Another Jantzen poll...

I'm batting one for two.

I placed to concurrent orders as a test: one by fax and one by emailed PDF, both on April 13. I received only the PDF shirt on June 12. The shirt is lovely.

I have since placed an email order for three more.

I've always received my shirts (though am still waiting on my most recent order), but I think that I've sent a follow up e-mail or called on nearly every single order, always after a month or two.

Nope. Different fabrics.

Is it possible for a Hong Kong reader to go to the Jantzen (described as dirty and messy) and ask Ricky face-to-face what the problem is with customer service?

I guess I'm the only one with #4. I've ordered shirts, gotten confirmation from Ricky through e-mail, and never received them. I'm not bitter about it or anything, I completely understand the nature of his business. I've just simply chosen to take my business elsewhere.

I've ordered on 4 occassions. My longest wait was 8 weeks, each order has been for 3-4 shirts per order. I placed my most recent order 3 weeks ago, Ricky e-mailed me the next day that one fabric was out of stock, I wrote him back the next day with a new choice, he again responded in a day or two and said he'd get the shirts right out - I expect to get them when I get them.

No, I was never charged for any of my orders.

I have always received my shirts and have always been able to reach and talk to Ricky on the phone. He has also looked at fit photos and offered suggestions via email.

I don't understand why so much controversy with Jantzen. His prices are very low and accordingly, he couldn't offer a similar level of customer that a full scale, US located maker like CEGO can. Why does this suprise people so much. You are outsourcing the making of the shirt, but take full responsibility for fit, fabric selection, details, etc.

If you need more from a maker, stay away from Jantzen and will end up disappointed.

If you aren't located near a maker, don't mind experimenting with fit and are willing to take responsibility for communication and sometime nudging the maker, Jantzen might be for you.

Who's surprised? We all know what you just told us and it doesn't surprise anyone. It's not like we don't realize that by offering such a cheap shirt we have to sacrifice in other areas (e.g., customer service). Some people just don't mind putting up with it and some people do.

And that's the issue. If I were in New York and could get Carl to make me some shirts, I'd probably buy 10 from him. I'd even do self-measure or send him one of my Jantzens that fits how I like, but my understanding is Carl only sells to people whom he can see and measure in person. Thus, I'm stuck with self-measuring and going with an overseas vendor.

Sure, I can go to my local men's store and order from Individualized Shirts, but then I'm paying $180 each, and I'm being measured by someone who's just sending my measurements out to someone else. That's not like using Carl, and I don't have any other options.

I figure I'll start ordering 3-4 shirts at a time, several times a year now that my sizing is perfectly to my liking. Now that I have a decent number of shirts in my regular rotation, I could care less about timing.

All that being said: If Hemrajani, CEGO, or any number of other vendors can measure you in person and provide a shirt for $100 - $150, then that's probably a great option. Quite frankly, I'll never buy another OTR shirt in my life. All of the other options make any OTR solution laughable by comparison.