Troubleshooters: Warning about New Jersey-based shoe company Monkey Feet USA
Customers say the owner, Rachael Dalfonzo, offered excuses and encouraged people to accept gift cards instead of refunds.
MANTUA, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Mothers across the country are sounding off on social media about a company called Monkey Feet USA.
It's a shoe company that marketed on Facebook and is now the subject of multiple complaints. The Facebook group has garnered over 14,000 members.
"Sometimes you could get shoes for $10," said Randee Kean of Mantua, Gloucester County.
Kean's now four-year-old daughter has been wearing Monkey Feet shoes since she was six months old.
Caitlin Maze of Warren, Pennsylvania has loved them for her son.
"The prices were awesome. They fit my kid perfectly."
But these customers say last year everything stopped. Nobody was getting shoes.
Customers say the owner, Rachael Dalfonzo, offered excuses and encouraged people to accept gift cards instead of refunds.
"I'm probably out about $600," said Kean. "I have $250 worth of gift cards that I can do nothing with because she's gone."
Dalfonzo has blamed the delays on manufacturer and supply chain issues.
But a manufacturer in China told the Troubleshooters Dalfonzo owes her thousands of dollars.
And records show at one point Dalfonzo and her husband owned a $3.3 million house in Naples in July 2021.
"And we're not getting our orders," said Kean.
Dalfonzo established Monkey Feet in New Jersey and then moved to Florida.
According to court documents in February 2023, Monkey Feet, Rachael and Eric Dalfonzo were evicted from their Naples warehouse and have a judgment against them for $255,000 in back rent and fees.
"We've seen the pictures of the shoes just sitting in her warehouse that she just abandoned and we paid for them," said Kean.
Monkey Feet has an "F" rating with the Florida and New Jersey Better Business Bureaus.
New Jersey's Division of Consumer Affairs has received 52 complaints since August of 2022. Fifteen of them were made anonymously and closed without further action. Thirty-seven are still open and under review.
And Florida's Attorney General has received 64 complaints and is actively investigating.
The Troubleshooters reached out to Dalfonzo who appears to be back in New Jersey but we received no response.
"Nobody can locate her. She's deleted everything," said Maze.
"I just want her to be accountable for what she did," said Kean.
"I would like an apology from her to all of us moms, and I want to see some justice," said Maze.
Monkey Feet customers say the Dalfonzo's sold a lot of pre-orders and they say they learned after the fact that some payment services like PayPal do not cover or protect pre-orders.
