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Freewheelers Caboose, Did I get burned? Calling all aficionados...

BuZZ's

New in Town
Messages
15
Sheesh... that stitching is trash


Not trying to say the seller wasn't misleading, but if they were vague about arm length and wouldn't provide a pic of the measurement, that's a big red flag. And you could have saved yourself the headache and disappointment you have to go through now.

All I had to go on was that the sleeve looked short based on your first set of pics since you're feeding the info piece by piece. With the info on the stitch job, yeah it looks like this seller was taking you for a ride saying it was never modified.
Yeah I told myself the last time I bought something on Grailed it was the last time unless from a USA based seller. That damn dead leaf brown though, calling with its siren song.... I couldnt resist.
 

cbez

One Too Many
Messages
1,788
Location
CA
I'd say they were almost certainly shortened. There are a lot of trex guys like me in asia.

whether you will have any luck getting a return based on that, not so sure.
 

Mich486

One Too Many
Messages
1,690
It seems you have 3 days to ask Grailed to step in to get a refund. I wouldn’t sleep on it but I’m sure they’ll side with you.
 

bigmanbigtruck

A-List Customer
Messages
360
Yeah I told myself the last time I bought something on Grailed it was the last time unless from a USA based seller. That damn dead leaf brown though, calling with its siren song.... I couldnt resist.
Don’t blame you. Jacket looks very nice otherwise. Hope Grailed comes through for you on this one.
 

mumpy

Practically Family
Messages
520
If you can still get a refund, do it. Raise it to Grailed, whatever it takes. The sleeves on this one are 100% shortened.

Regarding the stitching quality, I have seen stitching like this in Freewheelers cotton jackets but never in their leather jackets.
 

BuZZ's

New in Town
Messages
15
It seems you have 3 days to ask Grailed to step in to get a refund. I wouldn’t sleep on it but I’m sure they’ll side with you.
Yeah I immediately filed a complaint and today Grailed emailed me asking for photos of the altered jacket. I remain hopeful. I havent mentioned the Grailed sellers store name, yet, in case things turn around and they do the right thing.
I offered to exchange it for something of equal value but I think a lot of the Asian dealers are actually working Grailed as drop shippers. I actually wonder if the guy I bought the jacket from was the same guy who actually owned and shipped me the jacket.
 

Will Zach

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,850
Location
SoFlo
What is the sleeve length from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff? You might be able to get actual sleeve length from Freewheelers from that time period, or find it on the wayback machine to prove that the seller is lying, which he is.
 

BuZZ's

New in Town
Messages
15
What is the sleeve length from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff? You might be able to get actual sleeve length from Freewheelers from that time period, or find it on the wayback machine to prove that the seller is lying, which he is.
thats actually a great idea. I have the sleeve measured at about 22 inches. I cant imagine Freewheelers would have ever made it with such short sleeves.
 

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floater

Familiar Face
Messages
68
Yeah I immediately filed a complaint and today Grailed emailed me asking for photos of the altered jacket. I remain hopeful. I havent mentioned the Grailed sellers store name, yet, in case things turn around and they do the right thing.
I offered to exchange it for something of equal value but I think a lot of the Asian dealers are actually working Grailed as drop shippers. I actually wonder if the guy I bought the jacket from was the same guy who actually owned and shipped me the jacket.
I believe they’re more like proxies than dropshippers, they’re doing the same thing on ebay

They basically list ítems at a markup that are available in jp, usually stuff listed on mercari, rakuten rakuma or yahoo jp auctions and I’ve even seen some posting stuff from jp second hand stores or pawn shops, then they re-ship them to you after they get it, kinda like how buyee or FJ work but without disclosing what they’re doing and no storing of items or multi-item shipments, but yeah most cases they’re not the previous owners of items they sell and wouldn’t be surprised if some shipped directly bypassing them altogether
 
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AHP91

One Too Many
Messages
1,070
what if he removed and reattached the sleeves without changing the length, just destroying the jacket in the process. in that scenario it wouldnt have mattered if there were measurement pics with tape. In my opinion there are two separate issues here. One is about sizing. This isnt about sizing. This is about selling an altered collectors item and never disclosing it was heavily altered. If the jacket was stock but just too small for me I could easily resell it. Nobody is going to pay full price for a collectors item that was hacked up. Same with an old collectors car. you would be called out for selling a stock 69 camaro listed as stock but turns out they cut part of the frame and covered it up. Nobody would be okay with that. this is no diffefrent.
Hey listen, I feel for you. However as been mentioned in this thread, if you’re spending thousands of dollars on the internet you better be doing due diligence and asking the right questions. For all we know, the seller (who might not have even had the jacket in their possession at the time of the sale) may have never owned a leather jacket in their life, let alone know what stock sleeve measurements are for a Japanese 40.

If they provided false measurements, that’s one thing. I’ve purchased a few jackets that blatantly hid flaws that made the jackets unwearable. Was denied refund requests as it was technically not misrepresented as they didn’t represent the jacket as anything other than vintage. I’ve eaten the costs, and realized my mistake. Good luck
 

Trouser Bark

One of the Regulars
Messages
191
Location
I exist in your head
Hey listen, I feel for you. However as been mentioned in this thread, if you’re spending thousands of dollars on the internet you better be doing due diligence and asking the right questions. For all we know, the seller (who might not have even had the jacket in their possession at the time of the sale) may have never owned a leather jacket in their life, let alone know what stock sleeve measurements are for a Japanese 40.

There's no amount of due diligence that will correct a liar. There is no excuse for the seller's behavior and the issue is this...

If as you state the seller never saw the jacket does that somehow make his lie about it never having been altered acceptable?

There is no due diligence when you're dealing w/ a snake. You can take the risk if you care to but that doesn't mean you're at fault if and when you've been lied to.
 

dudewuttheheck

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,424
Here are shots of the stitching from the reattached cuffs..... is there any way this was stock from Freewheelers? its so crooked it looks like they closed their eyes and just hoped for the best. You can see old stitch holes. when you look inside the cuffs at the stitching along the flannel lining it is extremely wavy. My black caboose has super straight stiching on both the inside and outside of the cuffs.
That's my old jacket. He lied to you.
 

Sloan1874

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,427
Location
Glasgow
Just looking at Freewheelers on Grailed. Are those US dollar prices, because if they are then that's insane. £250 for a waffle top? Getoutahere!
 

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