Should kilts come with basting stiches?

[Danwell]

Hi guys

I'm just back from holiday a couple of hours ago, and haven't yet been in to the office of course, so I've not been able to check on what you were told. But right now I can tell you that our reason for not using basting stitches has nothing to do with price, as a couple of people have implied. I think Matt's reply expressed it well - it's a judgement call whether to do so or not. Some kiltmakers do, and others don't. Our own decision a while ago was in the other direction, which was that more customers were complaining about the confusion and nuisance of having to remove them (which isn't entirely easy without any risk if you're not used to handcrafts) than were appearing to benefit from having them. So we decided to go 'naked'.

I can understand your reasoning behind the basting stitches (though I find it a little hard to believe that anyone buying a kilt would complain about the basting stitches being included), but what about the packaging? Is this something that Scotweb is looking at improving?

[Stoogy]

Does basting make the kilt juicier ?

[Danwell]

Does basting make the kilt juicier ?

You've already asked that, and didn't contribute anything to the discussion then either.

[MacBean]

On a related topic (while discussing basting), does machine-basting leave bigger holes and damage the bottom edge of the kilt more than hand-basting?

[Nick Fiddes]

I can understand your reasoning behind the basting stitches (though I find it a little hard to believe that anyone buying a kilt would complain about the basting stitches being included), but what about the packaging? Is this something that Scotweb is looking at improving?

Danwell, this is the second thread recently on which you've chosen to pick up on issues from someone else's discussion in order to present a negative view of Scotweb. (I also noted your contribution to this thread earlier, arguing that our XMTS discount should be ignored, despite the fact it's automatically given to every visitor here.) The last time I believe you were asked to desist for not observing forum rules. I have a feeling you perhaps have an undeclared reason to particularly dislike us, or some other agenda going on here? If so, please tell me so that we can discuss any problem directly, rather than via obliquely personalised 'debates'.

As for the question, we believe the incidence of complaints about our packaging is running at around 0.03% of deliveries. We always take complaints seriously. But we prefer to engage with the original customer to explore specific issues, with a view to providing the best service overall for all our customers.

[Chas]

On a related topic (while discussing basting), does machine-basting leave bigger holes and damage the bottom edge of the kilt more than hand-basting?

I've never heard of machine basting - wouldn't that just be stitching?

Regards

Chas

[Stoogy]

You've already asked that, and didn't contribute anything to the discussion then either.

My apologies for trying to inject some humour into the thread

[Danwell]

Danwell, this is the second thread recently on which you've chosen to pick up on issues from someone else's discussion in order to present a negative view of Scotweb.

I'm not picking on issues. It's a question that was raised by another by another user, who mentioned poor quality packaging and a lack of basting stitches. You explained the reason you don't use basting stitches, but I asked if you had thought of changing the packaging to so that the pleats could be better preserved. If you took issue with this I'm sorry. As far as I'm concerned, what transpired in the thread regarding the jackets Paul was selling is in the past. I've moved on.

(I also noted your contribution to this thread earlier, arguing that our XMTS discount should be ignored, despite the fact it's automatically given to every visitor here.) The last time I believe you were asked to desist for not observing forum rules.

No, I wasn't asked to "desist". It seems that maybe you sent an email to a moderator asking that someone say something to me?? My reaction was to you dragging out private issues in public which were negatively affecting the reputation of other vendors. As for the XMTS discount your company gives, that discussion was in another thread, and I DID argue that it shouldn't be included in the price comparison because it ISN'T the retail price. The prices that Brice was compiling were retail prices.

I have a feeling you perhaps have an undeclared reason to particularly dislike us, or some other agenda going on here? If so, please tell me so that we can discuss any problem directly, rather than via obliquely personalised 'debates'.

I have issue with your double standard re public issues with your company when you'll happily dirty the name of any other competitor, but I have no agenda. I'd just like to see men behaving in a responsible and honest way.

As for the question, we believe the incidence of complaints about our packaging is running at around 0.03% of deliveries. We always take complaints seriously. But we prefer to engage with the original customer to explore specific issues, with a view to providing the best service overall for all our customers.

No worries.......this was the only question I asked. Thanks for the answer.

This question comes from my interest in purchasing from Scotweb in the future......
I read in your own section of the forum that several people have requested a particular form of postage and those requests haven't always been able to be fulfilled. If the customer made a request for a hard cardboard package instead of the soft bags that Downunder received twice, would you be able to accomodate that?

[Nick Fiddes]

I read in your own section of the forum that several people have requested a particular form of postage and those requests haven't always been able to be fulfilled. If the customer made a request for a hard cardboard package instead of the soft bags that Downunder received twice, would you be able to accomodate that?

FYI, no we didn't message the moderators in the previous thread. But I really don't want to reopen a discussion where I believe I made our position as clear as I could, so forgive me for not responding further here...

As for packaging, the type we use normally depends on the specific order, such as what else is to be included, and where it's to go to by which service, and so on. But yes, if a customer were to request a particular type of packaging, we'd certainly either do as requested or else discuss the request further if we had any reasons to need to.

Sometimes the way that people talk about us on xmts leads me to feel they have an image of our being some vast corporate that wouldn't give customers the sort of personal service they'll get from an individual kiltmaker. It's true that we've set out to build a professional operation with a professional web site to promote it. But behind that we're actually a wee family company with a dedicated team who very much treats every customer as an individual, and our watchword is to provide the sort of service we like to receive ourselves (but rarely do) when shopping. (Our site is stuffed with invitations to contact us for personal help, with toll-free numbers for most customers though sadly not possible from Oz, and calls should normally be picked up within a few rings.) The sophisticated retail systems we've been building are to help us do this reliably, not to replace the personal element. As I've said many times before, it's never possible to get everything right 100% of the time, and particularly not when dealing with such a complex and often quite 'artisan' supply chain as ours. But I can say with hand on heart that we always do our very best to give the best service we can, and where there are reasons where it's not possible to meet a customer's expectations we'll try to explain why honestly and realistically. That's the best, I believe, that anyone can promise. And we prefer to under-promise and over-deliver (as many of our reviews testify).

[Danwell]

FYI, no we didn't message the moderators in the previous thread. But I really don't want to reopen a discussion where I believe I made our position as clear as I could, so forgive me for not responding further here...

Understood, it shouldn't have been raised again. I apologise.

As for packaging, the type we use normally depends on the specific order, such as what else is to be included, and where it's to go to by which service, and so on. But yes, if a customer were to request a particular type of packaging, we'd certainly either do as requested or else discuss the request further if we had any reasons to need to.

That's what my concern was. I've been all over the internet looking for the best combination of price, quality and service for when I inevitably do buy myself a wool kilt, and to be honest, Scotweb's balmoral range are at the top of my list. If you're flexible in your delivery options, that makes me even happier.

I've never meant to seem as though I am attacking Scotweb nor yourself - I took issue to your words and actions in a couple of threads. One of those threads was closed, and if those involved don't take exception then I shouldn't either. In future, I'll keep those opinions to myself.