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stephenaf2003

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thank you. this was along the lines of what I expected colorwise. there were several other major problems, I just don't want to air them out here...
Dang, that sucks man. Your reserve is wise, and admirable; and yes the two issues you have shared are quite glaring. I suspect Carmina will take care of your issues, hopefully quickly enough to take some of the edge off of your frustration.
 

DL120

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thank you for your feedback.

as someone who owns >25 pairs of shell, I do know what are below seconds and what is acceptable. I also know that color 4 has a certain look. if it doesn't, it's not color 4, but some other shade of shell. these that I received are not in the color table.

examples of color 4:


4x4-2.jpg


Alden-Color-4-Shell-Cordovan-CT-Boot-8.jpg


yySk5qM.jpg


Alden-Color-4-WT-Boots-5.jpg


1000


what I received, below in daylight. several issues, but main is this crease - looks like a reflection, but it is not. it is as if the maker used a piece of shell that was firmly folded with a bend in it... also, this is not what I expect for color 4. also, this bend will not disappear with normal wear (unfortunately) and it is on the main part of the shoe.

View attachment 1343052
Understood and no disrespect intended, it’s just easier to gauge the level of issue if a picture is included for reference.

I feel some of the earlier pairs looked stellar, and later pairs less so. That’s simply based on order of posting them, but seems the batch may have gotten thin towards the end. No excuse for issues especially if the wait was as long as some I heard.
 

Wlchew

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What is your favorite for balmoral boots customization/MTO? Or some photos of what you like? Have been scouring the web and seen nice ones with some suede/grain, and particularly @RogerP’s sweet collection, would love to see more!

Hoping to get some ideas - currently thinking of a cordovan color 8 for the entire upper for 80092 balmoral haha but too conservative/stiff?

TIA!
 

Neville Southall

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What is your favorite for balmoral boots customization/MTO? Or some photos of what you like? Have been scouring the web and seen nice ones with some suede/grain, and particularly @RogerP’s sweet collection, would love to see more!

Hoping to get some ideas - currently thinking of a cordovan color 8 for the entire upper for 80092 balmoral haha but too conservative/stiff?

TIA!

This. Full stop.
FEBF94A5-0892-42E3-9E21-FD5B5930A1A3.jpeg
34EDB3A8-E8D7-4CCC-8E15-E4872C66090A.jpeg
 

ThinkDerm

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Dang, that sucks man. Your reserve is wise, and admirable; and yes the two issues you have shared are quite glaring. I suspect Carmina will take care of your issues, hopefully quickly enough to take some of the edge off of your frustration.
pretty frustrating. is there no quality control at Carmina anymore?
 

ThinkDerm

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Not that I think anyone's reactions are unjustified, but...this thread is a pretty good example of why courting Styleforum customers is a double-edged sword for businesses.
just curious - do you think Quality Control and not shipping out stuff that is way below spec is a double-edged sword for businesses? do you think non-Styleforum members would and should put up with that?

if you ordered something and the product you received was completely unacceptable, would you say, no problem, i'll take the ~$1,000 loss?
 

Vocans

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just curious - do you think Quality Control and not shipping out stuff that is way below spec is a double-edged sword for businesses? do you think non-Styleforum members would and should put up with that?

if you ordered something and the product you received was completely unacceptable, would you say, no problem, i'll take the ~$1,000 loss?

I don't think anyone is saying that but I think it can be handled between you and Carmina's CS without necessarily resorting to asking whether Carmina has any quality control on their public affiliate thread.
 

bamgrinus

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just curious - do you think Quality Control and not shipping out stuff that is way below spec is a double-edged sword for businesses? do you think non-Styleforum members would and should put up with that?

if you ordered something and the product you received was completely unacceptable, would you say, no problem, i'll take the ~$1,000 loss?

I kind of explicitly said that I don't think people should avoid speaking up about this. I just think that Styleforum members are a) more likely to notice errors in the first place and b) more likely to complain about said errors publicly, creating a (perhaps skewed?) perception that errors are the norm.
 

stook1

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No, he means that some Style Forum members expect to expect Ferrari F60 America for the price of Toyota Corolla.

I think that's unreasonable in the context of @ThinkDerm concerns with his order. He's unhappy with the quality of the product received, full stop. I'm not aware of his complaining about the price. Nor do I think its unreasonable to have high expectations for shoes in this price tier.
 

ecworks

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In this forum Carmina opinions, good and bad, come with the territory.
Seems like forum groups like this are comprised of a self selected demographic of enthusiasts who like hearing others opinions and giving their own opinions about topics, products, they are interested in.

Styleforum likely wouldn't exist without that pretty dependable dynamic. I've found comments regarding Carmina on this forum and thread pretty fair and reasonable but pointing out real issues. That is what I look for in forum discussion groups, movie reviews, restaurant reviews. You read enough posts with their points/counter points and you can pickup on whats really going on, trends, patterns.

Regarding Carmina my experience and opinion has been that things have gotten away from them in the past year or so, perhaps longer. I have ordered 4 pairs of their shoes/boots over the past 2 years. Every single time there was a QC issue. I did appreciate the eventual resolution of each issue. The most noteworthy was the Massdrop from 2017 where they got the sizing wrong and offered everyone to keep their shoes at no charge. Very smart and generous on their part.

In that same time period I've ordered 1/2 dozen pairs of Aldens and had zero QC issues.

I'm conflicted with Carmina, so glad I stumbled across them a few years ago but I think they are going thru some fairly significant growing pains/hiring/training pains.

Hopefully Carmina is following this forum and is getting some useful feedback. Often times that is the most effective tool to initiate changes/improvements.
 
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