I brought them in store to be returned. I was expecting a replacement/refund on the spot but they said they have to be sent away. Return receipt said normal processing time is 4 weeks. Bit long but ok. 4 weeks pass by… nothing. So I send an email. No reply. I ring the number. No answer. I ring the store I bought the boots from - “yes we can see the case has been closed but we don’t know why. We’ll try and find out for you by contacting Meindl (the manufacturer) and we’ll get back in touch”. One week later. Nothing. So I ring Meindl myself. Meindl pick up straight away and I relay my reference number - “yeah we don’t have any record of these boots on our system. I don’t think Cotswold outdoor have sent them to us”. I ring the store again - “yes so it’s out of our hands now you need to ring customer service again”. So I ring customer service again and manage to get through to someone who says she needs to pass this case to the after sales team and to give it two more days (Friday) and then they’ll be in touch or I should ring back. On Friday I still haven’t heard anything so around 4pm I ring. I’m on hold for an hour and then it cuts out because they have closed for the week. On Monday I ring again and I finally get asked if I want a refund or store credit. Obviously I don’t want store credit I’m never shopping there again. Today, 7 weeks later, I finally have a refund back in my account.

Don’t shop here. People are saying don’t shop online. Don’t even shop in person because that’s what I did and I even returned the boots in person and had this much of a problem. Not on.

The energy of the store was calm and collected with a wide range of gear for show. I came in looking for a pair of hiking shoes and was pleasantly greeted by a staff member named Harry, who answered all my questions about the shoes and gave me a very clear idea of what I was getting in comparison to others. He gave me instructions on care, showed me around the store’s catalogue and helped me weigh up my options - he did a fantastic job of considering my budget, abilities and the amount of versatility I wanted. He was patient with me and very knowledgeable.

I want to thank Robbo from the Merry Hill store. He was kind and personable, very professional and informative. I had been upset by one of the other men in the shop and he restored my faith in them being able to help me.

I visited the Liverpool Cotswold Outdoor store. I had made an appointment for advice on new training shoes. Matt who helped me was absolutely brilliant. So patient, thoughtful and dedicated. Matt really listened to what I wanted and needed from my new training shoes. He helped me choose the perfect pair and I am so grateful. To have absolute confidence in the advice you are being given is to be treasured. Thanks again Matt.

Atrocious customer service. The start of the problem is that they use Evri, and you will have to roll the dice on whether or not your parcel gets to you (a quick Google search will show this is common). Mine didn’t. Cotswold Outdoor will then not respond to your emails. Six emails sent over two weeks and only one response, in which they failed to actually read the issue detailed (being that Evri lied about delivery attempts and subsequently a supposed successful delivery - without photographic proof of delivery, because they didn’t even attempt to).

I will never order a thing from Cotswold Outdoor again and I’ll be contacting BMC asking to remove their member discount, to avoid others falling in to this trap.

My review looks like many here. But I want to give people a heads-up (see later) on how to manage the return of faulty boots if you are thinking of asking for a replacement.
This review is like the experience of others becasue my leaking Scarpa boots were returned to the Guildford outlet in March 2026 and now, Mid-May 2026 I am still waiting. Yes, I've made all the phone calls and have been given all the promises to no avail.
In fairness, the Meindl boots I returned a couple of years ago where refunded within a few weeks. As you see, I'm still waiting on the Scarpa boots.
HEADS-UP: Always ask for a refund and then if you buy your next pair from Cotswold, always use your credit card. If you add ten quid to the refund for a more expensive pair as I did and Cotwold manage the refund and purchase all in the one transaction you are NOT buying with the credit card and so have no protection. In my case only your tenner is covered. The larger remainder leaves you at the mercy of Cotswold...

Terrible experience overall. I ordered a new pair of running trainers (at a very good discounted rate) with next day delivery. Not only did the trainers not turn up after 1 week of ordering, it was virtually impossible to contact the customer service team. After multiple dealings with the chatbot, emails and phone calls I finally got through to someone, only to be told that they had no update on my order or its whereabouts. I chose the refund option and will still have to wait 7-10 working days for this to come through!

SHOCKING customer service. Received a faulty item and was told it would be dealt with within 14 days. Posted back to them (which I had to pay for), 2 months on I am still fighting for answers and any communication as to what is happening. Keep being told it’s being looked into but no updates. Cannot get through on phone lines, emails and call back requests ignored. Phoned back today to escalate my complaint, finally got through and asked to speak to someone who could deal with the complaint and was hung up on by the call handler. Will never shop with them again!

Cotswold Outdoor failed to respond in relation to a returned product. I ordered some walking boots online in December 2025. They did not fit well so I generated a return code through their website ("returns made simple") which offered Royal Mail as their preferred courier. The parcel was collected by Royal Mail but, when I did not receive a refund, I contacted Cotswold Outdoor by email twice with all the relevant return details and requested a refund and also spoke to their customer service twice. Both representatives promised to revert but did not and I have heard no further from them. I raised a complaint through PayPal which resulted in a full refund. I will not be purchasing from them again.

UPDATE - Still no response! They are deleting comments on Instagram too.
This is a week after my initial email to enquiries.
After reading these reviews I’m really concerned. I too have sent several emails, an Instagram message and phoned the number for customer service which just is a recorded message with no opportunity to leave a message. I ordered two Patagonia jackets only one arrived in what appeared to be a reassembled packet. The other more expensive £180 jacket was missing - no invoice. I’ve sent photos and complained to DHL too. I’ve never experienced such poor service so have had to resort to posting this review.

We were helped by Paul who spent lots of time with us making sure we got the right boots. He didn’t make us feel rushed and we really appreciated his expertise. There were also two very helpful women who gave us advice about coats but we didn’t get their names. The staff are what makes this such a great shop

Ordered awning for next day delivery only to be emailed at 5am to say delay on order. Cotswold knew delay when ordering so why stipulate next day when no intention of fulfilling. Will definitely not order from this company again.

Excellent. Very helpful staff.

No response to my two emails regarding the non-delivery of a £170 jacket ordered more than two weeks ago. I will now be contacting my bank to initiate a chargeback.

Very disappointing customer service from Cotswold Outdoor. I would strongly suggest reconsidering the use of Evri as a delivery partner.

Thieves and fraudsters. Lied to me multiple times and have stopped responding to my emails even though they had said they could resolve my issue if i “just contacted them” when I got shipping information. I am out hundreds of dollars with no items that I ordered and they give zero f**ks. AVOID, DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.

They have taken my money for what should have been a next day delivery. A week on and I still haven't received my trainers. Despite calling customer services 3 times (with long periods on hold) I am no further on with receiving my purchase. Also £170 out of pocket..do not buy from this company. What a scam!!!

Ordered a Patagonia shirt and paid £6.95 (!) for "next day delivery. The shirt arrived yesterday, 2 weeks later, loose in the postage envelope with no protective Patagonia packaging and no indication that this was in fact a new unused item. No response from customer service. I have never experienced any online service as bad as this. Customer service seems entirely absent or fictitious. Just noticed on here that there are lots of other negative reviews. Avoid avoid avoid.

Camping food packets available in local store. Various varieties to choose from.

We had fantastic customer service today from your team in Watford High St. Both Steven and Jessica were so knowledgable, helpful and patient. They did not have to ‘over sell’ or be pushy. They were the perfect balance of good service. We ended up spending over £500 but we are so satisfied with the quality and design of our items. Please make sure to pass on our thanks.

06/05/26: Item not dispatched, calls and chat messages unanswered, and non-existent customer service when you finally get through to someone..

An email telling me "We ask that you please bear with us a little longer whilst we try to deliver your order" with no potential dispatch or delivery date, is not helpful.

Update 13/05/26: Item marked as dispatched after 10 days... Yippeee... But wait... Evri has provided a tracking number that 2 days later shows that they haven't been handed the parcel yet. Doubt it's even in the Cotswold Outdoor warehouse yet.. So much for next-day delivery!

Update 14/05/26: attempted to deliver (almost 2 weeks late) today via Royal Mail, unable to deliver as I wasn’t in and tracking wasn’t shared with myself.

My biggest issue with this company is the lack of information that causes mistrust, I really hope this is fed back to management.