June 18, 2019

The La Mundials are Back!

You may remember a couple of years ago when I scored a pair of La Mundial's off eBay for $135.  They were barely used, and fit in almost every way, except for this weird bump/notch/wrinkle at the back of the calf:


That part of the calf was too big on me, but not noticeably so, so I continued to wear them like that for a couple of seasons.

Like at the KPG clinic in 2018.  PC: Leah
At LRKY this year, I brought them with me knowing LM would have a booth there, hoping they'd be willing to work on them even though I bought them secondhand.  (What can I say, I have PTSD from trying to work with the County rep on a secondhand saddle, ugh, what a waste of time that was.)

They ended up being so good to work with!  A nice gentleman had me try them on over my jeans, and then measured me as if I was getting new boots (knowing those measurements are on file is...tempting).  I filled out a form, paid $90, left my boots with him and promptly tried to forget about them.

Six weeks later, a shipment was released from customs to me, and I got my boots back!  Moment of truth:


They. Are. PERFECT!  They seriously fit like custom boots. 

A real quick "hey baby will you take a photo for my blog before I go to the barn and get them dirty?"

LM also gave them a beautiful polish while they had them.  I had sent them off looking dull, so to get them back looking like this was a thrill.






I didn't know or care how old they were when I bought them, but the LM guy reacted with surprise when he looked at the serial number and saw that they are from 2007!  Looking pretty good for 12 year old boots.






Through a little bit of luck and a little bit of working with a company that takes care of its products for life, I now have a pretty much custom pair of LMs for $225.  Hopefully someday in the future I can patronize LM by buying an actual pair of custom boots from them, but until then, these seem like they're going to keep kicking for a while!

13 comments:

  1. Good to know LM seems to have gotten it together. I know I bought during a period of change and drama within the company and thus had a horrible experience in 2014 (my boots aren't even what I ordered, lol). The elastic in the front of the ankle (it appears yours have it too) on mine is looking quite sad despite what I would consider minimal wear of pretty much just breaking them in then shows on Maestro (between broken stump and being too tight they sat a while!) so that's a bummer. I will need to look into getting that fixed up once show season is over so maybe I will try contacting them at that point. I'm nervous to let them leave my sight though!

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    1. Yeesh! Yeah I've heard some real horror stories from people ordering new ones. Good to know about the elastic, I'll keep an eye on it. I'd be curious to know if they're replace it and how much they'd charge. I was nervous to hand them off too, and full disclosure I had NO communication of any kind once I handed them off, but they did arrive back safe and sound and in a reasonable amount of time.

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  2. o.m.g. they are BEAUTIFUL. it's nice to know they stood by their product, definitely would keep that in mind. while I'm a dehner girl for life they don't exactly have all the fun fancy stuff other people stock!!

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    1. Yes they definitely did stand by them! Dehners look awesome, never seen them IRL though.

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  3. What great customer service! they look amazing.

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    1. Yeah I couldn't be happier with the whole thing

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    1. Thanks! I know you're one of the unlucky ones. :-\

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    1. Yeah I'm thrilled! Still a bit tall, but only in a way that matters if I'm like picking feet and not in a way that matters in the saddle, so it's fine.

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  6. I've had nothing but good experiences with them and my 3 pairs (and honestly that first pair was still doing so well when I bought the other two so you never know maybe you'll treat yourself to something really fancy once of these days!!) I'm so glad that you've had awesome experiences with them!

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    1. Thanks! I'm sure I will spring for another pair at some point, they have so many fun options to play with. And this customer service experience just makes me want to vote with my dollar, you know?

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  7. I love that they cleaned them before they sent them back!

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