Archibald London: true craftsmanship, no middlemen, Official Vendor Thread

[ArchibaldRoh]

Same here as well. I'm definitely losing both patience and faith at this point.

Same here, initially 20th of October, now November the 10th as well.

Update this morning...

My March order for June delivery that like clockwork gets bumped back a month every time the delivery date gets near, had indeed just been bumped back from October 15th, to November 10th.

Please do not lose faith.

Patience, well, I can't blame you for losing patience due to the wait. These delays have been unacceptable.

This is all a result of one batch going really, really wrong and a knock-on effect on it. And we are so sorry.

The SF-01 program is being retired for this very reason... because we want to ensure we end the delays, and to do that once and for all, we have to clear the backlog and then go to work on ensuring processes change... for example, cutting the offering, taking stock of soles from suppliers who cause bottlenecks etc.

From a customer standpoint, the new format of charging for a pre-order batch only after it closes means those who order at the start of a batch don't feel their funds are more tied up than those who do so at close. etc.

We are always taking steps to better the experience, but the delay that occurred with the first batch this year has just knocked it back, and its a race to catch up. I flew to Italy at the team's request and had a word with the craftsmen, they are genuinely doing their best and are very apologetic.

Everyone now waiting is in the same batch, so all your dashboard updates will be updated together.

The team knows it is unacceptable and is doing its best to clear this up as soon as possible, but posting on the forum will not make anything move any faster. No one is taking this lightly.

Everyone wants an end to this.

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Hi everyone, if you have any concerns about anything, please just DM me, and I will do my best to work it through with you. Customer support is very backed up and running a backlog of their own, however they will attend to every message. The delays have left everyone (not just the few people active on SF) very frustrated so it is a difficult moment given the small team.

We have our eyes on goal and are working to get everyone their shoes as soon as possible so we can hit the ground running once again.

 

[sca33]

Do I understand correctly that those who ordered in Dec, 2022 are now starting to get what their orders?
I placed my order for ultralights in May with EDD in July, which has now been pushed back to November. Looks nowhere near ready yet, right?

 

[RxRambler]

Can't believe I came here just to rant.

Ordered my shoes on 12/20/22 (Order# 9941) and expected them by March. But like many people here, I've been dragged along with these ever-changing delivery dates. They latest promised 10/15/23 and that was a bust.

Text ArchibaldNat for a refund a month ago, and got 'Ok not a problem'. There is still no sign of my money to this day. Read ArchibaldRoh's earlier posts and thought maybe AL was turning things around. How wrong was I? I'm beyond frustrated. AL's way of treating their customers is a total letdown. Enough is enough. I'm done with your games. Just want my money back. Forget those shoes, I'll take my business elsewhere.

 

[takashi78]

Do I understand correctly that those who ordered in Dec, 2022 are now starting to get what their orders?
I placed my order for ultralights in May with EDD in July, which has now been pushed back to November. Looks nowhere near ready yet, right?

LOL you must be new here.

 

[Sparty1833]

So I just ordered 2 pairs. After reading theses posts, the Jan 20, 2024 is more likely than not in accurate. Is that correct? If there is such a back log, why are they not giving accurate delivery dates? I think I’ll contact AL to see about cancelling my order, pretty nervous that I won’t see the shoes till 2025

 

[Davakint]

Delivery date just went from 20th of November to 10th of december. Lets hope for a christmass miracle

 

[Thin White Duke]

This thread is absolutely laughable.
I’m not laughing at the poor customers who ordered in good faith, I’m laughing at the ridiculously risible attempts by the company reps to salvage any kind of credibility from this absolute clusterfuck of an operation.
Why would anyone risk being a customer of theirs now knowing how they have been operating for years now?

 

[mhip]

Delivery date just went from 20th of November to 10th of december. Lets hope for a christmass miracle

I checked status yesterday, as I've been expecting this, and it was still the 20th.

I like the shoes, and although none have been on time, this is reeegoddamdiculous.

 

[Davakint]

I checked status yesterday, as I've been expecting this, and it was still the 20th.

I like the shoes, and although none have been on time, this is reeegoddamdiculous.

Same here, checked it multiple times a day with the 20th getting closer and closer 😂

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

Hi guys, I am stepping in here as Natalie is unwell and hospitalized again. She is ok, and we hope back soon to liaise with all of you.

Deliveries for the batch due for July, which the craftsmen assured me in person would be out for October, started about 10 days ago. The team is receiving shoes weekly from Italy, and these are going right out the door. Everyone will see the same date on their dashboard as it is too difficult to update individual statuses - it affects everyone in a particular batch.

After this, we have one more batch that just closed where the customers are already informed has a high probability of being slightly delayed, but as long as the July batch is out of the way then that is clear.

Then we are done. No more SF-01's until there is an operational overhaul - either we stock back on the soles and cut back on the leather offering, or we just don't do the product. We have already taken stock of Ultralight-XL soles, and the Lactae Hevea soles are rarely a problem with delivery.

Again, the problem was the March batch, which was delivered 5, sometimes 6 months late. This then affected the July batch which seems 4 to 5 months late, and by any reasonable estimation it will affect the January 2024 batch but hopefully minimally as the team has been starting to stock back on some of the popular pairs.

Every customer that was affected by a delay in either batch will be taken care of. We just want to get through the mess in its entirety, and it seems that won't be the case till this final batch that just finished is over and done with, effectively till the SF-01 is killed for real.

DM me if you need anything. I will check Nat's messages as well, so no one is being left out.

As @mhip rightfully said, the delivery has been a shitshow for 6 of the last 10 batches or something. March was supposed to be the one with all the kinks fixed, but then we had the worst delay we have ever had.

I apologize to everyone who has experienced the delay. It is clearing up, and the wait is almost over.

Final side note: I am hearing of delays from small producers in Italy affecting many small to medium sized brands. Apparently, with the rise of the quiet-luxury movement, these craftsmen are in high demand, and the bigger luxury houses are coming in and making large orders of single (hero) products from these makers. This is affecting their capacity and ability to execute orders for the existing smaller clientele, but at the same time, they cannot refuse these large, business-changing orders. Fortunately, we have seen far fewer mistakes in the last batch (I guess they had 5 whole extra months), but also, these guys have always been LEVELS above the one for the v1 and v2. Again, I am not sure how much of this affects our case, but it is a general thing happening across high/super-high-end producers in Italy this year, just maybe not 5-month delays as most of them are working seasonally instead of on a made-to-order/just (not) in time basis.

I will be reachable via DM.

Customer support is not checking SF, and we are not going to be active on the public thread till Natalie is out of the hospital; from there, it's her call.

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Delivery date just went from 20th of November to 10th of december. Lets hope for a christmass miracle

Same.

I think this is the last delay I'm going to tolerate and then it's time for a refund.

 

[TimothyF]

If you're set on leather sneakers (and I'm not sure yet, as they are casual shoes that you have to baby with trees and conditioning, yay!) then I would suggest go all the way up the totem pole and get Hiro Yanagimichi. Assume you can get to Leffot in NYC to get sized, then you'd have the ultimate leather sneakers made to bespoke shoe standards. And call it a day

Curious as I haven't seen any reviews or mentions of a real person owning a pair. Not that I've tried very hard to look

 

[Spaghettimatt]

If you're set on leather sneakers (and I'm not sure yet, as they are casual shoes that you have to baby with trees and conditioning, yay!) then I would suggest go all the way up the totem pole and get Hiro Yanagimichi. Assume you can get to Leffot in NYC to get sized, then you'd have the ultimate leather sneakers made to bespoke shoe standards. And call it a day

Curious as I haven't seen any reviews or mentions of a real person owning a pair. Not that I've tried very hard to look

Nobody in this thread is going to spend $750 on bespoke Japanese sneakers. Part of the appeal of Archibald is the value proposition: good Italian-made sneakers for a reasonable price. The trade-off is that you have to deal with constant delays.

 

[TimothyF]

Compared to Crown Northampton, which has the same construction methods (just better care and leathers), then I agree these are good value. Of course you mentioned the zero-coupon 1-year Archibald bond that buyers are forced to invest into at par!

A. I was talking about why I've not seen any review or posts about the bespoke sneakers anywhere on the interwebs.
B. Well-made leather shoes require more care: shoe trees, brushing with every wear, condition/polish once a while, maybe shoe horns. Canvas sneakers require none of that, other than a scrub/wash if they are truly dirty or muddy. So for casual shoes that you just want to throw on I think the choice is fairly obvious. And I was making the point that if one were to invest into quality leather made sneaker shoes, might well go all the way up to the end level and get the best construction as well as the ability to resole near-infinite times