When I was in college at the University of Delaware a marketing professor once described quality as the point "where expectations are met or exceeded at a price." Ah, who the hell remembers, it was over a decade ago... Quality is subjective and relative enough, I'll tell you that. But if I come across anything good and decent- I'll share it with you as a Good Product!
This week alone- two products- one, a pair of shoes. Two- a car cover.
Okay- product one- Ecco shoes. I bought the pair, well... I'm not going to say how long ago- but it was long enough ago where most any other company would have told me to go get lost when given the situation.
The situation? The soles had begun to literally break-down and crumble to a gooey, rubbery mess. I dunno- something had broken-down and I may add- not the first time I've had issues with Ecco shoes and their soles...
The first time this happened years ago- I went back to Nordstroms and got them replaced.
(On a personal note- I worked in car sales and between the cigarettes, the bad language and the vulgar wet dreams/stories of making it with whatever decent looking female that worked in the back office or reception desk- most other times car salesmen would brag about how much worn-out crap they were able to return to Nordstroms in exchange for some brand-new shit... I don't condone this in anyway- though- if you have a legitimate issue with anything you buy there- bring it to their attention- they'll make it right, I'm sure... And they just don't take anything back anymore- no thanks to people like my car buddies...)
This pair I didn't buy at Nordstroms- so, I went the manufacturer route.
What did I do? I sent it to NuShoe- the in-States agency that re-finishes Ecco shoes. You get this pre-paid mailer-bag and a slip from the Ecco retailer and send-in your shoes for an estimate of refurbishment- an array of services that can range anywhere from like $40 for a cleaning and polish to around $100 for a re-sole, new laces, polish and accessory cedar shoe-trees. You can also have them consider the work for warranty- which I thought had run-out, but evidently not.
(A little something else I learned- you cannot re-sole Ecco shoes to factory original specifications. Why? Something with the injection-molding process used in making the rubber/synthetic soles. The best they can do is replace the soles with a Vibram sole- which is a good rubber sole too I might add.)
Five days later I get an e-mail- they're replacing my shoes free of charge. Two weeks after that, today- I got a letter in the mail with a gift-card for a new pair of shoes from their online store.
How nice is that?
Do I like my Ecco shoes? For the money- they're pretty good. They're comfortable, stylish and of decent build. Buy them on sale if you can, and there probably isn't a more comfortable and quality-built shoe for the money- rubber soled-wise that is. They're just starting to vamp-up their marketing game too with dedicated boutiques and all-sorts of other crap- like lifestyle accessories too- so, it's a shoe, it's a lifestyle, it's European and as far as good shoes go- it's plenty good.
If you have some more money to spend- buy a pair of Mephisto shoes too. They're also good and of the same segment as Ecco but quite oftentimes a lot more money- and some would argue a lot better- but that's subjective.
Okay- second Good Product! of the week- my trusty and never rusty Covercraft car cover.
(Never rusty... Wish I could say the same for the car it covers...) but this is my second car cover by them- the first one I bought four years ago- The Noah... Good cover but it eventually got torn-up and ripped to shreds through the ravages of too much rain, snow, sun and fun.
The second cover I got was the WeatherShield HP- one of their premier high-end outdoor covers- for the money they cost- you bet your... it's the one.
Well, it was the one for a while- about two years. The only thing I didn't like about it was how light it was- which made it tricky to install on the car (it slides around, sometimes even falls right off when you're trying to tidy it up for storage) and it's propensity to take a beating in rough wind because of it's light construction.
It was however, waterproof and did a great job of keeping the car dry and water-free in heavy rains- literally- the water just beads right off, where on the Noah- it actually got absorbed by the flannel-like, yet breathable material...
Funny story- I was in Florida last month, and while the weather was peachy down there- the weather where I'm from was hurricane-like in rain and wind. Was I worried? A little. I did come back to the cover a little twisted and dirty- but not nearly as bad as I had imagined.
I put it in an industrial washer with some Simple Green as prescribed (I had done this at least two times before it comes out looking and feeling like new...), and dried it on low/medium heat exactly as the manual had advised- and it was as good as new?
Or so I thought.
Next big rain? The cover was sopped- it was taking-in water. Not good.
So- believe it or not- I had remembered the four year warranty on the cover and sent it right back.
Sure-as-Christmas on the 25th- two weeks later I get a package- with a brand-new cover inside.
I couldn't be happier.
So, who gives a shit, right? Well, with the Ecco- it's a $200-some dollar pair of shoes. Wear them for year- and what do you expect? Wear them for... well, a long time? What do they owe you? Nothing. As far as shoes go- it's cheap. But to get a no-hassle return on them was a welcomed sentiment during these trying times.
Second- the car cover. It's just a car, and this is just it's cover- but when you spend the kind of money on something that, to be quite honest- the same thing can be had locally for a tenth of the cost- it's nice to know there are perks that come with the price. Never mind the performance.
I mean, high-performance or not... Wear-out a Porsche- see where it gets you.
You'll be buying a new one. The Car Guy Gets It.
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