Trojanman74
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2008
- Messages
- 598
- Reaction score
- 1
Dear All,
Thank you for your patience regarding an update about the Alfred
Sargent stock shoe discount offer, but it's bad news I'm afraid.
After more than two and a half weeks' of almost daily calls from me
to Alfred Sargent and Sons Ltd. I finally spoke at length with
Andrew Sargent at the end of last week, and the upshot is that
(dispite several verbal assurances to the contrary), us selling
their stock shoes is not a viable possibility.
Unknown to you, AS have been keeping a close eye on what's been
said on SF. They've seen events unfold which, initially, seemed
appealing to them but it all went a bit wrong when some well
meaning SF members emailed Alfred Sargent directly saying
"it's great that you're doing this deal with Thin Red Line". This
has proved to be quite counter-productive as AS took this as an
example of how uncontrollable information is on the internet
and thus they became very uncomfortable with the idea of TRL
offering their stock shoes at a discount to SF members because the
code would inevitably get leaked and this would upset AS's other
retailers. I told Andrew Sargent that we could limit the offer in
any number of ways such as limit the total number of orders or
limit by time - but this didn't make any difference.
Basically, the current situation is this:
1. AS are soon to launch their own website selling direct and,
as such, they do not want new online retailers. Therefore, for
obvious reasons, TRL selling AS stock shoes at a discount is a
no-go.
2. During my call with Andrew Sargent it also became apparent that
AS would also have trouble completing all of the original TRL
branded back orders due to the fact that AS no longer hold stock of
materials - just about everything is now regarded as made-to-order
and as such they cannot guarantee availability of leathers at any
given time. So, even the orders that I had assumed we could
complete with no issue, would now prove problematic.
So, I think we've come to the end of the road, I'm afraid. As you
know, all of us here at TRL have put in huge efforts to make this
happen one way or another - but, at the end of the day, we don't
control the supply of the shoes we sell. If we were talking shirts,
it would be a completely different matter because we make our
garments ourselves - but for shoes, without Alfred Sargent on
board, we can't help you guys out and AS are clearly unwilling to
get involved - no matter what assurances I offer.
In the future, we may stock a very limited range of TRL branded
shoes which will be made by AS. If and when we do this, we will of
course let you know and will provide preferential rates to those of
you who signed up to the back order list. However, this wont happen
until the Autumn at the earliest.
I'm sorry I couldn't offer you better news today. It has been
a pleasure getting to know all the folk on SF – I think you're
a great bunch of guys – and I assure you I have really pulled out
all the stops possible to try and make this happen.
Apologies again and thank you for your patience and understanding.
Obviously, please don't hesitate to contact me directly if
I can be of any assistance to you in the world of shirts.
Warm regards,
Hereward
i dont think people look at this near month old thread all the way through and since i have my name on two of the shoes in the pre-orde i want to make sure i get my shoe. here is the email as quoted by another member. Richard, the assistant i think helping ever SF'er, told me there are only 4 days left to put your name down on a shoe. the rules are listed on the pred-order page so please only put your name down if you intend to purchase. i dont want to find out what consequences there are if too many buyers fall through.
Thank you for your patience regarding an update about the Alfred
Sargent stock shoe discount offer, but it's bad news I'm afraid.
After more than two and a half weeks' of almost daily calls from me
to Alfred Sargent and Sons Ltd. I finally spoke at length with
Andrew Sargent at the end of last week, and the upshot is that
(dispite several verbal assurances to the contrary), us selling
their stock shoes is not a viable possibility.
Unknown to you, AS have been keeping a close eye on what's been
said on SF. They've seen events unfold which, initially, seemed
appealing to them but it all went a bit wrong when some well
meaning SF members emailed Alfred Sargent directly saying
"it's great that you're doing this deal with Thin Red Line". This
has proved to be quite counter-productive as AS took this as an
example of how uncontrollable information is on the internet
and thus they became very uncomfortable with the idea of TRL
offering their stock shoes at a discount to SF members because the
code would inevitably get leaked and this would upset AS's other
retailers. I told Andrew Sargent that we could limit the offer in
any number of ways such as limit the total number of orders or
limit by time - but this didn't make any difference.
Basically, the current situation is this:
1. AS are soon to launch their own website selling direct and,
as such, they do not want new online retailers. Therefore, for
obvious reasons, TRL selling AS stock shoes at a discount is a
no-go.
2. During my call with Andrew Sargent it also became apparent that
AS would also have trouble completing all of the original TRL
branded back orders due to the fact that AS no longer hold stock of
materials - just about everything is now regarded as made-to-order
and as such they cannot guarantee availability of leathers at any
given time. So, even the orders that I had assumed we could
complete with no issue, would now prove problematic.
So, I think we've come to the end of the road, I'm afraid. As you
know, all of us here at TRL have put in huge efforts to make this
happen one way or another - but, at the end of the day, we don't
control the supply of the shoes we sell. If we were talking shirts,
it would be a completely different matter because we make our
garments ourselves - but for shoes, without Alfred Sargent on
board, we can't help you guys out and AS are clearly unwilling to
get involved - no matter what assurances I offer.
In the future, we may stock a very limited range of TRL branded
shoes which will be made by AS. If and when we do this, we will of
course let you know and will provide preferential rates to those of
you who signed up to the back order list. However, this wont happen
until the Autumn at the earliest.
I'm sorry I couldn't offer you better news today. It has been
a pleasure getting to know all the folk on SF – I think you're
a great bunch of guys – and I assure you I have really pulled out
all the stops possible to try and make this happen.
Apologies again and thank you for your patience and understanding.
Obviously, please don't hesitate to contact me directly if
I can be of any assistance to you in the world of shirts.
Warm regards,
Hereward
i dont think people look at this near month old thread all the way through and since i have my name on two of the shoes in the pre-orde i want to make sure i get my shoe. here is the email as quoted by another member. Richard, the assistant i think helping ever SF'er, told me there are only 4 days left to put your name down on a shoe. the rules are listed on the pred-order page so please only put your name down if you intend to purchase. i dont want to find out what consequences there are if too many buyers fall through.
YOUR PERSONAL INVITATION TO THE THIN RED LINE SHOE BACK-ORDER SERVICE
Thank you for being one of the number of people who placed an enquiry regarding the possibility of us completing a special back-order run for our shoes.
I am delighted to tell you that we think this will be possible! Because we will be completing a dedicated production run with potentially small numbers of any given style, the process will be broken down into four stages as follows:
1. ORDER GATHERING
We will need to get an idea of the number of shoes required. To facilitate this we have created a closed section of our web site to allow you to place provisional orders for the shoes you desire. Instructions on how to access this page are at the bottom of this email.
2. PRICE QUOTATION
Once we have a provisional order list we will establish the absolute best price we can offer you based on the quantities we shall be manufacturing.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL OUR SHOES ARE CRAFTED FROM THE FINEST CALF (NOT GRADE) LEATHERS SO WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OFFER THESE SHOES AT OUR STOCK CLEARANCE PRICE. I EXPECT THE SHOES WILL BE IN THE REGION OF £115 FOR THE MAJORITY AND £125 FOR THE MONK & SADDLE GIBSON BURNISHED GRAIN SHOES.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE OUR SHOES MADE TO SAME LEVEL OF DETAIL BUT CRAFTED FROM A LOWER GRADE LEATHER TO ACHIEVE A LOWER PRICE THEN PLEASE TICK THE CHECK BOX ON THE ORDER SCREEN AND WE WILL SEE IF THIS IS PRACTICAL.
3. ORDER CONFIRMATION & DEPOSIT
Once we have confirmed the prices you will be given the opportunity to confirm your order and pay a deposit. We will require a deposit because these shoes will be made specially for you and, as such, we must be sure of your intent to purchase. At this point, your order is confirmed.
4. INTO PRODUCTION
Once all orders are confirmed, your shoes will enter production. This process usually takes approximately 8 weeks. As soon as your shoes are ready, we will then contact you for the balance of payment. Your shoes will then be dispatched within 24 hours of receipt of the balance.
STEP 1 – ORDER GATHERING
To place your provisional order please complete the following:
1. If you have already registered on our web site, please visit www.thinredline.com and log in. If you have not registered, please go to: www.thinredline.com/register and set up a User Account and then log in.
2. Once you have logged in, you will be at the log in confirmation screen. Please scroll to the bottom of this screen where you will see a small SF icon on the right hand side. Simply click this icon and you will be taken to a page where you can select the shoes you would like to order.
3. The Order Gathering page will be open for 7 days only, after which time this page will be removed. We will then confirm prices and ask you to confirm your order a few days after that.
I would just like thank everyone who has made such positive comments about our products. I am personally very gratified that our shoes have been so well received because we put a lot of work into ensuring all our products represent the best quality but at the best value available today.
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Hereward Brown
PS. You can access the order page directly (only when logged in) by visiting: www.thinredline.com/sfpreorder and you can edit your selections any number of times within the next 7 days.