Bad experience with Lost Worlds

[Jejupe]

I feel for Monitor. It's a terrible thing to pay a lot of money for your dream jacket and have high hopes for it, just to be hugely disappointed after the whole process. For sure, this all could've been handled differently for better end result!

I'll give my 00,5€ on how one should deal with LW. I've bought quite a few jackets from LW in past few years, I've visited Stuart at his factory couple of times and I just placed an order for another 4 new custom builds, so I think I know the subject rather well.

I've never had any problems with Stuart, especially after I met him in person while I was in NYC. I advise everybody considering ordering a LW jacket to call him and talk to the man, instead of emailing him. It's like dealing with two different persons! Another thing to take into consideration is that Stuart is very proud of his products - materials, patterns and craftsmen behind it. He has put immense amount of time and thought in to perfecting all these aspects. Dealing with him is like dealing with an artist who is selling his beloved pieces of art, not like dealing with a normal manufacturer. I'm not one to say whether it's right or wrong, but that's the way it is, and if you want to deal with LW you'll have to accept it.

Also its noteworthy, that this is LW's standard approach to complaints -> send the jacket in at your own cost, if you're right about your complaint, they'll make it right for you. Of course, It would be right thing of LW to do to explain this before a new customer places their first order, so they'll know what they're getting into.

 

[MrProper]

Another thing to take into consideration is that Stuart is very proud of his products - materials, patterns and craftsmen behind it. He has put immense amount of time and thought in to perfecting all these aspects.

If he was so confident and proud and liked to be seen as an artist, he would never have shipped this jacket. That would prevent his own quality standards.

Of course, this is just an assumption based on this thread.

 

[Colin G]

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

Well then, paying more import taxes should be no concern if LW does that. Even more incentive to send back the jacket for the inspection LW requires. I seriously think LW will fix things once they get it back.

 

[Jejupe]

If he was so confident and proud and liked to be seen as an artist, he would never have shipped this jacket. That would prevent his own quality standards.

Of course, this is just an assumption based on this thread.

He is not the one actually sewing the jackets, so I guess this must have slipped through the QC. Given the chance, I like to believe he could/would/should have corrected the quality issues. The sizing issue in other hand would've probably been more difficult one to address.

 

[JMax]

I feel for Monitor. It's a terrible thing to pay a lot of money for your dream jacket and have high hopes for it, just to be hugely disappointed after the whole process. For sure, this all could've been handled differently for better end result!

I'll give my 00,5€ on how one should deal with LW. I've bought quite a few jackets from LW in past few years, I've visited Stuart at his factory couple of times and I just placed an order for another 4 new custom builds, so I think I know the subject rather well.

I've never had any problems with Stuart, especially after I met him in person while I was in NYC. I advise everybody considering ordering a LW jacket to call him and talk to the man, instead of emailing him. It's like dealing with two different persons! Another thing to take into consideration is that Stuart is very proud of his products - materials, patterns and craftsmen behind it. He has put immense amount of time and thought in to perfecting all these aspects. Dealing with him is like dealing with an artist who is selling his beloved pieces of art, not like dealing with a normal manufacturer. I'm not one to say whether it's right or wrong, but that's the way it is, and if you want to deal with LW you'll have to accept it.

Also its noteworthy, that this is LW's standard approach to complaints -> send the jacket in at your own cost, if you're right about your complaint, they'll make it right for you. Of course, It would be right thing of LW to do to explain this before a new customer places their first order, so they'll know what they're getting into.

I stopped reading at “4 new custom builds”. Dude, you are my hero.

 

[SilverKast]

Being new to the site this doesn’t inspire confidence in ordering any sort of custom build. I realize it’s different for everyone, but perhaps I’ll stick with something relatively local and drop by in person.

Luckily Himel is here in Canada for me, so perhaps instead of ordering custom builds internationally it seems my best bet is to pay a visit directly with Dave. It has definitely turned me off the option of spending a fair amount of my money on LW, despite the fact many seem quite pleased with their product.

 

[Brandrea33]

Being new to the site this doesn’t inspire confidence in ordering any sort of custom build. I realize it’s different for everyone, but perhaps I’ll stick with something relatively local and drop by in person.

Luckily Himel is here in Canada for me, so perhaps instead of ordering custom builds internationally it seems my best bet is to pay a visit directly with Dave. It has definitely turned me off the option of spending a fair amount of my money on LW, despite the fact many seem quite pleased with their product.

I'm new here too, and decided to go with Himel Bro’s after doing a lot of reading here and seeing reviews of their jackets. I‘m picking up my Imperial in about 3 weeks or so!

I agree that ordering anything bespoke can be a bit daunting and after reading monitors experience here, I certainly wouldn’t give my money to a company that treats anyone the way he’s been treated.

So far dealing with Himel has been fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to my jacket ... “One Good Thing” as they say.

Sorry for the thread hijack OP.

 

[sweetfights]

Being new to the site this doesn’t inspire confidence in ordering any sort of custom build. I realize it’s different for everyone, but perhaps I’ll stick with something relatively local and drop by in person.

Luckily Himel is here in Canada for me, so perhaps instead of ordering custom builds internationally it seems my best bet is to pay a visit directly with Dave. It has definitely turned me off the option of spending a fair amount of my money on LW, despite the fact many seem quite pleased with their product.

Dave Himel is a gentleman and his product is outstanding. Just purchased a Kensington from him. Not cheap by any measure but you get what you pay for and his stuff is well worth it.

 

[Will Zach]

Dave Himel, Greg Field, Maverickson - plenty of good guys around who will make a stellar bespoke jacket. No need to get abused.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I feel for Monitor. It's a terrible thing to pay a lot of money for your dream jacket and have high hopes for it, just to be hugely disappointed after the whole process. For sure, this all could've been handled differently for better end result!

I'll give my 00,5€ on how one should deal with LW. I've bought quite a few jackets from LW in past few years, I've visited Stuart at his factory couple of times and I just placed an order for another 4 new custom builds, so I think I know the subject rather well.

I've never had any problems with Stuart, especially after I met him in person while I was in NYC. I advise everybody considering ordering a LW jacket to call him and talk to the man, instead of emailing him. It's like dealing with two different persons! Another thing to take into consideration is that Stuart is very proud of his products - materials, patterns and craftsmen behind it. He has put immense amount of time and thought in to perfecting all these aspects. Dealing with him is like dealing with an artist who is selling his beloved pieces of art, not like dealing with a normal manufacturer. I'm not one to say whether it's right or wrong, but that's the way it is, and if you want to deal with LW you'll have to accept it.

Also its noteworthy, that this is LW's standard approach to complaints -> send the jacket in at your own cost, if you're right about your complaint, they'll make it right for you. Of course, It would be right thing of LW to do to explain this before a new customer places their first order, so they'll know what they're getting into.

Seem's this prideful Stuart immaculate creation was sadly an abstract from the other personality ...

 

[Seb Lucas]

Being new to the site this doesn’t inspire confidence in ordering any sort of custom build. I realize it’s different for everyone, but perhaps I’ll stick with something relatively local and drop by in person.

Luckily Himel is here in Canada for me, so perhaps instead of ordering custom builds internationally it seems my best bet is to pay a visit directly with Dave. It has definitely turned me off the option of spending a fair amount of my money on LW, despite the fact many seem quite pleased with their product.

I think perspective is important here. Stu may well be marinating in his own hatred, but in general custom jackets end up being 99.9% perfectly fine. Eight pages (so far) on this one jacket does not reflect the broader experience people have from Stu or other providers. This is really a tale about customer service.

 

[Jejupe]

I stopped reading at “4 new custom builds”. Dude, you are my hero.

I am the hero TFL deserves, but not the hero it needs right now.

 

[navetsea]

I am the hero TFL deserves, but not the hero it needs right now.

you built a second bungalow for housing the upcoming jackets?

 

[navetsea]

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.

I wonder if somehow your comments about your dislike of the new rocketman jacket played some effect, I remember you said you hate it the more you see it.

 

[JMax]

I am the hero TFL deserves, but not the hero it needs right now.

And just remember, that with great power comes great responsibility.

 

[Jejupe]

you built a second bungalow for housing the upcoming jackets?

You mean you don’t have a bungalow for your jackets?!

 

[red devil]

Being new to the site this doesn’t inspire confidence in ordering any sort of custom build. I realize it’s different for everyone, but perhaps I’ll stick with something relatively local and drop by in person.

Luckily Himel is here in Canada for me, so perhaps instead of ordering custom builds internationally it seems my best bet is to pay a visit directly with Dave. It has definitely turned me off the option of spending a fair amount of my money on LW, despite the fact many seem quite pleased with their product.

Getting a custom jacket is a tricky endeavor no matter how you look at it especially if you are doing it long distance. Having the possibility of dropping in person makes a huge difference. So going locally really improves your chances of getting a good fit. You can try sample jackets, the maker can see your general shape and make all the adjustements. And when the jackets is ready, if there are still discrepancies these can be worked out. So if you can go local with a maker you like, do so

Now, it happens that the maker you prefer is not within easy reach, that's when you have decide whether you throw the dice or not. Expectations of what a good fit vary by a big margin, what the maker considers a good fit is often not in line with the customer. The more experienced you are the more you can mitigate the risks.

Does that mean you should avoid going the long distance route? Up to you. I, for, one embraced it fully and went to visit the makers directly when it was possible. Most of my experiences have been positive.

 

[Monitor]

I think perspective is important here. Stu may well be marinating in his own hatred, but in general custom jackets end up being 99.9% perfectly fine. Eight pages (so far) on this one jacket does not reflect the broader experience people have from Stu or other providers. This is really a tale about customer service.

Exactly that.

I don't make much money. $2000 is what I make in a good few months and my decision to invest into another LW ought to tell you how impressed I was with their jacket.
My first SD was possibly the best cross zip I've seen. Perfect jacket if there even is such a thing...

So yeah, again, this isn't about LW making a bad product. Because they usually make a great jacket.

What @red devil says, if you have the opportunity to call / drop in / whatever, by all means, don't let this thread discourage you from buying a LW jacket. It's worth it.

 

[willyto]

To me the end result doesn’t justify the struggle with customer support.

You may get an amazing jacket from other makers too but I wouldn’t tolerate being called homophobic slurs, sexist slurs, treated like a pussy, not being manly enough, not recognising mistakes, not acknowledging a **** up but the maker, not owning up to paying return when it’s their own fault,etc.

You can’t diminish the importance of Quality Control and then Customer Support.

I personally wouldn’t sacrifice my rights as a customer or my integrity just to buy a nice jacket but that’s just me. I’d rather take my money somewhere else. That’s why I go to passionate makers which are friendly, do top work and have a good customer support in case something slips QC.

The fact that we aren’t even surprised that someone can be treated the way that Monitor has been treated says a lot about the Customer Support of Lost Worlds. They should have looked at the pictures, own their mistakes, refund the whole price or offer a remake and pay for return shipping. Any other solution is just not good enough and is very bad customer support regardless of how many great jackets they’ve made before.

 

[red devil]

You may get an amazing jacket from other makers too but I wouldn’t tolerate being called homophobic slurs, sexist slurs, treated like a pussy, not being manly enough, not recognising mistakes, not acknowledging a **** up but the maker, not owning up to paying return when it’s their own fault,etc.

I wouldn't bother with such a terrible person either