Skechers for Work Men's Synergy Shoe

I work through temporary employment agencies, and every once in a while they place me where steel toed safety shoes are required. The first pair I bought were from Walmart, and I wound up buying the foot mapping orthotic insoles, also from Walmart. They made these otherwise sub-par shoes tolerable. On to these shoes, the back story was important, I promise. After a little over a year in being placed in a lot of safety shoe required assignments. I decided it would probably be worth my money (and foot health,) to invest in some better quality safety toe shoes. Since I wear Skechers shoes for almost every other occasion in my life, I felt it smart to start with them. I found rather quickly that their safety shoes are a lot pricier than I expected, but I decided on these anyway. The appeared to look nice (considering I'm a female buying men's shoes, a 9.5 men's was a lot easier to find than an 11.5 women's,) and were priced reasonably when coupled with prime shipping. I ordered on a Friday, and also opted for Saturday delivery so I could have them in time to break them in before starting my new assignment the following Monday. The shoes came on schedule early Saturday afternoon. Upon opening the box I noticed the shoes look a bit different in color than the pictures... This is not important but worth mentioning in case it is. The color "black/charcoal" means the shoes are black and the soles are charcoal, not the shoes being black and charcoal and the soles being white like I thought. This aside, I immediately threw some crew length socks on and started walking around. I should also add from years of walking 20+ miles a day at work on concrete floors, I suffer from moderate pain in the arch of my left foot. A shoe is good to me if I do not experience this pain instantly when I put my left foot into it. I was off put slightly that even with the memory foam inside these shoes, this pain was instantly noticeable. I don't have this issue with any other Skechers shoes. I walked around a little longer before putting them away and hoping for the best at work. Driving to work was easier than with my other steel toes, this is a composite toe which makes it more light weight than steel, and makes pedal control more manageable. Walking into work, my pain returned. By first break, 4 hours and 15 miles (according to my pedometer) into my shift, my feet were both in agony. This was also concerning because I've never had issues with my right foot. Not to mention the fatigue I felt in my legs. I couldn't wait to get home and get these things off. Now, that all being said, why 3 stars? Safety toe shoes suck. No matter what brand you pick, they're just terrible. However, I ordered a half size up from my normal size after some advice from previous coworkers, and once I put my trusty foot mapping orthotic insoles in these shoes, they were as close to perfect as one could expect a shoe like this to be. No more foot pain, no more fatigue in my legs, and no discomfort in my toes due to the safety toe. I hope this is helpful. These shoes are really well made aside from the faults that all safety shoes come with.