Customer Service

I am a slipper- wearer. It started in college. In fact, I remember those slippers. They were from J Crew and were originally nice and fluffy and ivory in color. By the end of the year, they were gray and matted. At any rate, I have had several pairs of slippers since then.

Now, for those of you who may not be familiar with my feet, I have either a very large big toe, or very small other toes, or both. It is a plague I have learned to accept. In fact, on my left foot, I can't really even bend my smaller toes. I believe I'm missing a joint. Anyways, all that description to say, is that I usually end up blowing a hole in the big toes of ALL my slippers over time - usually, however, my slips last me a good 1 -2 years.

What does all of this have to do with the title of "Customer Service"? This past December, Dan's mom bought me a new pair of slippers after I fell down the stairs in my old pair of slippers because the hole that was caused by my big toe caught on the carpet. She bought me a pair of "Baffin" slippers. I had never owned a pair of Baffin slippers, and I immediately loved them. Here is a picture of what a new pair look like (mine were pink):
In only 3 months, this is what they looked like:


So, I naturally contacted the company. Because, even though I have big toe issues, this is really poor quality. Here is our email interaction:

Hello, I wanted to write and attach some pictures of my Baffin slippers. I was given these as a gift this past Christmas season (2007). I was really excited for them, since this was my first Baffin set of slippers, and I really liked the warmth they gave me, as we live in the NE of USA and it does get cold!
It has only been 3 months, and the slippers are in shreds. I am a stay at home mom, and though I do wear them daily, I only wear them around the house. I am very discouraged at the quality of these slippers, and in fact, have had slippers from a general retail store that lasted years beyond these.
Also, the "polar proven" wording is misleading. They fall apart too quickly and would never last in a real polar region! Though I did love the warmth and comfort they gave me for the short while they lasted, I am overall disappointed in the quality.
I would appreciate a response, maybe discussing other issues you may have encountered with these slippers. I look forward to your reply.

Dear Kim: With regards to your e-mail, I have not heard of any problems with the Cush slippers. The pictures of the slippers you sent show extensive wear. The only thing I can suggest is taking them back to the retailer where they were purchased. We rely on our retailers to be the eyes of Baffin. If the deem them to have a manufacturing defect then they will exchange/return with you. As for the wording "polar proven" this refers to the boots. Our boots are known World Wide and have proven to be very successful.

Hmmm....I had to reply back:

Thank you for your reply. As previously stated, these slippers have been worn for 3 months around my home. I would not consider that "extensive wear". Also, the "polar proven" logo is printed all over the bottom of the slipper. If that "polar proven" technology only applies to your boots, then why is it on the slippers?
I don't feel it is the retailer's issue to replace or refund the slippers. They did not make them. I would think the company would stand behind thier products and not rely on thier retailers to handle such problems. I would appreciate a reply in this matter.

And this is what I got:

Dear Kim: The "Polar Proven" at the bottom of the slippers is our logo. As for the slippers... we do stand behind our products but as I previously mentioned to you, as a consumer, you have to take the slippers back to the retailer you purchased them from. They will be able to see the slippers and decide if this is a manufacturing defect or not. Should they deem them to have a defect they will exchange or return with you as they are the ones that you had dealing with.

So...once again, a company is not taking responsibility for their products and trying to make it MY responsibility to bring them back to a store that had one little shelf of Baffin slippers amongst 1000's of other products. Not only that, to have some store clerk examine them to see if there was a manufacturing defect?? Can't you just tell that by the pictures? "Yup, m'am, they're in shreds."
To be honest, I wanted to battle this further, and I might, but my week was really busy this week, that I couldn't devote any extra energy to this slipper crisis I now found myself in. I instead decided to spend my time blogging about it, hoping that maybe expressing my dilemma would somehow ease the sting of being rejected as a consumer. It didn't. In fact I'm fired up again.
Meanwhile, I 'm forced to wear these ragged slippers until I get a chance to get some new ones. But they won't be Baffins. And the new slippers will love my big toe. "BAN BAFFIN!!"