Viberg - any other horrible experiences?

[Canuck Panda]

the priority now is to get your money back.

the visa claim route may or may not work as it can get tied up in an endless loop about whether or not it is deemed defective.

return for store credit but only if Viberg puts it in writing that the credit is fully transferable. This would be the least they can do imo. If the store credit is transferable then at least it can be sold to the next person. Easier than finding a specific buyer for your specific shoe.

hope you get your money back soon one way or another. Only thing that matter at this point imo.

 

[Cyber Lip]

I know what you mean. Perhaps you should attach photos of the two shoes to show the comparison?

I attached a photo in my 1st post

 

[Cyber Lip]

They offered store credit, which is their return policy. Maybe you can put it towards shell, which won’t have creases.

I'd take them up on that, but they don't have anything else I want. I'm good on shoes and boots. The only thing I needed was a pair of dark brown semi-casual oxford style shoes, and all they had were these and another one in brown kudu CXL but those don't look quite as nice in the photos. Plus, I don't trust them to send me a good pair without any issues now. I might get a worse pair than these, and in a shoe I don't like as much. Their return policy states they'll only do ONE exchange lol. I just want to be done with these people and move on.

 

[cbez]

the creases visible in their website photos are very fine and are from just normal bending of the leather.

The picture I highlighted of the stock boots shows very similar, fairly coarse graining to your pair in the exact same place. Could easily be mistaken for your pair.

All the other used guidi calf pairs I could find showed very pronounced creases. This is just the characteristic of this leather tannage.

It's ok to say 'I just don't like the aesthetics of this' or 'it was disappointing to get brand new boots with the noticeable creasing' but defective, terrible experience etc is overblown. You had all the evidence available to you in the stock photos and a quick Google search.

I think you're so wrapped up in this you're blinding yourself a little bit tbh.

 

[cbez]

It's a very crease happy leather to the point that it gets some during the patterning and lasting process. No big deal. The whole boot will have identical creases in a month.

I remember I used to be like eww at the lasting marks on engineer boot vamps. It's just part of the process.

If you want a permanently smooth shoe get a dress shoe which are cut and structured to crease less. But they are gonna be way less comfortable than an Oxford that flexes with your foot and ankle.

 

[Observe]

I bought these from Viberg a couple years ago and they gave me a refund based on this picture. I guess they've either tightened up their return policy or there's something different about your case I don't know about.

 

[bigmanbigtruck]

I'm not enough of a boot aficionado to judge loose vs acceptable grain, but for next time, I'd recommend checking out the Patina project app and searching for the leather your next shoe/boot purchase is made from. Can give a good idea of what to expect.

Based on Guidi calf, there's only 3 samples, but all 3 show the type of creasing around the same area as in your first pic:

Granted these are after a few months of wear, so I get the unhappiness around getting a brand new pair in that condition. Viberg should be willing to do an exchange @ their price point.
But realistically, you would have most likely made a similar crease a few wears in.

 

[Leather_nube]

I’ve tried Grant stone. Great shoes and excellent costumer service. Quality arguably better than Alden and customer service appears better than viberg.

https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/products/leo-plain-toe-crimson

 

[cbez]

Yeah I just returned my grant stone, no hassle.

Well made but I find them lame for ripping off Alden and moving production to China.

 

[Monitor]

no they're not. Here, I'll explain this AGAIN in super simple terms...the creases visible in their website photos are very fine and are from just normal bending of the leather. The shoes I received DO sport these very same fine creases also. Both shoes do. However, that's NOT what I'm complaining about. What I'm complaining about is that one shoe sports something else entirely on one side...the severe deep creasing that looks like loose grain, which is very different from the normal fine creases. It looks like some kind of funky exotic leather in that one spot, like rhino or elephant hide lol. Make sense now? Trust me, I'm a reasonable guy and wouldn't flip my $h!t over some minor normal creasing that you'd see on any shoe. C'mon now

Well... Yeah, that's true. I honestly am not seeing the problem as the crease in the photo you've posted is something I'd want more of on my leather stuff but if you don't like it, you don't like it and if you don't want this on your relatively pricey boots, that's perfectly understandable and should be honored.

From how you described it just now, I get a better impression what it could be like and what happened here is that they've most likely used a part of the hide that's around or across the stomach of the animal. This is what the buzz term "loose grain" would describe, I guess but it's a nonsensical word in any case as grain has nothing to do with it.

The problem is that there isn't anything inherently wrong with using this part of leather for clothes - Even though technically speaking, it is a somewhat wear & thinner - and its presence is to be expected on any piece of wardrobe made from leather that is advertised as being made from a "full-grain leather that shows variation of grain and color due to its natural properties", which I know Viberg footwear used to have stated in their brochures so technically, the maker doesn't have to honor the refund but whatever, they could've just refunded you, minus shipping charges and all would be well.

 

[Marc mndt]

None of this is 'loose grain' its just how this leather creases.

Loose grain is a thing and this CXL RRL boot was deemed faulty because of it. The boot has obviously been worn but the loose grain was already there when it was brand new.

The second smooth leather boot is the replacement. I haven't worn it yet but I'm certain it won't crease the way the first one did because there's no loose grain on this one. I'm going to wear it for a few days and report back.

 

[Monitor]

Loose grain is a thing and this CXL RRL boot was deemed faulty because of it. The boot has obviously been worn but the loose grain was already there when it was brand new.

The second smooth leather boot is the replacement. I haven't worn it yet but I'm certain it won't crease the way the first one did because there's no loose grain on this one. I'm going to wear it for a few days and report back.

View attachment 638913

Oh yea, that's definitely the belly part of leather. It's like that because it's not stretched over the back muscle of an animal but instead hangs across & under the belly area and there's also a lot more fat under it.
In turn, this leather is thinner, stretchier and slightly weaker but it's still more than usable for clothes, just perhaps not as much for footwear.

Regardless, I don't really see this happening on Cyber Lips boots. It could be close to the belly but it's still, well, good.

Either way, it's one million percent not damage and people claiming it's damage should get sent to jail.

 

[Tom71]

Loose grain is a thing and this CXL RRL boot was deemed faulty because of it. The boot has obviously been worn but the loose grain was already there when it was brand new.

The second smooth leather boot is the replacement. I haven't worn it yet but I'm certain it won't crease the way the first one did because there's no loose grain on this one. I'm going to wear it for a few days and report back.

View attachment 638913

Very good illustration, and this should help steering the "leather is always grainy" part of the discussion in a more focussed direction...

 

[Marc mndt]

Here's an example of what I consider to be normal graining. Unlike the RRL boots the graining on this boot is evenly spread and I can't move it around with my thumb (because there's no separation of layers).

 

[cbez]

Loose grain is a thing and this CXL RRL boot was deemed faulty because of it. The boot has obviously been worn but the loose grain was already there when it was brand new.

The second smooth leather boot is the replacement. I haven't worn it yet but I'm certain it won't crease the way the first one did because there's no loose grain on this one. I'm going to wear it for a few days and report back.

I'm not saying it's not a thing, but most of the time it's being applied to normal creasing like OPs pair that just happens to be more coarse than they want. You can see in all the other guidi calf examples that it creases pretty consistently like that.

 

[Peter Mackin]

Loose grain is a thing and this CXL RRL boot was deemed faulty because of it. The boot has obviously been worn but the loose grain was already there when it was brand new.

The second smooth leather boot is the replacement. I haven't worn it yet but I'm certain it won't crease the way the first one did because there's no loose grain on this one. I'm going to wear it for a few days and report back.

View attachment 638913

I like the creased boot 100 times more

 

[Bennarion]

If there's only one wrinkled shoe, is that okay too?

 

[MickeyPunch]

If there's only one wrinkled shoe, is that okay too?

Totally! Anyone wanna guess what the leather is? Drum roll… Guidi! Unlined, too. Boots are not made by them (although I do have Guidi boots) and these are among my favourites. I do see how some people would hate this though.

 

[Bennarion]

View attachment 639019

It looks cool, I don't argue. But I wanted it to be on both shoes

 

[MickeyPunch]

It looks cool, I don't argue. But I wanted it to be on both shoes

Sure, I’d hate this in a pir of dress shoes for example (luckily I very rarely wear those), but I think it goes well with this style (which some call “artisanal” or “avantgarde”) and quite often there’s mismatches like this.

But I admit I’m full of contradictions because for example I really dislike chest pockets in center zip jackets because they break the symmetry for no reason (I don’t think many would use that pocket over the internal one, or the ones in the pants, etc) but in the case of the boots above I don’t mind the asymmetry. And even a more similar example, like Fine Creek Leathers using mismatched panels, I’m on the fence… I don’t hate it but not sure I like it.