Good Evening and a question from a newbie

[starbkjrus]

I've been lurking here for a week or so now and have been anxious for my first kilt to arrive. Until I ran afoul of Utilikilts arcane ordering and production process. See below for the last of the letters I've sent them.

Can anyone recommend someone who makes kilts who would be better to deal with? I know Utilikilts makes a good product but they can't deliver. I have another kilt on order with Jeff at Pittsburgh Kilts but its a specialty order that I have not yet seen. Do you recommend I order from Pittsburgh kilts or are there also others I should check out? ((I've found several on the net but really need some guidance.)

Text of last message to Utilikilt:

<production person>,

Thank you for your assistance however this does not meet my needs. This kilt of whatever size may show up whenever it will but I will no longer consider Utilikilts a vendor that I will work with. The idea that you take so long to send out a garment, the fact that your factory cannot get an order right AND the fact that the one that was produced for me was inexplicably sent on to someone else tells me that your’s is not a company to be trusted with orders.

I am profoundly disappointed in Utilikilts and will not be ordering any more clothing from you. In fact I suspect that you were rather gleeful that you got a kilt that did not “fit” the order that I placed so that you could send it to someone else.

I have discovered that there are many other suppliers around that provide a similar garment and do not have the supply issues that your company does and I will concentrate my orders with them .

I will also make sure that I inform others about this breach of trust on the Utilikilts board at uk.groups.yahoo.com and at www.xmarksthescott.com.

I would suggest that your company get its collective act together or stop selling at all.

Where should I call to lodge an executive complaint? This is completely unacceptable.

How long is this “NEW” kilt going to take?? How can this be avoided in the future? This is my first kilt and I’m sorry but you’re company has REALLY screwed it up badly!

What about a refund and I’ll spend my money with a competitor?

[Doc Hudson]

You sound rather bent out of shape. Would you care to give us some details?

[starbkjrus]

Indeed I'm very bent out of shape. Strangely the subject is not populating here so I don't know if this is going to land in the correct place.

I was excoriated on the Utilikilt's board for my post and this is my reply to them: I'm 42 years old and not accustomed to being put off by BS.

Gentlemen let me clarify:

I'm not sure where I omitted details here but here is
the story:

I ordered my first kilt on June 23rd. from Utilikilts
and it was a very specific order which I knew was
going to take some time.

I ordered an original Utililkilt with side pockets,
a 37 inch waist and 22 inch drop. I also against my
better judgement ordered a 1 1/2 inch 'beer gut cut".
I'm 5' 8" and 172 lbs but the way I'm built the beer
gut cut was what they recommended.

$ 200.00 later I had an order (including a belt) and
was waiting for it. Today I got an email from the
company that said:

Gee, We got your kilt from the factory and it did not
have the beer gut cut it was a standard cut. I'm
sorry but we have sent you order back to be remade and
it will take longer than our standard 6-8 weeks..

I wrote back within seven minutes of getting this
email and said to just ship the order as is and I will
determine whether it fits or not.

Ii was told that they were sorry but that since my
order did not "fit" my order criteria then the kilt
had been sold to someone else and I would have to wait
until another suitable kilt came from the factory.

Sorry but that is not acceptable. I've been waiting
since June 23rd. and this is the best they can do??

They need to get their act together both with
manufacturing and with customer service.

[Doc Hudson]

I know Utilikilts sell fast, but looks like it would have taken more than 7 minutes for them to wrap it and ship it.

Don't much blame you for being PO'd.

Lots of fine kiltmakers post here. Jeff at Pittsburgh Kilts is a good guy and he makes good kilts. USAKilts is another option if you want a tartan kilt. Plenty of others here have fine reputations for quality, and customer service.

Just hang around here and you will get some good suggestions on ways to spend your discretionary money, and your car payment money and mortgage money too if you're not careful.

[Manu]

Hey, welcome to the board. If you want a solid kilt I suggest you check out Freedom kilts. They have always gotten very good reviews here. I am trying to get some money together to get a kilt from Steve. Just a suggestion.

[Silverlake_Punk]

I second Doc's recommendations of Pittsburgh Kilts and USAKilts. If you order from Jeff at PK and/or Rocky and Kelly at USAK, you will be assured of a quality product, excellent service, and no BS.

P.S. #1 - I have nine USAKilts and am happy as a clam with all of them.

P.S. #2 - I had a Utilikilt for a six months and sold it so I could buy a PK. Never looking back. PK kicks UK's bee-hinds!

[Colin]

Hey, welcome to the board. If you want a solid kilt I suggest you check out Freedom kilts. They have always gotten very good reviews here. I am trying to get some money together to get a kilt from Steve. Just a suggestion.

I would second that recommendation. While I do not own a solid colour kilt, I have met Steve and have seen his product. If I ever decide on getting a solid colour kilt, he is the man I will be going to.

Unfortunately you are also going to have a wait time from any reputable kiltmaker.

[Raphael]

I am not defending Utilikilt, but at least they send you an email to update you with the status of your order.

[bear]

Utilikilts has tens of thousands of satisfied customers, many of them members of this board.
Then along comes a new member, someone we know nothing about, whose only post is a complaint about Utilikilts, and we are all too happy to recommend other kiltmakers and believe the new member.

Hands up anyone who hasn't screwed up.

I think we are looking at this only from the customer viewpoint. As a kiltmaker, I'll have to look at it from a kiltmaker's POV.
Let's take the seven minute thing as an example. Seven minutes before starbkjrus replied to the e-mail, and the kilt had been re-sold.
First, it could have been a couple of hours after the problem was discovered and the e-mail sent from Utilikilts to starbkjrus. E-mails do not instantaneously appear on the sendee's computer. They often take time to get there. But we are happy to believe it was seven minutes real time and Utilikilts had sold the kilt.

starbkjrus wrote, "I would suggest that your company get its collective act together or stop selling at all."

This is a bit of a stretch! Utilikilts is the company that started much of the casual kilt biz. We owe them a lot, customers and kiltmakers alike. We at least owe them a fair shake.

[MACKAY]

Bear ... I have to agree with your comments.

However, lets just say that they sell 100,000 kilts a year, and that 99% of every sale goes perfect. That still means that 1000 orders are screwed up somehow. That’s not bad except to the 1000 people that had an issue. Does this mean that the company should shut down and go out of business. Not at all. Many companies are happy if they get somewhere near 85-87% of orders done right the first time.

I have two UK kilts and am very pleased with them. I have not had any issues with the company itself, or any delaying shipping or lack of customer service. The kilts have held up well and I have no problems with the workmanship, material or service. Maybe I'm just lucky, but things went well for me.

I also have a USAK and am equally pleased with the excellent quality product and outstanding personal service that Rocky and Kelly provided.

I also have a new heavyweight wool black watch from Stillwater Kilts that I enjoy. I was pleased with the prompt delivery and easy ordering of this kilt (did not deal with a person, did it all on line).

I intend to purchase another kilt soon, and will probably support my local kilt maker (USAK) as I am looking for a traditional style tartan kilt, but would not hesitate to purchase a UK if I wanted another non-traditional solid style kilt.

Am not saying that starbkjrus did not have a bad UK experience, just that I personally did not. Just my .02 cents worth.

Brian Mackay