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.
