Stetson Men's Maddock Hat - Western Cowboy Hat for Men, Felt Outback Hat with Leather Band - Perfect for Rodeo, Ranch Work & Outdoor Adventures

I have always bought Stetson hats locally for myself or gift giving. They have a great reputation, quality & should last for years except this one I received from Amazon. This Stetson only held up for approx. 30 days when it started cracking at the top where you would grip your hat to put on or remove from your head. I received this item from Amazon right in time for Christmas & was so excited to give as a gift to a dear friend of mine the day of Christmas. I looked at the hat before wrapping it & it looked undamaged, but you couldn't tell by just looking at the hat that it would soon start falling apart after a little less than 30 days of use. My friend started wearing the hat a few days after receiving it - around 12/27/11. I was so embarrased when my friend confronted me on 1/27/12 that the hat was cracking apart at the top. My friend showed me the defects and how upon only applying a little pressure the hat was also making crackling noises. My friend also advised me that this was the 1st cowboy hat ever worn that made the head itch real bad. My friend thinks it makes sense now that there must be something very wrong with the hat that made the head itch & the material is falling apart. We have no idea why this happened to this particular hat because neither one of us have encountered these problems with a cowboy hat before. We both assume that since it came from a Amazon warehouse that there is a good possibility it is from being stored in their warehouse. It was very obvious the hat's material was either defective or had been stored improperly causing the hat's material to crack apart & make the head itch. I was very upset this week when viewing Amazon's return policy was probably only 30 days after paying alomost $90 for this Stateson hat. It received the hat by mail from Amazon 12/22/11, gave as a Christmas gift on 12/25/11 & went ahead on the website to fill out a return label & print on 1/31/12. This is 40 days in since I received. I am hoping Amazon will be understanding that a Stetson hat should not be defective & fall apart within short time frame, and therefore honor my request for a refund. I was afraid to request an exchange in fear that Amazon my be storing expensive hats in a warehouse that may be causing the hat material to ruin and I would end up with another hat with the same problem. Also, I feared the inconvenience of another process needed for another return. I have never encountered a problem with a straw cowboy hat falling apart or material being old & cracking in any previous purchase whether it was a $30 hat or a $300 hat. After many years I still have cowboy hats expensive as well as inexpensive that are still intact with no rips, tears or cracks, so this was very upsetting when I found out how poorly of a product I received from Amazon knowing how I have admired the reputation of quality of a Stetson hat for many decades. All my hat purchases has been locally & I never had a problem with quality. This is the 1st time I ever bought a expensive cowboy hat online & I am very dissappointed. Now I have no idea if Amazon will reject my request for a refund and/or charge me a 20% fee for returning outside of their 30 day policy. If they will not accept my request for a refund I am out $90. A very expensive lesson to learn not to use this company again, which means allot to most people in today's economy. If they accept my request for a refund but charge me a 20% return fee, then I am out around $18 all because the return is just outside their 30-day return policy. I have never been a big fan of ordering online & only have ordered on very few occassions when I was too busy to shop locally. So, to received an item from an online purchase that I paid allot of money for (to me) & knowing the Stetson reputation I was very dissappointed in this Amazon purchase and hope they will make my refund right with me. I will keep you all posted with a follow-up review as soon as I hear from Amazon.com I will also be monitoring any other reveiws or comments others may want to post as well to this product and/or Amazon purchases where returns. I just have this strong feeling that Amazon will not back me up with this product they sold me and I will have a difficult time getting my money back, but I hope I am wrong.I really like the hat, the the light and dark tan band goes well with the natural straw and the fit is right on the mark. The crown depth is just right and also a plus when you need to keep your hat on your head as the wind picks up. This is a 10x and if you look at both you can see the difference between the 10x and an 8x all be it being a slight difference. The unfortunate thing about the hat is that Amazon can ship it incorrectly and leave you disappointed at what your getting, but its not the hat that is a miss its the miss shipping of the hat. Oh another thing is that Amazon has the hat labeled as a Maddock thats not the case this is a Grant T.My favorite Stetson so far! Fits perfectly.Fits as expected....which is a tad snug....which is what I expected. perfect as it should loosen a touch over time. great Looking hat. However it is not labeled a Maddock, but rather a Grant model and is 10 x.it looks like the one in the picture and it is a thin straw like you would get on a resistol.It's not the hat that's too small, his head is too big. Nothing over 7 5/8 seems to be available for Stetson.Tad snug but I love the hat, I wear it quite a bit for line dancing and the like!Quality hat that will work great as a summer hat.I have several FELT hats from Stetson all fix exactly as expected,,would say a perfect fit. THIS STRAW hat however,, fit is somewhat small.