What do you do if a small vendor doesn't keep their promises?

[Llama]

I prefer to support small businesses and individuals whenever possible. I love being able to talk directly to the owners/craftspeople and receive items that are unique and made-to-order. I think many, if not most, of you share these sentiments with me. But what do you do when things go wrong? It has been 8 months since I placed an order with a kiltmaker for a kilt and jacket. The kilt arrived the day before my wedding, but he could not resize the jacket to fit. I have given him a lot of wiggle room and the benefit of doubt more times than I can count. I feel like he's taking advantage of my kindness and I'm not sure where to go next. He's either a liar or lives in the bermuda triangle.

Here's the long version:

After an initial estimate of 4 weeks to deliver the order (which I thought at the time was probably too short, but I had time) I was informed 8 weeks-in that there was nothing he could do to make the jacket fit, which is something I expected but had been promised a refund in advance.

2 weeks after the kilt shipped, we assumed that it was lost in the mail. He was still unable to find the tracking number, though I asked a few times over the weeks. My wedding was a week away and I didn't have anything to wear on my legs. He told me the next day that he stayed up all night and remade the kilt for me and shipped it off. It arrived the day before my wedding.

A few weeks later, I had heard nothing of the refund so I contacted him and asked if everything was ok. I assumed that he was having trouble returning the jacket to his supplier since he altered it - so I asked if he had an old sporran laying around that he didn't use anymore. I needed a daywear sporran and I didn't want to take money out of his pocket. He agreed and was happy about the arrangement. After that, it took him almost a month to get me pictures of the 2 extra sporrans that he had. It took another month after that for him to ship it. A few weeks later he says the package was damaged in shipping so he'd send me money instead.

Then he said got a new sporran from L&M since the first one got damaged in the mail, so he was going to send that to me. 3 weeks later, he finally got around to mailing it. 2 weeks after (again) never seeing any tracking information or a package, he says he'll send me the money.

What do I do? Where do I go from here? I know I'm probably foolish for letting it get this far, but I really wanted to believe him. Any advice?

[Jock Scot]

Walk away, say nothing, seethe probably for a while(not too long) and put it down to experience

[moggi1964]

Write it off to experience! The "I sent it but can't find the tracking number" is a one time play; after that it's no longer acceptable as an excuse.

I don't know what the rules are for naming and shaming on Xmarks; some fora allow it some don't. If it is allowed I think you do the community a service by naming a poor service provider whilst allowing said vendor to respond if they feel unfairly treated.

[artificer]

First question- how did you pay?

This sounds like an absolute nightmare. Delays are one thing, and can happen. Delays, packages lost in the post, missing tracking numbers, damaged goods etc etc don't normally happen ALL IN ONE GO.

So I'd say the situation boils down to one of two possibilities, either:

A) he's shining you on and really disorganized and running way behind what was promised;

or

B) your order is cursed


Sorry, it's not a laughing matter, but a statement of how ridiculous this situation sounds.
If you paid by credit card I'd attempt to get them to refund the balance for everything that isn't in your hands and correct right at this moment.
If it was by check or you're past the PayPal refund date I'd ask him to simply refund the balance for everything that is not in your hands right now.

ith:

[Grizzly]

You could name and shame the vendor here so that we could avoid a similar experience.
I too am having difficulties with a vendor. Promised delivery dates have come and gone and whilst I am not in a rush, the fact that I am now 5 weeks after the advised delivery date despite chasing on several occasions is somewhat of consternation.

Unless you paid by credit card you have very little recourse. In the UK we have a small claims Court which for a small fee could award you a settlement but trying to get that settlement could be a fraught long winded affair. Ultimately if you didn't receive your goods or your money back you would then have to apply again to the Court for an enforcement order which would send the bailiffs in to seize goods to the value of your loss. All this is very stressful and depending on the amount of loss may not be worth the hassle to pursue. I wish you luck in trying to resolve the issue .

[Llama]

So I'd say the situation boils down to one of two possibilities, either:

A) he's shining you on and really disorganized and running way behind what was promised;

or

B) your order is cursed

That about what I thought too. I paid with PayPal, so that ship has long sailed.

I have seethed already and am almost at the acceptance phase, but I just wanted to see if I was missing an option. $200 is a lot for me to pay for experience, but it could have been worse.

[Domehead]

Walk away, say nothing, seethe probably for a while(not too long) and put it down to experience

Yes...thank you Jock.

[Nile]

He told me the next day that he stayed up all night and remade the kilt for me and shipped it off. It arrived the day before my wedding.

Llama, it seems like you got a lot of deception and little, if any, honesty; one lie can lead to another (kind of a snowball effect). It's hard to believe that a person could 'stay up all night' and end up with a quality kilt.

Despite the fact that he still owes you, you've at least got your kilt so, just don't send any more business his way again. I perused your wedding post (congratulations, by the way) and the kilt looks great on you but, I'm sure the last minute nature of it was stressful.

I don't recall seeing any ads for them on X Marks and that vender appears to be in Canada so there is probably nothing you can do about it but move on. Consider it a loss and a lesson learned.

Nile

[davidlpope]

I think you should warn Xmarkers to stay away from this guy. If you've given him opportunities to fix this and he hasn't, then I think you should share the name of his business.

That aside, what exactly was it that convinced you to do business with this particular person?

We've heard similar stories in the past and the common thread seems (to me) to be that the deceived were rooked in by "too low to be true" prices.

Was he highly recommended here on XMarks? Is he a partner or advertiser? Were there raving reviews of his work and customer service?

[davidlpope]

I just went to your wedding thread and saw that the retailer was Peter MacHummel with Canadian Casual Kilts.

When I searched for "Peter MacHummel" here at XMarks this thread popped up right away:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...er-here-51100/