D.C. Dalgliesh - an update on changes

[RockyR]

That has happened to me a few times in the past when a tartan they normally stock in 54" was out of stock and would not be available for when I needed it. They wove a short length for my order, 29" wide, and only charged me the 54" price.

This does NOT mean that I paid for 54" and only got 29", which sounds like a rip-off. It means that I was charged for 2 yards of 54" stock tartan, whereas they delivered 4 yards of 29" custom tartan. I'm sure they took a loss when they did this, but I was grateful of the service.

Furthermore, they always offered - I never had to ask.

What your case sounds like to me is a failure somewhere in communication.

Actually, the same thing happened to me that happened to Seanachie (more than once). I called to order something that was 'stock supported' and when they said it was out of stock, they offered to do a custom weave, but stated that it would be the standard custom weave price.

I'm not complaining or bashing, just relating an experience I had to confirm Seanachie's own experience. If that was a mistake and they will be offering it at the standard 54" wide price (divided by two since it's only 28" wide), then I would consider that fair and would be pleased with that outcome.

[Nick Fiddes]

Actually, the same thing happened to me that happened to Seanachie (more than once). I called to order something that was 'stock supported' and when they said it was out of stock, they offered to do a custom weave, but stated that it would be the standard custom weave price.

I'm not complaining or bashing, just relating an experience I had to confirm Seanachie's own experience. If that was a mistake and they will be offering it at the standard 54" wide price (divided by two since it's only 28" wide), then I would consider that fair and would be pleased with that outcome.

That's useful to know, and that the policy seems to have been inconsistent. This is all news to me. I'll be finding out more when I can.

To be honest, whilst it's certainly great customer service to offer a much costlier alternative at no charge, I'm not sure this is a promise we'd always want to make. It's almost certainly been loss-making, and I doubt if other mills would do so. In fact, apart from car hire companies who often upgrade if your model is unavailable, I can't think of many vendors who routinely foot the difference for a more expensive alternative if the item you want is out of stock. Normally as a customer I'd just think it's bad luck, and pay up if I want the alternative.

Anyway, it seems to me it would only occur in situations of real urgency, as we'd usually expect to re-weave stock tartans when they ran out anyway, so the other alternative is just to wait. But perhaps a middle ground may be possible, depending on the situation. I'll add it to my list to discuss next time I'm down there.