I don’t toss a winter coat, unless it has been incredibly worn, weathered, and broken or ripped beyond a presentable, acceptable aesthetic. The only exception would be if it is in good enough shape to give to those in need via a local coat drive or thrift store. Usually what seems to go is the zipper, the fastest, and I recently had this dilemma with a Columbia Sportswear coat. Luckily for me, however, Columbia has a Limited Lifetime Warranty for outerwear, which luckily covers: “defects in materials and workmanship in outerwear manufactured by Columbia Sportswear Company (Outerwear). This includes defects in zipper pulls, zippers, snaps, stitching, dye bleeding, leaking of Columbia’s waterproof Outerwear line, and any other Outerwear defects that may occur under normal wear.”
Basically, what Columbia is saying is that the company prides itself on its products, and wants you to enjoy a product that endures the test of time, and of course the elements. Although they can be fashionable, Columbia’s outerwear isn’t destined for planned obsolescence and created to fall apart in a year, when the style is no longer popular, but in the event that something happens that shouldn’t have, they will quickly say “my bad!” and assess how to repair or replace your coat.
After sending my coat back to the Oregon-based headquarters, I corresponded with one sales rep several times about the status of the repair, and although for my particular case my coat was unfortunately beyond fixable, I received a very comparable item in size, color and style, after, of course, I was asked if this is something that I would be comfortable with. The whole process took about two weeks, and I’m so thrilled to be back in Omni-Heat technology! Kudos to Columbia for standing behind their products with great care, concern, and customer service!
–Julia DiNardo
