Hank's Boot & Work Wear

Hank's Boots and Workwear did not honor the warranty on MUCK brand work boots bought at their store.



I brought them in for exchange 8 months after the purchase date. Debbie looked at them and agreed there were holes (they're waterproof) not associated with normal wear (not protected under warranty). Debbie stated that Hank's only carried a 90 day warranty and that the Manufacturer held the 12 month warranty. This was the beginning of deference of responsibility by Hank's.



I showed Debbie on the MUCK website that the point of sale store held the warranty. She was not aware and needed to talk to her supplier (Mallory's) and her boss.



Days later, Debbie called back, indicating that Mallory's needed to asses the boots to determine if it was a warranty issue or not. After 3 weeks I finally got the 'analysis' from Mallory's.



Mallory's had determined that the boots were used for their lifecycle thus voiding the warranty. After Debbie offered no real insight or guidance about how this assessment was made (it was clear Hank's was just avoiding the monumental cost of replacing a single pair of boots they sold) I called Dan Nichols at Mallory.



He informed me there was no standardized method to determine 'wear' as it applies under the warranty. It was merely a judgement call. The only problem is, the person making the judgement, has to pay for the boot if it is warrantable. In my specific case the heel was worn too much per the judgement call. I asked Dan how this affected the major cracks on the top of the boot. He agreed that the wear on the heal and the cracks on top were not related but would not budge the issue. Alas, they had their loop hole to stick the customer with the cost of their subpar product.



I typically go to small businesses, even though they cost more, for the service. In this case, if I bought directly from MUCK, this issue would have been resolved in days. Instead I have a pair of leaky boots that lasted half of the time they should have. Hank's made no effort to try to reconcile the issue. They didn't try to even meet me half way. They acted as if they did me a favor by even addressing the issue.



I can get that kind of treatment at a box store for less money.