Outsoles Cracking.

[Souldriver 64]

So the end of the spring season I purchased new Mission AC2 skates. I didn't play summer and missed a couple of games during the fall, so maybe I played 15 games at most on these on a beer league level. I usually inspect my skates prior to each game as I clean the dirt off of them from the rink but the last 2 games I did it quick and only noticed this now. But one on skate it's cracked from the heel rivets to the outside on the inside of the skate and on the other skate it looks like it's starting to crack or get crushed as there is a clear split in the laminate. I'll also add that nothing else on the skate is showing any wear at all and the boot is as stiff as day 1.

Here are some pics.

http://imgur.com/UaE8XmJ

http://imgur.com/0e6coLr

The question is that I've never had this happen to me, the outsoles are cracking way before even the wheels are wearing and I have 5 more regular season games left in the sweason then playoffs with no backup skates. Is this something that should be covered in the warranty? One member suggested talking to the place I got them from which I'll do either way. But for those of you that work retail, or have had this happen is this something that can/should be covered or am I shit out of luck with brand new $400 skates and am I just resigned to epoxying it and riding till it breaks completely.

[cjm305 0]

If it were me in your position, I would do exactly what I have done in the past: Call customer service, explain what is happening very calmly. If they dont immediately agree to fix them and pay for absolutely every penny of shipping, then threaten to swap brands, inform them of the fact that many of your team mates wear the brand in question and were relatively concerned about the issue as well...

I bought a pair of Easton S15 skates in HS and they lasted 6 months before the right boot shattered. I called Easton and initially they told me the boot was out of the standard 30 day warranty. I followed the steps I listed above, trying to remain polite, but reasonably upset my $700 skates hadnt lasted a year. They paid for me to ship the skates, and sent a brand new pair. The new pair lasted a year, and I wound up going with Bauer after. But generally companies will do this with sticks as well. Refusing to stand behind their product is normally not worth losing a customer that has proven that they will spend $400 or more on products, ya know?

Sorry, also -- Play out the rest of the games, dont worry about your skates unless you feel a pop/crack/unusual feeling. That crack looks pretty tiny, so unless you go absolutely ape$#%* on them, or something catastrophic happens, it shouldnt be a huge issue. You def need skates...

[Souldriver 64]

I'll give mission a call Monday, any other suggestions/advice?

[raganblink 82]

If it were me in your position, I would do exactly what I have done in the past: Call customer service, explain what is happening very calmly. If they dont immediately agree to fix them and pay for absolutely every penny of shipping, then threaten to swap brands, inform them of the fact that many of your team mates wear the brand in question and were relatively concerned about the issue as well...

I bought a pair of Easton S15 skates in HS and they lasted 6 months before the right boot shattered. I called Easton and initially they told me the boot was out of the standard 30 day warranty. I followed the steps I listed above, trying to remain polite, but reasonably upset my $700 skates hadnt lasted a year. They paid for me to ship the skates, and sent a brand new pair. The new pair lasted a year, and I wound up going with Bauer after. But generally companies will do this with sticks as well. Refusing to stand behind their product is normally not worth losing a customer that has proven that they will spend $400 or more on products, ya know?

Sorry, also -- Play out the rest of the games, dont worry about your skates unless you feel a pop/crack/unusual feeling. That crack looks pretty tiny, so unless you go absolutely ape$#%* on them, or something catastrophic happens, it shouldnt be a huge issue. You def need skates...

So if I understand this correctly, you bought Easton S15s, used them 6 months at a high school level (IE: Skating daily), had them break (which most S15s did/do), and then complained to switch brands if you didn't get free skates and they sent you new skates which you used for a year, then went to Bauer's after that? Then you're talking about doing it with sticks as well. Really?

You do realize its people like you as to why sticks are $260 and top-end skates are over $700, right? Its abusing the warranty system and wrong.

Do I understand why you would want to do that? Yes, you had some bad luck and it was expensive.

To souldriver - cracked outsoles happen all the time, and that's barely anything. You could wear those for 10 years once a week no problem. Its nothing to be worried about. Trying to warranty these will just be a loss for the company on those skates & next season you'll see skates go up 10% because they need to account for so many warranty issues. Plus you get 3 months on boot defects. To me this A) is way past that time frame and I understand they would be within 3 months if you skated bi-weekly on them, but B) something that isn't anything to warranty, either. Normal wear and tare.

[Souldriver 64]

To souldriver - cracked outsoles happen all the time, and that's barely anything. You could wear those for 10 years once a week no problem. Its nothing to be worried about. Trying to warranty these will just be a loss for the company on those skates & next season you'll see skates go up 10% because they need to account for so many warranty issues. Plus you get 3 months on boot defects. To me this A) is way past that time frame and I understand they would be within 3 months if you skated bi-weekly on them, but B) something that isn't anything to warranty, either. Normal wear and tare.

These were skated on less than weekly, when i say 15 games i mean just 15 games, doing the math thats over $30 per use for the skates. ive never had skates do that before, and the rest of the boot is pretty mint and hasnt lost a bit of its integrity.

I can see the one skate with the laminate crack being ok but the other one is split through (i can see through it easily) on the back most inside rivet and the one in front is also cracked to the edge. my fear is if this could easily lead to those rivets pulling out.

To be clear this isnt a try to geta free skate thing, this is see whats up with my new $400+ skates thing and that nearly half a grand doesnt go down the drain if i can help it.

[raganblink 82]

I understand where you are coming from and that you are frustrated, but realize that skates don't stay mint all the time.

But as a retailer I don't see the problem.

1) out of warranty period

2) a wear and tear issue - not manufacture defect

3) isn't going to hurt these a bit, you'll want new skates before it really becomes an issue.

If you want to protect them a little more I'd put some epoxy over them, but to me they are fine. Skates are supposed to get use on them, and having Mission/Bauer throw these in the trash and give you a new one isn't going to matter for your durability & it just eats into their profits, thus raising costs across the board for everyone next year.

Sorry to come off harsh but there really isn't anything wrong with them. Its good to look over your equipment, but they're fine.

[Souldriver 64]

No, i do get where youre coming from, and as a retailer the last thing you want is the new years models becoming more and more expensive.

And like I said the rest of the boot is fine and if i could just replace the outsole then i wouldnt bother asking. Ill also say the similar sized guys on my team that have been using the model down from me and for longer dont have the issue so that raised a bit of my attention, they actually play with a much more aggressive style than me as well. Ive had reeboks that lasted less than a year but i didnt bother with those bc the whole boot started to soften and the outsoles didnt crack on those they just started to peel off.

Ill also say in the boot with the major cracking i took the insole out and i saw one of the rivets was done very funny. it was on the side and not straight or nearly as flat fitting as the others. (didnt have my phone on me to take pictures) Im still going to contact mission to see what they say is or isnt normal, im not going to demand new skates, or say im going to switch, or demand "satisfaction" but if they see something that shouldnt be and they want to take action then so be it. I also want to ask before I epoxy/superglue/patch up anything on my own.

[strosedefence34 176]

It sounds like you haven't done anything to the skate just yet which is a good thing. I would recommend against doing anything to the skate until you speak with mission only because it could void the warranty. Since it sounds like you are still within the warranty it sounds like you have every right to contact them and just ask them about it. As someone who worked in customer service for a long time I never had a problem with people asking me if something their product was doing was up to speck or not.

I'm not sure about warranty issues causing newer models to go up in price though. I have never worked for a hockey retailer, but at my last job as a service technician for a major computer company I can tell you they set aside X amount of replacement components/ replacements per product for this exact reason. The prices never went up and if anything they went down. I can tell you at one point they did change the price slightly when a new product came out but that was not because people kept warrantying them it was because the technology advanced and if you wanted the newer technology well you had to pay more. I would assume that is why top end skates are no longer $400 and they are now $800+. Again I have never worked for a hockey retailer or company this is just my experience with computer companies/ retail.

[MountainKing 10]

From my retail experience from years ago, the amount of folks who abuse the system is nominal. It's not enough to cause an increase in prices the next year and not the reason we're paying $700 for high end skates or skates. Manufactures build warranty and support costs into the product that you buy. A majority of the people never use the warranty on a product, I'm not sure if they view that as extra money in the pot or not but I have to imagine that it's enough extra to cover the abuse and help manufactures keep certain customers happy. Sporting products are an interesting thing, if you turn 1 person off you run the risk of them turning their entire team and potentially even league off of that product. So with that said if you have the warranty then use it, if it's outside of the warranty period and you still feel that you should have it replaced call them and see what they say.

[cjm305 0]

My deal is not trying to get freebies. If I pay upwards of $700 for a pair of skates, I would prefer that the composite toe doesnt shatter inwards against my foot when taking a puck. The boots were in good shape before the shot was taken, and after the impact, the composite material shattered. I understand there are reasonable warranties for most of these skates, but if I have a product that looks ok everywhere but a 2x3inch spot, that looks like a gunshot, I tend to get frustrated and want to salvage some of my initial $700 investment.