Service ain’t what it used to be

For all you locals, you’ll know what I mean!

My Beef with Garmont Vegan Hikers">My Beef with Garmont Vegan Hikers

My first pair of vegan hiking boots were custom-ordered from the UK. I put on the thick socks I would normally wear, traced my foot onto paper, and sent the paper cut-out along with a fistful of greenbacks. (Well, really, I think it was either a check or international money order, but I’m going for drama here, okay..)

They fit great, and I wore them on several week-long backpacking trips for a few years. (If you know me now, you know this was a long time ago.)

Recently, after the demise of my current Headwater Hikers (made from hemp, great concept, not very sturdy though), I decided to purchase a pair of Garmont Vegan Hikers from GarmontUSA. Garmont was very responsive and (they got high marks in my books for this) answered my primary questions about the shoe (“I heard it runs small.” “What size should I get?” “Can I return it?”) via email. Then it turns out this batch of boots (which was on sale on their website for $65) was absent a waterproof liner. Well, I really wasn’t planning on walking in the rain so I said that I was still interested if they’d knock something off the price. (I was just planning to wear the boots on day hikes in nice weather.) They said okay, $50. And when I asked about the size again, I was advised by Garmont to order my regular size (i.e. as if the Garmont Vegan Hikers did not run small) since this pair would be without the liner.

So I did, and I sent them my credit card number. Alas, woe is me, the Garmont Vegan Hikers did not fit, even with regular socks! I typically wear a size 5 1/2 or occasionally a 6. These boots (size 6) were definitely too small. I got an authorization to return the shoes and did so.

I know they arrived on Friday 9/24 (the wonders of FedEx tracking). By the following Thursday, 9/30, with no credit appearing, I started to follow up with Garmont via email. This time they haven’t been responsive at all. Several emails have gone unanswered.

They may be a great shoe, but in my book, Garmont Vegan Hikers definitely would not get my vote for Best Vegan Hiker in the VegNews Magazine survey. Now that I want money from them, instead of sending money to them, customer service has been nonexistent.

It’s precisely this reason that I hate mail order shopping.

Funny enough, one of my good friends seems to buy alot of stuff mailorder. He cannot say enough good things about the customer service at LL Bean. He buys so much stuff that we’ve nicknamed him LL Bean. Coincidentally, LL Bean has introduced a vegan hiker too. But I’m not sure if I should tempt the fates (and the roundtrip cost of shipping if they don’t work out) to merely try on another pair of shoes.

Anyways, I finally figured that I had to call them up in person to find out what the heck was going on. Tuesday, 10/5, I find out their email systems have not been working. They hadn’t received any emails from me, but they had received the Garmont Vegan Hikers back.

So, I requested that since I had relied on their advice that Garmont should also refund the $15 shipping costs to and fro.

Turns out Garmont finally gave me the credit for the boots on 10/7 sans shipping. So, I guess what I learned is this: Don’t rely on the company when you need advice about their product.

If there ever is a next time for mail order, I’m gonna ask the company if they stand behind their product enough to pay for shipping. They probably won’t, since shipping is expensive and that’s why they want the customers to pay for it.

Oh, and the reason why Garmont said they couldn’t refund shipping was because the Garmont Vegan Hikers were on sale. Hmmm, since I am returning the Garmont Vegan Hikers (whether I purchased at full price or discount), seems like they’re not making any money anyways. If that is indeed their policy, and since I did ask about the size and if they did returns, it would have been nice to know up front. Garmont has ignored the fact that I relied on them for shoe size advice.

So it cost me $15 to try on a pair of vegan boots. My impressions of the Garmont Vegan Hikers was that it was nice and sturdily made, felt really solid (but small) on my feet… but this two minute experience definitely wasn’t worth $15. (It was two minutes because I tried the shoes on twice at different times.) For $15, I could get a great meal at many of the wonderful vegetarian restaurants in San Francisco. Yeah, that would last only as long as it takes me to eat it, but still, I would feel like I got something for my money AND it would last longer than two minutes. Right now, I just have this negative impression of dealing with Garmont.

Sigh. I do want vegan hiking boots though. I found out if you order from LL Bean with a LL Bean credit card, you get free shiping to you. So, if they didn’t work out, it’d only be shipping one way and they provide a return shipping voucher with a cost of less than $6 regardless of how much you send back.

Anyways, that’s my review of my experience with Garmont Vegan Hikers. Your mileage may vary (especially if you can get a pair that fits).