Alt-Berg Boots

I’ve been wearing Alt-Berg motorcycle boots for years now. Indeed, my first pair have long since been replaced. I currently have three pairs, the classic long leg bike boot, the shorter lace-up Hogg Lights (probably the most comfortable boot I have ever worn) for the summer months and a pair of military hiking boots. I was recommended to them by my father as his were “warm, comfortable and waterproof”. That latter point being the significant one. Up to that point, getting a leather motorcycle boot that was genuinely waterproof was easier said than done.

My father was so pleased with his that when the lining wore out, he took advantage of the Alt-Berg refurbishment service. Unfortunately, they were never quite the same again. This is because the boot has to be completely deconstructed and a new lining made and fitted before reassembly. This being so, the fit wasn’t quite the same. He found them a bit on the tight side. Eventually, he replaced them with a new pair. When mine wore out, I went for the straight replacement. This isn’t a refection on what Alt-Berg were offering, merely an acknowledgement that, probably, trying to refurbish boots isn’t overall a wise idea.

Earlier this week, I received an email from Alt-Berg’s sales department advising that they were ceasing the refurbishment service. I thought nothing more of it. After all, it wasn’t something I used and when I need new boots, I’ll log on and order a pair. Yesterday, they sent another email qualifying their decision.

The service was not a money spinner. They did it as a service to customers, rather than as a means of increasing the company’s profit. The idea, presumably, being that a satisfied customer will eventually replace those refurbished boots with new ones. This, from the email:

We have never made any profit from refurbished boots – the amount of work we do in stripping the boot down, and then re-making ‘from scratch’ – as well as hand-cutting key worn components costs about 60% more than the work we do in a brand new boot. But we’ve always accepted this, because we felt it was a good thing to do environmentally, and we felt it was genuinely appreciated by our customers – in spite of the fact that we lost money on every pair.

All I can say is I’m mildly surprised they did it for so long. However, the killer is in the next paragraph. You see, despite this being a money loser and despite it being a service, there are still those who expect miracles:

We occasionally would have issues with a customer who would expect refurbished boots to be equally as good as a brand new boot!!!

I’d like to say that I was surprised by that. However, I’m not. Not even remotely. The world is full of idiots. And as such, there are bound to be idiots who expect a refurbished boot to be the same thing as a new boot. Indeed, if every part was replaced to make it like a new boot, it would be a new boot. Alt-Berg did not replace every part of the boot, understandably, otherwise it wouldn’t be a refurbished item:

But refurbished boots are not as good – the leather and stitching are worn, and not so waterproof – and most of the key components are old – we don’t replace everything! Normally after we explained to customers that their expectations should be realistic, the majority of customers accepted this…

Again, this really shouldn’t need to be explained. After all, it’s common sense. Oh, yeah, I see where I went wrong there…

Despite this explanation some folk are still not happy and will kick up a fuss, bombarding the company with phone calls, letters and emails demanding satisfaction. Here, I would suggest, the company probably made a rod for its own back by providing the service in the first place. Anticipating customer expectations –  even the idiots –  is part of being in business as I discovered when I was a driving instructor. People expect the impossible and can be very, very nasty when reality kicks in.

We refurbish about 20 pairs each week, and with the vast majority there are no problems – however – there have been three specific cases in the last 6 months where customers have been so confrontational and aggressive, that in our opinion, it fell little short of bullying in order to get what they wanted – and if they didn’t get what they wanted, they stated quite clearly that they would use social media to discredit our reputation.

Here, then, is the punch line. Having had the boots refurbished and discovering that refurbishment does not equal “new” these people are prepared to use friendface and twatter to make life miserable for a small company that has provided a pretty rare service in the first place. Most boot manufacturers would expect you to buy a new pair when the old ones have worn out.

Nor, for that matter, is being aggressive ever necessary when dealing with companies that don’t do as we please. Presuming that you are right then firmness is all that is required (here speaks the voice of experience) –  along with the uncompromising bit. Some people, however, are not right. Indeed, they seem to live in a parallel universe where nothing works quite the way it should:

One of the three complainants we have had in the last six months was steadfast in his belief that having purchased a pair of Alt-Berg boots in 2002 – he should never be expected to purchase another pair again – he expected that by having them refurbished, they would last forever. Also the time from new to 1st refurbishment was 6 years – so he expected a further 6 years once refurbished – anything else was unacceptable – and Alt-Berg’s problem!

I’ve come across this type before. The parents of a pupil who I advised against taking her test because she wasn’t ready. They were paying me, they observed. Therefore, I should do exactly as I was told and take their daughter to her test in my car despite my professional judgement that she was not ready and would fail –  and if she failed, it would be my fault. Such people cannot be reasoned with. Such people do not accept professional judgement.

My father had his boots refurbished, but he never expected them to last forever. Merely that refurbishment would give them a new lease of life, which it did.

The email/letter exchange with this customer lasted over 5 weeks – he was adamant that if we could not offer him a further refurbishment, free of charge then we should give him a new pair of boots!

I’d have probably got pissed off with this character long before five weeks were up. The customer is not always right. Indeed, the customer can sometimes be an ignorant and unreasonable jerk. For the business, this involves a fine balancing act –  because pissing off a customer, no matter how unreasonable he is, can backfire badly. A dissatisfied customer tells lots of people about how dissatisfied he is. And if they use friendface or twatter to do it, the viral effect can be deleterious. Hence the email, presumably, to get their side of the story in first.

Alt-Berg have decided that enough is enough and are ceasing the refurbishment service.

Last week, after considering the situation, we have had to conclude that the refurbishment service – although ‘well meant’ – is open to abuse, and so with a genuine sense of regret, we decided to discontinue the service.

Which means of course that the bad behaviour of a minority has had a negative effect on the majority who used the service and were happy with the outcomes. I can’t say that I blame them, though.

And, when my current boots wear out, I’ll be buying another pair of Alt-Bergs. Frankly, given their longevity, I sometimes wonder how they make a profit out of them…

Caveat: I realise that this is only one side of this story. However, having first hand experience of this company, it passes the balance of probability test.