Blemish and cracked leather in new boot

[Tidus89]

Hi guys, I need some advice. I've ordered some fairly cheap boots, coming in at 200£.

Sadly I've noticed that the left boot has a blemish on one side and a 1 Inch crack in the leather on the other. It's not extremely prominent being close to the sole, but it's noticeable.

I intent to report this back to the maker, but I would like some advice from you guys first. Is that crack likely to cause durability issues in the long run? I am asking because I would prefer to just get a discount and keep the boot anyway. I am not eager to go through the process of return, sending it back, waiting for the new one, paying import duties again etc.

Thank's for your opinion.

 

[Carlos840]

That second pic is scary to me, that slit looks deep and IMO would cause problems if you wear these boots hard. I would send that back in a hearbeat...

 

[Blackadder]

I would send them back and get a full refund.

 

[Monitor]

No good. It is perfectly clear that the leather cracked during construction and that these boots should not have ever been put up on sale, whatever the price tag or the discount they may have been sold at. And let me tell you, 200£ boots aren't cheap at all.
I understand the return/refund process can be and usually is a huge pain - I'm dealing it at this moment where the seller is ignoring my mails requesting a refund - but the state of your boots is such that there's no debate you should receive full refund or another pair with all import duties, taxes covered by the maker/store.

 

[Tidus89]

Thank you all for your help. Meanwhile I had contacted customer support and I have already heard back from them. They will replace my boots asap.

 

[Spiney]

Thank you all for your help. Meanwhile I had contacted customer support and I have already heard back from them. They will replace my boots asap.

Good to hear. Where did you get them ?

 

[Carlos840]

I would send them back and get a full refund.

+1 For the full refund, the fact that the QC was happy to ship this leads me to believe they don't really care about their products, i would ask for a full refund and leave it at that.

 

[Ingramite]

I concur with the prevailing assessments.

Those flaws are in high stress areas, so the flaws are more than cosmetic.

 

[Tidus89]

Where did you get them ?

To be honest I would rather not disclose that atm. They are making an afford to correct their mistake and that is fine with me. I will put this incidence in the category of unfortunate coincidence. Of which I seem to have some with way too many different makers out there, so maybe that's bad luck then

the fact that the QC was happy to ship this leads me to believe they don't really care about their products

It was explained to me that this specific pair of boots was not produced in house, but made for them externally. Which of course doesn't excuse anything. But it makes me tend to the idea that this was likely a case of oversight and not business as usual.

 

[Spiney]

To be honest I would rather not disclose that atm. They are making an afford to correct their mistake and that is fine with me. I will put this incidence in the category of unfortunate coincidence. Of which I seem to have some with way too many different makers out there, so maybe that's bad luck then


It was explained to me that this specific pair of boots was not produced in house, but made for them externally. Which of course doesn't excuse anything. But it makes me tend to the idea that this was likely a case of oversight and not business as usual.

That seems worse to me as it’s now gone through 2 pairs of hands and still not noticed.

 

[Carlos840]

To be honest I would rather not disclose that atm. They are making an afford to correct their mistake and that is fine with me. I will put this incidence in the category of unfortunate coincidence. Of which I seem to have some with way too many different makers out there, so maybe that's bad luck then


It was explained to me that this specific pair of boots was not produced in house, but made for them externally. Which of course doesn't excuse anything. But it makes me tend to the idea that this was likely a case of oversight and not business as usual.

Run away from these boots...

 

[Edward]

That seems worse to me as it’s now gone through 2 pairs of hands and still not noticed.

Also possible that they were drop-shipped directly from manufacturer to the retailer's customer. Not unheard of in ecommerce operations, though obviously it does require a certain level of trust / reliability.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Like what others have said, £200 is a lot of money for boots and those are not it. For £200 you can get welted boots and not poorly glued on ones. Sounds like you're in UK, maybe a weekend trip to North Hampton. And bring cash.

 

[Carlos840]

Like what others have said, £200 is a lot of money for boots and those are not it. For £200 you can get welted boots and not poorly glued on ones. Sounds like you're in UK, maybe a weekend trip to North Hampton. And bring cash.

Pretty sure these are welted...

 

[Tidus89]

Yes, they are welted.

 

[TREEMAN]

Hopefully there are already on their way back to the maker at this point ……NG !!

 

[Blackadder]

Well, good luck with the replacement though I'd probably ask for a full refund and get a pair of deadstock army surplus boots in Europe.