ComplaintsforTin Shack Ltd

• Initial Complaint

  09/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a pair of Blundstones in which I filed a warranty claim on December 1, 2022 because the soles literally cracked and fell apart ** *** *** ******* ******** . I received an email back on Dec 2/22 requesting a picture of both shoes showing the defect. I did that. No further response beyond Dec 5/22. i sent an email on Dec 17/22 asking if they would be be responding and I heard nothing . Since I had sent the pictures and not had any correspondence, I threw the shoes out on Dec 20/22 and then on Dec 22/22, I receive the following email : RA#***** To proceed, please confirm the mailing address you provided is correct and send me a photo of your destroyed boots. You must destroy your Blundstone boots by carefully cutting out all 4 elastics and cutting off all 4 pull tabs. In the photo, please include the discarded pull tabs and elastics alongside the boots and a piece of paper with your name and todays date on it. We kindly ask that you send the photos in within 45 days so we may close your claim. Should you not be able to send within the 45-day timeframe, you shall have to complete a new warranty claim. Once I have shipping address confirmation and the photos of the destroyed boots, a new pair shall be sent to you. Do not discard your old boots until you receive shipping confirmation for your replacement pair. The replacement boots will leave our warehouse within 1-3 business days and will be shipped via Canada Post, please DO NOT return the boots in person as we are not open to the public. Amanda - warranty department I told them I threw them out due to no reply and the pictures that the soles had disintegrated but they are now refusing to replace them. Had they replied in a timely manner, I would have been able to cut the tags off as requested. After 3 more emails begging for them to reply Amanda said :Without destroyed photos we are unable to assist you as this is part of our antifraud policy to prevent duplicate claims on the same pair of boots

  Business response

  19/01/2023

  We are pleased to report that we spoke with ***** on over the phone on 12th January 2023 and that this matter was resolved to the customer's satisfaction. The warranty claim was approved and the boots were replaced. Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  21/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered winter boots from Blundstone.ca and received defective boots in the mail. I contacted the company to have a new pair sent out and they told me I'd have to send these ones back in the mail (1 week) and wait for them to be "inspected" (2 weeks?) and then they'd send me a new pair pending the results of their "investigation" (another week). I ordered winter boots from Blundstone as I live in Canada (harsh, subzero temperatures, ice and snow, blizzards... the good stuff) and was under the impression buying from Blundstone would result in dry, warm feet. But with this "customer service", I'd be wearing running shoes in the snow while they examine the defective boots they mailed to me. Did I mention they were going to keep my $300 during this 4-8 week process? After expressing my concern, they offered me a new solution: destroy the defective boots we mailed to you by cutting the elastic and tags off and take a photo of the destroyed boots with your name and date written on a sheet of paper, and then they would mail me a non-damaged pair of winter boots. So I did that. That was last week and since then I've taken out my garbage, destroyed boots included. And then this week I receive an email from Blundstone asking me to now send them another photo with NEW requirements: this time they want the cut off tags and elastics to be in the photo. I already threw out their defective boots after meeting the criteria of the initial email. This new "requirement" was never stated in the initial instructions. If that "requirement" had been stated, I would have followed it. They've added additional "requirements" after the fact. And now they're not replacing the defective boots they mailed to me and asked me to destroy. /Users/************/*********/**** **********.ca Order #****** is confirmed.eml I gave Blundstone $300 to destroy and throw out their defective boots for them. & that's it. I paid $300 to Blundstone and got nothing but cold, wet feet and financial loss.

  Business response

  01/12/2022

  Good afternoon *********,
  
  Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us, here at Blundstone Canada. We are very sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with your warranty submission received on 17th November 2022; we do not want our customers to be left with a poor experience and very happy to speak to your comments further. We have ******** a document ***** that includes all our prior communications and alongside this we have provided a commentary of notes with further thoughts; please review this document and ******** notes for further context.
  
  We are very sorry that you were concerned with the condition in which your new boots arrived; our Warranty team did their very best to action your submission in a timely fashion (note, our response within 24 hours, much sooner than the quoted 3-5 business days) as well as making an exception to our standard process of physically inspecting the boots, so that we could turn this around as quickly as possible for you and get a new pair of boots sent out. From the initial assessment of the boots, there was no defect found to be present and therefore the boots would need a further inspection in person to confirm this or not – this is our standard process when the warranty team cannot find a defect in the supplied photos. Following your dissatisfaction to this response and expressing that you had no other footwear to wear – leaving you with cold, wet feet during our Canadian subzero weather conditions – we were happy to offer a one-time exception to this standard process and approve a replacement pair immediately, so as to get you a pair of boots as soon as possible. At this time, we had no signs that these boots were defective, however, made an offer in good faith as a customer gesture to try and bring this all to a positive resolution. In this message, we were very clear in our instructions provided for processing a warranty replacement, stating: “To proceed, please confirm the mailing address you provided is correct and send me a photo of your destroyed boots. You must destroy your Blundstone boots by carefully cutting out all 4 elastics and cutting off all 4 pull tabs” – we must see evidence of the destroyed boots in this photo to be able to proceed with a warranty replacement. Hence our response on 21st November 2022, as the photo that was sent through to us did not include evidence of the destroyed boots, and without confirmation that the boots had been destroyed, our team were unable to proceed and requested an additional photo that met our original instructions.
  
  It was then we received your response stating that you could not send through evidence of the destroyed boots as you had thrown them away. It is regretful that the boots were thrown away during the middle of the warranty process, at no stage in our communications did we provide this instruction, nor does our website make any reference to this, so we are unsure why this action would have been taken.
  
  Here at Blundstone Canada we take great pride in the quality and durability of our footwear and the warranty program exists to ensure that if there is a defect present in the materials or workmanship of a pair of boots, the customer is protected. For a warranty replacement to be processed, the customer must have the boots in hand and we must receive confirmation of the destroyed boots. Without receiving this confirmation and with the boots having now been thrown away, we are sadly unable to proceed with your requested warranty replacement and there are no further steps we may take.
  
  As a business we hold ourselves to the highest standards of fairness and transparency, we always try to act in an honest, reasonable manner and support our loyal customer base as much as possible. We appreciate this is not the ideal outcome you were hoping for and we are very sorry that we are unable to meet your request; having now read our response and ******** notes we hope this provides further context and understanding as to the outcome of this matter.
  
  Thank you,
  Blundstone Canada.

  Customer response

  02/12/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Blundstone sent defective boots to my home which I provided evidence of. Blundstone provided instructions to destroy the defective boots and send a photo of the destroyed boots and a sheet of paper with my name and the date. I followed those instructions, met that criteria, sent the photo, and threw out Blundstones’s destroyed defective boots. The following week Blundstone added additional criteria to the photo requirements never stated in the initial email and refused to replace the defective boots they mailed to me and asked me to destroy. 
  

  I paid $300 to throw out Blundstone’s garbage for them, leaving me with nothing but financial loss. 
  

  It’s not okay to treat people like this.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* *******

  Business response

  15/12/2022

  Good afternoon *********,

  Thank you for your message. Sadly we shall have to reject your response as it does not address the concerns raised in our prior correspondence and included additional details. If you may please kindly review our prior communications, we are very happy to proceed with the warranty request once we have received appropriate confirmation that the boots have been destroyed. 

  Thank you,

  Blundstone Canada. 

• Initial Complaint

  17/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Thank you for taking the time to review my claim regarding a customer service issue I am having against Blundstone Canada. Since my warranty claim has been unreasonably rejected, I will go into further detail regarding my actions and care for my boots since my purchase of the Blundstone Canada product. I purchased my first pair of Blundstone boots in late 2018, and have followed stringent care and maintenance of my boots on a regular basis since day 1. Following Blundstone's guidelines for care, I used their Blundstone oil wax and conditioner. Whenever they were dirty, I would wipe them down with natural solutions with water, and occasionally a mixture of vinegar as well and always let them air dry naturally. I would condition every 2 months, which was even more stringent than their recommended 3 months. On top of all this, I would frequently use the Blundstone Renovating Boot Polishing Cream. With that said, I understand that Blundstone does not guarantee a "service of life" for their boots, but I have witnessed other customer's boots that are two years older than mine, and have held up much better and without these defects. This can only mean that there is a defect in material or workmanship with the boots I purchased from Blundstone - which is supposed to be fully guaranteed by Blundstone. ****** *** ******** ******** ***** *** ***** ** ******* * both rubber sole detachment and the elastic band frays. I would also like to make a strong note that roughly 1.5 of the years I've had these boots, we were in lockdowns due to the pandemic. So I was not using my boots any amount whatsoever during this time, as we were strongly advised to stay home by Public Health. Again, I appreciate your time in reviewing my customer service issue, and hope that the pride and quality Blundstone takes in their product, can be reflected in a fair resolution here for their customer. Thank you.

  Business response

  30/11/2022

  Good afternoon ******,
  
  Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us, here at Blundstone Canada. We are very sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with the result of your warranty claim submitted on 11th November 2022; we do not want our customers to be left with a poor experience and very happy to speak to your comments further.
  
  The claim noted that the boots were purchased on 19th October 2018, making the boots just over 4 years old and the concern was:
  
  “The problem that I am having with the boots is that the elastic bands have frayed quite bad along the tops. The leather has seemed to have cracked and created creases that allow moisture in - despite the regular conditioning treatments. Lastly, the sole on the left heel of the boot has started to come apart - I can send more pictures if necessary. I would like to mention that I absolutely love my Blundstones - despite the current issues I'm having. I've convinced my wife and most of my siblings to purchase Blundstones, and they loved them as well.”
  
  On 14th November 2022 a member of our Warranty team replied following their assessment of the boots and indicated that the warranty claim had been denied due to expected wear & tear. Our response was as follows:
  
  “We make our assessment of a warranty claim based on the product having performed to expectations of normal wear and tear, taking into account the age of product, environmental conditions the product may have been used in and care of the product. Having reviewed the photos and information you have provided and based on the above criteria, we would deem your boots to have experienced fair wear and tear and are not representative of a defect in materials, construction or workmanship. Regretfully, we are therefore unable to proceed with your claim for a warranty replacement.”
  
  To provide further details, the reasons for the result of this assessment include:
  
  1. The outsole of the boots have been worn down completely in the heel area. This is a result of the heel being dragged while walking, which would be considered a normal wear pattern. With the outsole being worn away completely, the soft midsole was exposed, allowing the elements to enter the sole of the boot. This is the expected outcome once the outsole has been worn away and typically suggests that the boots have reached the end of their serviceable life.
  
  2. The claim stated that the boots had been conditioned approximately every 2 months with ‘SofSole Mink Oil’, and occasionally ‘Fiebing's Leather Lotion’ and polished boots almost every two weeks with the Blundstone Renovating Boot Polishing Cream. Our website and product care guide recommends that conditioning the boots be done every 3-6 months. The reasoning for this is because any more than that can over-saturate the leather and cause it to break down. We see this especially with overuse of polish, but any products used in excess will oversaturate the uppers and result in tearing as the leather loses its integrity.
  
  3. The elastic material covering the ankle had eventually broken down and started to fray after 4 years of use. This is something that is considered a serviceable part of the boot and the customer could opt to have this repaired, however based to the overall condition of the boots we would consider them to be at the end of their wearable life and therefore would not recommend investing into a repair on a pair of boots that have been worn out.
  
  For the above reasons, the warranty claim was denied. We would have been very happy to have discussed this further and it is regretful that this matter has resulted with a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau. As a business we hold ourselves to the highest standards of fairness and transparency, we always try to act in a reasonable manner and support our loyal customer base as much as possible. Here at Blundstone Canada we take great pride in the quality and durability of our footwear and the warranty program exists to ensure that if there is a defect in the materials or workmanship of a pair of boots, the customer is protected. Our warranty does not imply an expectation of service life and all warranty claims are assessed on an individual basis. This warranty does not apply to footwear or accessories that have been damaged as a result of normal wear and tear.
  
  We hope this provides further context and understanding as to why your warranty claim was denied. Should you have any further questions, we shall be very happy to assist further.
  
  Thank you,
  Blundstone Canada.

  Customer response

  30/11/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because it is clear the company doesn’t value their customer’s issues with their product enough to offer a resolution. It appears they regret that their unfair actions have been brought forward to the BBB - who is there to help protect and mitigate fairness in resolutions for the consumer. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

  Business response

  15/12/2022

  Good afternoon ******,

  Thank you for your message, we are very sorry that you are dissatisfied with our response. We appreciate the concerns you have made regarding your recent warranty claim but we do stand soundly behind the claim assessment of wear and tear after a 4-year time frame, referencing the additional details provided in our prior correspondence explaining why we reached this conclusion. We are genuinely sorry that your boots did not live up to your expectations and really do not want to leave you with a sour experience. We are unable to warranty this pair of boots, as this would not hold to the integrity of the Blundstone Warranty program and brand, however, we would be very happy to extend the offer of a 25% discount off a new pair of boots from blundstone.ca in a hope that we may bring this matter to a positive resolution.

  Thank you.

  Blundstone Canada. 

  Customer response

  16/12/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩