Aero 9 months + wait, is this common ?

[Tony No-Toes]

My experience

I've sent Mark M. emails and have gotten immediate replies. I've sent emails to Aero directly and have once gotten no reply back, and one other time only a partial reply that was ultimately not much help. I don't think this is a big deal as things happen, and there are others that have had the opposite experience. Clearly a great company. I'd still order from either source depending on the degree of customization I'll require when the time comes.
When I began communicating with Dave Hanson at Langlitz, it was 100% each and every time so I put those builds ahead of my Aero aspirations for now.

 

[Jeff M]

Had a few delays receiving replies from both Mark and Amanda...but not bad.

Agree with Dave Hanson at Langlitz.
Replies have been spot on. Sometimes I think he is just sitting by his computer waiting for emails to come in.:eusa_clap lol

Re; Mark and duty fees/price.
Yep. Mark pays the duty fees.
The price you see posted on his eBay auctions is the price you pay. No duty fees on top of it for the customer.

Also good if the dollar is sliding against the pound. Not to your advantage if it is gaining strength.

 

[JLStorm]

Mark has started charging shipping for his jackets. In light of this fact, I see absolutely no reason to buy from him unless he has the jacket in stock and ready to ship. The customs charges are so minor compared to the overall cost of the jacket. Especially given the level of service and seemingly faster ship times.

Now, if I just wanted a stock jacket and could wear a stock size and Mark happened to have it on hand ready to ship, I would buy from him.

Between the exchange rate, Aero's significant price increases and reinstatement of the shipping charges, my two Aero jackets would have almost doubled in cost if I bought them now. Ouch.

 

[Bonneville]

Hello Seabass. I understand your frustration. It happens with other companies too. I am eight months out on an order for a stock Vanson, which at the time of order was to take two to four months. No sign yet of a delivery date. The last time I emailed requesting an update, I was told to either be patient or consider canceling my order. I have decided, at least for the time being, to continue being patient; since I really would like to have the jacket I ordered.

Hmmm. Sorry to hear this. I placed a Vanson custom order about a month ago and was told the same thing "2-4 months". Was definitely hoping to have it before next year's riding season. (Crosses fingers.)

Any other Vanson customers who have had to wait longer than 4 months?
It's not good business to over promise on your products.

 

[Jeff M]

Hmmm. Sorry to hear this. I placed a Vanson custom order about a month ago and was told the same thing "2-4 months". Was definitely hoping to have it before next year's riding season. (Crosses fingers.)

Any other Vanson customers who have had to wait longer than 4 months?
It's not good business to over promise on your products.

Had a wait of 3 days for my Vanson.
It was already in stock. Just had to ship it out to me.

 

[53Effie]

As mentioned earlier, I am at eight months now with no clue on a potential delivery date from Vanson. Frustrating.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Mark has started charging shipping for his jackets. In light of this fact, I see absolutely no reason to buy from him unless he has the jacket in stock and ready to ship. The customs charges are so minor compared to the overall cost of the jacket. Especially given the level of service and seemingly faster ship times.

Hm, I was unaware that Mark was now charging for shipping. He still has "free shipping" listed on his eBay store.

Speaking as one of the Aero USA repeat customers, I'd say that was previously the justification for ordering through Mark as opposed to going straight to Scotland -- cost savings.

Let's run the numbers on an Aero Highwayman. Numbers don't lie.

- Aero USA eBay price: $799 USD, (formerly?) shipped free and no customs duties.

- Aero Scotland price: 500 GBP, plus 50 GBP shipping and ?? customs fees. At 9/14/10 exchange rate, per xe.com, $1.54 USD/1 GBP that equals $847 USD plus customs fees. Per Navin's recent thread, it seems if one is hit with US customs fees, that results in another $50-75 tacked onto the price.

Therefore, the savings is $47 plus the potential for another $50-75 if one is charged duty, which totals up to $97-122.

This ignores as well the potential savings that could have been had if one took advantage of the now-defunct Bing! Cash Back (which was available only when using eBay auctions, so it could not be used with Aero Scotland orders) discount of 8-30%. I myself have used the Bing! cashback discount to knock 30% off my Highwayman and saved $187 off a $625 jacket in late 2008. Bing! Cash Back is dead as of July 31, 2010 so this is no longer relevant for current pricing but for those who have ordered several months ago it is relevant.

This analysis also ignores any "sales" that Mark may institute, such as his promotion offered in May of 2009 where he would knock $45 off your jacket if you ordered in a certain timeframe. Again, being a sucker for sales (and Aero jackets lol) I used this promotion to save $45 and therefore only paid $630 for my Veste de Rallye.

Certainly, $97 is not pocket change -- but manageable enough if one wishes to accelerate things by going to Aero Scotland. Again each of us values things differently and there is no "right" answer for everyone.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Any other Vanson customers who have had to wait longer than 4 months?
It's not good business to over promise on your products.

Sorry, my last custom order with Vanson was in 2005 so it's probably not helpful to you. I only waited three months for my customized Comet.

 

[JLStorm]

Hm, I was unaware that Mark was now charging for shipping. He still has "free shipping" listed on his eBay store.

Speaking as one of the Aero USA repeat customers, I'd say that was previously the justification for ordering through Mark as opposed to going straight to Scotland -- cost savings.

Let's run the numbers on an Aero Highwayman. Numbers don't lie.

- Aero USA eBay price: $799 USD, (formerly?) shipped free and no customs duties.

- Aero Scotland price: 500 GBP, plus 50 GBP shipping and ?? customs fees. At 9/14/10 exchange rate, per xe.com, $1.54 USD/1 GBP that equals $847 USD plus customs fees. Per Navin's recent thread, it seems if one is hit with US customs fees, that results in another $50-75 tacked onto the price.

Therefore, the savings is $47 plus the potential for another $50-75 if one is charged duty, which totals up to $97-122.

This ignores as well the potential savings that could have been had if one took advantage of the now-defunct Bing! Cash Back (which was available only when using eBay auctions, so it could not be used with Aero Scotland orders) discount of 8-30%. I myself have used the Bing! cashback discount to knock 30% off my Highwayman and saved $187 off a $625 jacket in late 2008. Bing! Cash Back is dead as of July 31, 2010 so this is no longer relevant for current pricing but for those who have ordered several months ago it is relevant.

This analysis also ignores any "sales" that Mark may institute, such as his promotion offered in May of 2009 where he would knock $45 off your jacket if you ordered in a certain timeframe. Again, being a sucker for sales (and Aero jackets lol) I used this promotion to save $45 and therefore only paid $630 for my Veste de Rallye.

Certainly, $97 is not pocket change -- but manageable enough if one wishes to accelerate things by going to Aero Scotland. Again each of us values things differently and there is no "right" answer for everyone.

I think my work server was routing me through another country. I looked on Ebay today and the prices were again marked free shipping. Yesterday it was around $80.00.. The price of the Highwayman is slightly cheaper out of Scotland (around $10.00 USD nothing big), but the savings in customs and shipping are still around 150.00.

If you dont mind waiting a while and you dont need any customizations, there is nothing wrong with Mark. I just couldnt spend that much on a jacket and NOT make changes suit me. But thats a personal decision.

 

[Spitfire]

This has got nothing to do with Aero Scotland or Aero USA, but on waiting time in general.

The US customs stinks!!!!
There - I said it!

A forum member buys a used Irvin jacket from me.
I send it out by the danish post and 3 days later it arrives in the US of A.

Two weeks later he still hasn't got his jacket.
And neither USP or US customs can tell him where it is - or when he can expect to get it.
Nothing happens before I make an official search for the parcel.
The reciever could not even do that. I had to.

The last thing I heard was, that it was now out of customs.
So now it's (only) up to USP.

Talk about efficiency:eusa_doh:

 

[narwhale]

Just so there's some good news in this thread, I got word that my jacket just shipped from Scotland. I ordered through Mark at the end of April, so it will be 5 months from order to delivery. I was quoted about 4 months at the time of order, so taking into account the August holiday it was a pretty good estimate. Mark answered all my questions promptly and was helpful in the ordering process, though I suppose I should wait until I have the jacket and make sure all the details are correct!

Anyway, I know that sometimes people are more likely to post if they have issues and it was hard to wonder how much longer I would have to wait, so maybe this will help reassure anyone who has already ordered or is about to order that Aero is still capable of delivering a jacket in a reasonable time! Now that Bing cashback is no longer available, depending on the exchange rate if I ordered a jacket now I would feel comfortable going through either Amanda or Mark.

For the record, I ordered a LHB and will be updated my thread with pictures when it comes in.

 

[Chi-Town Co]

Just so there's some good news in this thread, I got word that my jacket just shipped from Scotland. I ordered through Mark at the end of April, so it will be 5 months from order to delivery. I was quoted about 4 months at the time of order, so taking into account the August holiday it was a pretty good estimate. Mark answered all my questions promptly and was helpful in the ordering process, though I suppose I should wait until I have the jacket and make sure all the details are correct!



5 months to delivery.. Yikes, Aero is still running at this timeframe? I placed an order the first week of Sept for a Highwayman through Mark and was quoted delivery in 8-12 weeks!! I was hoping they had worked their way through their backlog and would be able to make this timeline.. guess like everyone else, I'll keep my fingers crossed.. I do get nervous after hearing some of the delivery times on this thread..

By the way, thanks to all for sharing their photos, ordering details and other pertinent information as it is very beneficial to new Aero buyers (like me).. I used quite a few of the suggestions i read about here on my jacket order..

Chi-Town

 

[narwhale]

Well, from what I understand I ordered at a hot time when lots of people were getting their orders in for fall. Also, I've heard Aero has been limiting orders the past few months to cut down on the wait. Maybe fewer people order now because they want to maximize usage. In any case, I can say for sure that:

A) Mark has a better idea than me when your jacket will be done.
B) No one REALLY knows how long it will take.

Good luck! Hopefully we'll be seeing pictures of your jacket by the end of the year.