Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This USED to be is one excellent pair of shoes! They were comfortable, well built, beautifully-designed and the fit was right on. In 2011, I would have rated these "more that 5 STARS." But, that was THEN, this is NOW! UPDATED Dec 2013: In 2011 I rated the Dunham 8500BR 5-Stars. I tried to purchase the same shoe in Dec. 2013. What a SURPRISE! The shoe I received was a Dunham 8500SR which is one of the worse shoes I've ever bought. So much for trusting the Dunham Brand name! Dunham quietly changed and cheapened the shoe without changing the Model Number and no longer informs buyers of the difference between the now only available 8500SB (now Made in China with far poorer workmanship and a resultant terrible fit -- less flexibility, it's like wearing a box) and the superb 8500BR with excellent workmanship which did fit to size. Dunham muddies the water and now only shows it as "Model 8500." The tiny "Made in China" tag is buried VERY deep inside the the shoe and not visible on the box, or in the spec description Dunham provides its resellers to use, or even on the Dunham web site. Also, the only time you'll know you've bought the Model 8500SB is after you pay for it and receive the box. WHY would any honest manufacturer sell a different shoe under the same Model number? This "bait and switch" is deceptive and misleading. The previous 8500BR was made with a "breathable," comfortable "Nu-buck" leather. The 8500SB is a NON-BREATHABLE leather that causes your feet to SWEAT nonstop -- it feels like your feet are locked in a steam bath. For lack of a better summary, the Dunham 8500SR is a terrible shoe. To make matters more customer-unfriendly, most merchants (including Amazon) still describe the 8500SB as "Nu-buck," which it is not. I contacted New Balance/Dunham Customer Support Dept. which (only after being probed specifically) admitted the current non-breathable Dunham 8500SB is quite substantially different than the "breathable" 8500BR Nu-buck shoe. Amazon indicates they may change their description of the Dunham 8500 to delete the "Nu-buck" description to clarify what is being sold is actually the 8500SB (not the superb 8500BR). Amazon's order processing remains outstanding and they did ship in 2 days, as promised. BTW, the New Balance/Dunham website still "boasts" its shoes are Made in the USA, which sadly is no longer the case.