Complaint Review: HatCountry

Open letter to HatCountry:

The first hat was exchanged because it was defective.  The second hat was even worse than the first, yet you refuse to exchange it.  You claim the warehouse will not authorize an exchange, but you are the seller doing business with this warehouse and as such, you are ultimately responsible for the decisions that affect, and the product received by, the customer.

The brim is misshapen; you suggest I reshape the brim myself.  I did not pay $120 for a hat that I have to shape myself.

You claim these "small holes" are pinholes.  As I wrote in my previous email, these are not small holes--these holes look as though a bug chewed on them.  Additionally, there are over a dozen of these holes in the crown of the hat, as you can see in the photos I sent.

As I also wrote in my previous email, I do not expect a 1 BU shantung but, for the money I paid, I expect more than a hat with holes and a lopsided, frayed brim.  If this was one of the shantung cowboy hats you sell on your site for the same price, these flaws would not be acceptable, and you know it.  Why is this acceptable to you just because this particular hat is a fedora?

Why does this sorry excuse for a hat not look like the one in the picture on your website?  I don't see pinholes, frayed edges, or a misshapen brim in that picture!

Shantung is not even natural straw, much less Panama straw, as you keep trying to tell me.  There are hats that are referred to as "Shantung Panama," but that refers to the style of hat, not the material of which it is made.  You shouldn't be selling hats if you are not aware of this simple fact.  Shantung is man-made paper fiber, and the flaws in this hat are the result of man-made errors, not any unique, natural properties, as you claim.

So essentially, I am ripped off for a restocking fee and shipping costs because you don't know anything about hats...