Defective Charles Tyrwhitt Merchandise

[Thecrabbisk]

I just received a large Grey Herringbone DB Coat from Charles Tyrwhitt. While the coat is nice and the design is great, they misaligned the pockets by about 2 inches. It looks pretty ridiculous and I'm surprised how horrible their quality control is. A few weeks back I also purchased a tie from the Madison Ave store that completely unravelled after a couple of wears. How can these manufacturers miss such obvious mistakes, don't they even make an eye inspection before they sell this stuff to us?!

Check out the attached picture for how bad it looks.

 

[Doc4]

That sucks.

Doubtless you will be seeking to return/exchange it ... keep us posted on that, and on whether or not CT covers the cost of shipping &c.

 

[grimslade]

What?? Can you post a better pic?

You can return in-store, FYI. And in this case, they should definitely refund the shipping too. That's absurd.

 

[heard546]

I am glad you posted this because I was debating about purchasing one of the suits on sale. Having second thoughts. I also purchased some shirts that never arrived. I was granted a refund, but service was not what I was used being a customer for four years.

-tony

 

[Thecrabbisk]

Yeah I don't even touch the shirts, I know they're horrible quality. I'd rather get something at K-Mart before I buy a Charles Tyrwhitt shirt. TM Lewin is much, much better bang for the buck for shirts and it costs less. I swear by TM Lewin quality, never had any problems with them, my entire wardrobe is full of their stuff from shirts to suits to ties to shoes - can't go wrong there. I think thats wear years of being in the business shows. Charles Tyrwhitt has been around what, 5 years?

Their ties will fall apart on you very quick, and everyone knows about their plastic like "polished" leather shoes. Horrible. The calf loakes are ok though.

It's too bad because I really liked the design and fit of the coat otherwise. I only buy their coats because the fit and fabric is usually pretty nice (until now). I'd rather not take the risk anymore.

Also another thing I noticed about them is they jack up their US prices and don't take into consideration the current exchange rate. Their US stuff is twice as much in dollars as it is in pounds but the current exchange rate is like 1.45 - so stupid. That's why I ordered overseas from their UK site instead of just walking over to Madison Ave. So much hassle to do that, wait 2 weeks, discover a defect and now send it back.

Can I return at the store even if it was ordered from their UK stores? I read on the website that you can't do that or something to that effect, but i'd hope its different for defective merchandise.

Attached is a much clearer picture of the misalignment of the pockets.

 

[whiteslashasian]

Originally Posted by Thecrabbisk

Attached is a much clearer picture of the misalignment of the pockets.

That is pure ridiculous. I would send them a scathing email about it as well.

 

[James Bond]

Originally Posted by Thecrabbisk

I'd rather get something at K-Mart before I buy a Charles Tyrwhitt shirt.

I'm hoping that's hyperbole.

CT shirts are decent when you get them on deep discount, but yes, Lewin is better.

 

[Doc4]

Originally Posted by James Bond

I'm hoping that's hyperbole.

CT shirts are decent when you get them on deep discount, but yes, Lewin is better.

I stick to the 'sea island' slimfit shirts, which fit nicely if you aren't slim. Well, I'd probably do that if I didn't already have far too many shirts ... so I'll wear them out and throw them out, and add new shirts as needed, but probably Coles or some such thing.

I did order a couple pair of calf Loakes from them when I got the "further discouts" e-mail ... having some decent dress shoes (one with dainite soles) that I can treat a little more roughly than normal on busines trips to small towns without feeling bad about it fits a niche need I have.

At this point, though, I no longer have a link to Charles Tyrwhitt in my 'favourites', and it's a mystery whether I'll order from them again.

 

[shoreman1782]

Originally Posted by Thecrabbisk

Attached is a much clearer picture of the misalignment of the pockets.

This looks like an Eric Glennie/CT collaboration.

 

[larsrindsig]

Originally Posted by Thecrabbisk

Charles Tyrwhitt has been around what, 5 years?

It's more like 20, but yeah, they're a young company.

Don't much care for Tyrwhitt shirts and I have a pair of their moleskin trousers with button fly that are almost unusable because the buttonholes are essentially torn.

 

[mainy]

yikes. Not that it's particularly relevant, but what country was the coat manufactured in?

 

[marc237]

The overcoat is a joke.

That said, I have had good luck with the Slimfit shirts and the four ties I had bought a couple of years ago have all held up fine with many a wearing. I also picked up a chesterfield from them on deep discount and it has been fine. Again, they are not top of the line, but can be quite decent.

 

[Thecrabbisk]

They're apparently discontinuing this coat and told me to return it to the New York store for a refund.

I know I won't be ordering anything at all from them again. This is way too conspicuous to ignore. It says a lot about their poor QA, lack of care in making their products, clumsiness and greed. I was thinking to myself, wow they do such a good job with the fabric, lining, and it even says "Jermyn Street, London Tailoring", which should say hell of a lot about the garment - but it's no better than a cheap H&M coat - in fact it's far worse!!!

They really give Jermyn Street a bad name considering all the old stores like TM Lewin, Harvie and Hudson, Hilditch and Key, Turnbull etc very rarely have any quality control problems (they may have shipping errors etc but their products are always top notch) - not the case for Charles Tyrwhitt.

All of their coats are made in the Czech Republic.

Anyways, spread the word, you saw the proof here first. Give the old shops who have earned their reputations over centuries a chance instead. At least they know what they're doing.

 

[Thecrabbisk]

Just a further warning. If you receive something defective from them and they have to refund it, you're at the mercy of the current exchange rate because they only credit you whatever it is at the time they refund you - pretty unfair if you ask me. See part of the response I got from customer service below:

Please also note that you may not have the same amount showing in your card statement in US Dollars. This is because the transaction was done in British Pounds and the currency conversion rate applicable on the date of transaction applies.

I hope this information above is of some help to you and if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards

Gulshan Khurana
Customer Services

UK: 0845 337 3 337
USA: 1 866 797 2701
ROW: +44 20 8735 1000

 

[zippyh]

I don't know how things work with overseas transactions, but you could try disputing it with your CC company. At the very least you can get some satisfaction from it being a bit of a PITA to them.