I wish I had read A. Ashley "tech junkie"'s review before I purchased these boots!  I had the exact same experience!  The smell of chemicals is ridiculously strong!  Not only do they look cheap, but the zipper is royal blue!  I too paid $12.94 to ship these back to CA.  And if they charge a restocking fee on top of that, I might as well just have gone to a shoe store and bought a pair I can see! You do get what you pay for!!!