Red Wing scores again, sort of

Well, first they took almost three weeks to resole my steeltoed fire boots. I was promised they’d be back in just over a week. Apparently they got backed up. I got a phone call today telling me that the boots had come back with new soles, but that they’d put the wrong soles. Instead of the soles I’d requested, they’d put on a similar but thicker and heavier lugged sole. That’s two strikes.

The upshot of this is that I had a choice. I could wait while they sent my boots back, or else come and pick my boots up, as-is, with the new soles that weren’t the requested ones, at no charge.

I made it to the store today and looked at the soles. Yeah, they’re a little heavier than I’d expected, but there’s nothing wrong with them. Thicker soles will last longer and keep their traction. So that’s great! I offered to pay for them—after all, I’d never have been able to tell that they were the wrong ones if he hadn’t told me—but the salesman was having none of that. If I wanted, he’d send them back, but if I wanted them as they are, he was not taking my money.

It gives me a warm feeling that there are still companies that want to build lifelong relationships with paying customers rather than nickel and dime us to keep the share prices high in the short term. I never expect anyone to be perfect, just to be willing to correct mistakes. Or in this case, overcorrect.