Akubra Delays

[Goose.]

I had two Akubra lids I purchased over a decade ago from a retailer in Redding, Calif.

Decided to update my hatdrobe...so I ordered a Sydney from David Morgan.
That hat arrived, as promised, within four days (including a weekend).

I think it was the next day that I ordered a Casual from Hats Direct. Ordered on a Friday (Sat in Australia). Received an e-mail within a few hours that my hat was in stock and will be sent out in the next "dispatch".

After thinking about it, started to wish that I ordered a grey Casual instead of black. citRon suggested I e-mail and ask for a change. I did. Never heard back, but my GREY Causual arrived Monday. Nine days from when I placed the order...which was on a weekend.

So, I am very impressed with both DM and HD. DM can get it to you faster, but HD is cheaper given the exchange rate...and the extra three days in receiving the hat from across the sea isn't too bad.

Next order will be from HD as they are the only one that carries the model I want.
Gonna hide my lunch money in my shoes (in case I run into JohnnyB53 at the monkey bars) and save for a Federation IV Mooney.

 

[Gilgamark]

I've got my own test case going with EA.

Two weeks ago yesterday, I ordered a mid-Grey Stylemaster. I got an immediate confirmation email. Two days later, they charged my credit card. When I saw this, I asked via their online message system if my hat was backordered or in stock. I got no reply.

This strikes me as poor customer service, unless - as a reading of their stated shipping policy indicated - they don't send any notices when shipping immediately from stock.

If the hat shipped going on two weeks ago, it should turn up in the mail in the next couple of days. If I don't get it by this Saturday, I will be writing to them for clarification at the address that's been floating around here - and complaining that I really should have been notified when I was charged if the hat was backordered.

Having just been through an Akubra nightmare with Hats By The Hundred (AVOID THEM!), I'm hoping for better results with EA. For the record, all my past Australian-dealer buying experiences, with HatsDirect and Aussie Bush Hats & Oilskins, were fine...

You must be a size other than 59. I ordered my mid-gray Stylemaster in 59 about five weeks ago. They hope to have it for shipment this week or next. I'll say again, though, that Sam has been very responsive.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Mine's a 57.

 

[jec]

If either of you guys gets impatient... I have my size 59 mid-gray Stylemaster posted in the classifieds.

(Sorry; I couldn't resist...)

 

[Doctor Strange]

If it were only one size too big I'd consider it, but two is just too much.

 

[dschonn]

I ordered a Carbon Grey Federation (standard, from Hats Direct, in case that wasn't obvious) on about January 25, and was told a day or two later that they were out of stock and that they were expecting a shipment later that week, but didn't know exactly what was going to be in it. At the end of the week, I asked them if my hat had come, and they said that a few had come, but no grey Feds. The rest of the order was supposed to come early the next week, but there were a few customers in line ahead of me and so they might all be spoken for. Well, that's what happened, and when I asked again about a week ago, they said that all the grey Feds that had come had been sent to other customers and the next scheduled shipment was a few weeks away. Well, I was as patient as I could be (which wasn't very patient at all), but I was just getting ready to send them another email (I'd waited five whole days), when lo and behold I received a message saying that my hat had arrived and would go out by Air Mail at the earliest opportunity. That was two days ago. So now I expect my hat sometime next week.

All in all, I think Hatsdirect has some good customer service and was pretty patient answering my inquiries (which were probably fairly annoying despite my best efforts). I was pleasantly surprised when "a few weeks" ended up meaning five days, though. I was steeling myself to wait until March, but now it looks like I'll be wearing my new Fed before Fat Tuesday!

The lesson I take from all this is that Hatsdirect have good customer service, but that January is not the best time to order an Akubra from anywhere because of the holiday break. I'm so excited now it's hard to sit still.

 

[Gilgamark]

If either of you guys gets impatient... I have my size 59 mid-gray Stylemaster posted in the classifieds.

(Sorry; I couldn't resist...)

I've been keeping my eye on it. If Sam can't give me some definite by the beginning of next week, I'll shoot you a PM. If yours is still available, I'll probably buy it and cancel my order with Sam.

 

[Gilgamark]

The lesson I take from all this is that Hatsdirect have good customer service, but that January is not the best time to order an Akubra from anywhere because of the holiday break. I'm so excited now it's hard to sit still.

Tis true.

 

[Gilgamark]

If either of you guys gets impatient... I have my size 59 mid-gray Stylemaster posted in the classifieds.

(Sorry; I couldn't resist...)

Just got the email. My Stylemaster has been shipped. Maybe I'll buy the next hat you put up. If you would, make it a light gray Borsalino.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Follow-up re my delayed Stylemaster from EA

In case anybody's interested:

(See #59 in this thread for my earlier comments.)

I've now had a couple of email exchanges with Sam at Everything Australian. It turns out that they were indeed out of stock in size 57 grey Stylemasters when they processed my order at the end of last month. And Sam had sent me a message to that effect on 2/2... which exactly coincided with a catastrophic email failure here at my job: I didn't get this particular message, nor was it ever restored!

Anyway, the Akubra factory is shipping a batch of hats, incuding mine, to EA today. Sam says it takes about three days for EA to receive such shipments, so they will be shipping out my hat in four or five days. I told him that was okay.

But he made one interesting comment regarding why I have had to wait a full month for a stock hat:

Unfortunately your hat has still not arrived , it appears Akubra may be having a few problems with keeping up with demand.

Since the drop in the Australian Dollar, we have all been so busy with the extra demand created by the cheaper prices.

This has resulted in stock items running out of stock.

So, our taking advantage of the favorable exchange rate has actually caused a shortage of normally stocked hats!

 

[gtdean48]

I just took advantage to order a kangaroo stock whip, always wanted one since The Man from Snowy River. The cheap American cowhide one didn't hold up worth a darn. The horses better watchout next exercise time cuz I'm cracking the whip!!!

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Well, we sent them an email last week and the only reply was that my Squatter will ship "some time in March". I hope that means early in March!

 

[Goose.]

Well, we sent them an email last week and the only reply was that my Squatter will ship "some time in March". I hope that means early in March!

Note no mention of March "2009".
Just "March"

 

[skyvue]

I just received notice via email that my two Stylemasters, ordered from EA on Oct 29, have shipped.

Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I might expect to wait for them to reach me in NYC?

 

[Goose.]

Akubra Capricorn ordered Tues, sent to EA from Akubra, and shipped from EA to me today.
Skyvue, dunno what it takes from Australia to NYC, but an order I had from HD took 9 days to land on my Calif porch from the day I received shipment confirmation.

Should be interesting to see which of us gets a box from EA first with them being shipped on the same day...let's take bets like a horse race...well, at least post. This to help others gauge transit times depending on which side of the 48 one is located.

Post pics of your new baby when it arrives Skyvue

 

[skyvue]

Post pics of your new baby when it arrives Skyvue

Will do. I'm actually expecting fraternal twins -- one in navy, the other in bluegrass green.

 

[Gilgamark]

Just got my new Stylemaster yesterday. Mine shipped from Australia to Nashville in eight days, including Saturday, Sunday, and a holiday.

 

[Spats McGee]

I got an email from Sam at EA today. He said that Akubra is finally getting caught up and he's been able to send a lot of the backorders out. I don't know what that means for any of the specific orders mentioned in this thread, but here's hoping that hats arrive on everyone's doorstep soon.

Shipping time from EA to Little Rock, Arkansas was ~15 days from the shipping email to arrival.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Looks like the motherlode came in - my grey Stylemaster also shipped from EA today.

But I can't participate in the how-long-it-takes-to-get competition: I have a pretty ugly mail situation (a PO box in a post office that I typically can't get to when it's open on weekdays because of my work hours/long commute), and I probably won't have it in hand for a full two weeks.

It is nice to know that it's in transit, though!

 

[gtdean48]

I got nuthin' on my Campdraft ordered end of Nov...