Timberland

Full review
Greetings. I have been purchasing shoes off of Timberland.com (from here simply "Timberland") for about five years.

I should disclose that I am probably biased in favor of Timberland products. I own over a dozen pairs of Timberland shoes. In fact, in the past ten years, I purchased only four pairs of shoes that were not Timberland-branded.

I have also purchased Timberland clothing, usually off of eBay, but occasionally off of Timberland.com.

So, as you can plainly see, I think a lot of Timberland products. Keep that in mind as you read this review of the online store.

The online store carries everything that is currently Timberland's product line. You may find older models at places like Zappos.com or offline stores.

The website is well organized. The main page has a row of buttons on the top - for mens, womens, kids, etc. After you click on one of those choices, you get a left pane drill-down approach. For example, if you choose Mens, you can choose among footwear, outerwear, clothing, and accessories. Click on one of these and you drill down further (for shoes - you'll see "casual," "office," and so forth). I think this is an efficient way of getting a person to the content of the website.

Prices are rather firm, but they do fluctuate a bit from time to time, so it does pay to check back.

Once you get into the categories of say, the particular type of shoes you want, you'll get thumbnails of the shoes and prices. If you click on a thumbnail, you'll get the product page.

Once at the product page, you can get a variety of close-up shots of the images of the product. For shoes, you can usually zoom in very close and view the texture, etc. It's a nice feature.

Features of the product are outlined in a straightforward manner at the product page. You then select the size and perhaps a color. You then add to your shopping cart.

The shopping cart and checkout process could not be more streamlined. You add things to your cart, you are asked if you want to continue shopping - if not, then you check out.

You do not need to create an account to order from Timberland.com. Some people find this nice - no stored information on their servers, etc. I have an account.

Payment options are the four major credit cards - AMEX, Visa, Master Card, and Discover. You can also pay by Google Checkout, although I haven't a clue why somebody would pay that way (it's messy - the only reason I did it is because they gave me $10 off). I don't recommend the Google Checkout.

Post-checkout experience...

You'll promptly get a confirmation email with your order details and pricing totals.

Sales tax is assessed in most states, where applicable. I live in MN and we do not pay sales tax on clothing or shoes, so I don't have to pay.

Shipping is usually assessed, unless you have a coupon. Shipping is usually very reasonable - maybe $5-10. No doubt, they lose money on shipping.

Fullfillment is swift. The default shipping option is UPS Ground, but your order gets to UPS is less than two days, typically less than that. Depending upon how far you live from the nearest warehouse, stuff usually arrives in 5-7 business days (including order processing). That's pretty good service. You can always pay for faster shipping.

What if there is a problem? In all of my ten years buying Timberland shoes, I only ran into one problem. That happened this fall (2006). I bought a pair online and I received it and I thought my hamstrings were going to snap, the shoes were so uncomfortable.

Timberland made it right. I got full store credit for the shoes, even though I used a 40% off coupon for the order. I picked out $190 worth of merchandise (I was credited for $180 worth), and they said "no big deal" about going over on $10.

I did phone in and explain the problem. Timberland told me to write a letter along with returning the shoes. I had to pay the return shipping - it was $8.xx to return a pair of shoes by USPS First Class (not Priority).

So basically, I am saying that Timberland makes it right. They asked if I wore the shoes, I said yes, for two days. They said, "that's not a problem, we will give you credit for those or a refund, it is your choice."

How can I complain?

That pretty much sums up the buying experience.

Timberland.com has a huge selection of shoes, in particular. They also have some clothing, but they don't sell a lot of clothing. You can preview - view - anything at the site.

I happen to think that Timberland makes the best quality shoes of anyone out there. Their shoes last for years and years. I still have a pair that is over ten years old that I use for farming.

Timberland.com is fair, they compete on price by offering regular sales, they are honest, they work hard to fill your order.

I don't know what more you can ask.

I highly recommend Timberland.com.

Brad.