Good Evening and a question from a newbie

[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

[KMacT]

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.

While his response may have been a bit over the top (from what I have seen I'd say it was), none-the-less, he's the *customer* and he should expect to receive good value for his money, and that includes good timely service. He doesn't care if 99% of all customers are satisfied. He just wants them to fulfill their end of the deal. Is that so much to ask? And when mistakes inevitably happen, that's when customer service is put to the test - not when everything is going well.

Do they deserve a fair shake? Of course. Let them respond if they want to. I'm more than happy to consider both sides of the story. Maybe there is a lot more than we know.

But in my opinion he doesn't owe Utilikilts *anything* because they "started much of the casual kilt biz." That's like saying I should give Mcdonald's a break when they serve me cold fries because they were one of the first fast food businesses.

Kevin

[Archangel]

<snip>
He doesn't care if 99% of all customers are satisfied. He just wants them to fulfill their end of the deal. Is that so much to ask? And when mistakes inevitably happen, that's when customer service is put to the test - not when everything is going well.

<snip>

Kevin

gotta agree with you here, never like the stats game. All we really know is statistically 100% of his dealings are bad.

[Big Paul]

Welcome to our little corner of the web! I hope you next kilt endeavor is a better one..

[bubba]

I'm not knocking UK. Their styles just aren't my cuppa. Here's my take on it all from just observation. UK has reached a point where they seem to have more business than the organization can properly handle efficiently. This can and does happen in business all the time and they may just need to expand their staff. That being said, they probably don't want to do that just yet until they know the increased business is sustainable and not just temporary. It's a tough juggling act because if they guess wrong it can hurt their business badly. I expect things will improve before long.