RedWings are my favorite and very good boots. I had a pair that lasted almost 10 years.
I’m giving these a try within a month.
Man, I hate to hear that. I have a similar pair of 6” DynaForce soft toes that are 7 years old. I have just about worn the soles down to where the are getting close to going in the garbage. I have regulated them to yard work. I partially melted one sole, while raking the burn pile.Went to the Red Wing store this morning and pulled the trigger on a pair of 4215s for about $250 after taxes. Has all the attributes I wanted without any of the stuff I don't need like insulation, puncture resistance, met-guards, etc. Gave them a good once-over at the store; looked good, felt good, good reviews online. That's about where the fun ended.
Got home and immediately applied Toe Armor as I have with all my new boots. Knock on wood, I've never had cut up toes using the stuff, while most my coworkers leather toes are chewed through to the steel toe after a few months.
While applying the toe armor, I had the boots close up and I noticed a few errant threads up top that looked unsecured/incomplete. Naturally, with a $250 boot, you want to give them a tug and make sure they are fastened down such that they won't unravel. Gave it a quick tug and the thread unraveled several stitches. This issue was present in two places. On one, eventually it reached a cross stitch which halted any further unraveling. The other, if I were to continue to pull, I imagine I could pull the whole thread out. The adhesive looks suspect in the area as well, as the leather/adhesive can be pulled apart effortlessly where the stitching is now gone. Needless to say, I'm less than impressed given the amount of money put out for these.
Now I kick myself that I both applied the toe armor, and didn't catch this at the store. I have experienced something similar more than once with cheap boots and would simply have my wife put a couple stitches over top to secure them and prevent further unraveling. Since this is in an area not exposed to a huge amount of wear and tear, I briefly considered doing the same with these, but I'm hesitant to make any alterations that might affect the warranty down the road.
What do you guys think I should do, and how might you think Red Wing will handle this? I'm fairly confident they won't give me a one to one exchange given that the toe armor is on there now. Truth be told I'd rather they send them in repair, since I don't need them right away and spent a lot of time meticulously applying the toe armor. I suppose the best way to judge a company is by their customer service and handling of warranty issues, but was hoping I wouldn't have to experience that so soon! Worst case scenario is they might suggest I intentionally pulled the thread out, but there's zero chance those would have held up under normal use, they would have pulled out in short order anyways.