Vibram's warranty Policy; Am I getting shafted by Vibram and Voycontigo.de?

[snoxu]

edit: Please skip to story update 4 posts below

Hello gang  

To much of my disappointment my KSO's are ungluing after roughly 3 months of use! Mostly everyday use and some running! The sole is separating from the fabric around the heel and outer side on the right foot. The left foot is fine so far.

Shipping included I payed 120 euro bucks! Very disappointing for something this expensive.

I'm wondering what is Vibram's warranty policy and what I should do now.

Please help

[Mr. Leigh]

Your best bet would be to contact Vibram directly for a replacement, providing you bought them from an authorized dealer.  Here is their contact info in Italy.  I do not know how Vibram Italy is about answering e-mails, but I have found with Vibram USA that calling yielded better results, as e-mails seemed to have gone unanswered.

0039.02.89420549

0039.02.89400767

info@vibramfivefingers.it

[snoxu]

I contacted Vibram who told me to contact the retailer and ask them for a replacement.

I'll wait to see if they'll replace them or not.

[Mr. Leigh]

Yeah, it may be a little different dealing with Vibram Italy versus Vibram USA.  If the retailer you bought them from has a decent return policy, hopefully you will be all right and can get a replacement pair.

[snoxu]

Sup gang!  

I felt the need to come back and update my story.

Long story short months ago, Voycontigo.de, the German retailer where I ordered the KSO.  pretty much ignored my request of a replacement of my KSOs which started ungluing at the sole in less than 4 months. They decided to stop replying to my emails altogether.

Pretty shitty customer service. My advice to anyone is not to buy from Voycontigo.de.

I've since asked Voycontigo.de for a refund, and they're still ignoring my emails.


In light of this I contacted Vibram Italy to inform them of the situation. It looks like Vibram want to screw me over too. Here is a reply I got from them today:

Dear xxxxxxx,

I'd like to inform you that we checked the online shop and from the few
pictures the shoes could actually look original, even if we can't be 100%
sure.
Vibram doesn't have an international warranty and we can't exchange your
shoes or just get you e refund.
The only way to solve the problem was to contact them directly.
By the moment it isn't possible I can't be helpful.
I would suggest you to try to contact you bank.

Kind Regards
xxxxxxx

I've already replied and I'm waiting on a response from them.

Still, it's outrageous how little they care and are willing to screw you over.

Voycontigo.de is listed on http://www.vibramfivefingers.it/eng/stores.aspx as an authorized store.

Surely Vibram has commercial dealings with them and surely the KSOs I purchased must be original. How can they not be?

I reported the unglueing issue to Voycontigo.de late March. Their customer service is down right incompetent and decided to ignore my emails months ago.

I'm not claiming a international warranty, whatever the f--- that is.

I'm claiming an EU warranty. I'm from Portugal, Voycontigo.de is a German shop and Vibram is an Italian company.

I'm sure they are aware of EU laws concerning EU warranty policy. Voycontigo has failed to deal with the situation in a reasonable time frame and have decided to ignore my emails since April.

Vibram, the product maker, is the last recourse and should deal with this issue accordingly.

What the f--- is with these fruitballs.

It's unacceptable for a shoe that cost 110 Euro to fail so soon. It's unacceptable to be ignored by an incompetent retailer. It's unacceptable for Vibram not to honor the warranty, when the retailer fails to.

Voycontigo.de will not see any repeat business from me that's for sure.

And if Vibram Italy does not honor the warranty, they won't either.

It has really surprised me that Vibram Italy is choosing this route.


I'm open to advice from anyone who has gone through a similar situation with Vibram.

[Macleod52]

I bought a pair of black KSO's through The Shoe Mart. After about 2 months the rubber around the big toe was coming unglued. I contacted Vibram which in turn told me to contact the place that I bought them from. If I couldn't get a resolution from the place I bought them they said to contact them again and they'd look into it. I figured the company should be responsible for warranty claims, not the shop, but maybe I'm mistaken how things like this work.

My word of advice is, if possible, buy some Shoe Goo and reglue it yourself. After 2-3 months of wearing my KSO's and putting several miles on them, the soles looked brand new. The replacement pair I received did not fair nearly as well and had holes through two toes on each foot in a matter of a month or so and with a fraction of the miles put on my original ones. Needless to say I am extremely dissapointed in them.

[Stumps]

I am pursuing a repair/warranty issue with Vibram.it at the moment. I bought my Bikilas back in May 2011 and by late Nov 2011 the material had worn through between on the inside of the big toe and the adjacent toe - for a >100 Euro shoe, not acceptable.  As I had bought them from Vibram direct I have been dealing with them directly, so far their customer service has been shocking! I am currently dealing with my fourth member of staff after the previous three initially replied and then decided to ignore my follow-up emails.  They have twice asked me to confirm what I have been using my Bikilas for (personally I would have thought as Vibram designed them for running they might have been able to work this out!@~#?) and as they appear not to have received my email reply, I have just today sent them another one.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has had similar issue with their Bikilas or with Vibram customer services.  I have some photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69248267@N05/sets/72157629120304765/

[snoxu]

Hello I'm the OP.

I don't know what their policy is on that kind of wear and tear. The sole of my kso simply started to unglue at the right heel in roughly 3 months. Surely there was a problem in the gluing process of these and Vibram 5F have been know for having quality control issues.

I have not gotten anywhere with Vibram Italy nor the retailer, who has recently promised me a refund but has not delivered. In the course of 6 months, both have given me the run-around and then ignored my emails, which were quite a few.

I have no more patience for these people and have made a complaint to a European Consumer Centre:
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/index_en.htm

I advice those in Europe with warranty issues to do the same.

In Europe these shoes are way too expensive, so retailers and Vibram need to get their act together and fast.

I've continued to wear the KSO despite this and have worn a hole in the sole in the forefoot area in 9 months more or less. Also have an older but small hole in the upper of the big toe, might of snagged it on something.

This is my first and last KSO, because of low quality workmanship and they fell apart way too quick. Can't really speak for other models, but many others on this forum have also had issues with them.