feltfan
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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- Oakland, CA, USA
There are several more cases like this which have come to our attention, it would appear that certain customers... I'm assuming those whose orders were never actually placed with the factory were sent "any jacket" probably one from Mark's small inventory to tide them over, or 'keep them quiet for a while'. You are not the only one sent a jacket wildly off spec .
I don't believe that to have been the case here. The jackets he sent did reflect certain
customizations I requested that are unlikely to have been at hand for him, including removing
the hand warmer pockets, removing the storm cuffs, and most of all putting the horsehide label in the pocket.
Don't take that bet in this case.cloudylemonade said:I'd bet heavily that that 'your' first jacket was nothing to do with you but was someone else's return or a stock jacket sent to you to but more time, so no shipping loss there.
cloudylemonade said:In all fairness to Amanda, this was in the immediate run up to Christmas when she was swamped with work. Of the 22 staff at Aero 19 work on the product in one way or another, cutting, making linings or sewing the jacket while only 3 at that point deal with administration, we are a very product minded company without layers of bureaucracy, at peak times these folk get stretched to the limit.
And...
cloudylemonade said:We never have the names or contact details for the person who will actually be wearing a jacket when an order comes in from one of our stockists, this makes finding a single jacket in a huge pile of trade orders quite difficult.
A little lesson in international and online trading. First of all, when you can't keep track of which details/measurements
are associated with which customer, you have a problem. Second, you don't need to know a name or contact information
to get the right order to the right person. Do you think Amazon or eBay worry about that level of detail? No, they don't.
They assign a transaction a number and keep it in a big database (the word here is hadoop, but you don't necessarily need
more than something quite simple). That number can be used in all interactions- some email systems can be easily adapted
to pass the number or all interactions can be managed on a web page, like you see on eBay. The information is managed.
These tools are quite affordable now. Mark's eBay transactions could have been tracked. All Aero transactions can be
tracked, saving a lot of time and grief. I don't mean to condescend, but 18 messages is a lot and there was a lot of
unnecessary back and forth. I am left with the feeling that Aero Scotland scaled up without proper infrastructure.
Lots of companies have increased volume leading up to Christmas/end of calendar year. There are ways to manage
the details so that these companies can concentrate on creating and shipping the goods.
I did send Amanda a thank you note. She saved my butt. Or my front quarter anyway.
cloudylemonade said:Sorry to bang on the same drum, but Mark's post that started this thread makes it 100% clear what the relationship was, why would he not try to pass the blame onto Aero Scotland if he thought there was the slightest chance he could??
Mark's post that started this thread arrived after all of our transactions had been made. Mark's post here doesn't count when
considering the perception that Aero USA and Aero Scotland are the same company. The statement that he
represented Aero Scotland was up for years and until last week. I certainly didn't understand the distinction between
the two entities until after I had returned the first jacket and it is clear from the responses in this thread that I was in
the majority. The perception was that these were two branches of the same company, and why shouldn't we think that?
All the statements, logos, company names, product source, etc were the same.
cloudylemonade said:The only 'poor business practice' I feel we can own up to is not checking our trade customers websites on a regular basis but we've got over 70 trade accounts, many other stockists in Europe and Japan we've never even heard of... shops that buy small numbers from some of our major trade customers and resell in their own shop. It would be impossible to check them all and as long as the bills get paid on time there didn't appear to be any reason to check these site.
You haven't addressed this and you don't have to do so here. But when you get two or more orders two or more YEARS
late, you need to be checking that trade customer, especially if he is operating with your good name and trademark and
claiming to represent you for years on the site where he does business. You had indication that there were at least two
orders at least two years late, at least four months ago. Hard to believe there weren't other signs of trouble,
since customers sure were seeing them.
cloudylemonade said:Legally we have no responsibility whatsoever, 100% confirmed by leading NYC Attorney who specialises in this kind of action. However, we are doing everything in our power to sort out the mess Mark Moye left behind, we do not want our good name stained by a stockists actions.
Overall, I'm pleased to hear you've got the jacket you wanted in the end, I'm just sorry it arrived so late and you've had so much trouble. A 20% discount on your next (if any) purchase would seem to be the least we can offer by way of an appology for something that nobody should have gone through.
Holly
As I'm sure you appreciate, legality is not the issue here, though of course two attorneys can differ in interpretation.
It is a matter of your good name and reputation, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.
I appreciate all the communication from you and from Amanda. I know the operation in Scotland means well, and makes a good product.
I also appreciate your offer of 20% should I have the money for another jacket at another time. I won't beat a dead horse (sorry, had to say that),
but I think I make some important suggestions for you here.
And I do hope you'll ignore this forum for a while and enjoy your holiday. London has a lot to offer - I'm jealous.
Once again, my statements are my opinions only and not intended in any other way.
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