Moose River L.L. Bean WARNING

[jake_fink]

That pic was taken last summer at the Indiana Jones Summit. I guess I'm smiling, so I look more alive! lol I know that hat has been discussed many times. It's one of Art Fawcett's... I know it's in the "Diamond Club" thread, and probably a few others. It's my baby.

Ahhhh, that one. It's a beaut!

 

[jeboat]

LL Bean Moose River hat

I have seen that hat and thought about buying it but I ended up getting one very similar from noggintops.com, http://www.noggintops.com/page.cfm?p=52. It is a "Bear Creek" model Stetson but has very good felt(Sovereign) and has not been damaged by water so far. I wear it everywhere including to Europe twice.

jeboat

 

[Ecuador Jim]

Stetson...Resistol...it's all the same...it's Hatco...What a shame....

I now have a visual of a "Hat Depot" in our futures![huh]

 

[carter]

HATCO owns and makes Stetson, Resistol, Dobbs, Knox, and Cavanagh brand hats. There may be others as well but those I am certain of.

 

[ronin]

This hat was bought off ebay, right? If so, then despite what the seller claims, if the seller is not ll bean, the hat is not new, and in fact was sold at a decent discount from new. Maybe it was a second that was not 'destroyed?' Although an anecdotal detail, not the same as one bought new from the retailer.

As far as returning it to ll bean for refund... I don't know why we'd ask them issue a refund on a second-hat item not bought from them. I treasure their no-questions-asked policy, and wouldn't want to see it jeopardized.

 

[tinmanzzz]

Clear up an issue

This hat was bought off ebay, right? If so, then despite what the seller claims, if the seller is not ll bean, the hat is not new, and in fact was sold at a decent discount from new. Maybe it was a second that was not 'destroyed?' Although an anecdotal detail, not the same as one bought new from the retailer.

As far as returning it to ll bean for refund... I don't know why we'd ask them issue a refund on a second-hat item not bought from them. I treasure their no-questions-asked policy, and wouldn't want to see it jeopardized.

The only point of this post was to let everyone know that the Moose River hat of today was not the equal of the Moose River Hat of my youth.
I had praised the hat in previous post and felt bad about the advise I had given. Neither the hat or LL Bean's Web site tell the customer what the hat is made of (Wool Blend??, Wool only ?????)
To Me this was just a $60 life lesson.
Read my signature Line

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I'd try sending it back, and send it to the president or CEO's personal attention. I'd be totally upfront, explaining you bought it second-hand on Ebay based on the reputation and quality of L.L. Bean products in general and specifically your previous experience with a Moose River hat, and explain how disappointed you are with their 2006 product.

Sometimes they contract with someone to supply products and the higher-up's in the company have no idea of what shoddy products are being sold under their brand name until brought to their attention. Or sometimes the manufacturer brings in some examples to the purchasing agent to see, and then ship a less well-made product to the customers. They could also be sending the better quality hats to the Bean store and the runts of the litter to the mail-order customers.

I definitely think it's something that needs to be brought to their attention. I don't think it matters it's second-hand or bought off Ebay or a possible second (and normally they remove or obliterate a label before being released as seconds). They need to be aware of what's going out with their name and reputation attached to it.

Just my .02 cents...