Order to dispatch time

[gonzo101]

I had ordered a kilt jacket and vest, socks and belt for my wedding after emailing scotweb to make sure that they could have it ready in time for my wedding 9 weeks later and was told yes but to order now, which I did with a note stating when i needed it by. The weeks went by and I heard nothing - my account with scotweb showed - awaiting stock - I emailed them and had to follow this up with phone calls to see what was happening - I got a response stating that it would be sent out on a certain date. This date came and went, no messages from scotweb sent. I sent messages and then had to telephone to ask what was going on, and then I get a template email saying that my order would now be shipped the week after my wedding and nothing could be done to expedite this. I telephoned them and got a member of staff who wasnt able to help so I asked them to cancel the order.
Letter of explanation received from MD scotweb - problem being: let down by outsourced tailoring contract
offered future discount.

[Nick Fiddes]

FAO gonzo 101, I received your PM a few hours ago, and have asked for an immediate full report into the circumstances of this situation before replying to you directly, which I'd expect to receive today.

In keeping with my request in the 'sticky' at the head of this forum, I'd very much appreciate if customers with service complaints could allow me to respond directly before resorting to this public forum. Far from helping, our experience is that attempting to address individual issues in public only negatively impacts on efforts to resolve problems positively.

I will reply to you directly once I have the information I need. Meanwhile, I'd be grateful if other members of this forum could resist taking this further until I have had the chance to deal with it properly. I'll also add my further findings here.

[Skiballa]

No worries Nick, I'm always satisfied with my purchases from your company, as are most members of this site. Having someone join our group and posting negative comments as their very first post is somewhat suspect in my experience. I hope everything is resolved to all parties satisfaction.

[gonzo101]

No worries Nick, I'm always satisfied with my purchases from your company, as are most members of this site. Having someone join our group and posting negative comments as their very first post is somewhat suspect in my experience. I hope everything is resolved to all parties satisfaction.

suspect of what exactly??

[Nick Fiddes]

We've now completed our investigation, and I said I'd report back... And the truth is that on this occasion we did indeed let this customer down badly. We twice gave expected dispatch dates, and twice failed to meet them. The third date we offered was too late.

As I said to the customer directly, on this occasion we can do nothing but hold our hands up and apologise. We didn't even have a suitable alternative garment in stock to offer. The problem for us was that as an unusual size in an unusual fabric, it had to be commissioned as a "special" single garment order from the tailors, with a deadline.

Until recently this would have been no problem. But since the flood of poor quality imports hit the market (which sadly now even many 'top' companies are also selling) Scottish tailoring firms have been falling like flies. In fact just two companies remain who produce traditional jackets; most of their capacity is taken up with volume orders, and sometimes they get too busy. So both have become at least occasionally unreliable for individual items. This is a problem affecting any retailer offering such products, whatever the specifications and brand label on the garment.

But the buck stops with us. And we cannot tolerate a situation where we are telling our customers schedules that we've been promised (sometimes repeatedly) then finding ourselves failing to deliver. Reliability is king. So we have embarked on a programme of both building up our stock ranges yet further, whilst seeking new specialist tailors, whom we can train in the specifics of Scottish heritage. Prices may have to rise. We've been here before, with other product types in the past, so we're confident we'll soon have the systems running smoothly for individually made jackets too.

Meanwhile, we've offered the customer both our sincere apologies, with a very small gesture of compensation. Fortunately these situations are relatively uncommon. It really hurts when things go wrong.

[Skiballa]

suspect of what exactly??

Suspect of Trolling, and I apologize for the snap judgement, since you found X-marks, hopefully you will find the resources here to get things straightened out for your wedding. You might try posting some information regarding what you need, and see if the rabble can help. I wish you luck, and hope it turns out well for you.