Taking back a riding hat?

[EllieandGeorge]

I know its a long shot but...
Before christmas i bought a gatehouse hs1, had it fitted at the local tack shop, i thought it was a bit tight but they assured me it fitted fine and they were happy with the fit, and that the padding inside it would flatten down, so i bought it. took it home and rode in it a few times and its hurting my head? I get a red mark on my forehead and the back of my head goes kind of numb! Obviously its not fitting correctly, but do you think theres any chance that they will take it back? I still have the bag for it and the tag (although its not on the hat) and you cannot tell it's been worn. I paid a lot for it so it would be a pain to have to sell it again and get half the price for it!

 

[Theocat]

I don't think you should take it back and pretend you haven't worn it.

If the shop fitted it for you, and assured you it fitted, why can't you just take it back on the basis that they got it wrong?

 

[jalapeno]

I hope not. Tbh... for everyone else's sake. I am not disputing the fact that the hat you have is in perfect condition. But, say it wasn't. Say someone dropped it but you couldn't tell....

For safety reasons I highly doubt you will be able to return it.

 

[polly1976]

I don;t think you can take it back and pretend its not been used. However if they sold it to you as fitting correctly and you do not think it is then you should have some recourse. I had a new hat too for xmas and was fitted and have to say it is quite tight and did give me a headache the first half dozen times i wore it. It think my head was so used to the sweated up old shape of my manky old one and the new one is perfectly round and my head is clearly not.
You do need to give them quite a while to settle in.
I did try the barnd you mentioned but even in the shop it was too much pressure on the back of my head. The lady said they are quite flat shaped and do not always suit all heads.

Go with honesty - they should be able to check fitting at least.

 

[Vibella]

I had a similar problem about 12 months ago, had a hat professionally fitted but after wearing it a few times i was getting a migraine every time i rode. Took it back and explained the situation and they happily changed it for me.

 

[NeverSayNever]

ditto vibella and also with the HS1, they just didnt fit my head shape. The tack shop advised i wore it for a few hours in the house to check it was ok, I admit i did ride in it but didnt tell them.

 

[mulledwhine]

My jte hay hurts me soo much I have just about given up riding until I can spend money on myself ..

Take it back and be honest, your hat is not fit for purpose , so you should get your money back

 

[Capriole]

I really wanted a HS1, tried one in the shop and its totally the wrong shape for my head.
You can either go back to the shop and tell them it doesnt fit properly and see what happens, or give it a few more wears and see if it beds in.

 

[EllieandGeorge]

I didnt mean pretenting i didnt wear it, obviously im not going to do that, i mean that they fitted it wrong haha x

 

[Umbongo]

I work in a tack shop and we would not take the hat back. We make sure the hat is correctly fitted, and I will even get the other members of staff (also trained in hat fitting) to take a look too to make sure that everyone is happy with the fit. We suggest that the customer wear the hat in the shop and have a wander round for a while...as an incorrectly fitted hat will start to give you a headache after a couple of minutes.

As soon as the hat has left the shop, under no circumstances can we take the hat back. We have no idea what has happened to the hat, whether it has been dropped or ridden in and the rider has had a fall.We would get into serious trouble and potentially endanger someone elses life (we would NOT sell on again obviously).

I would suggest going back to the shop and saying that you are unhappy with the how the hat fits, but don't expect them to take it back, maybe they can offer you a partial refund/vouchers towards a new hat. They may just suggest you selling it on again via ebay etc.

I have had hats "fitted" by trained people that really did not fit at all. I had complained to a well known internet tack shop about a hat that was fitted incorrectly (fitted at a trade stand, assured me hat was fine and would wear in) All they could suggest was to sell it or put some foam padding in the sides. Hat was about £100 so I wasn't happy, but there was nothing I could do about it...I was happy with the hat on the day and bought it

 

[rossiroo]

I had a similar situation with my daughters hat. The shop fitted it but after riding in it she had a red mark on her forehead and a headache, I went back and was told that she needs to put up with it and it should get more comfortable. After riding in it at a show the poor child had a really bad red mark and was nearly in tears, I took a photo of her forehead and returned to the shop and insisted that they change the hat for one that fitted. As they didn't have her size in stock I demanded a refund on the grounds that the hat could not be used as it was incorrectly fitted. It took a lot of persuading and the owner was not happy but I stood my ground , was polite and refused to give in. The shop gave me a full refund and I went elsewhere to get another hat.