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

[monkey66]

The customer is me.

I made no comment on the ShoeGasing thread.

I mentioned them to say that us how I heard about you and i purchased 3 pairs of shoes because of the exposure they gave your company. I thought it was ironic that something you found so negative had led me to be your customer. You have never seen my name before against anything because I have never made any comment.

Please don't make spurious claims, it smacks of paranoia. You have my phone number, please call me. I have no interest or affiliation to shoegazing or anyone else.

The reality is you shipped two pairs of shoes you claim match the quality of Berluti and JL, they didn't. You acknowledged this but now you are imagining conspiracy as some kind of justification.

Please be respectful what you say about me, the only thing that stinks is your quality control, nothing more.

To turn this failure on a customer is pretty poor form ?

Perhaps you should read my respectful comments i left on the other thread and consider your conduct.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

The customer is me.

I made no comment on the ShoeGasing thread.

I mentioned them to say that us how I heard about you and i purchased 3 pairs of shoes because of the exposure they gave your company. I thought it was ironic that something you found so negative had led me to be your customer. You have never seen my name before against anything because I have never made any comment.

Please don't make spurious claims, it smacks of paranoia. You have my phone number, please call me. I have no interest or affiliation to shoegazing or anyone else.

The reality is you shipped two pairs of shoes you claim match the quality of Berluti and JL, they didn't. You acknowledged this but now you are imagining conspiracy as some kind of justification.

Please be respectful what you say about me, the only thing that stinks is your quality control, nothing more.

To turn this failure on a customer is pretty poor form ?

Not doing so at all, perhaps I need to make this clear.

I am fully deciding it is a an oversight in QC as mentioned. I shared it on the forum as I have always stated we are here to build a transparent and fair luxury brand and offer something no one has before. This is difficult and given we are upending traditional process in an industry and our success will annoy a lot of existing brands.

What led me to be partially suspicious is the mention of Shoegazing in the email that exchange and the aggressiveness with which it was insisted upon CS that we are deluded and not holding up to our offering AFTER the defects were clearly accepted everytime something was pointed out and we confirmed it is not the type of product we would want to deliver. There are customers on this forum who own the Chelseas and the Square Toed Penny's and they are enjoying them... if they didn't work for you why insist so much that there is a flaw in the model itself? They have been working... CS was very quick to apologise and mention this is not the norm but you insisted it was.

Again, photos will be taken of every pair now during QC and dispatch we simply have to be careful and we are able to as we are running a near inventory- less model.

Regarding speaking on the phone, I would love to as if you genuinely believe what you do then I want to turn you. But to be clear I needed to mention this issue with Shoegazing as it has been causing a little bit of a problem recently so call it paranoia but I can't understand the underhand techniques staunch followers of that community are using for no reason. I stand by everything I wrote to him.

He should have requested a pair and reviewed it as any normal journalist would.

Also finally, I believe you had tester pairs before you made your order. You then said all the shoes of ours you have seen are rubbish. Why order them if the testers were rubbish?

 

[monkey66]

I didn't say that and your understanding is distorted at best. As you know this was all answered in our extensive emails. Do you really want it all out here too, seriously??

Call me on Monday, you know who I am, you know where I live.

There is simply no conspiracy here, just a dissapointed customer. I cant put it any clearer than that.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

I didn't say that and your understanding is distorted at best. As you know this was all answered in our extensive emails. Do you really want it all out here too, seriously??

Call me on Monday, you know who I am, you know where I live.

There is simply no conspiracy here, just a dissapointed customer. I cant put it any clearer than that.

I will call you but only because I don't like us having any dissapointed customers and want to understand your stance on our offering more and turn you.

Not to accuse you, I had no idea it was you that ordered the shoes.

Also I have no intention of using where you live and according to GDPR would only use your phone number with your consent, it's not the mafia and these are shoes... there is no issue. The incident with your delivery has given us something real to look out for in a process of improvement at the end of the day anomaly or not it shouldn't happen.

Do I think your conclusion and rehtoric about our offering is unfair? Yes I do

Did I grow suspicious after you mentioned you found out about it through Shoegazing? Yes, part of me did especially given the rhetoric in the emails following insistence that this was an anomaly. I just don't see the point in drilling home that we can't compare our offering to a Berluti or John Lobb and we are delusional.

I have those pairs come in constantly from Mr Porter for regular scoping the competition and we are trouncing them. JL is a substandard Goodyear Welted shoe and Berluti's Goodyear is great but questionable finishing in some pairs.

Are we the best, absolutely not but we have the ability and ingredients to get there... particularly with the help of this community.

Did I decide to mention it given we have recently had a little bit of trolling? Yes, and I have already mentioned the language used was not right.
Did I make the conclusion something was off? No, I decided to point the finger at our process and improve.
Do I understand the logic behind your insistence and mentioning 4 pairs that you have received are off ? No, 2 were size check testers which you clearly liked and led to you ordering the others.

 

[monkey66]

Several factually incorrect statements here but let's leve these poor people alone. When I said 'call me' you no longer have to worry about gdpr as I gave you published permission. When I said there is absolutely nothing other than my opinion that it is. No more no less.

Why you want to bring inaccurate snippets of a 15 email exchange on here to somehow justify your paranioa is beyond me and beneath both of us.

Please just stop and call me on Monday.

 

[clee1982]

I think if only consider handwelt, then the competition would be

Vass/Enzo Bonafe/Passus/Antonio Meccariello Handwelt/St Crispin/Zonkey Boot/bunch of the chinese new start (Yeossal/SoH x OctTenth are accessible to western market), potentially ACME if through Medallion, then maybe some Japanese ones

judging by picture isn't fare, but I would say picture alone you guys are still quite some way to go

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

I think if only consider handwelt, then the competition would be

Vass/Enzo Bonafe/Passus/Antonio Meccariello Handwelt/St Crispin/Zonkey Boot/bunch of the chinese new start (Yeossal/SoH x OctTenth are accessible to western market), potentially ACME if through Medallion, then maybe some Japanese ones

judging by picture isn't fare, but I would say picture alone you guys are still quite some way to go

I am actually really excited to have HW01 delivered as it would reveal what is good and what is bad one way or the other.
It is boring to claim we are as good as x or y or argue with shoe influencers or journalists or whatever who have never seen the product etc.

It is a good moment for a close group of people to establish a clear conclusion about if we are everything we say we are or not.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

Several factually incorrect statements here but let's leve these poor people alone. When I said 'call me' you no longer have to worry about gdpr as I gave you published permission. When I said there is absolutely nothing other than my opinion that it is. No more no less.

Why you want to bring inaccurate snippets of a 15 email exchange on here to somehow justify your paranioa is beyond me and beneath both of us.

Please just stop and call me on Monday.

I don't wish to keep this going on the forum but I am happy to share the entire thread and exchange with customer support if you wish to do so. I don't think anyone will find it particularly interesting but it might show how well they handled your unnecessary remarks. Nothing in my statement were factually incorrect and I saw the patience with which they handled your custom and commend them.

It was wrong of me to even mention my suspicion without any hard proof. I did say it was a hunch and I am not sure and the coincidences and other recent events led me to mention it. There was someone with a similar name who commented on the original article, it did stink... I said what I thought and it was instigated by much of the language used resembling that quack who writes about shoes that sponsor his website.

I will call you on Monday but only to understand your thought process in judging the situation and out of curiousity as to why you felt it necessary to debunk our marketing claims to customer support because of a delivery they accepted wasn't to the standard we expect. Like I get you are upset that they arrived and didn't live up to the claim in finishing but having sold hundreds of these pairs is it really necessary to tell us the shape is wrong and flawed etc etc. People have different feet guy, get over yourself.

Also the issues you experienced are issues that shoulf have never happened but fixing them does not take something from worth 300 (you first said 500) to 1500.

Finally and this is very important... I am not a shoemaker nor do I ever want to be one. I am simply not that into it, my goal and motivation is to build a business and one of the lines we got into was shoes. Everyone here knows that we didnt even know we were selling handwelted shoes till the forum helped reveal it... that is how green we are.

I love this forum, I love the way you are all so passionate about these items and listening to you passionate people allows me to absorb knowledge and learn things and improve on lines as we go. Hopefully more knowledgeable people will join our outfit as we grow and you might find the conversation with them even more fun, useful and satisfying. For now eveeything that is said to me, I can only check.

Now the claims made on the website re comparing to John Lobb, Berluti and Dunhill. When we were first adding what was then branded as goodyear a mano shoes to the collection, I called in over 39,000 pounds worth of shoes (we returned all) from Mr Porter and tried them all for fot and comfort and that feeling of quality from a high end shoe. Edward Green was amazing feel, John Lobb not so much, the Churchs I was wearing at the time were seriously outclassed, Dunhill had the best Chelsea Boot (was a wholecut), prestige JL were better than JL, Cheaney were like Church's pretty meh, GG were really nice but nothing felt quite like the Berluti Goodyears.... Something about the way it was made and material used made it feel like it was made for my feet.
Now when I tried on the samples from Adriano... It was right up there in feel with the berluti. Maybe at the time a little less refined but superior in other ways. That is why I wanted to do this line, I felt we landed on something insane.

Another observation was as the shoes got better, felt better and much of the time more expensive, there were more defects in the pair... More clear signs of handmade imperfections...

They gave me a pair to keep, i beat it up to no end (i am not someone polishes shoes or anything) and wear everything like its a pair of pumps. The way it lasted and absorbed the beating showed they were significantly stronger than my Churchs which would fall apart pretty quick

Now since then I got into trying the smaller brands that are followed and loved on the forum to scope the competition. It is here where my story will stop.

At this moment, we are building a brand together with you guys through individual product which you guys would choose over all else because this approach, your knowledge and to be very blunt your downright obsession and passion with each item points out things we never would spot. @OrlandoMo over the past few months has become a shoe obsessive and everytime something is pointed out we are really taking it seriously and putting time to investigating and having the conversation about where to improve.

And, I promise as this scales we will get a real designer engaging with you all and you wouldn't have to deal with my lack of knowledge but we are a little ways from that.

 

[monkey66]

I'm sorry you are continuing this in public. You are replying to points I did not raise here. It is petty and sad.

Please immediatly remove the personal information from your post, that is highly inappropriate and a clear breach of gdpr.

The factually incorrect statement was that I had 2 fitting pairs. This is not correct. I ordered a pair of loafers on your (incorrect) fitting advice and had to return them, this is not a fitting pair, it was a full purchase that I waited over a month for. I then instigated the fitting pair as i was not confident with the further advice I was given. It turned out I was correct.

Accusing anyone who disagrees with you of subdifuge appears to be a company trait at AoL after your college accused me of only showing the boot faults to avoid a return clause that didn't even exist. This is not a good trait.

Regardless of the quality of your product your agressive and paranoid conduct is clear for all to see.

Please stop this nonsense, it is simply demeaning ?

Please do not call me, it is now clear you cannot conduct yourself as a reasonable man.

Focus on the facts, multiple faulty products (by your own admission) followed by aggression and multiple public and private false accusations is no way to conduct yourself or run a business.

Once again, please stop.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

I'm sorry you are continuing this in public. You are replying to points I did not raise here. It is petty and sad.

Please immediatly remove the personal information from your post, that is highly inappropriate and a clear breach of gdpr.

The factually incorrect statement was that I had 2 fitting pairs. This is not correct. I ordered a pair of loafers on your (incorrect) fitting advice and had to return them, this is not a fitting pair, it was a full purchase that I waited over a month for. I then instigated the fitting pair as i was not confident with the further advice I was given. It turned out I was correct.

Accusing anyone who disagrees with you of subdifuge appears to be a company trait at AoL after your college accused me of only showing the boot faults to avoid a return clause that didn't even exist. This is not a good trait.

Regardless of the quality of your product your agressive and paranoid conduct is clear for all to see.

Please stop this nonsense, it is simply demeaning ?

Please do not call me, it is now clear you cannot conduct yourself in a fitting manner.

Focus on the facts, multiple faulty products (by your own admission) followed by aggression and multiple public and private false accusations is no way to conduct yourself or run a business.

Once again, please stop.

You thought I would back down when you mentioned publishing the emails but you forget that you were simply being rude to a customer support team that was being very kind to you so publishing them is to my advantage. Furthermore, I simply mentioned it so you understand that we have nothing to hide.

The entire situation is filled with poor logic and deduction from one end. Your tone in posts in Styleforum is totally different to ones when you speak to representatives perhaps because you are so used to customer support from brands being servile and looking past any old comment you wish to say.

I read the emails as an independent and it read like you were the type of person to damage an item to prove a point. Your narrative was inconsistent at best.

Furthermore, I was man enough to own up to my mistake and apologise for it. As far as I am concerned matter is over and as Roger mentioned to you, it is the last you have to deal with our deluded little outfit.

Just because we have a brand, it doesn't mean we cannot stand up for ourselves when someone is being clearly unreasonable. If you want that, go somewhere else... It is a waste of everyones time.

I know you think you are coming off as a bigger person, but you are not. I dont know what in my post got you so upset but dude, take a holiday man.

 

[Wild Strawberry Rabbit]

I just don't see the point in drilling home that we can't compare our offering to a Berluti or John Lobb and we are delusional.

I have those pairs come in constantly from Mr Porter for regular scoping the competition and we are trouncing them. JL is a substandard Goodyear Welted shoe and Berluti's Goodyear is great but questionable finishing in some pairs.

Next time you order some pairs to compare, please also compare heel finish. Here is Archibald:

Here is heel of my pair of substandard goodyearwelted shoes that you are trouncing.

By the way - if you regularly have Lobbs and other high end brands and in your comparison you are trouncing them heavily, could you please do some photo comparison of your shoes and other brand shoes to demonstrate superiority of your brand? For example some details shots comparing quality and density of stitching, soles, finishing of sole edges, finishing of welt, heels etc.? Because at the moment all I can see is just your statements that you offer best quality possible and your trashtalk on other brands (which IMO is not a good way to advertise your shoes, at least I find it a little repulsing) ... but I see no proof, only statements. If you will demonstrate this then I will happily order a pair of your shoes.

 

[monkey66]

You thought I would back down when you mentioned publishing the emails but you forget that you were simply being an asshole to a customer support team that was being very kind to you.

I know you think you are coming off as a bigger person, but you are not. I dont know what in my post got you so upset but dude, take a holiday man.

Your words have no place in a customer facing business and is simply beneath me, and I suspect everyone reading (although may be entertaining ?)

You ignore the facts and attack the person. I have only ever talked about your shoes and tried to spend £££ with you. It didn't work out as you admittedly sent faulty goods and did not meet my expextations. Now you make personal insults and public attacks.

You had no need to even start this conversation on this thread. You chose to from some paranoid delusion of conspiracy. I refer you to the only post I put up on the other thread that was balanced and sincere. Go back and read it and tell me what I started? Since then I have been forced to defend myself from your barrage of falsehoods and agression.

I would imagine each schoolyard post you put up is doing you more harm than good. There is more to business than quality of product.

I never thought you would 'back down' because there is no fight, just a difference of opinions. I sincerely suggested we talk this through as gentlemen on the phone, not have this demeaning discussion on here. You agreed and then attacked me again. If we speak you would then find out i am a real and genuine person. I can share my experience over 5 months with AoL and why I chose not to continue. Your response to that offer is personal insults.

You know what, I am sincerely reinstating my offer to talk. Please call me on Monday so you can hear my genuine and sincere feedback. You can tell me what you thought was inaccurate and we can conclude like gentlemen.

I ask you to stop posting here as each accusation forces me to reply.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

Next time you order some pairs to compare, please also compare heel finish. Here is Archibald:
View attachment 1441324
Here is heel of my pair of substandard goodyearwelted shoes that you are trouncing.
View attachment 1441327
By the way - if you regularly have Lobbs and other high end brands and in your comparison you are trouncing them heavily, could you please do some photo comparison of your shoes and other brand shoes to demonstrate superiority of your brand? For example some details shots comparing quality and density of stitching, soles, finishing of sole edges, finishing of welt, heels etc.? Because at the moment all I can see is just your statements that you offer best quality possible and your trashtalk on other brands (which IMO is not a good way to advertise your shoes, at least I find it a little repulsing) ... but I see no proof, only statements. If you will demonstrate this then I will happily order a pair of your shoes.

There is a delivery of a lot of handwelted shoes for the HW01 project to customers on the styleforum exclusively. I think it is best they do the talking about what is good or bad not us.

I dont believe pictures mean much when it comes to shoes and only a tangible experience tells a story. But i am relatively green in this field so yes would much rather see how the community feel. For example I am not sure what I am supposed to realise in the picture you sent. All i see is a thicker heel, again my apologies if I am missing something but I am no expert. And forgive me but arent shoes meant to be worn? I tested the shoes by wearing them and feeling the construction and quality but once again and this is very important, I am green. Shoes are a single product line and we rely much on our craftsmen who to be fair having seen a lot and carefully chosen them carefully are insanely talented and some of the best at what they do. I have had conversations with Adriano where we look at say the City II from JL and he is basically calling it garbage... It sounds like he knows what he is doing and is being fair and has really good things to say about Santoni's special line etc... So don't assume he is being disingenious.

Note. We are accepting returns on the HW01 despite it being a GMTO.

 

[Xune]

For example I am not sure what I am supposed to realise in the picture you sent.

Probably that you're looking at seamless heel vs. that vertical patch of leather. IMO that patch is the worst, visually, kind of finishing seen on shoes. Seamless is best, followed by something as in below pair. I only mention visual aspect - no idea what's the difference construction-wise between vertical patch vs. seam as below.

 

[ArchibaldRoh]

You had no need to even start this conversation on this thread. You chose to from some paranoid delusion of conspiracy. I refer you to the only post I put up on the other thread that was balanced and sincere.

I posted on this because there was a genuine issue with the shoes that were delivered to you. We are close and transparent with this community and I wanted them to be aware of it and it also helps to have some feedback to understand how it happens and what it means before we go speak to the craftsmen. It had nothing to do with you and I had no idea you were even on the forum.

I am not going to bother with the other points made which again come off as pass agg... We just seem to be a little different.

Yes, let us speak on Monday then. Maybe you will re-evaluate your stance on me as well then.