Putting Merrells To The Test

Before I embarked on my trip to Sri Lanka earlier this year, I spent about two weeks shopping for all my gear. It was a big trip for me and I didn’t know what to expect, so I made a pretty extensive checklist and enjoyed every minute of gearing up for my adventure. Many of the items on my list were purchased at my local REI store – I’m like a kid in a candy store at that place. That’s where I got my Merrell Pulse II hiking boots. From the moment I put those boots on my feet, I knew they were the ones I would buy. But just so I’d feel like an educated consumer, I went ahead and tried on about five different pairs including brands such as Vasque, Keen, Asolo, and the REI brand, and none of them even came close to the initial fit and feel of the Merrell boots.

The Merrells felt great throughout my trip and there was virtually no break-in period. My feet stayed comfortable and dry (although pretty hot) in some fairly rough working conditions. After working in a lush, beautiful South Asian jungle for three weeks, I was not inclined to stay indoors once I got home, and since it was the beginning of April and the weather was getting nice, I was primed for some hiking. I went on about five short day hikes around my area on terrain of moderate difficulty and used the Merrells a dozen or so other times over the next five months. Unfortunately, at the end of month five, I started noticing that some of the stitching was beginning to fail. Now these aren’t the best hiking boots money can buy, but at a price of $125, I expected them to last a little longer than five months. I was really annoyed because I knew I didn’t have my receipt and I had been wearing the boots for months, so I didn’t know if I’d have to live with the faulty stitching or not. I figured Merrell would do something for me, but who wants to box up their hiking boots and send them away for several weeks in the middle of summer?

Enter the REI Satisfaction Guarantee.

I called my local REI store just to see what they’d say about it and the only question the sales rep asked me was, “are you an REI member?” Oh yeah. I am a member! So that was that. Nothing more needed to be said. Since I’m an REI member my purchase history was in the REI computer system and I was entitled to a full refund, no questions asked. Well, I would have been entitled to a refund even if I wasn’t a member, but the membership thing solved the issue of not having a receipt. I was so excited that I drove to the store in the middle of the Washington, DC area afternoon rush hour. And when I got there I declined the refund and decided to exchange for a brand new pair of Merrell Pulse II boots. I just love how they feel so much that I had to give them another chance. But I’ll tell you one thing, my new and soon-to-be-shoe-savvy ShoeIQ readers, if these boots fail again, you will be the first to know about it.