Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Dear Makers of the Sorel Boots I bought

UPDATE!!!: Can you believe that in far less than 24 hours, the PR Rep for Sorel found this and offered to help my sore tootsies? See comments section. And she is REAL. Way go to! So...I emailed her, she emailed me back and I will be taking a photo of said boots so she can identify them and we'll go from there. Score 1 for Customer Service. Oh and I failed to disclose that I bought a pair of Sorel boots for the little guy while in Canada also. His are NOTHING like mine and are awesome. I'll be sure to let you all know what comes out of this.

I wanted to take some precious time between the business plan I need to write for Monday, the website copy that needs revamping asap, the demanding job of mothering a 3-year old, a husband and my upteenth load of laundry this week to bitch about the $150+ boots I purchased from one of your retailers in Canada.

I've learned that if you're going to criticize, you should instead start with the positive and work your way smoothly into the negative. It's called constructive feedback, I believe.

Your boots LOOKED awesome when I first laid my boot-starved eyes on them. I've been proudly sporting the same pair of fur boots for the past seven years or so. Almost knee high, white mukaluk types. They cost me a fortune at the time. But I needed a change. My feet needed the feel of newness. Something more 2010 if you will. And forget UGGS. I am not buying into that craze. Purely because everyone else has.

Back to the shoe store.

They are white, with red trim and to top it all off, had a Canadian flag emblazoned on them. They're a serious outdoorsy winter persony type of boot. I am not that person but the boot exuded coolness or warmness or both. Rubber soled, red laced, mid calf high. No question about it: A real winter boot. I was sold. Noone in Sweden would own these puppies, reason # whatever to buy them.

To the airport.

I wore them with pride. By Heathrow, I was limping. By the time I arrived at Arlanda Airport, I was walking on my tiptoes with a gorgeous blister on my right ankle.

I chalked up the hobbling and blood to "needing to work them in". Right? I mean they are Sorels, suppose to be one of the best manufactured winter boots in Canada.

Back home in winter

It takes me 25 minutes to walk to my son's school. It took me 45 minutes the first day I ventured out in your boots. The blistering started about 1/4 of the way in. Then I realized I wasn't actually wearing boots, I was dragging them like two blocks of concrete on each foot. Oh, and, because the backs are so rigid, but not rigid enough and your toes don't actually touch the ground when you walk, it felt like I was wearing downhill ski boots. You know how those boots actually pitch you forward slightly and your calves are like two big charlie horses the day after your first run down the slopes? That's what it's like walking in your boots. Or ski/walking.

Let me explain the design flaw of your boots. The shell is made of some thick kinda stuff but then you decided to cover them in suede? Well this combination, though adding a pretty flair to an otherwise work boot, sucks. The backs buckle. And WHERE do they buckle? Right at the blister point of the ankle. Thank you very much.

The backs of each of my feet are once again, smeared with polysporin. My calves have turned to cankles and I want nothing more than to smell burnt rubber as I douse your boots with gasoline and toss in the match.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenn,
I work with Sorel and would love to chat with you about your boots. So sorry you've had such a bad experience with this pair, but we definitely don't want you to suffer - or set them on fire. :)

Send me an email, I'd love to help you out!

Thanks!
Brittney
brittneyl@r-west.com

septembermom said...

Ouch! I'm sorry to hear about your "painful experience with these boots". Hope you get some kind of resolution soon.

Thanks for sharing your take on my five word association game. It was fun to read your answers.

SwedishJenn said...

@Brittney. Holy smokes! The power of the blog! Less than 24 hours later and we get a Sorel rep asking me to douse the flames. I am impressed and will update my blog post to reflect this along with the outcome.
@septembermom: See above! Keep those word associations coming

Unknown said...

ah, the power of the blog. Keep us updated.

SwedishJenn said...

See update above!

septembermom said...

Glad to hear about the update! Happy Friday :)

Gamma-ray said...

you poor thing you, i know the excruciating pain that you are going through. its fantastic the customer service is helping out!!! i hope it helps and you find the most magical pair ever. we ladies know how important it is.

Hyacynth said...

Love the power of blogs! Also, shoot me an e-mail if you're interested in guest posting on my blog this week. Looking for a few guest posts for my busy week at the business.

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Sorel Boots said...

Oh and I failed to disclose that I bought a pair of Sorel boots for the little guy while in Canada also. His are NOTHING like mine and are ... isorelboots.blogspot.com

Allison said...

I have the same problem! How do I fix it... Where it buckled in the back hurts so bad.

Unknown said...

I have the exact same problem!!! I finally splurged on them even though I'm a broke college student bc I knew I would be walking lots and needed a good paid. I literally wore them twice! I walk to school which is only a 10-15 min walk, then I get there and change them. Today on my walk only 5 mins In, I started to feel rubbing on my left ankle. I got to the point where I could even walk. I was in tears! When I got to the school and changed then my ankle was ripped apart and bleeding. I'm so upset bc now I can't afford to buy any other boots and can't wear these because I can't even go 5 mins without getting my skin raw and ripped 😭

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh. Sorel still hasn’t fixed this issue because in 2024 I’m searching the internet asking about my boots causing blisters by my ankles!