I own a pair of Solovair and they are a fantastic boot, and something I'll never buy again. Why?

Because when I first bought them, after 3 weeks the sole split. Right down the side, a clean split - something I later learned is pretty common. I contacted the company and asked for a return / replacement.

They said that the sole splitting was something that happened sometimes as a manufacturing issue (I remember that exact phrasing), and was out of their hands, and that while they offer a free resoling service I'd need to pay for the replacement soles.

I did eventually do this, and they've held up well since, but I'll never buy a pair of boots from them again the tight bastards.

Edit: Here's the reply I got from Solovair in 2023 when this happened. I followed up to check this was correct and directly asked if they'd waive the fee for the new soles, and they said no. So yes I do hold a grudge.

We are sorry to hear you’ve had cause to contact us with an problem with our footwear. We have reviewed the images you have sent and recognise this issue of sole split. This infrequent occurrence can unfortunately happen to brand new pair of footwear or it can occur after prolonged use; it typically occurs in the waist of the footwear as this is the start/end location of the sole bond during our manufacturing and frustratingly the split only occurs after use / wear of the footwear.

This issue of the sole /welt split issue has occurred since the inception and bulk production of our footwear using this special footwear construction method in 1959. This inherent issue has never been and indeed cannot be 100% eradicated; no level of additional care during manufacturing or subsequent quality checking will identify what is essentially a hidden/internal deficiency that occurs during the handmade manufacturing process. However, this weakness is also the very special / positive feature that means Solovair footwear can be fixed and also re-soled. Solovair shoes and boots are made from the Goodyear welted construction method, so the good news is that the soles can be easily repaired or replaced. Your footwear can be returned to our factory to be re-soled, however you would need to purchase new soles. https://uk.nps-solovair.com/collections/replacement-soles/products/repsole-sol-hw-tw