Good Wear-abouts

[El Marro]

Why wouldn't JC simply send out a couple of well-worded generic emails a year about his waiting list, the process he is following and what do do it this makes you unhappy? There seems to be a fundamental business competence deficit.

That is a great idea Seb. My aunt used to run a small kitchen and bath design business as well as a retail store selling kitchen and bath fixtures. Every few months she would send out an email to everyone with updates regarding projects she was working on as well as new items in the store. JC could do something similar and keep all interested parties informed with one mass email.

 

[Dudleydoright]

I think i mentioned a bulletin or newsletter myself a page or two ago...
MacDonald Armouries in Edinburgh makes repro F-S daggers. He has a handwritten order board with names & type of dagger. He sends a pic of that out every few months. Because serving military go to the front of the queue, orders slip. People know and accept that. Is it asking JC ( & others) too much to do something similar ? He must have a spreadsheet for his own use right ?

 

[Boyo]

Looks like you and @Boyo are a couple of months ahead of me! At least I will get some advance warning lol.

I’m trying to remain Zen about it but at this stage honestly couldn’t tell you if the whole situation has soured me to the point where I don’t even want a GW anymore, I won’t know until I get THE email I guess.

So I figure I’ve got nothing to lose, after 4 1/2 years the deposit has been long forgotten (was it $300? I can’t even remember now) and it’s not like getting it back will make any sort of difference to my life, I may as well wait it out....if I cancelled today and heard next week that @Boyo or @Graemsay were having theirs made now....well that would be something [emoji23]

I might send another email and see if I get a response this time....

I’m assuming the 3 of us are waiting for a half belt design? It seems like people ordering A2s are skipping ahead of us?

@ProteinNerd, you and I are in the same place.. I still want a jacket, the deposit is long forgotten and I am curious to see how this all ends...and you are correct, I’m not waiting for an A-2 either, I initially ordered an imperial, but John suggested I go with the Hercules as he had just completed the patterns based on an original he had recently received.
I think @Jonesy wiped out all the GW leather stock during his frenzy a few months back, probably added a year to our wait.

 

[Big J]

Presumably in the absence of any public updates about the length of the waiting list, orders continue to come in and deposits are still being paid.

Any public notification of 5 years waits and such might put an end to that? It might induce more people on the waiting list to ask for refunds- could they all be paid? Maybe all the deposit money sits in the bank until the jacket is completed?

 

[Seb Lucas]

Presumably in the absence of any public updates about the length of the waiting list, orders continue to come in and deposits are still being paid.

Any public notification of 5 years waits and such might put an end to that? It might induce more people on the waiting list to ask for refunds- could they all be paid? Maybe all the deposit money sits in the bank until the jacket is completed?

In my version of the email JC would apologise for and explain the delay taking responsibility for his process; offer clarity around the wait time explain how many are currently waiting and how he choses who is next on the list; explain where the deposit is held; offer a return of deposit if this information doesn't satisfy; all new orders would be put on hold for the foreseeable future to get work completed and sent.

In my version and in the absence of anything to the contrary, JC is honest just overwhelmed. Not saying this is going to happen and this may not be enough.

 

[jonesy86]

@ProteinNerd, you and I are in the same place.. I still want a jacket, the deposit is long forgotten and I am curious to see how this all ends...and you are correct, I’m not waiting for an A-2 either, I initially ordered an imperial, but John suggested I go with the Hercules as he had just completed the patterns based on an original he had recently received.
I think @Jonesy wiped out all the GW leather stock during his frenzy a few months back, probably added a year to our wait.

They say I shot a man named Gray
And took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
And when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky

 

[Monitor]

Presumably in the absence of any public updates about the length of the waiting list, orders continue to come in and deposits are still being paid.

Any public notification of 5 years waits and such might put an end to that? It might induce more people on the waiting list to ask for refunds- could they all be paid? Maybe all the deposit money sits in the bank until the jacket is completed?

That's what I don't understand..!

Dude, just refund everyone - or at least as many people as you can - cancel every order ever and start over! Regardless of this entire fiasco, GW is still in demand. The owner is apparently great people, everyone feels for him... It's still not that big of a deal. If people'd been willing to wait for 5 + years for a leather jacket to start with, I don't think they would mind waiting for as long as it takes just to get in the preorder line.

Sitting on someone elses money you'd been paid for a product you can't deliver is enough to make a man go literally crazy. I wouldn't be surprised to hear John hadn't had a good night's sleep in years.

Except if you're a Jawnz guy. Then you open a restaurant.

 

[patrick_b]

Very well said @ProteinNerd.

Sadly this phenomenon isn't uncommon in today's world. We've all seen it with craftsman who produce well made, highly coveted products from custom knives to leather jackets. In every case, demand far outweighs production and customers are perfectly willing to get in line with a deposit but no single man operation can maintain the necessary output to keep up the pace required to meet the demand indefinitely.


The lesson here should be for future craftsman to not go down the same road.

 

[scotrace]

I'm going to make another likely futile plea.

We're twenty-plus years into a major technological revolution, one that has changed all our lives completely. Part of keeping up with that revolution goes beyond just knowing how to swipe left, double click or hard reboot. It means understanding the limitations and and flaws of all this typing we do, which we never expected to be doing. We largely communicate via written word now.

Two people dear to me, who genuinely cared for each other and were good friends, kept getting into frequent squabbles because they reached for the "I'M INSULTED!" button when no insult was meant. Typing lacks tone, inflection, the face to go with the words. I insisted they both begin using a video texting medium (Marco Polo), and everything smoothed right out between them.

Gentlemen, please catch up. Part of living in the developed 20th century world is not jumping to the worst possible interpretation of another's words. Give people slack. Don't leap for anger at things that may very well be neutral at worst.

Please.