Serious about a straw Stetson Stratoliner

[Tukwila]

BTW...I ordered this Stratoliner from Village Hat Shop in California on the 29th. Its now May 14th and its not here yet with no ETA. They have the worst shipping system I've ever seen. They offer free shipping but if you order from them be sure to pay for expedited shipping. Their free shipping is for sh*t.

It won't matter much IME. It's the COVID crap throwing a monkey wrench into the works. I sent a cap to Australia, USPS priority mail... supposed to be 6-10 days. Yeah, I shipped it on 4/24, it arrived in SF on 4/25, arrived in SF AGAIN on 5/1, then arrived in.... you guessed it, SF on 5/11 before finally shipping out to Aus on 5/12. It was supposed to arrive today. If anything USPS shipping is sh*t, not the shipping of the hat shop. Only cost $65 US to ship that cap. USPS should pay me for service like that.

 

[RBH]

BTW...I ordered this Stratoliner from Village Hat Shop in California on the 29th. Its now May 14th and its not here yet with no ETA. They have the worst shipping system I've ever seen. They offer free shipping but if you order from them be sure to pay for expedited shipping. Their free shipping is for sh*t.

Village Hat Shop is nothing but top notch in my book. I have had three hats from them in the past couple of months. I did not order but two....one was damaged and sent back to be replaced. I had ordered one when this ordeal started and had to send it back then ordered a differnt hat a couple weeks later.
I do know that a lot of the computer work they have is being done at remote locations [I suspect their homes].
And I am not sure how they are able to be at the store location, as far as to how many can be working ect.
They were always very prompt with any email. Kayla was who I always dealt with.

 

[Zombie_61]

BTW...I ordered this Stratoliner from Village Hat Shop in California on the 29th. Its now May 14th and its not here yet with no ETA. They have the worst shipping system I've ever seen. They offer free shipping but if you order from them be sure to pay for expedited shipping. Their free shipping is for sh*t.

I have to agree with what Tukwila and RBH wrote above. If you ordered the hat on the 29th and it hadn't shipped until the 14th, that would be Village Hat Shop's fault. But once it leaves their facility and it's in the Universally Stupid Post Office's system any delays are the carrier's fault.

 

[Dotneck]

I ordered the 7 1/2 in Cognac yesterday. Will report back!

Mine finally showed up. I wear a 7 1/8 so I ordered a 7 and it fit well.

 

[Dotneck]

If you ordered the hat on the 29th and it hadn't shipped until the 14th, that would be Village Hat Shop's fault. But once it leaves their facility and it's in the Universally Stupid Post Office's system any delays are the carrier's fault.

But its not REALLY shipped via USPS. They say its shipped USPS and send a USPS tracking number but they use a third party carrier to deliver it to USPS. That's what was so confusing.

For days the only response when tracking was that the Los Angeles post office was waiting for the package. For two weeks. When I inquired with VHS they told me a third party carrier would deliver the parcel to my local post office. Two weeks later it showed up in Atlanta's post office then it was just a couple days to get to North Carolina.

Village Hat Shop was fine...they always replied to my e-mails with courtesy. But their free shipping was horrible. My advise is pay for expedited shipping with this vendor.

BTW...I got a pretty neat looking grey Stratoliner out of the deal. I am pretty happy with the lid now that its arrived.

 

[Zombie_61]

But its not REALLY shipped via USPS. They say its shipped USPS and send a USPS tracking number but they use a third party carrier to deliver it to USPS. That's what was so confusing.

For days the only response when tracking was that the Los Angeles post office was waiting for the package. For two weeks. When I inquired with VHS they told me a third party carrier would deliver the parcel to my local post office. Two weeks later it showed up in Atlanta's post office then it was just a couple days to get to North Carolina...

Ah, yes, I'm dealing with one of those right now. $8 for shipping, and so far my item has been bouncing around New Jersey for three days "on it's way to USPS". Still, that's not the vendor's fault and it's not scheduled to be delivered here until Thursday, so...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

But its not REALLY shipped via USPS. They say its shipped USPS and send a USPS tracking number but they use a third party carrier to deliver it to USPS. That's what was so confusing.

For days the only response when tracking was that the Los Angeles post office was waiting for the package. For two weeks. When I inquired with VHS they told me a third party carrier would deliver the parcel to my local post office. Two weeks later it showed up in Atlanta's post office then it was just a couple days to get to North Carolina.

Village Hat Shop was fine...they always replied to my e-mails with courtesy. But their free shipping was horrible. My advise is pay for expedited shipping with this vendor.

BTW...I got a pretty neat looking grey Stratoliner out of the deal. I am pretty happy with the lid now that its arrived.

So?...where are the photos?
Hope you enjoy it, it’s a dandy warm weather hat.

 

[Dotneck]

Still, that's not the vendor's fault and it's not scheduled to be delivered here until Thursday, so...

Yes, it IS the vendors fault. They chose this delivery system. I guess to save some money. If they had just used USPS then the tracking would have worked (and avoided a lot of frustration on their customer's part) and the product would have been here about a week ago. I hope they saved enough money on the deal because most likely they lost a customer.

I used to run my own retail business and I can tell you its cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new customer.

Anyway, rant over. I have a new Stetson hat. All is right in the world. I guess there are two versions of the Stratoliner Milan (I think they call it). Mine is the less expensive version (monocromatic hat band) ...and the Deluxe version with contrasting hat band and edge binding like the OP.

 

[Edward]

Yes, it IS the vendors fault. They chose this delivery system. I guess to save some money. If they had just used USPS then the tracking would have worked (and avoided a lot of frustration on their customer's part) and the product would have been here about a week ago. I hope they saved enough money on the deal because most likely they lost a customer.

I used to run my own retail business and I can tell you its cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new customer.

Anyway, rant over. I have a new Stetson hat. All is right in the world. I guess there are two versions of the Stratoliner Milan (I think they call it). Mine is the less expensive version (monocromatic hat band) ...and the Deluxe version with contrasting hat band and edge binding like the OP.

That looks to be the same one I have - I just picked mine up via eBay a couple of weeks ago. It started off with me looking for, well, not quite an all-out replacement, but my old Akubra Capricorn in the grey-blue colour is past its very best, and they don't seem to make them in any colour other than fawn any more. The Stratoliner turned up as an option for a grey, and I love it. I'd like more - certainly in this 'Florentine Milan' straw, but also the hemp version. Seems to be tricky, though - Stetson don't seem to stock them in the UK (maybe that will change when we're back in season). Anywhere in the US I find them seems either not to ship to the UK, or have gone down the road of using the USPS who have radically ramped up their shipping charges of late. I recently reluctantly decided not to buy a $68 hat I really fancied because the shipping was going to be $75 more. Ouch.

 

[Edward]

By way of an update (and something of a reminder for me to take some photos when I'm next in the office where they currently are (it being a little too early in the year for straw still here in London)... I am now the proud owner of a second straw Stratoliner, this time the olive hemp model, with brown ribbon and binding. Side by side, there's a small difference in feel to the hemp model. Under the fingers, it's just very fractionally different, like the difference between wood that's been sanded perfectly smooth, the hemp, and wood that is equally smooth but has had a satin finish applied - the florentine. Both feel equally durable, look as good, and have the same great shape. I suspect going forward, for me the choice between the two will be as much about colour as anything. The hemp models are about forty bucks on average more expensive. Enough that if the two were cosmetically identical I'd opt for the cheaper florentine (which I suspect to be a good deal more artificial than the hemp), but not enough that I'd baulk at the idea of paying the extra for a colour only available in the hemp. I have half an eye on the all-black Florentine, and also the navy with silver trim hemp model. The dark brown also looked really nice, but that seems long gone everywhere, which I may take as a sign instead in that colour to look seriously at the Kendrick (which appears to be close in shape to the Temple, and may have replaced the hemp version of the latter).

I've mostly stuck to cheap straw hats in the past, and still have those to hand (there's a lot to be said for a hat I won't cry about having to replace if it gets lost or damaged on holiday or in certain contexts), but the difference in quality with these Stetsons is readily apparent. I'm already pretty much set for Summer now with the two I have. Mind you, variety is good. It's great to have the range of straw options there are these days, as I miss my various coloured furfelts when it gets too hot for them.