My experience of Hunter Boots customer care is, after significant time and energy expended, that they are awful. My conclusion is that their ‘care’ doesn’t exist and neither does their ‘support’.
I emailed customer support at hunterboots.co.uk and each time was given a scripted answer that ‘they can only assist with products purchased directly on www.hunterboots.co.uk’. Despite all the marketing blurb on the website including:
…the globally recognized [sic] boot stands as a testament to our commitment to excellence.
and…
our function-driven pieces are meticulously designed for outside performance, always seamlessly blending function with style.
it transpires that, unsurprisingly, this is just marketing space-filler. I have experienced no ‘commitment to excellence’ and their boots are clearly not built for ‘outside performance’.
After getting nothing back from the bots in the ‘customer support’ team (other than the needy ‘how did we do’ automated follow-up emails), I decided to email Head of Brand, Oliver Lewis. Here’s what I sent him:
Dear Oliver,
I am compelled to write to you with the onerous and unpleasant, yet absolutely necessary undertaking of bringing you to task.
Based on my experience, your brand is a 'Purple Cow' for all the wrong reasons. The product is shockingly poor quality; customer 'support' is woeful; and I have not experienced any of the brand or business values set out on your marketing collateral or that on the Batra Group website.
As a seasoned countryman I rely on equipment and clothing that is durable and protects me from the elements. I have owned many pairs of wellington boots over the years, including several classic Hunters, but I have to inform you that the recent purchase of a pair of Balmoral Neoprene wellingtons has resulted in me owning by far the worst pair of boots I have ever owned.
I buy things as an investment so spending a significant amount of money on new wellington boots was something I was prepared to do. I am utterly dismayed at the poor quality of these boots. The splits near the big toe joint on both feet appeared after the 4th time of wearing. The sizable splits on the right boot at the ankle joint are the last straw. I am disgusted that such a poor quality item from what used to be a reputable manufacturer is available for purchase.
Your company is well aware of the failings of the product and yet still offer them for distribution and sale. This is also done with a customer support that is dismissive and evasive.
Having purchased your product I am left feeling that I am a victim of theft and fraud rather than satisfied. I am also saddened that a once great brand is on its knees. In fact, worse than that, it's knowingly misleading customers by waxing lyrical about brand values and commitment to excellence and living none of them in truth. This is misleading and unethical. I am surprised that anyone in a position of responsibility in such a business can sleep at night knowing, in their heart of hearts, that what I state is true.
I have not experienced any of the core values of Humility, Ownership, Passion or Transparency espoused. All your marketing, advertising and brand work fails at the first hurdle as you no longer have the first 'P' i.e, a product that people will promote freely on your behalf.
I am disgusted at the quality of my boots and the failing of your customer care. A purchase of which I should be proud has left me angry.
Listen to your customers. Demonstrate your values.
Your 'customer service' team have the photos of the boots mentioned. Investigate the failings and take action.
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get a response. Turns out that a ‘Head of Brand’ doesn’t care about the brand these days.
As mentioned in the email above, Hunter Boots UK is owned by the Batra Group. Their website is proud to promote their core values of ‘humility’, ‘ownership’, ‘family ethics’, ‘passion’ and ‘transparency’. I contacted them as well – you guessed it – no response. Obviously demonstrating none of their core values.
Hunter is no longer a brand to be trusted
It’s small wonder that Hunter Boots in its original guise went bust. The brand name has now been bought for another company to trade off. In other words, entice suckers in like me who were unaware of Hunter’s problems and ultimate demise; taking advantage of the Hunter reputation built up over years and still purporting to be the same company producing the same high-quality products – they are not.
Do not fall into the same trap as me
Hunter Boots is now just a faceless company that wants to screw every bit of cash out of a dead brand. There’s are no tangible business values, no customer care, no product quality – no pride in a once great brand. It’s dead. Save your money and don’t fall for Hunter’s marketing lies and their glossy photos – their product is crap and they are exploiting the name. Save your money and spend it on a different brand. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
My Hunter Neoprene Balmoral wellington boots have no structural integrity and, as it turns out, Hunter Boots UK as a business has no integrity either. Both have been tested under conditions that are nowhere near challenging and both have failed dismally.
VERDICT: Not for for purpose.