Scarpa koflach boots warranty scam

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Majid_S

Mountain climber
Karkoekstan, Former USSR
Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 24, 2017 - 07:29pm PT
Last year friend of mine gave me a brand new in the box koflach artic expedition boot for my BD so I decided to take advantage of the great snow this year in CA and enjoy the Sierras. Two day before the trip I open the box and saw the liner's sole are falling apart as I am pulling them out of the boots.

Not sure what type of material these guys used at the factory but I wasn't happy to see liners falling apart.Now, I own several boots including 3 koflach, Millet Everest summit and la sportiva but koflach fits me the best. Climbed several peaks in Himalayas and in Asia with koflach artic and love how flexible and comfy these boots are so I contacted Scarpa koflach warranty office in Bolder Colorado and explained the situations ,send them few pictures and after few emails going back and fort ,Someone from RMA dept send me the RMA # and asked me to ship them to bolder.

Done, there they are headed your way and after two weeks, I contacted them to see what is going on and the person handling the RMA send me email telling me that boots failed because they were old. WTF

Old ? I haven't even removed the tags from the boot yet and the liners are falling apart so he said, best we can so, SELL YOU NEW LINERS AT DISCOUNT PRICES !

What a scam and warranty BS these guys are offering. I mean ,I spend years doing QA and QC and this issue is manufacturing problem choosing bad material from the beginning .I did more research on google and found out other climbers ran in to same problems so this isn't anything new.



Just be aware of the Scarpa koflach warranty in Bolder CO.










Next stop,EverestNews.com,RC.com and other internet sites















BruceHildenbrand

Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
Mar 24, 2017 - 07:54pm PT
I hear you! My Koflach boots just disintegrated sitting on a closet shelf. First the inner boots rotted then the plastic shell cracked and I wasn't even wearing them! Not a good endorsement for their products.
WBraun

climber
Mar 24, 2017 - 09:57pm PT
Just see modern know how making space suits by cavemen masquerading as the future ......
nah000

climber
no/w/here
Mar 24, 2017 - 10:06pm PT
how many years ago were they manufactured?

while the following may not be the case: if they've sat in someone's closet for ten years, just because the tags are still on doesn't mean anything...

shitty deal regardless, but mesuspects there is more to the story than what you are stating.

if you can sort out and let us know the year they were manufactured, it would clear up a lot and if it was recent, it will add credibility to your complaint.
Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
Mar 24, 2017 - 10:14pm PT
They are only...

... like 20 years old! Sucka...
Studly

Trad climber
WA
Mar 24, 2017 - 10:14pm PT
Plastics has a generally very limited lifespam, some more then others. There will be very few antiques from this period in the future, because plastic decays at such a rapid rate. From the looks of the box, they be 20 years old thereabouts at least? I would say you are SOL, and its truly not the manufacturers problem after that time period, sorry to say.
grover

climber
Castlegar BC
Mar 24, 2017 - 10:38pm PT
Same thing happened to a friend of mine.

Although his gift was a condom, unused of course, just like your boots.

9 months later, he wished he'd ponied up and spent that 1.50$.

Lesson learned.
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Mar 24, 2017 - 10:59pm PT
genuinely non-as#@&%e question:

when were koflach boots last manufactured? I have to believe eight years ago, minimum

I mean, I climbed Denali in 2008 and maybe 1 out of 30 wore the yellow Koflahcs
Happiegrrrl2

Trad climber
Mar 25, 2017 - 06:28am PT
I had a friend give me a pair of expensive boots for hiking which she had not worn(originally bought online at steep discount, she bought two sizes wanting to get a good fit and then didn't return the ones she gave me).

I needed money more than boots, so sold them via Ebay. They seemed FINE to me. A week later the buyer sent me a scathing letter. Her daughter wore the boots on a break-in easy hike and they almost immediately began to "break down." She really was angry and ws accusing me of all sorts of things.

I honestly thought she was at LEAST exaggerating, since the boots looked just fine to me, and I had tried them on and not noticed anything LIKE what she was saying. But I had her send them back and I would refund. I had no other choice, really, and I thought she would either come up with some
"Forget it" story, or just disappear - I thought she was trying to get money and keep the boots - but, when the boots arrived I was shocked to see the soles had crumbled like decomposing something.

I had no choice but to completely refund and include a refund f the money she had paid to send them back to me. So, my attempt to make a little money ended up costing me money in the end. But I learned a lesson.

The boots had sat in my friend's closet I don't know how long, and as she got them on a discount - how long had they been in the "markdown machine" of lot-selling, before she even purchased them?

I think the brands are seeing quite a bit of people buying from online discounters and expecting retail-like service. It's not really fair to ask that of a company, IMO. And, lesson learned, don't gift friends odd-lot merchandise and not explain that is the case.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Mar 25, 2017 - 06:41am PT
Dip the boots and any soured milk on hand in the fountain of youth for best results.
Stewart Johnson

Mountain climber
lake forest
Mar 25, 2017 - 07:29am PT
try a new product. its your feet, who cares about cost!
David Knopp

Trad climber
CA
Mar 25, 2017 - 09:38am PT
worked selling those in a mt shop for a long time, even though they are "new" to you they are 10 yrs old-no telling how they were stored, that plastic just goes bad-i'd take em up on their offer, or if you have time keep bitching and you MAY get a free pair of liners.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Mar 25, 2017 - 08:40pm PT
zip

Trad climber
pacific beach, ca
Mar 26, 2017 - 04:47am PT
How old are they?
nah000

climber
no/w/here
Mar 26, 2017 - 05:25am PT
yeah, without more info it's looking like maybe it's time to change the thread title to something like:

I tried to scam Koflach into warrantying some old boots that still have new tags (because I didn't know plastic products degrade whether they are used or not)

it's still too long, so still needs some work... but you get the idea.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Mar 26, 2017 - 07:00am PT
That box looks ancient. I don't see this as a "scam". Most companies have a reasonable return/warranty policy if you have an original receipt (which you don't) and it's within a reasonable amount of time (which it isn't.)

It does, however , suck that those linings seem to be made of total crap. Not a great endorsement for return customers for Kolflach.

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 26, 2017 - 08:03am PT
I wouldn't drive on 10 year old tires either.
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 26, 2017 - 10:34am PT
Replace those liners with warmer and more modern thermofit ones.

Voila.

Koflach used to be the lightest shell for a plastic double boot. Maybe they still are?
John M

climber
Mar 26, 2017 - 10:48am PT
Replace those liners with warmer and more modern thermofit ones.

For something that is to be used in extreme conditions, I would want to know how well that plastic holds up before I would use it, even with a replaced liner. Whats the history of the boot? Not just that particular pair, but that boot overall. Do they last? Some plastics can hold up, but many don't, and having a boot failure high up in the cold could be a very bad thing. Like Happie explains, plastic boots can have a catastrophic failure where they just completely fall apart.

There is a thread on this forum where some experts describe what is in plastics that breaks down. It was on ski boots. I haven't searched for it. But it explained the different chemicals that break down. Some plastics have more of that chemical, meaning that they stay elastic longer. Others have less and those get brittle and break easily.
WyoRockMan

climber
Grizzlyville, WY
Mar 26, 2017 - 10:57am PT
My experience with "lightly used/almost new" older plastic boots led to a ruined day. I wouldn't touch them with a 10' pole now.

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