Bad experience with Lost Worlds

[zebedee]

Yes, I remembered @Monitor said "short of received email yesterday they offered full refund plus paid shipping back, I am done." But now the post is gone.

That's confused word order perhaps due to a deletion- presumably would have meant 'short of them offering a refund plus paid shipping back, I am done.'

 

[Monitor]

Yes, I remembered @Monitor said "short of received email yesterday they offered full refund plus paid shipping back, I am done." But now the post is gone.

Yeah, that I remember thought it was meant exactly what @zebedee says, I just maybe worded it strangely but that's exactly what I mean, that short of them sending me an email where they are agreeing to a full refund plus paid shipping, I am done dealing with them.

I deleted this bit right as I posted because it was a part of a long rant I didn't feel served any additional purpose but no, as far as Lost Worlds is concerned, nothing has been sorted out & no refund issued.

Lol for a moment there I thought I've gone crazy or that someone from LW posted here and then deleted the post.

 

[JMax]

Yeah, that I remember thought it was meant exactly what @zebedee says, I just maybe worded it strangely but that's exactly what I mean, that short of them sending me an email where they are agreeing to a full refund plus paid shipping, I am done dealing with them.

I deleted this bit right as I posted because it was a part of a long rant I didn't feel served any additional purpose but no, as far as Lost Worlds is concerned, nothing has been sorted out & no refund issued.

Lol for a moment there I thought I've gone crazy or that someone from LW posted here and then deleted the post.

Well, the good news is that no one is totally nuts. Though perhaps my reading comprehension needs some work. In my defense, English is a second language and I had a few sips of Japanese whiskey.

 

[Will Zach]

Anyway, glad someone bought the jacket @Monitor. Unless I misunderstood, lolllllll. My takeaway is a huge Caveat Emptor when dealing with LW. I will gladly buy an LW jacket, but only second-hand, preferably from a TFL member.

 

[AeroFan_07]

For me, one of the most important aspects when buying anything (not just leather jackets) is that the company I buy from makes me feel like they appreciate my business. I recently had a discussion with @Robbie79 about some shop owner. Both Robbie and I had exactly the same experience when visiting his brick and mortar shop. The owner was very condescending, making us feel like we were not worth his time. I will never buy something from that guy, even if it were dirt cheap and the greatest deal in the world.
I had visited Lostworlds website before but I didn't actually read any descriptions or the FAQ. But if you do you can immediately tell Lostworlds is like an online version of the condescending shop owner: "(...)We tell them to go elsewhere, because they won't understand or appreciate what we offer." To be clear, I'm not judging anyone who does, but for me personally, this alone is enough reason not to buy anything from Lostworlds.

To end this comment with a positive note. I recently bought a custom made jacket which was sent to me by USP. Half an hour after I picked up the jacket from the local UPS service point, I received an e-mail from the company owner: "(...) please let me know about the jacket". I guess he received the delivery conformation from UPS. This is a company which truly appreciates my business. I'll be a returning customer.

This is a set of principals I live by.

There is a Denim & Leather exchange in Rhinelander, Wisconsin that's essentially a consignment shop for jeans, jackets, boots and other apparel. The lady who owns & runs it is exceptional at customer service. She has expanded and is in her third facility now since opening up around 2008. She has a double reason for this - customer's provide both her product to sell as well as the sales of the products on her floor. She has no new material.

Monitor - if you are happy with moving the jacket along, so be it! It's again too bad this happened to you and it's a lesson to all of us yet again how important this trait really is.

 

[Hh121]

I forgot to share my experience as I think ship the jacket back is a good idea. When I found my suburban with large blue discoloration at my sleeve I called him directly and he said he probably knew what's going on because they also produce navy blue horsehide (can't remember exactly what he said), and ask me to send it back for inspection, after few days I received full refund including shipping cost. Called him few months later, he refuse to take my order and said there is nothing wrong with that jacket, the blue discoloration is because of my camera.

 

[Harris HTM]

I think ship the jacket back is a good idea.

Keep in mind that when we in the EU receive something from the US we have to pay VAT, usually an import duty, and handling costs. This, depending on the product, can be anything between 21% and 30% of the product price plus the shipping.
Buying a 1500$ jacket, plus 100$ shipping, will lead you to a roughly 400$ extra cost. And good luck trying to declare this back from the Customs.

 

[Brandrea33]

Keep in mind that when we in the EU receive something from the US we have to pay VAT, usually an import duty, and handling costs. This, depending on the product, can be anything between 21% and 30% of the product price plus the shipping.
Buying a 1500$ jacket, plus 100$ shipping, will lead you to a roughly 400$ extra cost. And good luck trying to declare this back from the Customs.

Thanks for that. Does this apply to products that were shipped for repair? Seems like a double taxation .... not that that’s out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Harris HTM]

Thanks for that. Does this apply to products that were shipped for repair? Seems like a double taxation .... not that that’s out of the realm of possibility.

I have no idea. You can check the website of your country's Customs and Tax Service. Or give them a call.

 

[Carlos840]

Keep in mind that when we in the EU receive something from the US we have to pay VAT, usually an import duty, and handling costs. This, depending on the product, can be anything between 21% and 30% of the product price plus the shipping.
Buying a 1500$ jacket, plus 100$ shipping, will lead you to a roughly 400$ extra cost. And good luck trying to declare this back from the Customs.

In this case customs was $30, so sending it back would cost an extra 150$ max.
IMO the correct thing to do would have been to send it back and give Stuart a chance to make things right.

I just had a problem with my LW CHP not fitting, i sent it back and i had a replacement that fit great in around 4 weeks. I used Fedex to ship the jacket back, selected "return for repairs" and i wasn't taxed a second time when the jacket was shipped back to me as Fedex knew it had already been taxed the first way around.

 

[Harris HTM]

In this case customs was $30

Sorry, I didn't know that we were talking about 10-15 times less the taxes that correspond to the actual value of a similar jacket. If we're talking 30$ then indeed that's not a lot.

 

[MrProper]

Sorry, I didn't know that we were talking about 10-15 times less the taxes that correspond to the actual value of a similar jacket. If we're talking 30$ then indeed that's not a lot.

If it only cost $ 30 customs duty, then a reduced purchase price was given. In addition, there is also the import sales tax.

Usually, with an official price of $ 1300 for Austria, it looks like this:

Leather clothing: $ 1300
Shipping: $ 100
Import sales tax € 254.46
Customs duties € 48.93
-------------------------------------------------
Import duties € 303.39
-------------------------------------------------
Total (goods + duties) € 1,526.74

For other goods, this can be more or less.
Source: https://www.import-shopping.de/zoll-und-steuern-nach-oesterreich-berechnen/

 

[Colin G]

Keep in mind that when we in the EU receive something from the US we have to pay VAT, usually an import duty, and handling costs. This, depending on the product, can be anything between 21% and 30% of the product price plus the shipping.
Buying a 1500$ jacket, plus 100$ shipping, will lead you to a roughly 400$ extra cost. And good luck trying to declare this back from the Customs.

Same here in Canada. %12 GST is added plus a handling fee. When Langlitz did a remake for me they declared the jacket as $25 so I would not have to pay tax on it again. All LW would have to do is declare at a really low value since Monitor already paid the taxes on it.

 

[Brandrea33]

Same here in Canada. %12 GST is added plus a handling fee. When Langlitz did a remake for me they declared the jacket as $25 so I would not have to pay tax on it again. All LW would have to do is declare at a really low value since Monitor already paid the taxes on it.

Very helpful, thank you.

 

[Carlos840]

Same here in Canada. %12 GST is added plus a handling fee. When Langlitz did a remake for me they declared the jacket as $25 so I would not have to pay tax on it again. All LW would have to do is declare at a really low value since Monitor already paid the taxes on it.

That's what LW did, and Monitor only paid 30$ tax...

 

[regius]

if company offer MTO size why do they sewn in size number on it, it would be confusing if later that jacket hits second hand market, 2 of the same jacket model by the same maker might share almost the same measurement and can be tagged a different size due to the feeling of the maker at the time or affected by the e-mail conversation throughout the order, in my opinion MTO custom order is better to just carry unique order number. if later someone bought that jacket and use it as reference to order a similar style jacket to be made in his size at least by its order number the maker know exactly which jacket used as reference there, it will force the maker to look up the order card rather than rough guessing by the size tag he sewn on that jacket at the time.

speaking of Aero's sale page, some recent uploads has chest of 25 under size 40 or 42 section....

 

[Mich486]

In hindsight, what about a Fine Creek perfecto from Rivet and Hide @Monitor? Awesome jacket, no duties, doesn’t fit or like send it back no issues.

Sometimes the custom route seems unnecessarily painful to me.

 

[Monitor]

@MrProper is right. Custom duties, handling fees & import taxes for Croatia amount to over 40%. Not that it actually matters but yeah, I paid for this jacket much less because I lied to the customs by presenting a forged paperwork 'cause otherwise the jacket would've cost me $800+ extra on top of the price. This has been a gigantic gamble on my part, something that could've gotten me in a world of hurt so you can understand why I wasn't very keen on going through the same thing again - especially because if the customs noticed I was getting another brand new jacket from the same source, chances are they would've gotten suspicious and dug in deeper to discover a true value of the item, instead of just accepting my Paypal printouts.

There was no guarantee I would not be hit with the insane tax in case of a remake, same as it's not possible to declare the jacket as a remake/return/whatever as this simply isn't how things work when it comes to regular mail.

First thing I did was called the customs office if this is possible, in case I needed to send the jacket back, which is what I actually intended to do the first day and I was told that the paperwork that would make sure the return gets treated as such would cost around $100.

@Colin G , @Carlos840
...to make things right

You mean like giving them two full days to as much as reply to my last email?

I think I've done more than enough to allow them to set things right. In fact, I don't think there's anything else I could've done since they're the ones who stopped responding to my messages.

The fact remains that if we all are in an agreement that such a jacket should not have passed the QC, there's nothing to discuss.
LW should've immediately advise me to return the jacket and they should've been the ones to pay for the postage.

But no, instead of simply saying "Dude, we're sorry, thins shouldn't have reached you that way, send it back", they showered me with bs excuses, most of which were downright insulting.

They treated me like an idiot.

What would you have done if the maker told you that your brand new, $2000 jacket should have empty stitch holes because that's perfectly normal and expected? Or that you yourself are to cut off loose threads. Or that the shoddy stitching is perfectly fine because they're working with heavy leather? Or that unevenly cut panels are supposed to be uneven? Or that the larger jacket will become smaller than the smaller jacket if you wear it?

And even after all that, they couldn't be bothered to as much as assure me things will actually get sorted if I sent the jacket back, but instead proceeded to give me vague answers how the jacket first has to be "inspected". What's there to inspect? Did I manipulate the photos and am sending the jacket back just in spite?

What if they decided I'm an unmanly fashionista and that there's nothing wrong with the jacket and requested I pay for the postage to get the jacket back? What guarantee did I have this would not have happened?

LW treated me very, very unfairly.

I understand you guys have had both magnificent service & product by LW but I haven't. And Carlos, you know how I was keeping you updated with an entire process so you are aware of even more bs I had to go through that I didn't even bring up here.

 

[Bern1]

Wow, like everyone else I’m sorry this happened Monitor. I love LW stuff and own several of their jackets. I’ve always had good experiences dealing with Stuart. I hope you can resolve it. Sometimes a phone call and directly speaking with a person works wonders.

After a few years of this, I’ve had my share of issues with some jackets that I have bought at a distance. Sometimes the fit just isn’t right or there is something that I either didn’t notice or couldn’t find out based on photos or description alone and I’ve got to either live with it or move the item along. I think it goes with the territory when you buy things like jackets or guitars which are highly personal objects. Insisting on an approval period and being able to return the item at my expense is a good safeguard. Of course, this also prevents me from buying outside of North America in my case. Freight nowadays is a significant expense. The bright side with the internet is that we have the opportunity to obtain things that we would not otherwise find.

Maybe I don’t need this much stuff! I keep telling myself this but don’t listen.

 

[Monitor]

Retrospectively, yeah, majority of people had great experience buying from LW. I didn't. Maybe I'm less forgiving or more fussy but either way, the point of this thread isn't to harm LW's business but to maybe force them into improving their customer support and QC so that there wouldn't be any more cases like this.

There's nothing wrong with being like Langlitz or Simmons Bilt.

This isn't the first negative thread about LW on TFL so nothing bad is going to come out of it.

Since I don't have anything more to add and nothing concerning the matter can change at this point, for all I care, the mods can lock this thread if they feel it has run its course.