Re: RC: RE: Ansur Saddle Flipside

["Carolyn Burgess" <carolyn_burgess@hotmail.com>]

Lisa:

Ariat is a very funny company.  As a person with a large and wide foot, and 
needing the support of an athletic shoe, I have no choice but to deal with 
Ariat.  They are the only company that makes a boot I can wear and not be 
lame at the end of a 12 hour day of standing, mucking and riding.  I have 
two seperate experiences with them, one as a tack shop owner, and the other 
as a customer.  My husband owned a tack shop several years ago and carried 
Ariat boots.  We had one instance of a pair of boots obviously made 
incorrectly.  This was not someone who had bought the boots from us, and had 
contacted Ariat directly.  They told her to return the boots to us, and they 
would directly ship her the boots, which they did, and then they gave us a 
credit when we returned the boots to them.  A very good response.  (This was 
in 1996).

In November, I went to Equine Affair and spoke to the Ariat rep.  I have 
also contacted their website on the same issue.  I wear an 11EEE and believe 
it or not, I can wear their 11 paddock boot.  It is a smidge tight, and I 
always buy there Performer Pro (now the Hexcel Pro) because I figure that 
the higher end boot will be better made and they will have been more 
generous when making the boot.  I talked to the rep and asked them why they 
won't make a second width (regular & wide) and why won't they make a 
large-tall half chap.  Their response was that I was demographically 
insignificant and not worth making a product for.  I may not be the norm, 
but I spend a lot of money on my riding gear and if they made boots and half 
chaps that really fit, I would buy more of them.  And the $190 price tag on 
the boots and the $100 on the half chaps doesn't phase me.

So Ariat, if you're monitoring this egroup, take note. If you don't service 
the market, someone else will, eventually, step in and dethrone you.

Carolyn Burgess
carolyn_burgess@hotmail.com


>From: Lisa <lpopp@pa.net>
>To: ridecamp@endurance.net
>Subject: RC:  RE: Ansur Saddle Flipside
>Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:35:50 -0500
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>I had a VERY similar experience with Ariat.  I bought a brand new pair
>of Ariat Extremes at my local tack shop.  After riding in them *once*
>the poor quality leather on the inside of the left boot was "sliced up",
>right where the leather creases when you take a step.  It was obvious to
>me that the leather was thinner and of a poorer quality than my old
>Ariat Winter boots which I have had for five years(and used hard!).  I
>imagine the metal EZ Rides caused the cuts, but as expensive as these
>boots are, one would think they could hold up to a stirrup!  Besides
>that, the other boot was fine!  There were probably more than a dozen
>deep cuts in the leather and I had done no more than an ordinary
>conditioning ride.  No extreme or unusual circumstances, just a ride I'd
>done 100's of times in my old Ariats and have worn them for years with
>no problem.  Well, I wrote to the company and got no response.  So, I
>took them back to the tack shop and she said that it was my fault that
>the leather was cut, that I had somehow done it.  So, I contacted the
>company again and  did get a response.  They told me to put some shoe
>conditioner on the gouges and basically that they would do nothing.
>After a third email and no further response I vowed that I would never
>buy another pair.  One thing I can't abide is a company that doesn't
>stand behind what it sells.  I was a die hard Ariat wearer, and in fact,
>probably have half a dozen pairs around here.  It seems like no one's in
>it for the long haul anymore, they only care about the immediate cash.
>   I was also displeased to find out that the boots are now being made
>in China.  I had assumed they were American made.  It just doesn't make
>sense to me.  When a cheap repair or replacement will preserve a
>customer why some companies don't fall all over themselves to make
>something right.  I tell you, if I was selling $2000 saddles, I sure would!
>Has anybody tried Double H boots?  They are made right here in PA and I
>thought I'd give them a try.  Any other winter riding boots out there
>(for WIDE feet!) that you really like?
>Thanks (and thanks for letting me vent a little, been holding on to that
>for awhile!),
>Lisa
>
>
>>
>
>>So I
>>sent the saddle back to Ansur to be repaired.  Believing it to be under
>>warranty.   The owner of the company himself responded to the warranty 
>>repair
>>stating that "someone" other than his company, had cut the leather AND 
>>dyed
>>it to cover it up!! And that it wasn't covered under warranty so I was to 
>>pay
>>75. bucks to have it repaired and returned.   I don't know what planet he 
>>is
>>from but here on earth noone cuts a brand new 2000. dollar saddle and then
>>does without it for 3 weeks waiting for it to be repaired and don't l
>
>
>
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