Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread 2018 - News, Pictures, Clothing, Accessories, etc.

[wasmisterfu]

Let me sum all this crap up.
Pricing error. (ok, it happens)
Off the hip decision to give 40% off. (Great.)
Management realizing how many 40% off coupons they are on the line for. (rut row, can't do that!)
Let customer service satisfy those who ask. (Do not make it easy tough)
It seems with an error such as the one they had the first step would be to just stop them in the system and email and apology and an assurance that this will be addressed within a given time frame. At least that would have bought them enough time to evaluate what the correct remedy should be if there is one, or just apologize and take cover for the fall out. I think if they analyzed this, they may have come to the conclusion that a coupon code for 30% off your next purchase of regular priced shoes would have served them better. It would give AE an acceptable margin, a lot of sales are 30% off, and would have encouraged multiple shoe buys. Now they are stuck with a mistake compounded with unequal treatment of the mistake. Most customers are ok with a mistake and a resolution, but not when some get the product, most get cancelled, some get coupon inducement and a vast majority don't. I was a little peeved with the maritime situation. They decided to scrap the golf line and take back product out of the pro shops. This left them with some Maritime firsts and some other styles like the Woodstock. What do they do? Woodstock goes right to the bank and the first Maritimes are put in super secret inventory. You can only get the $99 Maritime if you know the correct SA.

Ya know what would have been easier? To simply go through and normalize all orders to 1 pair per customer (for those who attempted to abuse AE's mistake) and just eat the damn cost. This whole exercise, by the time we factor in 40% discount coupons, lost customers, bad PR, etc., has saved them very little from a top-line perspective and has likely landed them at the same place from a bottom-line standpoint (and substantially worse place when it comes to the more difficult to quantify issues of brand perception).

This is a leadership issue. This should have gone to whoever the decision maker was, that person should have performed a rapid risks/benefits analysis against the potential resolutions and taken the decision that offered the least risk to the brand and customer perception (as Steve Jobs famously said, perception is reality). That answer is obvious, so chances are the that the person making the decision wasn't truly empowered to make the correct (albeit more short-term expensive) decision so took the one that would be viewed as the least risky from an internal policy standpoint. This is a classic example of leadership vacuum.

This leadership issue further manifests itself in how they've dealt with the situation post-decision. Once the path was chosen, they needed to make sure that they handled this with care, which means someone ensuring that communications are unified and consistent. CS personnel need to be very clear as to what will be done for customers and when. Number one rule: customer is king - instruct CS to say yes (not no) in the context of this incident and related fall out. If the customer facing resource can't say yes, they need to escalate up the chain until they find someone who can say yes. When you created the mess and chose the less than ideal (from a customer standpoint) resolution, make sure your default mode from thereon (in the context of this issue) is to say yes to the customer (e.g. can I get my gift card split transaction refunded - yes, can I have the 40% coupon - yes, can I speak to a manager - yes, I can't answer that sir, but I'll get you to someone who can, and so on).

Last but not least, come on AE, this issue of not having your order fulfillment and billing systems properly integrated is ridiculous. For 30 years, POS and online billing systems have been able to reverse chained methods of payment either individually or grouped to main payment method. This is not rocket science and you're not a little shoemaker doing a 3 million in revenue like in 1980; you're closing in on 100 retail locations, have multiple online properties and are, easily, the largest maker of shoes in this space ($250+ GY-welted). Get your act together (and yeah, I know exactly how you got away with these poorly implemented back office systems and polices - by pushing it all into the CS bucket, which was likely crushing your margins).

So, Mr. Malcom Robinson, get out in front of this, communicate effectively, resolve these issues for the people complaining and fix your systems so this doesn't happen again. And in the future, your bias should be to always favor brand perception and customer satisfaction over top-line numbers. Remember, this was YOUR f'up, not the customers (even if some customers acted like jerks).

 

[M2511]

Nice -- congrats on the boots. I have used it before as well so can confirm too.

The only thing I would caution is keep in mind the seller has 48 hours to respond (at which the code will have expired if they don't quickly accept). An alternative is to make the offer by contacting them via the contact seller option, and indicating you'd like to offer your price in that message, but are only willing to extend it until a certain time. If they are interested, they can then respond to you with a new offer price that you can accept and then pay. Just something to keep in mind should you choose to go the offer route.

That is exactly what I did, send a message that I would rescind the offer as soon as the 20% discount expired. Have already paid now.

Yea I have a few items listed right now so I am paying attention for those trying to take advantage of 20% off. Actually have a pair of Aldens up there BNIB that come out to a pretty favorable price for 1 day. It is a loss for eBay of what 7.03% unless people spend over the amount. I imagine it still generates good revenue with the promotion.

 

[JubeiSpiegel]

Last but not least, come on AE, this issue of not having your order fulfillment and billing systems properly integrated is ridiculous. For 30 years, POS and online billing systems have been able to reverse chained methods of payment either individually or grouped to main payment method. This is not rocket science and you're not a little shoemaker doing a 3 million in revenue like in 1980; you're closing in on 100 retail locations, have multiple online properties and are, easily, the largest maker of shoes in this space ($250+ GY-welted). Get your act together (and yeah, I know exactly how you got away with these poorly implemented back office systems and polices - by pushing it all into the CS bucket, which was likely crushing your margins).

This brings up memories of every time I check out at my local AE brick & mortar. Those guys are taping away at their keyboard, on some old DOS system which takes them at least 15 minutes to navigate to it's conclusion. It's even more painful to watch when a new customer has to check out, since it involves notating personal info...

 

[Shoenut]

I have a question for all you pros out there. I have 5 pairs of AE’s and only polish my dressiest pair (Dark chili Fifths). Should I polish the others or is conditioning them 1-2x per month sufficient?

(I have a pair of Walnut Strands, Naturals Higgins Mills, Brown Alumnus, Tan Porter Weave Derby and Dark Chili Fifth Ave.)

Thanks in advance!

First: separate your calfskin from your CXL and other leathers. Generally, calf and cow hides are ok to polish. CXL and other oiled/waxy leathers are usually conditioner only, unless you take the advance course and know exactly how a leather was produced. Once you decide to polish your calf, then the question is what kind of look are you after. mirror shine, warm glow, lasting shine, or a look that seems less maintained. The last one is the hardest as most guys try to emulate by just not doing anything. CXL, like your natty HM should just use a good conditioner. you can do this at 1 month, 2 month , or 3 month intervals. CXL responds well to a damp cloth and just brushing. Your calfskin can go at least 6 wears before you need to think about polish or conditioner. My point is use determines when to care for your shoe. The bigger your collection the less each shoe will need to be treated. One last thing, you cannot go wrong with keeping them cleaned and conditioned, you can run into problems with the wrong polish.

 

[schweezly]

Who has experience with the Nomad’s? I have some credit and I’m thinking about getting a pair of comfortable shoes for walking all day. If they fit like the Tate’s I’ll probably get too much slip, but the chukkas might help that. I like the blue or light color.

I’m also considering the LAX because of price and I’ve tried them before. Dress level is pretty low, khakis and a button down or golf shirt at most

 

[wasmisterfu]

This brings up memories of every time I check out at my local AE brick & mortar. Those guys are taping away at their keyboard, on some old DOS system which takes them at least 15 minutes to navigate to it's conclusion. It's even more painful to watch when a new customer has to check out, since it involves notating personal info...

In fairness, there are a lot character mode systems that are very advanced (it may look like DOS, but it could be a flavor of 'nix). Even if it is a true legacy system, that's still no excuse because I've personally overseen the integration of POS/online/fulfillment/order management, etc. almost two decades ago for a major (huge) retailer that had multiple heterogeneous platforms. I'm pretty sure those same systems are still in use today and I know they can pull an order, reference a POS/Billing transaction and reverse the whole thing (across multiple payment methods) without any issues. Seriously, we could do this stuff in early 1990's without too much drama.

But the biggest issue is the poor decision making and lack of apparent leadership. I didn't want to say anything at first (beyond my opinion that their initially reported decision to honor the price was the correct one - which later turned out to be false). As someone who runs a company and deals with piles of decision making and delegated decisions, and their repercussions, every day, I am loath to tell someone else how to run their business.

However, BASIC BUSINESS common sense says they made the wrong call from the get-go. Was it worth it for the margin on 1,100 pairs of shoes (which includes the abusers) when you're doing hundreds of thousands of pairs? I get it, it's gonna be a big red mark on the quarterly because you had to sell them at 35% below cost. SO WHAT?! You screwed up, you lost money on 1,100 pairs of one of your higher margin products; it's a short term issue! But I guarantee that eating the cost, using that as an impetus to fix your internal issues that led to the problem while making your customers happy was the correct decision (both in the short, mid and long term). ESPECIALLY since this WAS one of your premier products - lemons into lemonade guys, make it a loss-leader exercise and chalk this up as a way to gain marketshare and customer appreciation. Instead, they just created a firestorm of negative PR across the fanbase, which is your largest unpaid sales and marketing resource.

Just dumb... and dumber.

 

[Genericuser1]

I found a pair on ebay I like and noticed the sole had an FR stamp denoting factory reject. I'm not seeing anything from the pictures that looks wrong. What typically causes a shoe to be an FR?

Thinking of offering them much less now or skipping based on what you all say.

 

[darkclassic]

I've spent WAY too much on shoes lately and todays ebay code opened up a can of Jackie Chan weasel on me - JA Rush St and JA University inbound. Also got some shell goodness coming from a fellow SF member so I badly need to pick a few pair from my collection to move along.

Non-AE #bootweek so went with the Red Wing Merchants again, now with guarded goods leather laces. Outdoor pic so you can start to see the red undertones.

 

[Zmitchem]

I've spent WAY too much on shoes lately and todays ebay code opened up a can of Jackie Chan weasel on me - JA Rush St and JA University inbound. Also got some shell goodness coming from a fellow SF member so I badly need to pick a few pair from my collection to move along.

Non-AE #bootweek so went with the Red Wing Merchants again, now with guarded goods leather laces. Outdoor pic so you can start to see the red undertones.

View attachment 986106

I . Before Nov. 17' most expensive pair of shoes, I ever purchased was a pair of Timberland Wodehouse on sale from $299 to just over $100. Fast forward to today and my 5th pair of Allen Edmonds just arrived in the mail... I only paid for 3 of them though...

 

[armedferret]

You don't mean this, do you!?

Update: drugged-up 1LT from the VA national guard.

Guess he didn't need that commission after all.

(apparently he filed in February with the FEC to run for Senate--guess his record was too clean and needed a little soiling before the primaries?)

 

[ProfilaBinding]

Day 17:

Even though it’s June, we’ve got a much cooler day than usual today. That gave me a good reason to break out a pair that I had put away for the season — and to participate in boot week.

We've had a much cooler Spring this year than years past. I can't believe it's in the low 70's in June. Usually we're having bits of Santa Ana winds and 100 degree days by this time of year.

He says and June just began... wishful thinking me thinks. Then again you have shown some considerable restraint at times. Good luck! lol

I am "done" until Ashley or Jason finds some rare SMU in my size, or some rare Indy shoe. Those are exceptions, and everyone here would understand.

 

[instigateur]

Is Strandmok Wednesday a thing?

Sunny with a chance of rain.

 

[ProfilaBinding]

This brings up memories of every time I check out at my local AE brick & mortar. Those guys are taping away at their keyboard, on some old DOS system which takes them at least 15 minutes to navigate to it's conclusion. It's even more painful to watch when a new customer has to check out, since it involves notating personal info...

Isn't it funny how many businesses will hold onto extremely old technology simply because they have invested so much time and resources into it? I've worked for a few companies out here that used surprisingly old and incompetent software for what they were using it for (you would surprised what field these were in too). Some of these programs were built in-house and no longer had anyone who knew how to modify them. I can understand the pain **********-ness of having to adapt to a new technology/program, but it could end up being more efficient in the long run. No one wants to do it because of the pain and hassle in the short term. I will just point out one small thing to remind everyone -- AE has had a lot of changes within their company this last year, so I'm not surprised they are a little disorganized on what to do in situation with the Dalton.

 

[sterlingindigo]

I see some guys store their tassels with a small wide rubber band but I couldn’t find any. I did find some soft Velcro strips to wrap them up with when not in use and I think they work great.

 

[kammerer66]

Hmm, what could that be?

Spoiler

https://www.allenedmonds.com/shoes/mens-shoes/boots/higgins-mill-boot-with-dainite-sole/SF7539.html