£250 boots, ten months old and sole already breaking - advice needed

[femaletrouble]

I need some advice please!

I was bought a pair of £250 "British made" leather boots made by an iconic brand for my birthday. Was told at the time that these are very well made, weather-hardy boots that will last many years and for that price, I assumed they would.

They are approximately 10 months old but I have only worn them since winter, so about 6 months of use and even then, not daily.

The upper leather is fine, but the "seam" on both boots where the leather fabric upper meets the plastic sole has separated and the split is now going into the plastic of the sole.

I went back to the shop I purchased them from to complain, only to be very patronisingly told that this is normal for these kind of boots as the wear opens up the sole and the wearing of the boot causes the seam to naturally open. He said that I can keep wearing them until the split goes into the sole (which it is already doing) and then then I would need to send them back to the manufacturers who would repair them at cost.

I explained that the split is already very visibly in the sole (and he could see this for himself) but he said the only option for me is to send them back to the manufacturers who will charge me a fee of £85 to replace the sole and they will only do this when there is a deep split anyway (which I don't understand as there is already one there!). They apparently do not refund or replace and my only option is to pay for their very expensive repair service (or get them repaired myself at an independent cobbler). Terrible quality boots and equally terrible customer service basically. It seems that once you have handed over the money, they are completely disinterested.

I did argue that I thought this was terrible quality for a pair of £250 boots that have hardly been worn and even then by a small, woman who does not work on rough terrain but I was just told that my only option is to pay the £85 repair in due course.

Since it has been over 6 months, I cannot do a chargeback. Do I have any other options? I would ideally like a (partial) refund or replacement.

I would go directly to the manufacturer. Sometimes tweeting gets the fastest response. Be factual and see what they say. Maybe first read up a bit on consumer rights to get a sense of what would be considered reasonable according to the law.

I'm not an expert but as a punter that's what I would do.

Consumer law says the shop is responsible if they are not fit for purpose.

Agree with both Pp ,not fit for purpose & shame them for it if they don't respond or expect that amount of money . £85 ?!?! is ridiculous for a repair

Do tell us which brand. That is bloody ridiculous.

Eighty five pounds to repair them ? That is insane. Is the sole leather ? What make are they ? I would think any good cobbler would repair Church’s , Grensen , Trickers etc.

Even after 6 months you have a right to an item, fit for purpose, explain to them that the item is faulty and therefore should be repaired at their cost, look up consumer act and quote correct article

That’s really rubbish actually. I remember DH taking a similarly expensive pair of boots that had proven to be shoddy, back to John Lewis a few years ago, when he had had them for about a year. He got a refund without any quibbling.

After six months the obligation is on the consumer to demonstrate that the item is inherently faulty. You'd need to get a report from an independent expert, which sounds extreme but in reality a court would be satisfied with a report from an independent cobbler.

Depending on the retailer, you may well get a remedy by posting on social media. And naming and shaming on here.

The boots are leather upper material, the sole is rubber and there is a sort of seam going all the way around that joins the leather to the rubber which is also rubber. The seam has split and the split is now migrating into the lower rubber sole too. Apparently I can "still wear them" and once the split gets even worse I can happily send them away to be repaired at my expense. Bloody great!

The shop is an official distributor for the manufacturer. The man in the shop said that the manufacturer would not refund or replace but would normally only offer to repair (at £85 cost) because with shoes/boots they cannot give a guarantee of how long they will last and all feet are different blah blah.

When I got them, I was told they were incredible quality, British made, not like similar brands that are now manufactured in China/Thailand and that they would last for years. Ha!

I have looked at some reviews online of the manufacturer and it seems it is quite common for people to have to get them repaired (eventually) and that the repairs service is not great. I really don't want to fork out another £85 for expensive shoes.

I don't get the impression that the shop workers ever give refunds or returns easily and I imagine I would have to do what Tomtontom says and even then, I would probably be offered a slight discount in repair rates.

It's not sounding good .
If all else fails ,take them to a decent cobbler,you'll probably get better service & a higher standard of repair!

Hmm - are these DMs? I would definitely contact them on social media, that really isn't good enough - especially paying extra for the Made in Britain ones

I'd take photos and send to manufacturer direct

Legally , it is the shop's responsibility to handle your complaint, not for you to go to manufacturer.

Gayparee - No, not DMs although very similar looking boots.

LIZS - Shop has said I can take them in to be sent off to manufacturer when split is worse.

I've seen plenty of shoes ware out with 6 months worth of use. It's probably the bare minimum I would expect from a shoe tbh but I wouldn't dream of taking a shoe back after that.

However, I did have a flatmate once whos fancy boots (I want to say...hunters?) from Office wore out and it was pretty much on the year and she took them back to the store to see if any fixing could be done and instead, they literally just gave her a replacement pair! So perhaps there's no harm in asking.

But they should do so now or you can insist on replacement/refund as Faulty/Not fit for purpose

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act