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The North Face Women's Chilkat

rated 1.0 of 5 stars

The Women's Chilkat has been discontinued. It last appeared in The North Face's 2011 product line. It was replaced by The North Face Chilkat V 400 Waterproof Boots.

photo: The North Face Women's Chilkat winter boot

These boots just fell apart in storage in my closet after almost no use. North Face calls that wear and tear. See the emails below to read their response. You decide if you want the same treatment.

From: Saimoom Ameen [mailto:Saimoom.Ameen@truealliance.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, 27 January 2011 10:30 AM
To: Stephen OBrien
Subject: RE: North Face Boots

Dear Mr. O’Brien,
Thank you for your feedback.

Unfortunately as previously stated your product is out of warranty and a warranty claim cannot be raised.

Kind regards,
Saimoom Ameen
After Sales Administrator
True Alliance
19 O'Riordan St, Alexandria
NSW 2015 Australia
F 61 2 9319 2009
E saimoom.ameen@truealliance.com.au

From: Stephen OBrien
Sent: Thursday, 27 January 2011 10:46 AM
To: Saimoom Ameen
Subject: RE: North Face Boots

Saimoon,
Thank you for your prompt reply.
It seems from your reply that The North Face considers it acceptable that their products have a very short life in a ‘storage environment’. The boots certainly did not experience any ‘build up in moisture over time’ whilst stored in a cupboard at home. What info do you provide about storage when you sell the product? I certainly was not aware that boots needed to have ‘access to fresh air’. Does the North Face ‘air’ the product prior to sale or keep them in a cardboard box??

I do not agree that a product that fails like this in a dry storage environment is not ‘defective in materials or workmanship’.

I request that you consider replacing them. I am sure there are forums on the internet where will readers and potential buyers will be interested in my experience.

regards
Stephen O'Brien

From: Saimoom Ameen [mailto:Saimoom.Ameen@truealliance.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, 27 January 2011 9:34 AM
To: Stephen OBrien
Cc: After Sales
Subject: RE: North Face Boots

Good Morning Mr. O’Brien,

Thank you for your enquiry in regards to your The North Face product.

To answer your question regarding warranty, all The North Face footwear is provided with a one year warranty, as after a year it is difficult to ascertain whether damages to the product is associated with manufacturing defects or wear and tear. As your product is over 3 years old it is no longer covered under warranty.

In relation to the issues you are experiencing with the product, from the pictures and descriptions you have provided we can determine the damage has occurred due to the shoes being kept in a storage environment for a prolonged period of time. The deterioration of adhesives and the oxidisation of material is a common occurrence when products are kept in a storage environment, where the product do not have access to fresh air and it’s components begin to fail due to the build up of moisture overtime. From the pictures it is quite evident that the product is now beyond repair.

This damage is not due to any defects in material or workmanship, and is a product of wear and tear in relation to the how the product had been used. Wear and tear is also not covered under warranty.

I hope I have been able to attend to your enquiry sufficiently. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Saimoom Ameen
After Sales Administrator
True Alliance
19 O'Riordan St, Alexandria
NSW 2015 Australia
F 61 2 9319 2009
E saimoom.ameen@truealliance.com.au

From: Stephen OBrien
Sent: Thursday, 27 January 2011 10:04 AM
To: After Sales
Subject: North Face Boots

Hi

My wife bought these North Face boots in Niseko, Japan three years ago. They were worn only a few times on that trip, and have been stored in a cupboard at our house since then. In storage, they have only been subjected to a normal interior environment.

A few weeks ago we were packing in preparation for our next ski trip. We were extremely disappointed to find the boots had fallen apart and are completely unusable. The rubber lower section appears to have become brittle and has separated from the leather upper.

Attached are photos to show the deterioration. One photo shows the sole to confirm that they have had effectively no wear at all. Ironically these boots are labelled ‘outlast’.

What is the warranty on these boots? Can they be replaced, and hopefully with a product that will withstand more than three years in a benign environment?

Regards,
Stephen O'Brien
DSC00524.jpg

I've always been impressed with the quality and durability of the many North Face products I've purchased—many items that have lasted for years and countless uses. However, I too purchased the Chilkat style winter hiking boots and wore them only a handful of times resulting in what would be considered very minimal "wear & tear".

The boots appeared in mint condition the last time I put them on, but after taking a few steps, I noticed a trail of broken pieces of rubber crumbling off as I walked. Upon closer inspection, the whole lower rubberized section was splitting away from the upper portion, exposing the white inner lining through all the rotting/broken rubber, rendering the boots useless.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed that a product at that price point was so poorly manufactured and contemplated contacting The North Face to ask them to stand behind their products and customers...until I read on-line that so many have experienced the same defective product/materials with these particular boots and have received no recourse (only wasted their time and energy!) by contacting The North Face.

Very surprising that a company like the North Face doesn't admit the product is obviously defective and keep their customers satisfied?!

Pros

  • Warm and comfortable while they lasted (for about 6-8 uses in total)

Cons

  • Poor quality material used in manufacturing, particularly the rubberized portion. The rest of the materials used to construct the boots seems of typical good quality.

See above: rubberized portion of boots started breaking down and chunks were falling off and lower rubberized portion was separating from upper portion exposing white insulating under layer, rendering the boots useless obviously as they were no longer snow or waterproof.

This happened after only approx 6-8 very light uses. The boots appeared in mint condition until I started to walk in them and they began literally crumbling at my feet!

Source: bought it new

November 13, 2022
The North Face
"Women's Winter Boots Built To Last"

Last what? Half a hike

Pros

  • Comfortable and warm. Doubt it would last once it rained or snowed. No covering left.

Cons

  • Disintegrated while walking on the first time use.

 

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A friend gave me a pair of never used North Face boots. I thought oh wow The North Face that's awesome, a very good BRAND.

This past weekend I would use the boots for its very first time and break them in. We did an easy 1-mile hike through the woods. Halfway in my partner looked down at my boots and started to laugh and stated I lost part of my boot. Oh my the whole toe covering was missing. You could see the inside insulation.

We continued on to complete the hike with many jokes and laughter about my sole (soul) would be lost in the woods. Is this really what breaking in a boot mean? More like breaking down. As we hiked more and more of the boot disintegrated. I was afraid the boots wouldn't make it back to the truck in one piece. That is all I would need. Just one piece.

I contacted The North Face and I was told about the limited warranty just like everyone here. I believe The North Face really don't care about losing loyal customers. This blog clearly shows poor quality products from many experiences and reviews. There are many other brands that back up their quality products to have loyal customers.

Background

My experience with this brand DISINTEGRATED along with my boots.

Source: received it as a personal gift

I bought these boots four years ago and have worn them maybe twice a year. Today when I was walking up my front stairs to my door both of my boots cracked completely across the rubber part!

Pros

  • Up until they fell apart they were pretty comfy.

Cons

  • THEY FELL APART AFTER I WORE THEM ALL OF 8 TIMES!

I bought these during a NW snowstorm. I thought I'd treat myself to a nice boot that would keep my feet warm and dry for years to come, and they did, for a while.  

We don't get a lot of snow here so they mostly lived in my bedroom closet. Dry, warm, good conditions for storing shoes, right? I guess not, because today I wore them out and watched the rubber upper part split apart before my eyes.  I am so disappointed.  

I always thought North Face was a quality brand, but upon looking up the warranty it turns out that my boots are only covered for a year. So in conclusion, this is a great boot if you like to throw away your money.   

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $99

Same happened to me. Rubber falls apart, decomposes, after 4 years and hardly any use..

Pros

  • Super comfy

Cons

  • only lasted 4 years used once a year.

Rubber falls apart, decomposes, after 4 years and hardly any use..

Any answer from North Face? 

I accept that you choose a new rubber composition and then only later find out it doesn't last long. But the company should try to make up for their wrong choice and apply some kind of warranty, some kind of recompensation, no?

Background

Lost trust in North Face

Source: bought it new

A friend let me use her TNF boots as I was going to use them for just a couple of hours. To my surprise, 5 minutes after walking on them they cracked all over. Imagine how bad I felt. She let me borrow her expensive boots, which she had used a handful of times previous years, and suddenly I get them and they disintegrate within 5 minutes.

I can’t believe the price of this pair of boots that only have 12 months warranty. They are snow boots; if you live in Florida like we do, we only use them so little each year. Then the next year they just crack completely. And not covered by warranty.

Pros

  • None

Cons

  • Feel like flushing $150 down the toilet and a bad experience as I now have to replace for my friend with other boots that are not hers.

Background

Too bad. It completely ruined my trip.

Source: borrowed it

Epic fail of rubber on toe box.

Pros

  • Warm
  • Good traction
  • Good support

Cons

  • Toe box fell apart

Loved these boots for warmth, traction, support, and fit. Have always cleaned them up and put them away in the original box. They were almost in new condition but the toe box fell apart, luckily, just as I was returning from a hike in the snow. Very disappointed.

It appears this has happened to quite a few people. I hope North Face corrects the problem.
north-face1.jpg
north-face3.jpg

Background

I have not ever had a winter boot fail in this manner.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $100-$125

Worn once and fell apart. My review reads the same as all of the others. These boots are defective and North Face will not stand behind their product.

Pros

  • North Face Chilkat boots look good before they disintegrate.

Cons

  • You will only get to wear them a few times before they fall apart.

F2FC6299-D116-4DCE-9F15-DEAD38D037CF.jpg
540AAED5-761B-45F0-8975-16B417876DEA.jpg
Not much more to add. Don’t waste your money. These boots are garbage. My pictures look like everyone else’s. 

Background

Fell apart after a day of use.

Source: received it as a personal gift

Rubber cracked after minimal use.

Cons

  • Rubber cracks with minimal use
  • Inferior product

The same exact thing happened to my boots when I took them out of the closet. There appeared to be a small crack in the rubber and when I actually wore them outside to shovel snow they cracked across the entire boot.  They were in perfect condition prior to this happening and were worn maybe 3-4 times per year.

NF should be ashamed of themselves for selling such an inferior product. Will never buy boots from them again!

Source: bought it new

Bought these boots on clearance and stored them in the box under the bed. First time they were worn they cracked all the way across the toe on both boots. Complete garbage!

Cons

  • Fall apart after storing

Boots looked and felt great until I tried to wear them on my first winter trip. Both boots cracked across the toe.  

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $75

Same problem :(

Pros

  • Warm
  • Comfortable

Cons

  • Rubber splits apart

All of a sudden I looked down while carrying wood in and the toe of my right boot split apart as I bent my foot while walking!  I had previously raved about these boots to anyone and everyone. I loved the comfort and warmth. Sadly neither of those factors matter if you can't keep your feet dry - soooooo disappointed. :(

Source: received it as a personal gift

Run fast away from these boots.

Pros

  • Designed well...to fail

Cons

  • Cheap materials

I had a pair of North Face white women's boots. I kid you not, I wore them once and they cracked up and the top plastic portion fell away. I was sooooo disappointed. I think they are designed to fail. 

Source: bought it used

Pros

  • I loved these boots, very comfortable.

Cons

  • Lower rubber portion of boot started to crack with chunks of the material falling off.

I had the exact same experience with the lower rubber portion of the boot starting to crack with chunks of the material falling off completely after being worn only a few times. I had not worn them more than 5-7 times.  Very disappointing.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: I do not remember exactly but it was $150 or more. I paid list price at the time

rated 1 of 5 stars All Chilkat versions

In addition to the 13 women's reviews above, there are 41 reviews for other versions of the Chilkat. Read all reviews »

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Specs

Price MSRP: $90.00
Historic Range: $19.26-$95.00
Reviewers Paid: $75.00-$99.00

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