Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm saddened that the first review I've chosen to write in ten years of Amazon purchases had to be a warning about a product I loved and have purchased yearly for decades. All the positives posted in other reviews about the amazing fit and comfort are true: but this shoe -- and some other New Balance models -- have a dark side: a powerful, repugnant smell that seems guaranteed to emerge after the shoe gets wet. For the past two years I've been battling with a mystery: my family and coworkers have complained unabashedly about the smell of cat urine coming from my New Balance 990's (and the 993's before this model). I could smell it, too, and it was so powerful that I had to leave the shoes in another part of the house. I had assumed, since I do have indoor cats, that they had somehow decided to use my shoes as a litter box. Strange behavior for female spayed cats, but OK -- what else could it be. I tried all manner of enzymatic cat urine cleaners and deodorants -- NOTHING worked. So I bought NEW shoes and vowed to keep them away from any place the cats could get to -- including never leaving them outside where outdoor cats might find them. Amazingly -- the smell came back! I finally figured that I must have gotten cat urine from neighborhood cats on them while watering the garden. I purchased ANOTHER new pair, and this time waterproofed them and avoided taking them out into my garden area. BUT -- the smell returned AGAIN! After trying the usual round of cat de-stinking chemicals, I was at a New Balance store and happen to ask about washing them. The experienced assistant manager GUESSED: "Oh, do they smell like cat urine?" I was STUNNED! He explained that it's a known problem with a polyurethane component in the sole breaking down and/or rotting due to exposure to water. The smell is due to the release of ammonia. I could hardly wait to do a Google search -- and I could hardly believe my eyes: hundreds of postings about the VERY SAME SMELL -- from people who, like me, had been convinced it was related to feline tinkling -- many that didn't even have cats. The stories were strikingly similar: only by chance had these other consumers stumbled upon the information that the smell was a manufacturing defect, one that New Balance had been aware of for a couple of years. In many cases, New Balance had done the right thing and replaced the shoes, but also had informed consumers that the problem had been "corrected". This does NOT appear to be true: I purchased these shoes in May, and by July they had already started to smell horrible from the soles getting wet. Tomorrow I'll be speaking with New Balance. While I'm confident they'll replace the shoes, I doubt I'll get any definitive answers as to what model shoe to purchase to avoid the problem in the future. I will absolutely buy from New Balance again, but only once I've been able to determine the issue has been corrected. CAT URINE SMELL ISSUE UPDATE #1 (10-29-13): When I spoke with New Balance on 9-3-13, they acknowledged the problem, and issued me a credit for their on-line store, but frankly stated that the issue "was not fixed yet". HOWEVER, I just got off the phone with New Balance's consumer line, and I've been informed that the issue IS NOW FIXED for the 990. The 993 had a similar problem that was supposedly also fixed, but then the cat urine smell issue cropped up again for that shoe. I was told that "every new 990 is made with new materials" and they haven't heard of a recurrence of the cat urine smell issue with the new 990's -- yet. There are no manufacturing dates that are easily accessible, so there is no way to be sure if you are getting a "new" 990 or not. Perhaps Amazon does so much business that they would likely have new stock. Similarly, I would expect the New Balance web store to be a reliable (if perhaps more expensive) place to get a new 990. New Balance has no plans to make any public statement about the correction, for fear of alarming people who have never run into the issue. I have no doubt that if the problem crops up again, New Balance will surely replace my shoes again. So I will buy another pair without fear. But if I smell cat urine again, I will certainly be "pissed" -- and may write a formal letter to Consumer Reports. CAT URINE SMELL ISSUE UPDATE #2 (July 9, 2014): I am very sad to report that after 8 months, the new pair of 990v3 that New Balance customer service swore was manufactured to resolve this issue has just started to smell like cat urine! I'm beginning to feel like the abused spouse that keeps going back when assured that the abuse will never happen again. Once again, New Balance customer service agreed to replace the shoe. Actually, they issued a credit to replace the shoe with ANY NB shoe! I elected to try the 2040v2 -- which is a $349 shoe! There has only been one report of the "cat urine smell" on the 2040v1 on Amazon, so I'm hopeful that maybe the v2 might have been reengineered. New Balance sure knows how to engineer comfortable shoes, AND they do have a fabulous customer service department, although the rep I spoke with on Monday at first downplayed the issue, saying "It's just the natural breakdown of materials," and "it can happen to any shoe -- even from other manufacturers." (that latter part may be true, apparently other companies have had the same problem -- but fixed it). She also suggested the issue could be "prevented" by making sure to completely dry out the shoe if it got wet. However -- her instructions assumed that the INSIDE of the shoe had gotten exposed to water. That isn't the case. The problem is well-known to occur with water exposure on the OUTSIDE BOTTOM (sole) of the shoe. That's hard to avoid unless you live in the desert. The INSANITY is that New Balance clearly understands there IS an issue -- and even if it only affects a small percentage of their shoes, it is astonishing that a company with revenues of nearly 3 billion dollars can't correct a materials issue that they've been aware of since 2006. How many people (like me) have gone years assuming that user care, and not product engineering, were the cause of the problem? I'll report back on the 2040v2. CAT URINE SMELL ISSUE UPDATE #3 (September 21, 2015): I've been wearing the 2040v2 for over a year, and so far no cat urine smell on this model. Of course, being a very expensive shoe, superior in it's construction and materials, so it's not really a substitute for the less-expensive 990 series. I'm curious if anyone who bought the 990 during the past year has seen a repeat of the problem, or if it has FINALLY been corrected. CAT URINE SMELL ISSUE UPDATE #4 (November 29, 2016): No problems with the 2040v2 for over two years. Except that I have worn out the shoe, wearing it almost every day. Does anyone know the status of the cat urine issue for the 990?