Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[Legal Eagles]

My custom SJ’s have shipped!! Don’t know what to think after 6 long weeks

I find it interesting how conditioned we as a society... and as individuals... have become to the expectation of instant gratification... no reflection on @ExtraitdeMinimalist ... his post just happened to be the catalyst for me to write what I had been thinking for a while.

Six weeks seems interminable to many people to have to wait for a pair of custom boots. During fire season, or when things are slow, the wait can stretch as long as 10 weeks. I once waited 16 weeks for a pair of Wesco Boots.

Yet before the era of Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon Prime same day delivery, people expected to have to wait for goods, especially custom goods. Who else remembers the Sears Wish Book? You would order something simple... something Amazon can deliver in 2 hours, and then wait a week or two for it to come into the local Sears store where you would have to go pick it up...

It seems like the world has gone and gotten itself in one big hurry... the best things in life take time, and waiting builds character, but even I have found myself getting annoyed when my "Two Day" Amazon order took three or (gasp) four days due to COVID... I have to remind myself that it is not always good to get everything you want immediately.

On the other hand, perhaps I am just becoming a curmudgeon in my 40's...

 

[Woodtroll]

My custom SJ’s have shipped!! Don’t know what to think after 6 long weeks

Yes, the wait seems interminable sometimes, especially if it's your first pair. I've been fortunate to get a couple of pairs in about 4 weeks or so, from order to doorstep (and I'm in Virginia), but the last pair I bought during a sale took right at 10 weeks. This time of year the wait can be pretty long.

But I hope you find the boots are worth the wait! Please show them off once they arrive.

 

[Woodtroll]

, but even I have found myself getting annoyed when my "Two Day" Amazon order took three or (gasp) four days due to COVID... I have to remind myself that it is not always good to get everything you want immediately.

On the other hand, perhaps I am just becoming a curmudgeon in my 40's...

I have received custom orders from Baker's/White's faster than I have received some of my "Two-Day Prime" orders; I have one order that has been floating around right at 4 weeks now, for something that was supposed to be in stock at the time. But hey, they're trying, it's not their fault...

 

[Patek]

I agree that we are all too fast on instant gratification. Sometimes the wait is the fun part as long as it is not something that is actually needed.

I have a Himel jacket on order from February that is still not here and I'm fine with that as jacket season is just starting. My horsehide took a long time to get here but I have plenty of boots.

I needed a tool and I ordered from the seller that could get it to me the next day because my car was disassembled and I actually needed the tool immediately.

Here are some more HH pictures as I'm wearing them all week.

 

[Woodtroll]

I agree that we are all too fast on instant gratification. Sometimes the wait is the fun part as long as it is not something that is actually needed.

I have a Himel jacket on order from February that is still not here and I'm fine with that as jacket season is just starting. My horsehide took a long time to get here but I have plenty of boots.

I needed a tool and I ordered from the seller that could get it to me the next day because my car was disassembled and I actually needed the tool immediately.

Here are some more HH pictures as I'm wearing them all week.

View attachment 1460114 View attachment 1460115

I really like those boots!

 

[Patek]

I really like those boots!

I'm trying to decide if I like them better than the natural CXL and they are both winners. Both are 8" with pull tabs and classic heels. The natural I went lace to toe and natural sole these I went with caps and I went with different Vibram options (don't ask me to remember which is which). Overall, very happy with both of them.

 

[JustinW]

I ordered Wesco boots in the April Bakers sale and they are arriving today. The wait was in line with what I was told to expect, so I was fine with that.

What I find funny is how we have all become accustomed to tracking our purchase through its whole cycle. Expecting multiple confirmations of payment, order and then updates and real-time tracking of delivery.

My grandfather would mail a cheque to RM Williams with a hand written letter describing the boots he wanted made. Three or four months later they arrived.

 

[fushaw]

I ordered Wesco boots in the April Bakers sale and they are arriving today. The wait was in line with what I was told to expect, so I was fine with that.

What I don’t funny is how we have all become accustomed to tracking our purchase through its whole cycle. Expecting multiple confirmations of payment, order and then updates and real-time tracking of delivery.

My grandfather would mail a cheque to RM Williams with a hand written letter describing the boots he wanted made. Three or four months later they arrived.

This is too true. We expect to know exactly what is happening down to the most minute of details. Like how many stitches are completed on my boots and how many more until they're finished?

Amazon has its place, but for quality BIFL (to steal a reddit term) goods, waiting is okay.

That being said, mine are on a truck right now out for delivery!

 

[Mghart]

I just took delivery of a pair of boots that took almost two years for delivery. Another deposit in October 2019 for March 2021 delivery... 6 weeks? Drop in the bucket for a custom order Whites.

 

[hoppy_IPA]

@Woodtroll - you make a great point about the first pair. I remember actually losing sleep worrying about whether they would fit, how they would look, etc. Now I’m just a degenerate, junky that doesn’t even get a high off of it anymore... just need a pair on order to feel “normal” lol

@Patek - nearly 2 years ago I put in an order for a Wills Jacket from Ship John. It took over a year for it to get made & arrive. That was a long wait.

 

[paulraphael]

What I find funny is how we have all become accustomed to tracking our purchase through its whole cycle. Expecting multiple confirmations of payment, order and then updates and real-time tracking of delivery.

This has reached its pinnacle with UPS showing the delivery truck's real-time location on your screen. It drives me crazy—partly because it's pointlessly addictive, turning me into a lab rat who keeps hitting the lever for another hit of opium. And partly because UPS sends its trucks on odd algorithm-generated routes that may pass your house several times before they actually stop for you.

 

[ExtraitdeMinimalist]

I find it interesting how conditioned we as a society... and as individuals... have become to the expectation of instant gratification... no reflection on @ExtraitdeMinimalist ... his post just happened to be the catalyst for me to write what I had been thinking for a while.

Six weeks seems interminable to many people to have to wait for a pair of custom boots. During fire season, or when things are slow, the wait can stretch as long as 10 weeks. I once waited 16 weeks for a pair of Wesco Boots.

Yet before the era of Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon Prime same day delivery, people expected to have to wait for goods, especially custom goods. Who else remembers the Sears Wish Book? You would order something simple... something Amazon can deliver in 2 hours, and then wait a week or two for it to come into the local Sears store where you would have to go pick it up...

It seems like the world has gone and gotten itself in one big hurry... the best things in life take time, and waiting builds character, but even I have found myself getting annoyed when my "Two Day" Amazon order took three or (gasp) four days due to COVID... I have to remind myself that it is not always good to get everything you want immediately.

On the other hand, perhaps I am just becoming a curmudgeon in my 40's...

All of this is spot-on. However, that was a little hyperbole on my part. They quoted six weeks, it took exactly that. Having a customer facing business and dabbling in e-commerce, I get antsy people all the time. I get it, but that will NEVER be me, because I’ve been on both sides.

also, having lived in France and a few African countries, patience is key. Nothing moves in France, and in most thirds worlds when you want it to. Not lines, not paper work, not artisans, chefs, etc... you wait.

no issue with white’s or the six weeks, that’s what they proposed and delivered upon.

Now, I do have a resoling I sent off before the white’s that was quoted at 3 weeks at the time of payment and it’s been 10. That I do have a problem with. Had I been quoted ten, I would’ve gone somewhere else. Also, no communication on their part.

 

[Rymanocerous]

I find it interesting how conditioned we as a society... and as individuals... have become to the expectation of instant gratification... no reflection on @ExtraitdeMinimalist ... his post just happened to be the catalyst for me to write what I had been thinking for a while.

Six weeks seems interminable to many people to have to wait for a pair of custom boots. During fire season, or when things are slow, the wait can stretch as long as 10 weeks. I once waited 16 weeks for a pair of Wesco Boots.

Yet before the era of Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon Prime same day delivery, people expected to have to wait for goods, especially custom goods. Who else remembers the Sears Wish Book? You would order something simple... something Amazon can deliver in 2 hours, and then wait a week or two for it to come into the local Sears store where you would have to go pick it up...

It seems like the world has gone and gotten itself in one big hurry... the best things in life take time, and waiting builds character, but even I have found myself getting annoyed when my "Two Day" Amazon order took three or (gasp) four days due to COVID... I have to remind myself that it is not always good to get everything you want immediately.

On the other hand, perhaps I am just becoming a curmudgeon in my 40's...

At least for your first set, its hard to part with a large chunk of money and then to wait it out to find out if they fit, can be daunting to say the least....or to find out if your customization choices actually look good or not. I can fully understand the trepidation.

Your right to point to the Amazon and Walmart effect in instant gratification, but I would also argue, eCommerce and expectations around it have evolved. If you aren't able to ship and deliver in under a week, you are behind the times. Business Ops changing to market demand is nothing new. Yes those two companies propelled this changed, but in an ever developing, online based world, this was an inevitable conclusion.

And my biggest issue with Amazon Prime, you pay a subscription fee to get that 2 day shipping. They also tell you at check out how long it will take. So when they miss, with those 2 things in mind, I feel justifiably annoyed. Can I wait for most things? Certainly. Am I a happy customer when I pay for a service and and retailer cant keep their POS transaction promise? Decidedly less so.

 

[JustinW]

My boots are out for delivery now and I am closely tracking ... because I need to intercept before my wife does and make sure she doesn’t see the receipt! She still thinks I buy and wear <$100 cheap boots, hahah.

 

[Woodtroll]

Lots of folks made good points here, that when you know the wait will be long up front, you understand that it's part of the transaction (not that that makes the wait any more tolerable, but at least you know to expect it ).

I once ordered (and paid in full) for a semi-custom rifle that was promised in a year. The delivery took five years, which was bad enough, but then they tried to charge me the difference in the price that had increased over the four extra years they took to produce the rifle. THAT was the last straw!

Fortunately, Baker's treats me much better than that!