I purchased these around the first of February. The looked and fit well. Well around the end of March, I made a boo boo and spilled some motor oil on the whole toe front of one of the shoes. I cleaned them the best I could blotting out as much oil as I could and then I put both shoes in the washing machine. I did not expect the stain to come out but was hoping for the best. Well when the shoes dried I found that the shoe without the oil looked fine, but the other shoe with the oil was dark on the toe (which I expected) but the rest of it took on a whitish color and the stitching came loose in a spot near the ankle. Now I expected the dark area on the toe but one whitish shoe and on brown shoe was not going to look right.

I called NB and told them I realized the oil was my fault but the white discoloration and stitching problem was something else entirely and was there something I could do. They told me they did not recommend washing them (though I have for years) I was surprised when they asked me to return the shoes and they sent out a replacement for me. I am used to paying a little more for the NB brand, and will keep on supporting them as long as their customer service is as good as I discovered they were.