You’re right. I have dealt with the place of purchase to deal with warranty replacements etc. No prob.
I have had three incidents with Bauer products in the last 6 months. All three were issues with quality and workmanship of the product and no warranty was applicable. The first two regarding skates - and the last was a mini hockey net set. I wanted Bauer to look into the prob with the boots of both skates since I felt it was a manufacturing or material flaw. They blamed my skater with a generic response without looking at pics or reading emails. I’ve had years of hockey and dealing with the products. We have had Bauer skates last through a few players and multiple seasons. So when a problem comes up 2x in less than 4 months with two pairs of skates…it would seem there may be a prob. Bauer could not have cared less.