Carmina Shoes - Definitive Thread (reviews, advice, sizing, etc...) - official thread.

[zippyh]

Ruby.

 

[Pastor]



Ruby.

I have the shoes and have been so tempted to get the boots as well but just cannot justify the purchase. With pants on they are just too similar.

 

[dddrees]

Ruby.

Excellent!!!

 

[zippyh]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Ruby.

I have the shoes and have been so tempted to get the boots as well but just cannot justify the purchase. With pants on they are just too similar.

The obvious answer is to not wear pants!

The similarity made me pause too. But only for a few hours before I gave in and ordered.

 

[Noonan]

Got my Ruby shell boots yesterday. Beautiful boots. Awesome craftsmanship. And I love the purple lining!

 

[Wes Bourne]



With today's dollar exchange rate a pair of oxfords at Skoaktiebolaget are about $490 ($392 ex VAT). That's about 10%, not 18%. And in my opinion we have a better selection of models. The US Dollar exchange rate is very bad to the Swedish Krona now, so I'm confident prices will improve for our US clients over time.
Our short boots are 3600 SEK while Carmina charge about 3750 SEK, so we are actually less expensive than Carmina on these. At this point, we charge 3600 SEK for high boots as well, and Carmina does not carry these, but they would be about 4000 SEK if they did.
Carmina charges a 50% surcharge for MTO, we charge 40%.

I think your pricing is quite good, but unfortunately, you do not accept mail orders under 3000SEK atm, which rules out orders of a single pair of Carmina shoes (2720SEK excl. VAT).

 

[Gdot]

Not being a boot guy, I had no idea Skoaktiebolaget's pricing was lower than Carmina's direct price for boots. And I'd certainly go their route for MTO.

 

[thecool85]

I think your pricing is quite good, but unfortunately, you do not accept mail orders under 3000SEK atm, which rules out orders of a single pair of Carmina shoes (2720SEK excl. VAT).

I always assumed the shipping cost was a part of this total thus making it 3020 SEK. Is this not the case?

 

[niklasnordin]

All this Shell Cordovan Talk.

wow, beauuutiful

 

[Leaves]



I think your pricing is quite good, but unfortunately, you do not accept mail orders under 3000SEK atm, which rules out orders of a single pair of Carmina shoes (2720SEK excl. VAT).

I always assumed the shipping cost was a part of this total thus making it 3020 SEK. Is this not the case?

Yes, the shipping takes it above our 3000 SEK limit.

 

[NewYorkIslander]



Certainly Moo's customer service experience was downright poor. But is there a parallel here with Meermin? One it became a SF darling there were all kinds of QA issues appearing. Might just be that with more members ordering the flaws are more evident than when they were still quite unknown. There are far more errors being reported about Vass here.

Moo, that sucks. Sorry to hear you had such a ****** experience.

My two cents on the issue:

Anytime ANY product comes to this forum, it goes through a cycle. First, tremendous love and adoration, and then comes the criticism. The bad experiences, and the bitching (not saying you're bitching Moo) and the piling on. What you're basically dealing with, is the human element. Even with the best QC, mistakes will sneak past, especially when a company is in the midst of growth (as would appear with Carmina (Armoury, Epaulet, Skoaktiebolaget). I also think we tend to be pickier about what we buy here on this forum, after al, how many consumers take as much time as most of us to come here, read, post and contribute. Some of the pictures of "blemishes" and "faults" here, and in other threads like Alden are pretty laughable to the average consumer (remember those "missed" brogue punches on the lower left of Alden wingtips?). I'm not saying that they aren't blemishes, but the reality is, most of them wouldn't be terribly unlikely to occur after just a few hours of natural wear, and thats how most, average consumers, view them, if they see them at all.

Why might Betty have responded the way she did? I don't know, I've never dealt with her directly, but have generally heard about her command of English being the biggest problem that is countered by her overwhelming helpfulness and politeness. The rise of the business I'm sure has brought many more emails and calls and perhaps we're beginning to see that she may be becoming a bit overwhelmed. I also think that when people challenge anyone who is a "field expert" on how their job should be done, they can't help but get defensive, regardless of the field. We see this all the time in CE and more importantly, in the real world. Essentially, most of it are hobbyists here, and this is their livelihood. All in all, I take, and think most here should, ANY criticism with a grain of salt, and know the only true consensus one can make is from their own personal experience. i consider that risk before making any purchase, and 99% of the time, I come out pleased.

I love the Carminas I have, and like Pastor, don't know if I'll ever go back to Alden, who in my mind, are whom Carmina should be compared.

 

[Mr. Moo]

I would just like to update that, after sending Betty an e-mail 3 days ago regarding the PayPal fee issue (basically asking her what she thinks and if it would be possible to not be out a fee), I have heard nothing. I am... not surprised.

 

[NAMOR]



I would just like to update that, after sending Betty an e-mail 3 days ago regarding the PayPal fee issue (basically asking her what she thinks and if it would be possible to not be out a fee), I have heard nothing. I am... not surprised.

Neither am I..

 

[sinnedk]



I would just like to update that, after sending Betty an e-mail 3 days ago regarding the PayPal fee issue (basically asking her what she thinks and if it would be possible to not be out a fee), I have heard nothing. I am... not surprised.

 

[Gdot]



I would just like to update that, after sending Betty an e-mail 3 days ago regarding the PayPal fee issue (basically asking her what she thinks and if it would be possible to not be out a fee), I have heard nothing. I am... not surprised.

Nor am I.