Bad experience with Lost Worlds

[zebedee]

It's because you're all blog queens. This wouldn't have happened if you were real men. Made of tougher stuff. Built to persevere against the tide. Knowing your own minds. Not featherweight poseurs with your biscotti, strolling along the Rialto like so many reproductions (dare we say 'imitations' for fear of offending the crowd of so-called cognoscenti?), but men.

Or somesuch bollocks along those lines.

 

[JMax]

I don’t read it as a grudge against his old school principal but honestly, I’d be more concerned with the online stalking Did you friend him or are his FB ramblings public?

Seriously though, Stuart certainly is a different animal, who didn’t measure up in his business with Monitor.

 

[red devil]

I didn't have anything of value to say so have been avoiding this thread. We have discussed this with @Monitor so there is nothing to add here.

A peek into the mind of LW principal comes from his FB page. This text (and pics) are chilling to me. This guy holds grudges against his elementary school principal, and is pushing 70...something's wired wrong. Caveat Emptor.

The thread is clearly going all over the place, but you went through all his Facebook page to find something and frame it in a negative manner? That is a new low, and more deserving of the term "chilling".

And full disclosure, I am not a fan of Facebook and only use it as a messenger service.

 

[Monitor]

Guys, please, let's not turn this into anything personal. Despite everything that has happened with my order and ignoring their attempts to shift the blame from themselves to me, LW customer service hasn't exactly been rude in our correspondence. You'll notice I was avoiding mentioning the owners name as this isn't really relevant at all and doesn't make any difference. Anyone coulda been behind those mails, it doesn't change the outcome for the better or worse.

 

[Will Zach]

I don’t read it as a grudge against his old school principal but honestly, I’d be more concerned with the online stalking Did you friend him or are his FB ramblings public?

Public. I deleted my post, even though I think this stuff is extremely relevant for anyone thinking about dropping $1,500-$2,000 on a jacket at LW. They can do the search themselves - couple of clicks.

 

[Monitor]

Public. I deleted my post, even though I think this stuff is extremely relevant for anyone thinking about dropping $1,500-$2,000 on a jacket at LW. They can do the search themselves - couple of clicks.

I edited my post above and deleted my personal take on LW's site but this I can only agree with. The fact that there isn't a single product description on that website without at least one insult, aimed either at the potential customer or another maker squeezed in, is a bit alarming. People say it's all part of an act but I honestly can't say what kind of an act would that supposed to be. If I had listened to my instinct and continued admiring LW jackets from a safe distance, I'd be a lot happier right now.

 

[ksozay]

@Monitor - you know I like Stuart and LW jackets (up to 6 now).

But this isn't the quality and fit you should expect from LW. I recommend that you ship the jacket back and have LW address the issues. IMHO, you are not being nit-picky.

Unfortunately, I've heard others experiencing similar situations with LW. Unfortunate because when LW gets it right, their products are exceptional, as you've experienced with the 44.

The LW reputation is worth more than a $2k jacket. Send it back and give them a chance to correct. You paid the money, you deserve to get a jacket worthy of the LW name.

 

[Brandrea33]

I’m very new to this forum, but it’s stories like these that give me pause as to wherever I decide to drop my money on an expensive product.

I totally understand that two different people can have exactly opposite outcomes when dealing with the same company. In this case, the company response is sorely lacking.

That said, what the OP has experienced seems to go against what the company puts in writing on their own web site ... “why do you call yourself Premier”

http://www.lostworldsinc.com/Frequently_Asked_Questions.htm

I truly hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction OP.

 

[Worf]

Off the rack is not 'the way to go' for many of us longer arm and torso folks. I've had quite a few Aeros that were made dead on to my ordered 26 1/2" sleeve length and 26 1/2 " body length. None that 'sort of fit'. Same with Thedi. If you measure yourself correctly and sure of the fit you want, at least these two companies will deliver according to what numbers you send them. They always have for me. It's a shame that LW has such an attitude...but then again Stuart has always been prone to a condescending mood and will cut off communication if the customer or inquirer dares to use any critical comments.
HD

Errrr not so fast there Pardner.... I've hesitated to tell my tale of woe on here with the last custom ordered jacket I paid for (now well over a year in waiting) from Aero but let me tell you that they definitely do NOT always get it "spot on". It got so bad I had to take pictures of a jacket they "got right" and lay the mistake on top of it and send it to Carrie. They got on it right away but when the "right" jacket was returned to her it was just as bad (mis-sized) as the FIRST one. Give Carrie credit she sent it right back just in time for Covid to shut Aero down. Sigh... so here I sit waiting for a jacket that should've been here in the Fall of 2019 at the latest. I'm writing this not to defend LW or it's practices but merely to say that ANY manufacturer can fall short from time to time...

Worf

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Too late now for any hope of compensation or possible bad LW jacket rework or remodeling. You have criticized the Stuart. You are now cut off from anymore correspondence and response. So goodbye and good day...it's the LW way or the highway.

 

[regius]

LW does or did have stockists at least in Japan and Taiwan.

Maybe they still do contract works, a possibility. I don’t know, but, as long as ALL customers don’t stand united in solidarity, this type of business will always survive and even thrive, after all, in terms of product quality, the bad ones are still very rare. Luxury, niche goods tend to sell themselves so it spares the human behind the brand. Anecdote, my company is one of such, all of our employees/my co workers are constantly frustrated with our logistic efficiency and accuracy, on top of other pain we impose on our customers, but they keep coming back, we all wonder how we are still growing despite of ourselves

 

[regius]

“We're really gratified when someone who doesn't collect experiences LOST WORLDS gear -- the vast majority of our customers -- someone who just craves an amazing American leather jacket or rides devotedly and needs one. There are still discriminating guys who appreciate artisan caliber quality and care made in USA. These customers give us greater satisfaction, coming without presuppositions -- only sometimes with appropriate wariness, for who among us hasn't been burned by spurious marketing claims and lies, or succumbed to the base manipulations of internet shills and self-appointed "experts?" The Internet facilitates fraud. (This website has been pillaged and plagiarized by ripoff mfgs. and eBay ragpickers for years.)”
honestly, after all this years I’ve never had the patience to read LW website texts, maybe in 1998 it was ok to write novels. In any case, my position is let the product talk, the more you say the deeper the hole you are digging for yourself.

 

[ton312]

I fully consur with Boyo's assessment. Don't be dispirited Monitor, you need to keep on this and push for the jacket you thought you were getting. I'm sure you could grind the old ba***rd down. Perhaps cut back on time spent here and use it instead on emailing LW and if you do I suspect you will get the result. Just be respectful, dimplomatic, and very persistent. I don't know, I could be wrong, but for now I would still prefer to believe that Stu is not this unreasonable, and that he will ultimately set this BS straight if you refuse to let it go

That may well be true but can it still be called customer service if you have to fight for it? I say no. At that point it becomes a battle of wills. Imho, these luxury items necessitate a level of cs that is fairly rudimentary in retail goods. This is a very small, very niche hobby. The joe blow mr. americana isn’t buying LW gear. The hope could be, per the text above, that, if that were the case, he won’t notice half a dozen flaws. That is not the crowd buying these jackets. If you self proclaim to be the best...you best be ready to prove it.

 

[dannyk]

Right there with you. They purport to the best a million times on their site. An average Joe isn’t buy one of these. Only people like us who are looking with the most discerning of eyes. And again, mistakes happen. Aero makes them, langlitz makes them, im sure if we had more access to Japanese brands, they make them. It’s all how you handle the mistake. If you have to fight or beg for service, even if in the end you get a dream jacket, at that point it’s not customer service. It’s just not. We’ve seen examples of Aero or Langlitz making mistakes and 99% of the time a brand new jacket or full refund is given. That’s what this calls for at no expense to @Monitor. But I don’t need to harp on this or ramble. Topic seems to be pretty much covered unless Monitor comes back with some news. Just wanted to chime in and say that’s how I view customer service as well. Mistakes happen, but you’re not the best if you’re not handling them with grace.

 

[Hh121]

The leather seems unimpressed compare with the one you had.

 

[itsallgood]

Payment was made through a direct bank transfer.

Not defending LW's actions, but I think a tactical error was made here, especially if there's a difficult personality involved. Human nature being what it is, unless your feet are held to the coals, people are generally focused on the next urgent fire drill. I like to support small business whenever I can, but a direct bank transfer goes too far because it gives up all recourse.

fwiw, I have a large tree stump out front waiting to be ground out. It's the final stage of a project when I had a bunch of trees taken down several weeks ago. The contractor is a good guy, I've used him several times before and I know he does good work, but I also know he's on to the next job unless I'm holding something over him. In this case, complete, free and clear payment will be made as soon as that stump is out, I'm confident he'll be back.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

LOL..'make it happen'..? You just have no conception of Stuart's attitude and tactics. This is becoming comical....

 

[dannyk]

LOL..'make it happen'..? You just have no conception of Stuart's attitude and tactics. This is becoming comical....

In all fairness we haven’t heard a bad story about him in awhile. I was hoping maybe he’d relaxed...but nope we were due I guess ha.

 

[JMax]

@Monitor I swear I read a post in this thread where he relented and offered a full refund, not the BS partial refund, as well as paying for shipping back to the US. Am I crazy? If this is the case, and you want the SD in your size, then give it one good push for the remake. Nothing to lose. If not, then disregard and I promise to lay off the whiskey.

BTW, Inglorious Basterds is glorious. Forgot how good it is.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Kudos to you Monitor for taking the high road and being the gentleman in this fiasco. Your conduct and statements here show you very much the better man (and yeah, with my dumb temper I am certainly learning a lot from you here). Your honesty and desire not to make it a personal battle speak volumes.

 

[Will Zach]

^^
I agree. @Monitor is such a class act. It is tough to take that he is getting such a raw deal.