doc martens and my consumer rights

frog36

i bought a pair of £170 docs.  i have been really precious with them only wearing them indoors. I was planning to walk 3 miles home each day in the coming winter months but i have no faith in the quality of the boots to be able to confidently do so now

 Over the course of a day the polish wore through down to the bare leather.  i have literally worn them 30 times.  i have sent them photos showing minimum wear.  I have quoted my consumer rights and said i am happy to accept a repair /replacement and i have received a 3rd email from them saying i can't have a refund.  this makes me think i am just getting an AI response to my emails.  and so i am been blocked.

does anyone have any advice?  All i've seen is that my only recourse is to take them to small claims court which i think means i'm missing a few steps in the process

the other thing i thought to do is take them back to the shop i bought them from but that's an 2hr (and back) trip to london with the train ticket costs included. 

QrizB

frog36 said:

Over the course of a day the polish wore through down to the bare leather.  i have literally worn them 30 times. 
does anyone have any advice?

You wouldn't normally get any appreciable wear on the top of the toe of a shoe. It looks like you've scuffed them on something, or have been wearing them while kneeling?

Is this a common occurrence with your shoes?

Eg. my kids used to wear the tops of the toes of their shoes in a similar fashion to your photo when they were in primary school, and would move around on their knees, dragging their shoed feet behind them, on carpet at school (and, from the state of the shoes, probably on tarmac in the playground too).

Isthisforreal99

Quoting Consumer Rights to the manufacturer when you bought them elsewhere won't get you anywhere.

Your Consumer Rights rest with whoever you bought them from.

TadleyBaggie

frog36 said:

does anyone have any advice?  All i've seen is that my only recourse is to take them to small claims court which i think means i'm missing a few steps in the process

A pointless exercise, which is bound to fail. You have no relationship with them, they owe you nothing.

the other thing i thought to do is take them back to the shop i bought them from but that's an 2hr (and back) trip to london with the train ticket costs included.

This the only course of action that has any merit.

elsien

How long have you had them for?

Emmia

frog36 said:

i bought a pair of £170 docs.  i have been really precious with them only wearing them indoors. I was planning to walk 3 miles home each day in the coming winter months but i have no faith in the quality of the boots to be able to confidently do so now

 Over the course of a day the polish wore through down to the bare leather.  i have literally worn them 30 times.  i have sent them photos showing minimum wear.  I have quoted my consumer rights and said i am happy to accept a repair /replacement and i have received a 3rd email from them saying i can't have a refund.  this makes me think i am just getting an AI response to my emails.  and so i am been blocked.

does anyone have any advice?  All i've seen is that my only recourse is to take them to small claims court which i think means i'm missing a few steps in the process

the other thing i thought to do is take them back to the shop i bought them from but that's an 2hr (and back) trip to london with the train ticket costs included. 

I'm not sure how you've managed to scuff them like that, but the "damage" pictured would be rectified by shoe polish. Cleaning and polishing your boots is an essential part of making them last.

As an aside, those don't look like the winter grip soles, I've personally found that DMs (of which I have many pairs) with their standard sole can be a bit slippery in the wet, and I'll be honest I wouldn't have bought these boots for the purposes you describe. I'd have bought a pair of Solomon walking trainers which I find have a substantially better grip in wet and icy conditions

kimwp

That's wear on the top of the shoe, you must have been scuffing it against something. I don't think you can claim they are not fit for purpose when you've worn them down using them in a way that's not intended (rubbing/banging the top of the boot against something). And they aren't saleable any more as you have damaged them.

Best to treat scuff damage to polished shoes before they get to that point.

Emmia

To add, having looked them up, it seems the boots you've bought are essentially coated leather, intended to wear through / rub off to look more battered/vintage. It's a black coating on natural tan/biscuit coloured leather, which is why the lighter colour has come through - they're not faulty, it's how they're meant to be. You'll find that the natural tan/biscuit colour comes through in other areas of the boot as you wear them properly.

I have a pair with a similar effect leather/coating which is dark red on red.

To quote from the website listing (link below)
"The 5 Eyelet Monkey Boot Vintage Smooth is a retro version of our signature smooth leather with a subtle grained effect and contrast base colour...."

If you wanted boots that are dyed leather (i.e. the leather itself is black), then these weren't the boots to buy, you'd have been better with a classic 1460 or one of the other styles.

https://www.drmartens.com/uk/en_gb/church-vintage-smooth-leather-monkey-boots-black/p/16054001

born_again

Either scuffing or your polishing brush has stiff bristles & you have spent too much time polishing that area.

https://www.drmartens.com/uk/en_gb/care/how-to-care/how-to-protect-maintain-dr-martens?srsltid=AfmBOorxMnGkALsJHZJ9zVMrRCrSR5msT74z-fydtuf4dJDHPFT5ORhG

Grumpy_chap

Emmia said:

As an aside, those don't look like the winter grip soles, I've personally found that DMs (of which I have many pairs) with their standard sole can be a bit slippery in the wet, and I'll be honest I wouldn't have bought these boots for the purposes you describe. I'd have bought a pair of Solomon walking trainers which I find have a substantially better grip in wet and icy conditions

@Emmia

My wife is currently looking for a pair of waterproof trainers for the coming winter season.  We had in mind as a default to look at Merrell, but your comment about Solomon could be good food for thought.  Do you have any insight between the merits of the two brands?  We always thought of Solomon as ski-wear and SE England tends not to be that type of location.

Emmia

Grumpy_chap said:

Emmia said:

As an aside, those don't look like the winter grip soles, I've personally found that DMs (of which I have many pairs) with their standard sole can be a bit slippery in the wet, and I'll be honest I wouldn't have bought these boots for the purposes you describe. I'd have bought a pair of Solomon walking trainers which I find have a substantially better grip in wet and icy conditions

@Emmia

My wife is currently looking for a pair of waterproof trainers for the coming winter season.  We had in mind as a default to look at Merrell, but your comment about Solomon could be good food for thought.  Do you have any insight between the merits of the two brands?  We always thought of Solomon as ski-wear and SE England tends not to be that type of location.

I've never had Merrell walking trainers so I can't comment on them, but I bought my Solomon's in 2012 - I'm not a heavy walker, so they're still good! I personally find my Solomon's, lightweight, waterproof, warm (in a good way) and they grip well in wet and icy conditions.

I particularly like the drawstring type fastening on my shoes as I find it easy to adjust and it allows for quick removal - no fiddling with double knots. If/when they die I'll replace them with the nearest equivalent model.

Edit: I've had a very quick look at the Solomon site, and I think these are most similar in terms of shape, sole, fastening, features etc. to the ones I have.

https://www.salomon.com/en-us/product/x-ultra-360-li5849

Crucially I think what's best is really based on how they fit your foot, so I'd go somewhere where you can try many brands and decide.

A third option are North Face, my husband had Solomon's but replaced his last pair with North Face walking trainers a couple of years ago and he's very pleased with them - so I'd look at those too. He's done things like walking the Ridgeway, Thames path etc.