That time LL Bean bought me ski boots at REI

Approximately 9 years ago, I raced into LL Bean looking to replace the bindings on my cross country skis. I can’t recall exactly what the issue had been, maybe it was something to do with replacing my boots and realizing that the new boots wouldn’t pair with my existing bindings, but in my dire need to ski right now and my inability to get my boots and skis paired properly in an expedient manner, I opted to replace all of my equipment.

Twenty-five minutes later, I was back in my car with new LL Bean Rossignol skis, poles and boots and on my way to Muni.

Those skis have taken me on trails and up and down sometimes scary hills reliably for nearly a decade, without issue. Everything has held up and remained serviceable until recently when I noticed a problem while on the back 9 at Muni…my right boot had come apart with the top of the toe and base of the boot no longer joined. The only thing keeping the boot in place was the fastened binding.

I returned to LL Bean, where I had been just a couple of weeks ago to buy winter gloves for one of my sons after having visited three other stores and coming up short.

Or should I say empty handed?

Nearly $60 (!) later, my boy had the potential for warm hands and I had a promise that he would take good care of his and pricy gloves.

So, here I was back at Colonie Center, this time with my boots in tow. Of course, I didn’t have a receipt for my purchase but the helpful salesperson, located the original transaction, gave the boots a look over and determined that I was entitled to a refund. I considered simply replacing the boots, but there were none in stock and shipping would have taken 2 weeks, so I left the counter with a credit of $122 back to my Visa.

Prior to leaving the store, I called Dick’s Sporting Goods to see if they might have equipment in the store, but was told they did not. I remembered that REI was now local and called their number. The person I spoke to informed me that they had limited stock on hand and I got back into my car and drove immediately to Crossgates.

Not only did REI have exactly what I was looking for, but the boots were even on sale. I replaced my previous pair with the nine years newer version at a price that was 50% off the current original price – and after completing the transaction, I had $8 of my credit remaining on my Visa account.

That’s a win, my friends.

The biggest takeaways, for me, are that LL Bean is a company that stands behind their products and that REI coming into our area has been a positive addition. I don’t do much shopping these days, but won’t hesitate to visit either of these stores in the future, as needed.

And – my new boots are exactly what I wanted.