L L Bean

Below are my 21 year old (yes you read that correctly) LL Bean, Maine Hunting Boots. I love them. I took a picture of them today, because I thought it might be the last time I would see them again.

Oh my, I had the BEST experience with LL Bean today. I was 15 when I got my first pair of LL Bean Maine Hunting Boots. They were the 'in thing' back then (are they still?). A few months ago, I sent them back to LL Bean, to have them re-soled. After 21 years of wear, the boots were in great shape, but the bottoms were smooth. I love these boots. They re-soled them and mailed them back to me (cost of about $50). I was so happy to have my comfy, broken in boots back, good as new. No more falling down in the winter, yeah! I WAS happy, until I tried to put them on - they wouldn't fit me! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my feet in them.

So... with a winter storm coming, I took a trip to the LL Bean store, with boots in hand. I was wearing my purple crocks, it was snowing, and the interstate was down to 45 mph due to weather. I was hoping they could stretch them, resole them with the right size bottom - whatever. At last resort, I would take a new pair of boots (they have a 100% guarantee, and they really mean it there!) I explained my dilemma to the nice lady behind the counter. She suggested I go up to the boot section, and try on some, so she would know what to put on the paperwork for when they re-sole them, so they'd get it right this time. I did just that, and determined the proper size. The lady came up to find me (did I take too long?) and wrote the right size down. The man in the shoe department mentioned that they could give me a 'loaner' pair of LL Bean boots, till mine were ready (would be a couple weeks). He handed me the new, $75 pair of boots I had just tried on for size, that fit. He said I could mail them back when I got my new boots, postage paid. Wow.

It gets better. We get in the elevator to go back downstairs to finish the transaction, and the woman apologizes for the problem, and tells me NOT to return the new boots I was just given. She also said she would credit me back the $50 I paid to have my 21 year old boots re-soled (since they didn't do it right), and they would re-sole them correctly at no charge, and mail them to me. We proceeded to the register where she gave me the new boots, a receipt for them, and completed my transaction. WOW. I was really in shock at what they were willing to do for me. Mind you I was very pleasant to deal with, and not an irrate customer or anything like that. I was just a woman, that loved her boots, and wanted them to fit.

So here is my recommendation. Don't hesitate to deal with LL Bean - they really do mean what they say about their 100% guarantee - and then some.

I'll also post a couple cute pics of Sophia, since you'd probably rather see pics of her, than my 21 year old boots!