"Outstanding boots, servicing takes forever"

A review of R M Williams Ltd by Jason written on Wednesday 9th of September 2009

RM Williams boots are not cheap, and for good reason. In my experience they are among the most comfortable and hard working (not to mention hardwearing) boots I have worn. The quality of the handcrafting is second to none and, given a minimum amount of care, a pair will last you several years easily, and good care will last twice that or more. I now have 3 pairs which are used more or less daily - oldest pair is 6 years, followed by 5 & have plenty of go left in them- I swear by them.

Sadly servicing them, although equally of a high quality standard, takes forever, and they are picky. For best results they are sent back to the workshop in Australia (though simple resoling can be carried out a bit cheaper by a London based approved contractor if you prefer) and I've been quoted "4-6 weeks turnaround" which has never been less than 8-10 weeks in reality. I'm currently waiting 3 months (sent off 5 June, we're now 10 Sept) and was told last week that there's a problem so they're sending them back with a letter, un-repaired. Like, what problem & why not hold on to them until we discuss it? My sending back to them will only incur another few weeks/months wait whilst they're shipped over again, no?

Servicing - isn't it just resoling? RMs are handmade with loads of work gone into them, which can be repaired, reconditioned or replaced (at a price obviously). Some boots will take different soles, so if your original leather soles don't last long you may be able to have them changed for harder wearing composite soles, for example. If you kick your boots off at the heel (which only damages them) then the resulting dent can be repaired by replacing that unit. Similarly stitching or loose elastics or knackered pull-tags can be repaired, etc.

The quality - once again - is high, but you do pay for it in both money, as well as doing without your boots for a bloody long time on every occasion.

The staff at the London RM store are always helpful and professional and the shopping experience in-store has always been positive every time. They'll always try to help & accommodate you, especially if there's any feedback from the workshop in Oz, in the case of repairs. On a previous occasion I was given a free tin of saddle dressing & a discount voucher for the delays in getting my boots back, which was a nice gesture (or maybe bribe, hehe).

I still highly recommend their boots as they are the job, though my experience has been soured a bit by the disappointing workshop service..

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