Appalling service from Skye Highland Outffitters

[Downunder Kilt]

My experience with purchasing from Skye Highland Outfitters

I believe I have been the victim of the most appalling service by a business that I have ever had the misfortune to place an order with.


This is not a criticism of the quality of craftsmanship of products. It is however, what I believe to be, a fair criticism of Josh’s quality of service to his customers and his business acumen.

A brief as possible synopsis of the situation to date

(All in 2010)

24 March – order a John Brown sporran from Skye Highland Outfitters and pay in full with postage as requested via PayPal (estimate of 6 weeks on product)

Mid April – See on SHO site that Josh is delayed on sporrans as he is awaiting a shipment of cantles

10 May - email to Josh re time frame for cantles

11 May – email from Josh that cantles arriving ASAP and that sporrans are made and just awaiting cantle and for me to hold tight a little bit more.

9 June – email to Josh regarding the arrival of the cantles

10 June – email from Josh saying they arrived – provides a picture of them in his hand and states that he will be sending it on Friday and thanks me for hanging in there.

30 June – PM to Josh after emails not answered asking for update on sporran

30 June – PM from Josh stating that he had to send it parcel post via USPS as priority was going to be 70.00 but promises that sporran is enroute and for me to give a little more time

27 July – email to Josh asking for tracking, if any, details on sporran

28 July – email from Josh saying that he sent sporran USPS first class with insurance and that the parcel shows up as accepted by Australian Customs, but received another notification that it could take up to 6 weeks for it to clear. Or it could be the goat hair, he would investigate and get back to me. (He claimed to have sent another sporran, his chief’s, and a kilt at the same time, the kilt had gotten through but the other sporran had not.)

29 July – email from Josh saying that he had made a mistake on the customs forms and the sporrans were being returned to him (a longer story actually but that’s what it came down to) and that he would resend them properly once he got them back and apologizes

22 August – PM Josh as email not responded to, asking if sporrans returned and posting details with time expectation

23 August – PM from Josh saying that the sporran should be with him Tuesday and that he would be sending it priority which usually takes 5 – 10 days and would send tracking number
5 September – PM to Josh asking if sporrans returned and resent and for tracking number

10 September – email to Josh advising him of my concern and that I have functions coming up

14 September – email to Josh advising that I am annoyed re the non arrival of the sporran and the ignoring of my requests for information.

21 September – email to Josh expressing my disappointment at him ignoring my emails etc and the abuse of my patience and understanding of the delays. I also informed him that I had been making enquiries and that I had found four other persons that were in the same or similar boat with their orders. I ask for immediate attention to the problem.

If you are still with me, thank you

As you have probably gathered I have received no current communications from Josh. I find this type of treatment to a customer absolutely abysmal and showing total distain for an aggrieved customer.

I know that Josh has been on the site since I sent my PM on 5 September and since I opened the thread seeking a contact number. I have 3 phone numbers for Josh, two are dead and one rings sometimes then at other times you get a recording saying it’s disconnected.

You will also see from the above communiqués, that at no time did Josh contact me before I asked him about delays.

As for three of the other people I know are having problems, they are on another forum, one received an email yesterday saying that his product would be posted yesterday, the other two are making no public comment at the minute.

The fourth person is ThistleDown, and I will let him explain his circumstances, if he so desires.

If the sporran was posted in mid June and held by Australian Customs for a time (which I find hard to believe because as I was a Customs officer for 3 years and there is a quick procedure for parcels with incorrect paperwork) then I very much doubt that it would take August and most of September to return to sender. Supposedly it was insured for US$300.00

I still want the sporran as I have been waiting 6 months and have passed up other opportunities to obtain ones that I have liked. As I have said I am not in any way criticising the quality of his work and I have read many testimonials regarding it. Those testimonials gave me the push to purchase from Josh

I just wish to advise that I have received, what I consider, is disgusting customer service. (I would say other things but libel laws prevent this) I also consider that I have not been told the whole story about when things were sent.

Josh notified everyone through his website, I think in May and I think in a thread here, that he had received a big band order and I fear that he has let orders slide, especially for those of us outside the USA (3 of the people waiting are overseas customers).

If I can get a resolution by way of a confirmation of postage and a tracking number then the matter ends here. Otherwise my intention is to contact the Better Business Bureau in Sacramento to make a complaint and as PayPal is well out of date, if the BBB can’t help with getting the sporran, then the Fraud department of my bank to institute criminal proceedings and seek reparation.

I would also urge any member here to seriously consider if a purchase from Josh at SHO is worth the frustration, I and others are currently experiencing, especially if you are an overseas customer.

I ask anyone who can contact Josh to do so and urge him to contact those who need to be contacted

I have heavily précised some of the emails and PM’s mentioned above for sake of brevity (believe it or not). Should anyone be desirous of reading a full copy let me know.

[ThistleDown]

I need to preface my own issue with Josh (NorCalPiper) and Skye Highland Outfitters with the following: I have two pair of Josh's tartan hose and the quality and comfort? Superb!

My story.

A year ago I responded to a post on XMarks by NorCalPiper. A friend of his had two sporrans for sale and needed help in the worst way. I made contact and purchased one of them by Paypal; I was told it would be sent in less than two weeks, as soon as a move was completed.

Five weeks later I attempted to contact the seller and my e-mail bounced. I called Josh -- that's NorCalPiper -- and he provided me with a 'phone number. I spoke with the seller and he apologised: his move was still underway and he would get the sporran off to me in a week or two; he thanked me profusely for helping him in his financial bind.

Four weeks on I had heard nothing and called him again. The number was not in service. I was now beyond the deadline for a Paypal complaint. I called Josh again and discovered that he owned Skye Highland Outfitters; he told me he was very disappointed in his friend and offered to make me a sporran, gratis, exactly as the other which he said was originally made by him.

I thanked him, accepted his offer and a week or so later ordered two pair of hose to make the whole thing at least a bit better for him. The hose were to be sent to me in British Columbia by the end of the year so they could travel home to Scotland with me in January.

In a reply to an e-mail of mine in February Josh said that they had just been received and he would get them off in the post -- with my new sporran -- the following day.

A day or two later he posted on XMarks that he had made me a hunter-style sporran (not the original simple design I had purchased from his friend, and a style I had told him earlier of which I was not particularly fond), sent it and even attached a pic and a request that I post a review.

A few days later I read on XMarks that he had lost all his leather-working tools and stock in a break-in. I called to tell him how sorry I was and he said it was even worse because he had lost the hide from which he was going to make my sporran!

I asked if that was the one he told me he had sent the week before. He said that he had not sent it because he just wasn't happy with how it had turned out.

Suffice it to say that the sporran failed to arrive and PMs to NorCalPiper and phone calls and e-mails to SHO went unanswered.

A few weeks ago, however, Josh posted to this forum that he had just finished a sporran for me made from an old briefcase; he was very proud of the design and workmanship and was waiting for my review.

Nothing.

A disconnected telephone, a full PM box and no replies to e-mails told me that Josh was toast. I was a bit embarrassed; I'm not a young chicken and I'm not often caught at this time in my life.

But then Downunder Kilt's post told me that perhaps I was not alone. I checked out the SHO site http://www.skyehighlandoutfitters.co..._on-line!.html. There I was told that the site was undergoing some changes but would be up and running Monday, September 20. I sent a new message to the e-mail address. That didn't bounce but I've not had a reply. The telephone number on the site rings but is not answered. At least it's not disconnected and that shows some promise, doesn't it?

But tonight the site has the following little ditty: "September 20th, 2010.
Hello Customers & Friends-We are still ironing out the site and the relaunch is going to be delayed a couple of more days. We apologize for the delay."

Sad, isn't it? It's made even more so if you follow the links on the SHO site only to discover that those, too, are controlled by Josh and are equally as incomplete.

I'll not be following Downunder's route because my issues are quite different. I like the product this man produces -- or more correctly that others produce for him -- but I am sincerely saddened that he fails to understand the kilted market is a relatively small one and every single contact within it needs to be treasured.

Best wishes,
Rex

[Kilted Rogue]

this is unsettling, he is to be making me a 79th NY highland sporran. but i havent sent any $$$ yet, should i look for a new manufacture?

[bricelythgoe]

I have had nothing but good dealings with SHO. I have two kilts from them that came in the time specified, great quality, and better priced than anyone else. I have had problems with others on here, however...

[CMcG]

From what I can gather, SHO is having growing pains...

[Downunder Kilt]

I have had nothing but good dealings with SHO. I have two kilts from them that came in the time specified, great quality, and better priced than anyone else. I have had problems with others on here, however...

As I stated in the opening post of this thread, there is absolutely no criticism of the quality and for that matter, the good prices of Josh's products. This whole thread is about not getting anything ie. no delivery and the way my concerns have been utterly ignored.

[ThistleDown]

As I stated in the opening post of this thread, there is absolutely no criticism of the quality and for that matter, the good prices of Josh's products. This whole thread is about not getting anything ie. no delivery and the way my concerns have been utterly ignored.

Yes, that's my concern here, too. As I said in my earlier post, the quality of Josh's product is high; I agree that his prices are in line with his competitors -- or perhaps even better. What I simply fail to understand is his blatant story-telling and repeated failure to produce in time-lines set by him. Apparently for some that time-line extends to infinity.

CMcG suggests that SHO is having growing pains, but those pains extend backward in time a year for a number of his customers. For some, things have simply worsened in recent months until now there is considerable anger. All that was necessary was truth, not fabrication, and reasonable reasons for delay, not silence.

[Downunder Kilt]

this is unsettling, he is to be making me a 79th NY highland sporran. but i havent sent any $$$ yet, should i look for a new manufacture?

I would wait until you can contact him and the SHO site is fully functioning.
I have done some more research, and found a notice that he put on his site in August saying that sporran orders would be suspended until 15th September to allow for catch up on backlog.

I have today, my time, lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau that covers the Sacramento area and may take up to 30 days to resolve.
I will keep the forum posted.

[Riverkilt]

Well, he didn't actually post that he'd send it to you...

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...leather-61078/

Thank you gentlemen for posting the REALITY of your experience to forwarn the rest of us. That's one of the best features of this board.

And yes, good stuff helps us too. Just with this vendor, right now, something seems amiss and its a brotherly heads up to share that instead of just quietly fume and ruminate.

[seanachie]

And yes, good stuff helps us too. Just with this vendor, right now, something seems amiss and its a brotherly heads up to share that instead of just quietly fume and ruminate.

I heard from Josh yesterday via email, because I actually owed him money and wanted to make sure he received it (this was at my instigation not his as I wanted to make sure he was remunerated). He has physically moved premises and he has encountered a number of issues during the move. He said yesterday : "we have ended up tearing down part of the new shop's walls and rebuilding." He went on to say that this has consumed all his time and energies of late.