Enough already!!

[Colin]

As many of you may or may not have read, I had a 5 yard Weatherd MacKenzie in 16oz Locharron on order with scottishkilts.net (ordered mid February). This was a gift from my wife for not smoking for a year.

I have dealt with this company many times now and in the past 3 years alone I have ordered the following items with them:
- charcoal tweed argyle and waistcoat (not what was shown on their site, but still good) -$380 cdn (before shipping and duty)
- 8 yard handsewn Ancient Watson Jura range kilt -$495 cdn (before shipping and duty)
- dress sporran -$205.61cdn (before shipping and duty)
- two pairs of hose, and a quaich
and this current order
- 5 yard All tartan kilt -$ 305 cdn (before shipping and duty) plus 8 yard upgrade totalling -$ 430 cdn (before shipping and duties)
I have been very happy to relatively happy with their service and products so I had a fair bit of confidence in the 5 yard that was coming from them.

Well in early March the kilt showed up and it was too small ($39 approx for shipping and duties). They claim it was made to spec, but I have a hard time buying this, as I used the exact same measurements I used for my handsewn (based on their instructions), which fits to a tee.

So I sent the kilt back and and awaited their review of the kilt (another $40 in shipping). A month or so later I get a 6 am phone call saying the kilt was made exactly as was ordered, but it will be replaced. There story is that since one is a handsewn and one is a machine sewn, that that would account for the 3" difference in buckle placement I am sure that some of this is in fact my fault in measuring, but I used the old measurements for my other kilt. Those measurements and means of getting those measurements were with the help of scottishkilts.net and a previous rep of theirs I had dealt with, so I think we both had a role in that one.

I resent measurements and asked to upgrade the kilt to an 8 yard machinesewn ($130 approx to upgrade). I was also told they would get right on it and the kilt would be here in time for my cousin's wedding on May 6th**.

I emailed the company two weeks ago to see if the kilt had been sent. I was told on the thursday (2 days before the wedding**) that it had been sent and would have the shipping paid for and the item marked as returned to avoid more fees which I have already paid. On the following Monday (last monday) I was sent a tracking number I had requested the previous Friday. That tracking inquiry shows that the kilt had not been sent, but was sent 2 days later on the 6th.

**I will come clean and admit the wedding wasn't until the 11th, but I have dealt with Scottishkilts.net before and despite their positives, they can be a bit slow to deliver so I wanted a window to receive the kilt.

It still had not shown up on Friday leaving me a wee bit pissed about that, but it has shown up this morning according to my wife, but with it comes yet another $41 price tag for shipping and duties (I was told they would pay shipping and mark as a returned item). This was shipped Parcel force so it came via Canad Post to my door. I would have expected it from UPS, but at least with UPS the kilt would have been here on time.

So, that's an approximate total of $120 in shipping and duties on a kilt I felt was not made well to begin with. This better be a bloody nice kilt because it has now cost me more than my handsewn kilt (and this one had a 10% off sale) and has taken about 4 months to sort out.

A review of the kilt is be coming tomorrow, but as of right now I will not likely be using this company again, nor will I be recommending them to anyone else. I have receive good service from them in the past and on this order and have spent over $1000 on these guys in the past 3 years, but the whole tally of shipping and duty $$$$ and the hassle has really turned me off.

[turpin]

Gee Colin, aren't there any kiltmakers in Canada? *removes tongue from cheek*

Sorry to say it, but after my one experience with shipping the wrong kilt back and forth to Scotland I will NEVER order another kilt made there if it entails shipping, customs, etc. We have too many good options on this side of the pond to put up with the extra costs, especially when the dollar is so weak against the pouind.

Rant over

[Colin]

You know the extra expense of the kilts at my local shop is still more expensive than what I have paid in price, duty and shipping, but the hassle is more of a pain than anything else. The cdn dollar isn't doing too badly as of late so that wasn't the issue.

My wife set this one up for me as a suprise, I had been researching a 5 yard from www.westcoastkilts.com at the same time. My distaste for this exchange will likely only get worse when I see the new kilt Big Mikey is picking up from Rob later this month

[pdcorlis]

I'm sorry to hear about your latest experience Colin - my one experience with Tartanweb.com/Scottishkilts.net went off without a hitch - but I did invest considerable time in emails and a phone call to actually place the order. Your experience makes it far less likely that I will do business with them again. Its a shame they just don't get it - or worse yet - if they do get it and just don't care...

[Raphael]

Sorry to hear, Colin. I hope that the new one fits...

[SnakeEyes]

Something I'll definitely keep in mind if I ever deal with them.

[Graham]

I've dealt with this company too, and like you been quite happy. Your experience is a sad one, I'll make sure anything I order is not urgent.

[auld argonian]

Having dealt with Tartanweb/Scottishkilts and having received a pretty nice five yard kilt form them, I think that they must work with at least a couple of sub-contractors who actually make the kilts...so sometimes you might get the perfect fit and then you might get one made by "Wandering Aengus" who wasn't keeping his mind on things and transposed the waist measurement with the seat measurement. I had the impression that there was no one person who was checking over the merchandise before it was sent out. That might help their reputation as it seems from the feedback on this forum that it's rather hit-or-miss. Sorry about all your travails.

Best

AA

[turpin]

My distaste for this exchange will likely only get worse when I see the new kilt Big Mikey is picking up from Rob later this month

I don't thnk we'll have to wait that long. Big Mikey got the kilt today, I believe. He PM'd me.

[NewKilt]

Sorry to hear about your problem with this kilt. In the past, I have purchased 4, 16 oz, machine sewn 5 yard kilts from them, and have been quite pleased with the kilts they sent.

On my first 2 kilts I had a big problem with them answering e-mails, and delivery time seems to vary quite a bit. The first two kilts took over 12 weeks, but the last 2 were received withing their 6 week time frame. I hope the kilt you receive exceeds your expectations.

Darrell