The Ugly Uggs Rip Off

Having seen folks wearing those uggs boots and admiring the look I have been known to ask folks how they liked them. Most of the time the response has been "they make my feet happy". Happy feet sounded pretty good to me so I started looking around to find some for myself.

Locally I apparently waited about a year too long since none of the stores carried them so I began an online search for said boots. I thought I would get them for the cruise I was taking Mother on the first week of January. I was somewhat shocked at the lowest prices I could find since they were more expensive than I remembered seeing them in the local stores. I suppose this could have been because of the increase in their popularity before I made the decision to purchase a pair.

I had read online that there were "cheap knock-offs" that were being made in Australia and New Zealand, and that the original good quality boots now came from China. I found a web site that appeared to be on the up and up and ordered the boots to arrive 2 days before our sailing.

The boots arrived in time, but they arrived damaged. There was a leather thong that was broken and when I tried to tie it back together it broke again in my hand with almost no pressure applied.. this indicated shoddy materials were being used. Thinking I could live without the thong ornamentation, I tried on the boots only to find that the left boot was torn along the seam about two inches down from the top of the boot. As the other one fit perfectly this meant that to have the seam resewn would lessen the diameter fo the part of the boot that hugged my calf.. making it more likely to not be a good fit if indeed it fit at all, and also making additional tearing more likely since it would then be too snug.

I contacted the company via email and at first believed they would act in good faith to rectify the problem. They suggested I have the boot repaired locally and they would pay for it. I got a quote on repairing the boot (which I was told would not be easy since suede is almost impossible to patch and I was right that it would reduce the circumfrence of the boot dramatically to have the seam redone making that an iffy proposition at best.)

When I emailed this company with a quote on repair costs, they flat out said that was far too much they would only pay $20 for repairs. This did not cover the repairs so I would be out even more money for a pair of boots that might not fit very well after repair.

I told them I wanted an address to return the boots to, and a full refund. They countered with saying that if I would pay them another $40 they would resend the boots... which would in effect mean I was paying an additional $40 for one pair of boots which may or may not be in any better shape than the first pair they sent, and one pair that still need fixing.

I wrote them again and pointed out that I did not pay for damaged boots and I should not have to pay for the shipping to return damaged goods.. they sent me another email saying they thought since I would have to spend $40 in postage to return the boots, that they were doing me a service to offer to mail me another pair of boots for an additional $40.

I already spent in the neighborhood of $165 for a pair of boots that I can't wear... and now they want to make that $200 +.. it was hard enough to come to a point where I was willing to spend $165, and they are continuing to refuse to foot the bill for the postage.

Now, I may be off base here, but it seems to me that if they are willing to send me a pair of boots for $40, that I have grossly overpaid for the original pair of boots.

I will be contacting the BBB and trying to find a corporate address for Ugg boots to see if this outlet actually has the real article or is one of the cheap knock-offs as they now appear to be.