Rant about customer service

[Griff]

Got to post a rant about customer service from a hat store I ordered a hat from. I'm just so disappointed in the shipping time from the store.
I live in an area that does not have any hat stores so, of course, I go on line and found a Tesi fedora that I liked from Bencraft. I ordered it the morning of Jan 29th and figured it would take a week maybe ten days for me to get the hat. I call today (Feb 9) and the guy had to call me back when he found out the status of my order. He called back in about 10 minutes with a UPS tracking number but didn't know any other info. I looked up the tracking number and found out that they had just shipped the hat that morning. They took NINE business days just to get the hat to UPS.
Maybe they had to get the hat from Italy. Maybe they are so busy in this economy that processing an order is taking longer. Maybe I should have bought a more expensive hat (this was only $100). I don't know. What I do know is that I'll never order from them again. There are several other stores on-line out there. Maybe I'll look at e-bay.
I know many of you are happy with your orders from them but I am really disappointed. I ordered a gift for my girlfriend that came from the East Coast and got it in five days. It weighed 18lbs and the $90 price included shipping. I have a party and a dinner coming up and was excited about wearing my new fedora. Not sure if that will happen. Not to mention the store has had my money since Jan 29th and I have a tracking number that originated today.
Sorry if I sound sour but fedoras aren't an everyday purchase for me and I just think when I place an order that it should be shipped in a reasonable amount of time and nine days seems a little much.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Did they tell you that the hat was in stock and ready to ship when you placed the order? Did you call to check that and ask how quickly you would receive the hat? Did any of the other stores you considered ordering the hat from have it in stock and guarantee it would ship immediately? Did you mention to Bencraft, either before or when you placed the order, that you needed it by a particular date for your upcoming party?

I would guess from your message that an 18 lb. $90 item from another vendor that you ordered for your girlfriend was in stock or at least, quickly obtainable, and ready to ship at the time you ordered, and that a $100 hat that you didn't bother to inquire as to either availability in inventory and anticipated shipping time took longer to arrive. I don't see how the two items are connected. I would guess at 18 lbs., the item ordered for your girlfriend was not a Tesi Fedora.

Two or three weeks isn't THAT out of the ordinary for receipt of an item that's ordered from any vendor, unless you specify express handling and/or delivery. Some of the hats folks on the Lounge order take, from what posts state, months to a year or even two years from order to delivery...and those ordering are willing to wait that amount of time to get the item.

Again, had you inquired and/or stated you needed the hat for an upcoming special ocassion, I'm sure Bencraft would have made sure they had your size & other options in stock and ready to ship, and made sure it had a special rush on it...HAD you bothered to mention that. Now you'll say you ordered online - you could have still picked up the phone and called your order in so that it got some personal attention of the staff. A company that purposely delays shipment or lies to their customers about availability and shipment time won't be in business for long.

And I will add - I have never ordered anything from Bencraft. That's not to say I won't, and I will add your message has absolutely no effect on that. Bencraft has a good reputation. Bencraft has been a long-time supporter of the Lounge. They've posted or had posted by others about them far in excess of 11 posts, none or very few being complaints.

They're people just like you and I...they don't have crystal balls or some sort of software that pops up and says "I think this guy may have something coming up so his order may need special handling." It's not their job. It's the customer's job to let the vendor know if they're in need of special handling, or the customer to ask about how long it will be until the merchandise is in their hands.

 

[Tomasso]

Sounds like they probably misplaced your order. It happens at even the best of establishments. Of course that would be of little consolation to you at this time. This has happened to me in the past as well, now I request the tracking info at the time of ordering.

 

[Sam Craig]

Not to change the direction of the rant, but ...

It used to be that you could occasionally find a vintage hat on the Goodwill national auction website, but recently there is one of the vendors who has started shipping individual hats at the rate of 20 POUNDS per hat and no duplicate orders.

That figures to over $35 to ship a hat across the country.

I figured it was a typo ... supposed to be 2 pounds

But I looked further in the small print and it explained that because of some policy with UPS it was charging that rate

Man, I gotta want a hat a lot to pay over 30 bucks to have it mailed to me!

Sure seems like someone is pocketing a lot of shipping costs ... and that Goodwill is likely to have a bunch of unsold hats. Their rates were high enough to begin with!

 

[theinterchange]

Not to change the direction of the rant, but ...

It used to be that you could occasionally find a vintage hat on the Goodwill national auction website, but recently there is one of the vendors who has started shipping individual hats at the rate of 20 POUNDS per hat and no duplicate orders.

That figures to over $35 to ship a hat across the country.

I figured it was a typo ... supposed to be 2 pounds

But I looked further in the small print and it explained that because of some policy with UPS it was charging that rate

Man, I gotta want a hat a lot to pay over 30 bucks to have it mailed to me!

Sure seems like someone is pocketing a lot of shipping costs ... and that Goodwill is likely to have a bunch of unsold hats. Their rates were high enough to begin with!

Shipping costs are astronomical anymore. I shipped a normal sized hardcover book via MEDIA mail just last week and it cost me almost $7... eBay won't let you charge more than $4.:eusa_doh: Also, at Christmas, I tried to ship a board game to Australia, they wanted $90+ for the cheapest route.

Randy

 

[Sam Craig]

It's part of the reason I'm not more interested in Akubra or Christy products ... huge shipping.

But still, over 30 bucks to ship from one state to another, seems a bit pricey.

 

[NukeMeSlowly]

I don't I think I would order from Bencraft either...

I have also had a negative experience with Bencraft. To be clear, not with any of their personnel (those I spoke with were pleasant enough) but (in my case at least) they have proven to be unreliable.

Back in December I started a thread about wanting to purchase a navy fedora for about $100. Steven from Bencraft posted some information about what they had in stock that might fit my needs. Very cool.

I posted a reply in the thread asking some specific questions about sizes, availability, etc. There was no response. No big deal, I figured, I will just give them a call.

So, I called them. And called them. And called them. I called five or six times over the course of two weeks, each time leaving a message for Steven about wanting to buy a navy fedora. Each time I was told that I would receive a return call. It never came. [Contrast that with Hats Direct - a company literally on the other side of the world that has never gone more than a day without answering my emails.]

About the sixth call, I finally got Steven on the phone (he was the one who answered the ring) and explained who I was and what I was trying to do. [To be clear, I did not rant about my repeated calls and their unresponsive service. I simply went into my spiel about a ~$100 navy fedora.] Steven was polite and listened to my request/questions and told me he would look into his stock and get back to me that afternoon or the next day. I never heard back from him, despite calling again and leaving yet another message.

The people at Bencraft seem nice enough and I have seen that Steven takes the time to post valuable information here at TFL, but based on my experience with the company I would not feel comfortable buying a hat from them by mail.

I would certainly consider visiting their store the next time I am in NYC.

 

[Griff]

Mike -

I'm not going to get in a peeing contest with anyone on this site about anything. I enjoy this site a great deal and I know that Bencraft is a supporter and has a good reputation. I'm also sure Steven is a great guy. I'm simply venting about an issue that would sway MY decision - all other things being equal - to purchase a product from a vendor.

First - I talked with a salesman when I was going to order and told him I wanted a Tesi Classic. He never mentioned (and I would like to think he would have an idea) that the hat was not available at the time. Steven has mentioned on this site that Bencraft "stocks everything in our catalog and website in depth". Anyway, the salesman told me to order on-line because it would be easier and faster. I never received an email after I placed the order to inform me the status of the hat so I assumed they had it. I have ordered lots of products on line - as I'm sure you have - and you expect vendors to let you know if there is a problem. No, I did not mention that I had an event coming up and would have like the hat to wear. I, again, assumed that 7 to 10 business days to get an order would be plenty of time. I disagree with your "2 to 3 week" delivery time. I order stuff from all over and a week to 10 days is not unusual. It seems to be the norm. It took them that long just to get the hat to UPS. There is nothing on the Bencraft website that lets you know delivery times. So as I said, I figured a week to 10 days seemed reasonable.
As a matter of fact I just received the shipping notice e-mail from Bencraft this morning. Remember, I ordered the hat the morning of Jan 29th.

I mentioned the 18lb, $90 order simply as a comparison of two different orders placed to two different vendors from the same area in the country and two different outcomes. This hat was not a special order and not coming from Australia. I realize those kinds of situations can take time.
I also realize they are people like we are but they are a business selling a product to customers like you and me. And it IS their job to service us and take care of us in a timely manner when we have paid for goods and services. I don't think I'm being unreasonable. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it either. Maybe my order did get misplaced or something - just let me know and make it right. Enough said.

I hope, if and when you do order from Bencraft, you have a good experience. I'm not out to sway anyone from buying from them. They have a great selection and good prices. That's why I considered buying from them in the first place. If I ever go out to New York and in their area - I'll probably stop in their store.
As I mentioned - just a rant and a little venting.

 

[besdor]

Here is the situation, very simple.
We are right now overwhelmed by orders . We sent out last month over 100,000 catalogs. This was the first time that we sent out so many after Christmas. It has affected our walk in trade as we have to dedicate three salesman just to fill orders and answer the phone.
While I'm sure that some people might not understand or care about this, it does bother me. We normaly send out packages with 48 hours. Now , we are at least at a one week point to fill some orders. I'm not happy about it but I think we are starting to catch up with the orders and exchanges.
The one good thing that I've learned is that there is a demand for hats out there especially from peole who live in small town where thare are no stores that carry hats . The problem is that we were not prepared for this amount of business in such a small amount of time.
Please be patient. Anyone who needs to rech me can PM me or email me at sales@bencrafthas.com . I will respond . Please aslo mention that you are a FL member as well. This will help push your order through past the person ordering a 25.00 cap!!

Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[Brent Hutto]

I can only speak to my experience with Bencraft. They had in stock the particular size and color of Borsalino Alessandria that I wanted. I exchanged an E-mail or two with Steven (responses did typically take a couple days) then placed my order. It took them a couple days to ship and then the hat arrived as promised.

So certainly not as responsive as the huge mail-order concerns like Amazon and so forth but I did get the info I needed and the hat I wanted all within a couple weeks or less (don't remember the exact timing). I'd give them a solid B, maybe even a B+ on that one occasion at least. This was December, 2009.

And I love my Alessandria!

P.S. Oops, left of the most important part. I had two hat vendors (one of whom is very highly regarded hereabouts) fail to respond to requestion for information. One simple failed to answer two E-mail inquiries. The other talked to me on the phone for about 60 seconds, begged off with a promise of an E-mail followup which never arrived, and never did so even when prompted with an E-mail of my own. But I also talked to two other vendors who were extremely responsive and helpful. So the Bencraft experience fell somewhere between the extremes of totally unhelpful vs. incredibly prompt and informative. But they were the only ones what had the hat I wanted...

 

[Griff]

Well, if the hat stores are busy enough that sometimes a few customers fall through the cracks then I'm glad that more and more fedoras are being sold and worn. I've always hoped that they would come back into style and become more popular.
Yes, I will continue to get upset if I'm one of those customers but good for the world of fedoras. I still have a couple more fedoras that I want to add to my hat rack. Business is business and hopefully the stores can take care of us mailorder people and keep our business.

 

[besdor]

All FL members can PM me and the response will be a lot quicker. We hope that things will get back to normal soon.

Steven
www.bencrafthats.com