Laugh to keep from crying Chippewa engineer boots

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

Hi guys. Very occasional poster but appreciator of all your info here, particularly with boots and jackets.

I ride a Harley and have been considering, and trying, U.S. made engineer boots for the last few weeks. I usually use a more technical boot for riding, but sometimes I like the look and decent protection offered by good engineer boots. I decided on steel toe Chippewa 27899s ultimately. Yes, I know about Wescos and the many other fine makers revealed in the Engineer/Harness boot thread.

But I wanted something U.S. made, modestly priced, no frills, thick leather, and nothing I'd worry about keeping pretty as it accumulated the shifter mark, oil, and many other things riding boots will suffer on the road. I love honest wear and patina on my boots, but consistent city riding can create pretty ugly wear.

Made my choice. And this is what I got from Chippewa, via Amazon. These are not factory seconds. They were ordered from Amazon Prime as a brand new item. Suspiciously, though, they did not come in a manufacture's box and had no tags. Needless to say, they have been returned as defective:

 

[JimWagner]

That's just sad.

 

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

I couldn't believe it. I had actually tried on other Chippewa in my quest, including other 27899s, and all of them were tip top.

Pretty disappointing these made it past inspection. But then again, there were no tags and no inspection slip the way they arrived from Amazon. That was also very disappointing in that they were sold as a brand new item, and not seconds or some kind of return.

 

[Blackadder]

Look really bad. I have a pair of factory second Chippewa and even those do not have visible defects as bad as yours. As you can see from the second photo, the defective part is the uneven top of the shaft.





v

 

[handymike]

Oof, those are bad

 

[scottyrocks]

Looks like someone was imbibing during working hours.

 

[Ozarkian]

Hmmm........ the lack of factory packaging is simply not right. Someone is pulling a fast one here it appears. I've read a few times over the years of people peddling 2nd's on Amazon as new, regular goods.

 

[Blackadder]

Hmmm........ the lack of factory packaging is simply not right. Someone is pulling a fast one here it appears. I've read a few times over the years of people peddling 2nd's on Amazon as new, regular goods.

Come to think of it. Mine have the proper box and were shipped out to the dealer which means they probably pass the inspection but the dealer considers them defective and sold them as such.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Looks like the quality control popped out for a smoke while those passed through.....I don't know this boot but the uppers appear to be glued to the soles & not sewn, the stictching is just for show..

 

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

I get the replacements on Wednesday. Hopefully Amazon gets it right this time. Very strange this happened, and I let them know how disappointed I was.

It's almost as if this was a test pair of boots for an inexperienced person, or persons, on the factory line. Like I said, I've tried several Chips in my quest for the right model and size, and all of them were just fine before this terrible pair.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Looks like someone was imbibing during working hours.

Haha thank you for the laugh...and yes...seems someone was paying attention to their bottle of Gin instead of their job!

 

[LuvMyMan]

I couldn't believe it. I had actually tried on other Chippewa in my quest, including other 27899s, and all of them were tip top.

Pretty disappointing these made it past inspection. But then again, there were no tags and no inspection slip the way they arrived from Amazon. That was also very disappointing in that they were sold as a brand new item, and not seconds or some kind of return.

I can tell you that B.A. Mason boots are more quality then the Chips you have. We get the MASON catalogs all the time here in the Mail. My Husband has about 13 or 14 pairs of Mason boots including their engineer boots. They are awesome for the price and more so for the quality. They offer the engineer boot with both soft and steel toe. For less than $150.00 delivered to your front door. They do not sell "seconds" and if you want to get some, they are 25% off at the moment, just type in REGULAR25 and it will knock off the 25% from the price.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I couldn't believe it. I had actually tried on other Chippewa in my quest, including other 27899s, and all of them were tip top.

Pretty disappointing these made it past inspection. But then again, there were no tags and no inspection slip the way they arrived from Amazon. That was also very disappointing in that they were sold as a brand new item, and not seconds or some kind of return.

I can tell you that B.A. Mason boots are more quality then the Chips you have. We get the MASON catalogs all the time here in the Mail. My Husband has about 13 or 14 pairs of Mason boots including their engineer boots. They are awesome for the price and more so for the quality. They offer the engineer boot with both soft and steel toe. For less than $150.00 delivered to your front door. They do not sell "seconds" and if you want to get some, they are 25% off at the moment, just type in REGULAR25 and it will knock off the 25% from the price.

 

[Bunyip]

I can say my first pair of Wesco were the same. Wonky stitching, very agricultural at best. I'm not thrilled with them. Very comfy and sturdy, but for a truckload of cash, and an 18 week wait? I would rather buy $150-$200 boots that are heavy duty without all the expectation and disappointment. Glad you were able to resolve it.

 

[tropicalbob]

You really have to be careful ordering anything online. With boots, one of the tricks is to send the wrong size or to be a bit fuzzy about the width. Another scam, as we've seen here, is to sell factory seconds or knockoffs. I've had quite a bit of trouble ordering books from Amazon. Some I've received have been misprints, but others, and get this, are photocopies of old, out-of-print texts when I thought I was getting an old volume. I found out that a few years back the Library of Congress made all of their texts available, so apparently someone went in, set up a podium, and simply photographed the pages (You can see the top of the podium and the room in some shots). Then Amazon sells them without being very clear as to exactly what you're getting. The basic idea behind all such practices is, I think, that most people won't be bothered to return the merchandise.

 

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

I can say my first pair of Wesco were the same. Wonky stitching, very agricultural at best. I'm not thrilled with them. Very comfy and sturdy, but for a truckload of cash, and an 18 week wait? I would rather buy $150-$200 boots that are heavy duty without all the expectation and disappointment. Glad you were able to resolve it.

Wow. That does sound like a disappointment, given Wesco's very good reputation. I hope Wesco makes it right for you.

The replacement Chips come tomorrow. Hopefully they are top notch like all the other Chippewa Engineers I've seen and tried before this horrid pair came along.

 

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

Replacement Chips arrived.

Proper Chippewa box:

Proper Chippewa tags and packaging:

Proper Chippewa stitching:

Proper Chippewa style:

 

[Wells]

Glad you were able to get the boots replaced, though you shouldn't have had to in the first place.
They look great with the denim!

 

[LuvMyMan]

You really have to be careful ordering anything online. With boots, one of the tricks is to send the wrong size or to be a bit fuzzy about the width. Another scam, as we've seen here, is to sell factory seconds or knockoffs. I've had quite a bit of trouble ordering books from Amazon. Some I've received have been misprints, but others, and get this, are photocopies of old, out-of-print texts when I thought I was getting an old volume. I found out that a few years back the Library of Congress made all of their texts available, so apparently someone went in, set up a podium, and simply photographed the pages (You can see the top of the podium and the room in some shots). Then Amazon sells them without being very clear as to exactly what you're getting. The basic idea behind all such practices is, I think, that most people won't be bothered to return the merchandise.

Amazon is noted for selling "stuff" that is listed as new but was already owned by someone and you do not get all the warranty papers, instructions or at times any "accessories" that should have come with your purchase.

 

[SoCalSoftailSlim]

Thanks for the comments, all. It's nice to have proper kicks.