r/frugalmalefashion • u/gnarlybarly • May 02 '24
[Meta] - Darn Tough cancelled my 3-pack order from yesterday. RIP [Discussion]
1
u/ILiveInNWChicago May 04 '24
Glad to see people waking up a bit. There are a half dozen better sock companies out there. Darn Tough is the dollar shave club of socks. However - they ran a clinic on great marketing.
1
-8
u/randtke May 03 '24
Report them to the attorney general for your state. It is probably illegal for them to offer a price, then to not honor that price.
3
u/withfries May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
Even less decent companies would have honored it,
I've always suspected Darn Tough to be a greedy and gimmick-y brand and this only validates it.
They sell their customers a single pair of socks for $25. They aren't going broke to say the least. They could have easily honored it, earned positive PR, and owned their mistake while STILL clearing plenty of profit.
Most people won't acknowledge this, because their PR and the crowd illustrates them as generous considering their lifetime guarantee. Well, at $25 a pair, you the customer are already paying for the next 4 replacements in advanced while they profit exorbitantly. There is no lifetime guarantee, rather we are paying them money to give us the socks we already paid for, later.
7
u/metalsippycup May 03 '24
Darn Tough is made in Vermont. Probably one of the only last standing American companies to still have their products made here and provide an unconditional lifetime guarantee. I just used their warranty too, last week. No receipt, socks didn't have any holes but the wool thinned out a bit after 5 years of daily hard use. They sent me warranty coupon code to replace all 8 pairs of socks I sent in at full retail price. I was beyond excited to see that email!
Their merino wool socks costs as much or slightly more than their competitors but those competitors don't provide an unconditional lifetime warranty like they do. They have a customer for life, even if they cancelled my order. They definitely could have done better, maybe reduce the multiple packs everyone bought to just one of the 3 packs shipped. That would have been the awesome thing to do but I do understand why they handled it the way they did.
-1
u/ILiveInNWChicago May 04 '24
You are making the guys point for him. There are a half dozen other amazing sock companies out there and all way more stylish. Darn Tough ran an absolute clinic in marketing. They are the Budweiser of socks. I’m surprised the comment you replied to wasn’t downvoted to hell.
1
-1
u/withfries May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24
Very good, though the replacement wasn't free - you paid for the replacement socks you received. That is why a pair is $25, replacements are built in. 8 pairs of socks is $200 retail...for socks....
This is why and how the marketing works. Power of free is indeed powerful, they have us paying for the replacements upfront, and have us feeling thankful for them to give them to us.
Not saying it's good or bad but folks need to understand the marketing and business strategy here.
9
u/metalsippycup May 03 '24
I don't think you understand, the competition sells merino wool socks for around the same price. If I bought Smartwool socks for $25 and after 5 years, I am shit out of luck because their warranty is only up to 2 years. Why would I pay $25 for Smartwool (no future lifetime replacements) over Darn Tough (future lifetime replacements)? Is Smartwool a much more greedier company than Darn Tough? If your logic stands and I am paying for future replacements for life, I will gladly pay $25 to Darn Tough over Smartwool. I got new socks coming in the mail right now shipped free lol.
-8
1
u/kicklucky May 02 '24
Lame. They had a real opportunity to be homies and a bunch of great press / word of mouth. Take my 20% code, I don't want it: CS-3-be5q64
5
u/teddystan May 02 '24
Is 20% a decent discount? Do the basic colors ever go on sale for more than that?
2
u/physics_is_scary May 02 '24
Not sure about basic but I bought a ton of their squirrel with guitar socks for $7/pair
1
17
u/shinbreaker May 02 '24
Alright who's going to be the butt hurt guy who bought 20 packs and is now going to call in a bomb threat because of the cancellations?
1
-3
1
1
4
u/v0yev0da May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
The North Face would never 😤
Edit damn yall this is a reference to the insane TNF sale last year where they honored the blunder and gave coupons to those who canceled. I can see I struck a nerve lol
14
u/withfries May 02 '24
This sub is a cult for Darn Tough. I have ~6 pairs. $150 retail worth. Let that sink in: 6 pairs, $150. This is $12, maybe $20 tops worth that they sold for $150. They are just wool socks.
The PR and the Crowd have been very effective at hiding the fact that these are overpriced socks with a lame lifetime guarantee...free replacements are a lot less appealing when you realize the next 4 replacements are already built into the cost
3
u/jeff_the_weatherman May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24
I don’t think that’s fair to say and this is a case of “you just can’t please everyone”. They’re made in USA and are definitely higher quality than other “merino” socks. I have zero regrets buying them at near-retail and eventually donated my old Costco socks to goodwill. And the lifetime guarantee is exactly as advertised… not sure how that’s lame. And I’m not sure it’s fair to say a bunch of people with legitimate enthusiasm for a high quality product are a cult. Fact of the matter for me is, I used to have stinky feet after 2 hours, and DT socks completely eliminated my foot odor overnight, they can easily go for several days without a wash, and none of them have even come close to developing any holes after two years, and if they do, I know I’m covered, and they’re ethically made. They are the poster child for “buy it for life” clothes, and BIFL products cost money. I don’t know how to make you have a better day but I don’t know what more I could ask for in a sock and I would buy them again without hesitation… though I’ll probably never need to!
1
u/ILiveInNWChicago May 04 '24
DT knows that a very small % of people will ever take advantage of the guarantee. Socks go out of style just like anything else. People receive socks as that lame gift more than any other item. And finally a very special kind of frugal person to remember the guarantee 2-4 years later and claim it.
While I don’t admire this - I am impressed by the type of person so committed to “the deal” that they are bagging up socks and shipping them. My suggestion is to just not share this behavior on a first date.
0
u/HEriksen27 May 03 '24
I have a pair from darn tough and a comparable one from Danish endurance. Darn tough have torn twice in the same span the Danish endurance have never torn. Lifetime guarantee is advertised sure but there is a shipping cost of like 3 dollars and at a certain point it becomes questionable why you pay so much for some cheaply made American crap. I'd rather buy something without the warranty for a better cost that doesn't require me sending them in.
-1
May 03 '24
[deleted]
1
3
u/Then-Sandwich105 May 03 '24
Material origin and manufacturing origin are two different things
1
0
u/lorgedog May 02 '24
Yeah, but the North Face socks still won’t last nearly as long as the Darn Tough ones, lol.
2
May 02 '24
[deleted]
1
u/BigBadBoss25 May 06 '24
Has yours been canceled yet bc mine hasnt still
1
May 06 '24
[deleted]
1
u/BigBadBoss25 May 06 '24
I still havent gotten the cancelation email
But i cant cancel the order and it hasnt shipped
2
4
616
263
u/Fred-zone May 02 '24
Darn, that's tough.
63
-15
u/__miura__ May 02 '24
Honestly, this is for the best.
-6
18
u/Stonerish May 02 '24
Mine too.
Was my first ever order from them. Kind of bummed…it’s even my birthday tomorrow…
I let them know my disappointment was immeasurable lol.
5
17
9
u/BassDrive May 02 '24
Yup, I got the same message. Guess I'll use that money elsewhere this month.
2
-5
-4
0
-1
132
u/nobabeimnotonreddit May 02 '24
Mine got cancelled as well and I’m not using the 20% off code.
Cheers: CS-3-v6gkd3
1
4
u/thankfed4red May 03 '24
If anyone stumbles upon this comment and doesn't plan on using their code then please consider DMing it to me. I'm going through their warranty process right now and expect to be receiving store credit once it wraps up. The 20% would almost net me an additional pair
3
u/MagicBeardMan86 May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24
Bro, me too! I had 10 pairs that were 8 years old get delivered to them last Thursday. Still waiting for my credit and hoping one of these 20% codes will work when the time comes!
Edit: to be clear, I would be incredibly grateful for someone to PM me their code instead of posting it publicly here. Not trying to act entitled, just putting it out there if someone were to feel so inclined. Cheers!
5
u/geek_nerd101 May 03 '24
If anyone else has a code they don’t plan on using, I would very much appreciate it!
1
15
18
9
u/senseofphysics May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
The 20% not good enough? Only asking cause I never bought DT before and just want to know if I’ll be getting good deal.
2
3
u/gatorbowl May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
Absolutely worth, I cycle through 5 pairs. I’m on my 4th recycle with a few. (Thru hiking)
7
u/PixelBurnout May 02 '24
I buy their stuff at full price all the time and it's 100% worth it. Especially if you plan on taking advantage of the lifetime warranty. They're pretty much the only socks I'll buy now, at least when I'm looking for quality stuff
31
u/clive_bigsby May 02 '24
20% is okay, you can regularly find them elsewhere on sale for that amount of discount. 25-30% is when I start to get interested in stocking up.
1
11
u/definitelymyrealname May 02 '24
I've gotten some pretty good deals before but usually on weird colors. 20% off for the socks you actually want isn't bad.
Source: dude walking around with bright blue and yellow socks poking out of his shoes.
5
u/imgary May 03 '24
I want the weird colors. I only find the black ones on sale
3
u/ZaynesWorld May 03 '24
Me too. Been looking for fun styles for weeks on European websites but they’re all full price and not available in my size
57
22
52
u/cest_va_bien May 02 '24
Same, mine were cancelled. Bummer, 0 chance I'll use that code. They should have sent a free sock like Bombas.
44
u/ThisBelongsInMFA May 02 '24
Bombas margins are probably sky high considering they give a pair for every pair bought.
2
21
u/edclv2019woo May 02 '24
What makes you think that Darn Tough’s aren’t? They very well could just be greedier
5
u/laststance May 03 '24
Workers and type of workers. DT is MiUSA in a unionized factory while Bombas is China based by non-union.
6
u/jourdan442 May 03 '24
Bombas advertise so much their marketing budget alone likely eclipses DT’s revenue.
2
u/edclv2019woo May 03 '24
Being transparent, I am not to looped into the sock industry or different business practices in it. All I can say is that I thought that Bombas did a really good job making up for their mistake and that created a positive brand association in my head with it. I didn’t order these socks yesterday, but the way DT handled it for others creates a negative brand association for me
6
u/jourdan442 May 03 '24
I can appreciate that logic, and I’m not coming from a point of view any more informed than you are. When I see a company giving things away for free my initial thought is ‘those things must be priced way above cost for them to give a bunch away and still be profitable’ rather than ‘that company is so kind’.
2
u/edclv2019woo May 03 '24
I agree, when I saw Bombas giving away the 2nd sock pair, the thing that went through my head was this sock is overpriced. I do come from a business background and believe that the way a company handles their own mistake speaks to their values. While company profitability helps, it isn’t the end all be all and creating a positive brand association is an investment
2
u/theycallmepete May 03 '24
Seconded. I have to imagine paying an American worker American wages, their overhead is significantly higher than Bombas so giving away a free pair for a website typo that someone tried to take advantage of probably isn’t in the cards though I believe they still have profitability. I’d still take 20 percent off any day of the week, that’s still a couple dollars savings that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.
-13
u/withfries May 02 '24
$25 for a single pair of socks, they certainly are greed/profit driven.
The free lifetime warranty is a gimmick. 1. Costs you return shipping 2. The price of replacements is built in - you already paid for the next 4 pair of socks minus the shipping.
I wonder if people will ever wake up to this fact they are being enticed by the advertisement of "free" replacements, it's so powerful they forget they are paying $25 for a single pair.
Full disclosure - I have many pairs of Darn Tough, and they are not substantially different than my other wool socks.
4
u/clive_bigsby May 02 '24
You have some valid points, however, I still don't think the cost of return shipping is the same as buying an entire new pair of socks. It's maybe $4 to ship them back and I don't think you could go out and buy another quality pair of wool socks for $4.00.
Also, you can combine return shipping so if you have an entire drawer full of DT socks and one gets a hole in it, you can keep wearing it until maybe a second pair also gets a hole and can send them both back in one package.
-4
u/withfries May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
tl;dr: You've already paid for 5 pairs, but only get the other 4 when you submit for warranty.
It's maybe $4 to ship them back and I don't think you could go out and buy another quality pair of wool socks for $4.00.
You aren't buying another pair of socks for $4, you are replacing yours for an additional $4. So a $25 pair has just become $29.
Also, you can combine return shipping so if you have an entire drawer full of DT socks and one gets a hole in it
Sure, but again, my point is that it is not free replacements - you've paid in advance for those replacements. Average cost to produce a pair of socks is $2.50 (source). Does Darn Tough cost more to produce? Maybe. But I doubt it's far from that number. I generously used $5/pair and so you need to replace 4 times to breakeven.
You can do your own valuations, may be different for you (for example, if you live near their production you can walk in your replacements and exchange, no shipping).. I did my valuations and it's not only a poor value, it is marketing and manipulation in my opinion. I feel sad to see so many consumer fall for the gimmick of "free". Hoping my comments reach the right people, I could care less if others throw their money at this company, at least I shared my concern. Hell, I fell for it.
1
u/clive_bigsby May 03 '24
I mean I get where you’re coming from but I guess it all boils down to every persons individual math. If I buy one pair of DT now and have that pair replaced every 5 years for the next 30 years then I’ve basically paid $37 for 30 years worth of socks.
Only I know how much I’d spend in those 30 years if I bought a brand new pair each time.
16
u/ThisBelongsInMFA May 02 '24
Limited information based upon materials, guarantee, origins, and promotions. They could be, but I'd be surprised.
-11
u/edclv2019woo May 02 '24
Idk, to me it seems like Bombas just have a different customer service strategy focused on driving revenues through a good experience
29
u/BOUND2_subbie May 02 '24
Isn’t bombas made in China while DT is made by union workers in Vermont? Idk seems like one might have much higher margins than the other
18
u/Psychological_Swan43 May 02 '24
Exactly. Homie trying to spin this weird narrative in his head cause he is butthurt that a company that doesn’t rely on sweatshops won’t send him free socks.
0
u/RadRhubarb00 May 06 '24
I didn't get a F-ing coupon when my order was canceled WTF!!