ariat.com.au Omdömen 3

These boots have gone down hill so much over the years. I’ve been buying Ariat boots for 30 years, and they have gone from lasting for years, to won’t last a year. In the past 3 years, I’ve had 3 heals come apart, leaking soles and leather splitting. The most recent was a pair of boots I’d only worn 3 or for times. I won’t be buying anymore of this over priced rubbish.

Most terrible customer service I think I’ve ever encountered from ‘Linda’- the shoe box was ripped and unpresentable as an expensive gift for my daughter for Christmas. Linda gave me a 15 per cent discount on full priced items to be used within 12 months- like below not sure I want to purchase from this company again and also if we have just spent $500 on boots I’m hoping we won’t need anymore in 12 months. Cant get anyone to respond and still waiting for that manager to call-and like the other review the response was to return the boots but given the contact to date - won’t return goods as unlikely I will ever see my money again. I can’t actually fathom how poor this has been.

Purchased expensive equestrian performance tights/ leggings (Ariat Ascent Half Grip Tight) and stitching was unravelling after wearing twice, for a total of 60 minutes. Handwashed once and owned for two weeks. Item purchased $134.95 (rrp $225) which is not a cheap purchase for sports leggings by any means. Contacted company within 2 weeks of purchase arriving, and they were extremely unpleasant to interact with regarding the defective goods.

They offer Warranty, additional to basic consumer rights under applicable Australian Consumer Law; promising to ensure the highest quality and workmanship standards, and having a simple process to access warranty. The process was anything but simple.

After going through the full warranty/faulty defective item process - filling out forms and including multiple photos of the defects, photos of the manufacturing number and photos of the tags - I was offered a credit or replacement; with a condition to access this expressed later in my review. Obviously I wouldn't want other items from this brand, as their very expensive garments are poor quality. Additionally, a credit or replacement do not necessarily meet consumer rights for a faulty purchase. A refund can be demanded by a consumer who doesn't wish to purchase from businesses with low quality items, and poor customer service.

The biggest problem, to access processing of a credit or replacement, the requirement was to provide photo evidence of physically destroying the item by cutting up into multiple pieces, which is where my problem with this business lays.

I responded saying this made me uncomfortable, as there was already so much wearable clothing going into landfill and it was against my morals and ethics to deliberately destroy a garment that could be worn. Bad for environment, bad for customers, and poor sustainability policies in general.

The tights/ leggings are still wearable for walking, only unusable for the promised function of athletic equestrian performance when horse riding. This meant they could be put to other use and didn't need to be destroyed.

I've never had an Australian company insist on me providing photos of destroying a garment as a condition of carrying out their basic obligations to address Australian consumer rights and express warranty promises. Eg goods sold "as described" quality, durability, fit for purpose and free from defects or manufacturing issues.

Even after a phone conversation where a refund was offered instead of credit,
(but only by sending photo evidence of the destroyed leggings) they take 5 business days to process refund.

This is the delay I'd expect ONLY if they were needing to physically assess a returned garments, collate manufacturing details, photograph faults, and enter the details of a physical return form where a customer has sent back a return without prior notice.
It is an unacceptable delay when I've done all the work of completing the warranty form; including all my order details, providing photos of manufacturing number, tags, clear photos of the defects, payment method, and been in contact via email and phone.

The company offered for me to return the garment for them to destroy if I was uncomfortable cutting them up, which demonstrates poor understanding of the issue with these usable leggings going into landfill.

Product destruction isn't included as a condition on their website Warranty page, or under their Terms and Conditions...once again not adhering to Australian Consumer Law, where express warranty conditions to access a refund/ replacement need to be clearly stated, and not in opposition to Australian consumer rights.

I asked about getting a partial refund (ie to keep the garment and/or get repaired. They told me getting a partial means any further "Warranty" claims for the "discount" will be voided if other unrelated faults appear. Which doesn't make sense, as another type of fault could occur in the 11 months these leggings are still under warranty, and still covered by consumer rights to repair/ replace/ refund. They would still be costing me over $100 after the partial refund.

Their customer service is extremely poor, and rude, both in email and phone communications.