Blocked by Sponsor for Negative Comment

LoneStar

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
186
Location
Oregon
I don't have an agenda against L&S, but I also believe a company should accept and address both good and bad feedback about their products.

Lathrop and Son’s Elite Hunters have been one of the best fitting and most comfortable boots I’ve owned. If I lived in a dry climate I would be a lifetime customer, but I live in rainy, wet Oregon and hunt in wet conditions. I originally purchased a pair that were too small and had blister issues on both heels. I called, spoke to someone in their shop, and they quickly determined that the boots I purchased were too small and recommended a larger size, great customer service. I readily purchased another new pair in October 2020 and wore them on a Snake River Elk hunt in November 2020. They performed flawlessly in up to 20” of snow over the 7 days we hunted. I was very pleased with my $475 purchase. In October 2021 I used them for a Colorado late season elk hunt with minimal snow, but I did cross a small creek several times and they didn’t leak. In late October 2022, now 2 years old and having 2 trips totaling about 12 days and ~100 miles, I hunted Sled Springs in Oregon. I hiked mainly on the roads to get into and out of the areas we were hunting in 3-4” of snow. One hour into opening morning my right foot was sloshing in water and the next day both feet were soaked. Since we were 7-8 miles behind the gate I didn’t have another pair of boots and proceeded to wear these daily with waterproof socks. I would end each day pouring water out of my boots, pulling the inserts out in an attempt to air dry. I was disappointed in paying this much for boots that were only waterproof on 2 trips. I’ve definitely had both worse and better experiences with "waterproof" boots.

I emailed L&S to explain what had happened and find out if I had done something wrong. I take care of all my gear including my boots immediately upon returning home from a trip. They graciously asked me to send them in for testing and I did as requested. As expected the boots leaked and I received a call from someone at their shop to be told that the boots were out of the 1 year warranty period and that a “certain percentage of boots will leak prematurely”. I was offered a fair discounted price on a new pair of boots that equaled their normal year end sale price, which was a little less than $400. I turned the offer down since I had a fairly new pair and chose to just wear my leaking boots with waterproof socks.

I understand the warranty period and I know all boots are prone to leak. I’ve had cheap Danner’s last 3-4 years and more expensive Lowa’s that lasted 1-2 years, so I don’t blame L&S’s. The issue I do have is the honesty and transparency of L&S. Recently they have been advertising heavily on social media posting videos promoting their boots and their customer service. I’ve honestly commented with positive comments about the fit and comfort, but also my experience with the waterproof property of their boots. The negative review could have been addressed with an acknowledgement and understanding, but instead they chose to delete my first post and then proceeded to block me preventing anyone from seeing the negative review. Their choice, but if you promote your products and their reliability, then you should also expect some criticism and deal with honest reviews.

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MattB

WKR
Joined
Sep 29, 2012
Messages
5,412
How did you treat the exterior of the boot between the time of purchase and when they began to leak (product and frequency)?
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
3,587
Location
Southern AZ
In my experience it doesn't matter how you treat the exterior of your boots. The liners can fail and most likely will fail at some point. They always have. I've had brand new pairs leak on the first day. Back when Gore actually made the stuff it was better but now that it's just farmed out and licensed it's worse. Lowe went through a period of terrible liners. They replaced a pair of boots three times for me and they still leaked. Every time I had to send them in for "testing" and each time they sent a new pair back. Good on them for trying but I gave up.
 
OP
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LoneStar

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
186
Location
Oregon
How did you treat the exterior of the boot between the time of purchase and when they began to leak (product and frequency)?
Caked on mud brushed off with just a water rinse, removed liners, air dried in front of a fan (no heat). I always use a Granger's leather conditioning product on the exterior after every trip out and stored them stuffed with newspaper.

Agreed on the liners leaking and not usually fault of the boot manufacturer. I've heard that occasionally a manufacturer will puncture the liner during boot assembly, but liners fail. I had a cheap pair of Danner Pronghorn's that were waterproof for 4-5 years and also had a pair that failed the first time out. Back in the day GI Joe's replaced them for free a couple of times. I was never too upset when these leaked since I only paid ~$100/pair.
 

mtwarden

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
9,486
Location
Montana
No to deleting reviews (unless they are obviously false!)- not a good practice for a business.

I will add that as others have said, the Gore membrane is very thin- it's going to leak, just a matter of time (or how severely you're exposing the boots to water).

The only truly waterproof boots that I'm aware of are all rubber boots and as you can guess they aren't great for hiking.
 

Dos XX

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
750
I bought some boots from them. I thought the whole "experience" and the boots were way overrated and overpriced. They were super responsive during the buying part of it, not so much afterwards.
 

TX_Diver

WKR
Joined
May 27, 2019
Messages
2,203
The first post makes it sound like the boots leaked during the 3rd year of use whereas the comment online makes it sound like it was the 3rd time wearing them.

I've had good CS from them and they helped me with a size issue well after my boots were out of warranty, but if they are now sticking to their 1 year warranty that doesn't seem out of line really.
 
OP
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LoneStar

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
186
Location
Oregon
You are correct the boots are out of warranty and as stated I have no issues with this. I made no misconceptions about this. They were posting on social media how a guide had a pair last many years and wanted the boots resoled to keep using them. I simply stated that my boots leaked after 2 years and on the 3rd trip out. They deleted my first post and when I re-posted, they blocked me for my negative comment.

Is it acceptable to deleted negative reviews?
 

EasilyExcited

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 20, 2016
Messages
266
Buy goretex boots and use gortexes life time warranty. It's above and beyond the manufactures 1 yr warranty. Sucks they are blocking reviews. L&s warrantied a few pairs of lowas that leaked for me within the 1st year . Then I moved onto gortex warranty
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
3,587
Location
Southern AZ
what is the 'gortex warranty' exactly? thanks.
As with many warranty's these days it's full of caveats. Read carefully. They aren't going to cover your boots or anything forever. :)
 
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