Union Contact Bindings: The Straps Don't Work

OK, I'd like to make some separate comments about the performance of these bindings, later. I'll do that if/when this issue is sorted out. Before that, I've got to point out the blatant failure of these bindings: the straps are too long! Both the toe and heel straps do not fit for me. The M/L binding size that I have is listed with a UK range of 6 - 9. I've seen it as 5 - 9, 5.5 - 9 and 6 - 8.5. Either way, my 32 boots are UK size 8, which puts me comfortably inside the boundaries...

Heel Strap. It's too long. The following two pictures show my boot stapped in with the straps made as short as they can go. Notice that the buckle is all the way down and there are no teeth left to grip.

In that position the bindings simply aren't tight enough. Here's the result of me trying to tighten them further:

Quick Fix. So after contacting Union support, they suggested a quick fix: take out the connector. The plastic connector is the mechanism for adjusting the length of the strap. This picture shows that using the straps without the connector shortens the length by about an inch:

These next two picture show what it's like when I'm strapped in without the connector. As you can see, the heel strap becomes a usable lenght, i.e. it is short enough for me to get the heel strap tight. There are still some available teeth.

Note that even with the connector removed, the strap is only just short enough. As you can see 3 pictures above, I can't make it any shorter as the padded part of the strap is right up against the heel cup...

But using the bindings in this way isn't ideal; use without the connector brings two problems. 1st, the washer/bolt setup is designed for use with the connector, and in that configuration moving the strap around doesn't loosen the screw. Without the connector, the screw is constantly becoming a little more loose each time you move the strap around as you strap in.

2nd, the strap isn't centered over the foot because it's dragged over to one side. It's a small issue, but still, you're supposed to be able to setup your straps for maximum support and comfort.

Toe Straps. As you can see in all of the pictures above, the buckle on the toe strap has no where further to go. They're adjusted to be as short as possible. The only solution I had to this problem was to place a folded sock inbetween the binding and my boot. Yes, that meant that every time I straped in I had to replace the sock. Useless. Without the sock, the toe strap was loose; I could push it over the front of the boot when fully tightened.

Solution? When I contacted Union I was fairly encouraged: they suggested the heel strap fix, which definitely got the bindings working in resort, and said they would send out smaller parts. This was in response to me asking for smaller straps, e.g. new straps from the S/M model. What I actually got was a smaller connector for the heel. I got nothing for the toe straps.

An astute reader might spot that the smaller connector doesn't actually make a difference; the male part of the strap stops in the same place for both sizes. If I were to cut the plast part of the strap that slides into the connector then yes, I could save 1.5cm or so. But I'm not doing that, and besides, they'd still be too long.

This photo is a little out of focus, but you can still see that with both connectors set at the shortest possible setting, the effective length of the overall strap is the same:

What Now? Let me be clear that I'm not dissing Union, not yet anyway. They sent me the shorter connectors, in good faith I believe, and I haven't told them yet that they don't work. That's because I chose to contact the shop that I bought the bindings from, which I've done twice, asking them to sort it out. They haven't replied yet. Not cool.

I wanted to post these pictures now, in part as a means to show the problem to those who need to see it. I'll update as and when the situation is resolved...