The Sorel Boot Saga Continued...

You might recall my last post on the horribly blistered feet I got as a direct result of buying a cool-looking pair of winter boots back in Canada.

Well, dear blog readers, all 5 of you: Within 24 hours of my rant in the blogosphere, a PR rep from Sorel commented on my post. In addition to asking me not to burn the boots, she offered to help me find a solution to my boot problem.

Now I'm in PR, have been for all of my adult life. And I'll tell you: This here is some good PR. She then proceeded to send me an email apologizing on behalf of her team for me sore feet and asked me to take a photo of the boot culprits. Before I had a chance to figure out how to hook my camera up to my computer and all that jazz, I received another email from a rep at Columbia, whom I assume owns the Sorel brand.

She asked me to jot down all the info on my boots and offered to send me a new pair! Stop. I do NOT want a new pair. I have tried, in vain, to befriend these boots but we just can't seem to get along. So instead, I have asked for a gift certificate of some form so that I may continue to patronage their fine brand but with a set of boots that adore me and my big ole feet.

I even figured out my new scanner (whose software is all in Swedish thank you very much) and sent her a receipt. This may seem like "whatever" to you all, but I am not one of these award-winning Mommy bloggers with thousands of followers so the fact that all this fuss is being made over little ole' me and my big ole' feet, well this is monumental and deserves a worthy enough post. We bitch and moan about bad customer service all the time (human nature) so when we get treated like royalty, we need to shout it from the rooftops. It's only fair.

I will keep you posted on the resolution. In the meantime, I gotta stop wearing my rain boots and get my tired feet into a store. Thank you Sorel and thank you Columbia for listening to a lonely customer in Sweden.

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.