A great many years ago, I bought a pair of boots in the US whilst on holiday. I rarely wore them and they tended to sit in the back of a cupboard most of the time. After I had owned them for about 10 years I got them out to wear and found that the soles had started to perish. This was a very well known brand. I wasn’t particularly impressed, so I wrote to their UK Head Office. I got a nice letter back and was asked to return the boots. In the covering letter I enclosed when I did this, I mentioned that I had bought the boots in the US and would be happy with a repair. Given the age of the boots I also said I’d be happy to pay (as I figured this would be cheaper than replacement.