What's up with the Scottish Lion Import Shop?

[Tobus]

I ordered a kilt belt buckle from them on July 24th. Got my confirmation email, and then... nothing. No notice that it had shipped, no notice that it was backordered, just silence.

So I gave it two weeks. Then emailed them. Got no response. Called them and left a voice mail (they apparently never answer their phone). Still haven't gotten a response.

Did I get rooked?

[Riverkilt]

Didn't they just have a reincarnation of sorts last year?

The above is one reason I endeavor to AVOID middlemen. So many just reorder themselves to fill your order - even have the goods drop shipped direct to you from the maker rather than tie up money in ready to ship inventory.

The webpages and catalogs of such vendors may seem to indicate they have impressive warehouses of goods ready to ship to us - but they don't....they too are at the mercy of the maker of the products.

As tanatlizing as some of the offerings may seem on a webpage or in a catalog I've learned the hard way to only purchase from a middleman vendor when I can lay my hands on the goods at a highland games, pay, and take the product with me in my own hands.

Doesn't seem an accident to me that most of the "no communication" posts over the years on this board involve middleman vendors.

Just my opinion and experience. Yes, some folks do well with some middleman vendors. I prefer to deal direct whenever possible - with trusted or recommended manufacturers.

Not fair to the current Scottish Lion, but one of my sad experiences was with the last version of the Scottish Lion. They offered a book I thought would be a great present for my nephew's birthday. It arrived many months past the July birthday in time to be a belated Christmas gift. Again - the middleman vendor offered something they had to go get after I ordered it and the manufacturer of the book had run out and I had to wait for the next press run. There wasn't really a stack of the books in the Scottish Lion warehouse waiting for me to buy one. Their ads never said there were....I implied that from their advertising....why would someone send me a catalog of goods and not have the goods to send me? Because they're middlemen...jobbers....

And I don't think such vendors intend to market to experienced kilties...my belief is they are hoping for orders from inexperienced, "Oh that looks nice!" folks with an interest in things Scottish.

[Mark E.]

I dealt with them a long while back, and given the quality of what I purchased, it seemed they were selling "seconds". I have had their buckles break, their brogues fall apart-literally(I have photos), and their belts are of miserable quality. This could be the standard of the manufacturer, too-I do not know. I have since begun making my own stuff.

Mark

[RockyR]

This is NOT a slam against Scottish Lion, but my thoughts in general...

Whenever I buy anything online, I call or email the company FIRST to see how their service is. I come up with any reason to talk to them (usually "is this product in stock" or "what's the turnaround time"). If I don't hear back within 24 hours (excluding weekends), I'll take my business elsewhere. Better to avoid vendors with poor customer service when I'm buying a product sight unseen.

[CMcG]

I bought a hunting sporran from them a while back and had a small problem with their checkout system online. No problem with emails being answered but I eventually had to call them to sort it out. Luckily they gave me a number for someone in their Nova Scotia office (rather than the 1-800) who was very helpful and I had my sporran a few days later.

My thread about the experience is here:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-review-59699/

[orangehaggis]

If I'm not much mistaken, the current incarnation of the Scottish Lion is connected in some way with the L&M company that manufactures sporrans, belts and bagpipe pipe bags.

My experience with the previous incarnation of the same firm was not good. They offered a certain model of sporran that was especially nice and expensive at an unbeatable clearance price. The actual sporrans I received were NOT the model pictured, but were a cheaper more basic model. The price I paid was the current going rate of that cheaper model that I could've purchased anywhere.

Mark - Ohio

[Duncanofcolorado]

I haven't purchased anything from The Scottish Lion so I can't speak to that.

But Riverkilt mentioned something that I have been curious about: he says,

"As tanatlizing as some of the offerings may seem on a webpage or in a catalog I've learned the hard way to only purchase from a middleman vendor when I can lay my hands on the goods at a highland games, pay, and take the product with me in my own hands".

What ,if any, difference is there in the quality and or price of the product sold at Highland Games compared to what is available from these web sites?
I have not bought anything from these sites but do buy from the vendors at the Games. Do you find any difference in quality or price?

[RockyR]

SOME vendors jack up the prices at events b/c the people are a 'captive audience' and more likely to buy what's in front of them. Not all vendors, but an unscrupulous few.

Quality of product comes down to the individual product. Some vendors at highland games have all Scottish made products and are very high quality. MANY MORE vendors have Pakistan / China -made accessories which are generally a lower quality and have a much lower price.

Bottom line... you get what you pay for. If the price is low on something, there's probably a reason. While there are certainly exceptions to this rule, as a general guideline, it's a pretty good starting point.

[ggibby]

As my day job is with a company that does quite a bit of business online, I must echo Rocky's advice, but simplified:
If the site doesn't prominently feature a toll-free number, or have a well-developed feedback system (like eBay and Amazon), caveat emptor.

In defense of 'drop-ship' arrangements, we do a fair amount of that and it allows us to offer niche and specialty products, expanding our value to the customer. However, we also have an elaborate and expensive inventory system that synchronizes with vendor inventories on a daily basis. It's the only way it works, and even then we trip up occasionally, usually when the humans get involved. ;-)

As much as I hope for continued growth in the kilt industry, I doubt if any kilt site (or vendor) has yet adopted this ability, so unless somebody at the other end can lay hands-on your stock product, you're risking an unhappy ending, as it were.

[Kornkob]

SOME vendors jack up the prices at events b/c the people are a 'captive audience' and more likely to buy what's in front of them. Not all vendors, but an unscrupulous few.

I wouldn't automatically consider it 'unscrupulous' to raise prices when at a road event over the price found on the vendor's web site. There are costs associated with taking one's business 'on the road' and the convenience and immediate gratification of buying it off the table can come with a premium without taking advantage of the consumer.