Hunter boots paying for arrogance!

[tozzybum]

3 years after bailout the " famous" Hunter boots are going under / looking for extra funding.
With their no quibble not replacing anything under warranty made in China " British " wellies.
No surprise to many friends who thought they were buying quality and end up with holes;no soles and no replacement.
They're Trying to secure funding read into this as you will.

 

[Tagoat]

Their day is done .

 

[kes]

Cheap, anything but cheerful.
The word 'foreign' springs to mind.

 

[308tikka]

Stop buying Chinese made.

A threat to jobs, theft of intellectual property and the quality is dogshchitt.

 

[John Gryphon]

A threat to jobs, theft of intellectual property and the quality is dogshchitt.

THIS!

 

[jall55]

Stop buying Chinese made.

A threat to jobs, theft of intellectual property and the quality is dogshchitt.

Totally this - so much of the problem is this and the difficulty in not buying Chinese rubbish

I bough a toaster for Christmas from SalterUk - said something like produced in Uk or words to that effect - it came and guess what made in China !

Same with so much stuff - it should be made so much clearer !

I posted this on their Insta and they have restricted me !

 

[User00036]

Hunter wellies, do they still come with the Royal seal of approval. Whats going on when they endorse Chinese Wellies, after putting so many British jobs on the scrap heap. We should have a thread for Name & Shame.

 

[Len the dog]

Hunter are now nothing more than festival wellies, built to last 3 days on Worthy Farm and then discarded along with the tent and the hippy crack canisters.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm.
Basic (very short-sighted) economics I fear. If a manufacturer can get their goods made by johnnie foreigner in a land far, far away and at a price better than if made locally that is where they will go - driven by profit.
That of course only leaves the small matter of quality which with price is the other key aspect of satisfying the customer. Hunter is only the latest in a growing long line of firms who have discovered, to their cost, that their customers are not mugs after all - something they will rue for years to come whilst they go under or try to rebuild their reputation - good luck on that one!
Eejits!

 

[jall55]

Hmmm.
Basic (very short-sighted) economics I fear. If a manufacturer can get their goods made by johnnie foreigner in a land far, far away and at a price better than if made locally that is where they will go - driven by profit.
That of course only leaves the small matter of quality which with price is the other key aspect of satisfying the customer. Hunter is only the latest in a growing long line of firms who have discovered, to their cost, that their customers are not mugs after all - something they will rue for years to come whilst they go under or try to rebuild their reputation - good luck on that one!
Eejits!

Give them some stick on Insta !

 

[Bowland blades]

Remember China can make good stuff , its just that the buyers are told to get the price as low as possible in many instances . meanwhile ..... why do we have folks on benefits here , while they are fit and physically able to work ?

 

[Phil fox man]

i have a pair of leather lined hunters and up to now are ok,but a pair of dubarry for summer use only as they leaked from day one! the soles have come off after 6 months!.
you would have expected for the price to have at least have the soles stitched on not glued on with " blue tac" .

 

[opticron1]

Lost interest in Hunter wellies when they pulled the plug on their Dumfries manufacturing base. It caused a lot of pain for the 120 folk who worked there and ever since then the quality has gone down. I'm sure there'll be plenty of the "Glasto" types who'll be happy with their once a year outing in the imported Hunters, but not for me. Plenty of other options are available which seem to last significantly longer!

 

[Utectok]

Lost interest in Hunter wellies when they pulled the plug on their Dumfries manufacturing base. It caused a lot of pain for the 120 folk who worked there and ever since then the quality has gone down. I'm sure there'll be plenty of the "Glasto" types who'll be happy with their once a year outing in the imported Hunters, but not for me. Plenty of other options are available which seem to last significantly longer!

Yes used to get mine at the factory seconds shop in Dumfries happy days

 

[HallyButt]

Remember China can make good stuff , its just that the buyers are told to get the price as low as possible in many instances . meanwhile ..... why do we have folks on benefits here , while they are fit and physically able to work ?

Exactly this, shutting down uk and mis-labeling aside, the quality issue is derived by the brands specification. China can and does make some high quality goods for many prestige brands, they al so churn out utter shite when paid Pennys To do so .

 

[Dunwaters]

I had my last 4 pairs of Hunters replaced under warranty, none lasted more than 4 months, I gave up in September when I had a look at the last pair which had been stored over the summer in the garage.
They were totally rotten, even the Hunter logo on the front had cracked, absolute rubbish.

 

[NigelM]

You're going to struggle to find any quality waterproof clothing that's not made in the far east these days. From Arcteryx to Berghaus and just about the whole back packing/Mountaineering market, Sitka Gear, Kiui, Harkila, Musto to name just a few in Hunting and top brands in just about every other sport. Applies to most other consumer good industries, not just clothing.

Chinese factories can make the best quality gear in the world IF the brand specs the product and fabrics correctly and IF the brand have QC on the ground to ensure quality standards are being maintained. But you have to invest in doing it properly, otherwise it all goes pear shaped, as Hunter have discovered as have many others. Many brands go from private ownership to Private Equity, PE wants to reduce costs to get their ROI and corners are cut. The accountants take over and the quality suffers. It's not the fault of the Chinese most of the time it's the brand doing a poor job.

From someone who has been in the industry for 40 years.

 

[bluesako]

i have a pair of boot fit hunter sovereigns i bought 12 years ago still going strong but i wouldnt buy a new pair bs

 

[long_range_rob]

I had a pair of Hunters over 30 years ago. Never again, cold short lived rubbish. The next pair were Chameaus which were excellent until the sole wore out (racing slick wellies) but the replacement Chameaus failed inside six months. I’m now using Seeland ones which seem ok at present.

When manufacturers put profit over quality they loose their customers. Look a Rolls Royce, still trading after hod bows how many years because they put quality first.

 

[Adyb]

You're going to struggle to find any quality waterproof clothing that's not made in the far east these days. From Arcteryx to Berghaus and just about the whole back packing/Mountaineering market, Sitka Gear, Kiui, Harkila, Musto to name just a few in Hunting and top brands in just about every other sport. Applies to most other consumer good industries, not just clothing.

Chinese factories can make the best quality gear in the world IF the brand specs the product and fabrics correctly and IF the brand have QC on the ground to ensure quality standards are being maintained. But you have to invest in doing it properly, otherwise it all goes pear shaped, as Hunter have discovered as have many others. Many brands go from private ownership to Private Equity, PE wants to reduce costs to get their ROI and corners are cut. The accountants take over and the quality suffers. It's not the fault of the Chinese most of the time it's the brand doing a poor job.

From someone who has been in the industry for 40 years.

Agree up to a point. Bear in mind that Chinese manufacturing will always be somewhat independent of the 'premium' brand (unless it's chinese owned itself) and culturally the custmer care and quality attitude of Chinese manufacturers are very different from what we used to expect from home grown specialists who took real pride in a product that aligned with their own interests - "made by hunters for hunters" might even have been true for Harkila once...
Worth also thinking where u r putting your cash, Chinese co's and govt make a huge premium from these products - does their politics, human rights and quest for world domination align with your own values.....?