I happen to have my contract here in my office and was going over it carefully, and could find no mention of Fabrica.
Until I read the fine print on the back of the order form. The “Terms and Conditions” are there, and La Mundial is at the top of the page, and it states payment is to be made to “Fabrica (also known as La Mundial).” All the paperwork clearly indicates that La Mundial and Fabrica are the same company. There is nothing that would notify a purchaser that they were dealing with a different entity than La Mundial – even the payment line explicitly states that they are the same company.
Therefore, LM isn’t necessarily volunteering to make the boots as promised by Fabrica, the paperwork told consumers they were one and the same.
It goes on to state that there will be no refunds, but that the boots will be made to order. In other words, they are saying they will be made to match the measurements on the paper, not necessarily to your satisfaction.
It does say that any disputes will be litigated completely in the State of Florida, so that makes any potential lawsuit somewhat easier. You still can’t get money back if there is no one in the U.S. to satisfy a judgment.
Based on the terms of the contract though, it would be hard to litigate for a refund under any circumstances, as they are very clear that they will not refund money at all, ever. But, I also read the contract to indicate that they would be held responsible to get the boots to match the ordered measurements.
For complete disclosure, I ordered mine at Red Hills in March, and they were delivered in June and are totally wonderful. I did not do any research prior to ordering (which is totally unlike me, but at the start of the event, I was determined NOT to order any). When I came here and did some searching afterward, I was horrified by the bad stories and worried and worried until my boots arrived, right on schedule.
I do think it is interesting that the terms of sale/contract is intended to be initialed and signed by both parties, and I was not asked to do that. But, they would be able to make an argument that by handing over payment, a purchaser had accepted the terms.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that you get some satisfaction and I am so sorry that you’ve had to go through this. I am hoping that Roberto makes good on what he has told Holly.
I’ll keep watching this space. It is unfortunate that this is the type of business practice that garners so much bad press for a company – with so many people unhappy, I am surprised that there aren’t folks with signs picketing the booth at Congress . . .
