Beware: warranty is not what it seems
A cursory tale! I bought an Einride jacket roughly 4-5 years ago, from a local retailer here in the UK. This jacket cost me over £400.
It’s lovely! And I love it. Honestly, because it’s quite wet and cold here in Scotland I don’t wear it as much as I’d like to, but it gets light use throughout the year. This year I noticed my zips were all coming apart from the seams. Having a quick look online I saw Klattermusen admitted on another post that they had also seen this behaviour on this jacket after 6-7 years.
So, I sent them off an email with the hope this could be rectified in some way, knowing they as a company admitted it’s a known issue. However! I got an email reply today stating that the seams could not be repaired, and as such there was no remedy for this issue.
From Klattermusen:
“I’ve just spoken with our seamstress in the UK, who has reviewed the case. Unfortunately, the seam tape has started to crack and deteriorate.
Due to the age of the jacket and the current condition of the fabric, we wouldn’t be able to re-tape it successfully, as the material is no longer in a suitable condition for this type of repair.
It seems your jacket has reached the end of its technical lifespan, and unfortunately there isn’t a repair we can offer in this case. I’m sorry we’re unable to help you further on this occasion, but I hope the jacket has served you well and accompanied you on many great adventures over the years!”
And the warranty page on the website states:
What does product lifetime warranty mean?
Products covered by the warranty are fully covered during the practical life of the product. This does not imply your life span. The product lifetime warranty applies against manufacturing defects, and not damage caused by the wearer of the product or normal wear and tear.
Products covered by our warranty will be repaired or replaced at no cost. At Klättermusen, we do our best to minimise our footprint on the environment. Therefore, we always prefer to repair the product whenever possible.
If your product is not covered by the warranty, we are still here to help extend its life
Now, I also own various other brands of clothing, from Fjallraven to Patagonia and so on; I buy these brands because of their longevity and repair programs. I have successfully had many items of clothing repaired or replaced by those brands without issue.
In this case, no option for replacement, or gesture of discount for a replacement product, or… anything, to be hones, was super disappointing. For a £500 product to fail after 4 years of light use is.. really poor! Am I wrong to think this? Has anyone else experienced this?
Will I spend my hard earned money on this brand again? Sadly, no. Super duper disappointing considering the money spent! 😢