Kent Wang - Affiliate thread

[Jesse@KentWang]

@Kent Wang @Jesse@KentWang any chance of a restock of the Blackwatch umbrella? I've noticed it on backorder for some time.

@Kent Wang @Jesse@KentWang any chance of a restock of the tuxedo studs as well as the onyx cufflinks soon? Have an event coming up and just want to be prepared.

I'll see what I can find out for you guys.

 

[Kent Wang]

@Kent Wang @Jesse@KentWang any chance of a restock of the Blackwatch umbrella? I've noticed it on backorder for some time.

The folding or long umbrella?

@Kent Wang @Jesse@KentWang any chance of a restock of the tuxedo studs as well as the onyx cufflinks soon? Have an event coming up and just want to be prepared.

Around October 30 for these.

 

[ericgereghty]

The folding or long umbrella?


Around October 30 for these.

Long for me.

 

[razl]

You should update the pics on the site with these; they look far better here than the similar stock photo below.

Ironic timing as we posted a photo of a new medium brown pair this morning.

 

[danix]

Hey guys! I just got done writing a review detailing my absolutely THRILLING ride on the Kent Wang MTM funhouse ride and wanted to share it with any potential visitors to this little house of horrors. I feel like lots of people have made oblique remarks about the spotty service in the MTM process, which I’d also seen before making my decision to try my luck. If any of those people had been as detailed as I’m about to be, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble, so I hope to be doing others a favor by saying what I have to say below.

Anyway. Enjoy!

I was interested in purchasing a MTM suit and made an appointment to see Aaron at their office, which is tucked away in an unmarked building. Aaron, the Kent Wang employee in charge of the MTM service, was 10 minutes late to our appointment so I had to wait outside for him. When I texted him to wonder where he was, he told me “someone will be right down” and someone was: another customer! The man had sent another paying customer to fetch me! We both noted how strange this was on the elevator ride up.

Our fitting was unremarkable for the most part; Aaron is not a tailor but had enough experience navigating the made-to-measure fabricator they use in China that he can rush through fit notes quickly enough — he has a knack for brushing off detailed inquiries about the suit though and seemed to be in a mindset to quickly get through our interaction.

At one point, he received a call on his cell phone, which he answered in the middle of assisting me. It turned out that it was another customer asking questions, which he answered tersely. When he hung up, he remarked snidely to me: “You gotta be nice to *everybody*, because, you know...” This is when the illusion was broken. It was clear then that Aaron does not enjoy his job. I thought to myself, is this what he thinks of assisting *me*, too?

After our in-person meeting, Aaron and I had long back-and-forth email chain discussing fit notes and numerous changes were made to my original fit notes. He seemed very eager that I pay for the suit; I had to ask him questions repeatedly to get him to answer.

When I finally paid the invoice of the suit, I received absolutely NO communication for many, many days. I sent Aaron an email asking what was going on. No response. I eventually sent him another email urging him to respond or I would be asking for a refund, or, failing that, issuing a charge back from my credit card company.

At this threat, Aaron responded — saying he would have detailed communication for me tomorrow. The day passed and I emailed Aaron, this time insisting that I be refunded because I could not be confident in Kent wang’s ability to fill my order — By now it had been a full two WEEKS since I paid my invoice and I had received NO information at all about my order. Aaron emailed me back that night, at like 9PM, not apologizing for breaking his promise to email me, but saying something to the effect of: “Technically the day’s not over! I work late.”

This is where it gets really fun. At this point I was through with the bullshit, so I asked for my money back. Again, instead of apologizing for the sloppy service, or even acknowledging that if asked for my money back, Aaron sent me the fit notes of the order that would be placed — but get this — it was the ORIGINAL FIT NOTES that he’d taken at my fitting a MONTH ago, with none of the alterations from our email communication!

Not only had this guy sat on my payment for TWO WEEKS, he had not been updating my account AT ALL from our in-person interaction a month ago! I was infuriated, and pointed out that these were not the correct notes, and again insisted on my refund.

He wrote back to me — again, not apologizing or acknowledging my request for a refund, but instead sent me updated fit notes that were STILL WRONG. He then had the nerve to email me that he would “answer any further questions” in the morning. So much for working late!

I emailed back that the only further question I had was when I could expect my refund. The next day, Aaron emailed me saying I’d been refunded, again with no apology or even acknowledgement of the service nightmare that had just transpired.

It’s not every customer service interaction that makes you wonder who’s serving who. If you’re looking for a ticket for a wild ride, Kent Wang is selling.

 

[SJR3]

Hey guys! I just got done writing a review detailing my absolutely THRILLING ride on the Kent Wang MTM funhouse ride and wanted to share it with any potential visitors to this little house of horrors. I feel like lots of people have made oblique remarks about the spotty service in the MTM process, which I’d also seen before making my decision to try my luck. If any of those people had been as detailed as I’m about to be, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble, so I hope to be doing others a favor by saying what I have to say below.

Anyway. Enjoy!

I was interested in purchasing a MTM suit and made an appointment to see Aaron at their office, which is tucked away in an unmarked building. Aaron, the Kent Wang employee in charge of the MTM service, was 10 minutes late to our appointment so I had to wait outside for him. When I texted him to wonder where he was, he told me “someone will be right down” and someone was: another customer! The man had sent another paying customer to fetch me! We both noted how strange this was on the elevator ride up.

Our fitting was unremarkable for the most part; Aaron is not a tailor but had enough experience navigating the made-to-measure fabricator they use in China that he can rush through fit notes quickly enough — he has a knack for brushing off detailed inquiries about the suit though and seemed to be in a mindset to quickly get through our interaction.

At one point, he received a call on his cell phone, which he answered in the middle of assisting me. It turned out that it was another customer asking questions, which he answered tersely. When he hung up, he remarked snidely to me: “You gotta be nice to *everybody*, because, you know...” This is when the illusion was broken. It was clear then that Aaron does not enjoy his job. I thought to myself, is this what he thinks of assisting *me*, too?

After our in-person meeting, Aaron and I had long back-and-forth email chain discussing fit notes and numerous changes were made to my original fit notes. He seemed very eager that I pay for the suit; I had to ask him questions repeatedly to get him to answer.

When I finally paid the invoice of the suit, I received absolutely NO communication for many, many days. I sent Aaron an email asking what was going on. No response. I eventually sent him another email urging him to respond or I would be asking for a refund, or, failing that, issuing a charge back from my credit card company.

At this threat, Aaron responded — saying he would have detailed communication for me tomorrow. The day passed and I emailed Aaron, this time insisting that I be refunded because I could not be confident in Kent wang’s ability to fill my order — By now it had been a full two WEEKS since I paid my invoice and I had received NO information at all about my order. Aaron emailed me back that night, at like 9PM, not apologizing for breaking his promise to email me, but saying something to the effect of: “Technically the day’s not over! I work late.”

This is where it gets really fun. At this point I was through with the bullshit, so I asked for my money back. Again, instead of apologizing for the sloppy service, or even acknowledging that if asked for my money back, Aaron sent me the fit notes of the order that would be placed — but get this — it was the ORIGINAL FIT NOTES that he’d taken at my fitting a MONTH ago, with none of the alterations from our email communication!

Not only had this guy sat on my payment for TWO WEEKS, he had not been updating my account AT ALL from our in-person interaction a month ago! I was infuriated, and pointed out that these were not the correct notes, and again insisted on my refund.

He wrote back to me — again, not apologizing or acknowledging my request for a refund, but instead sent me updated fit notes that were STILL WRONG. He then had the nerve to email me that he would “answer any further questions” in the morning. So much for working late!

I emailed back that the only further question I had was when I could expect my refund. The next day, Aaron emailed me saying I’d been refunded, again with no apology or even acknowledgement of the service nightmare that had just transpired.

It’s not every customer service interaction that makes you wonder who’s serving who. If you’re looking for a ticket for a wild ride, Kent Wang is selling.

That sucks. I saw the writing on the wall a couple years ago, when similar reports started appearing in this thread as well as a decline in positive reports/photos of Kent Wang MTM. It's a stark contrast compared to 2013-2015 or so, when this thread was lively with constant, happy MTM suit/sportcoat customers and feedback. The product, service, and price at that time seemed to make KW one of the best values around for online MTM. Needless to say, things change quickly. For me, now, Kent Wang is an occasional polo and maybe an accessory or two, that's it.

 

[vriche]

Not surprised. I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Aloysius16]

I won’t go into detail as Kent himself stepped in and made good in the end, but I’m equally unsurprised based on my MTM experience. Mine was remote, but the continual errors, delayed communications and total absence of apologies ring very true unfortunately .

It’s a pity as the ‘test garment’ approach to mtm was preferable to others I think and I was hopeful initially that it would work out well.

 

[ericgereghty]

Sounds brutal. Did not match my experience, but that’s a totally understandable dealbreaker. Hard to justify paying any reasonable rate when you feel the service you're receiving is inadequate.

 

[SJR3]

I find it interesting that no one from Kent Wang bothered to follow up here after the feedback from @danix . Why even bother to continue running an affiliate thread?

@Kent Wang @aaronatKW

 

[Jesse@KentWang]

I’m very sorry about the recent poor MTM experience(s). As far as I am aware Aaron is on a family vacation at the moment. I’m sure he would like to address these issues as soon as he becomes available.

 

[Johnsson]

Very surprised, but very sorry to hear about this experience. I still make a couple orders a year, and it's down to, "Hey Aaron, is this available? What pricing level? Sounds good, please invoice me."

Admittedly, there is little communication after that, but the product reliably ships 5-6 weeks later, and fits the same every time. I could probably save a fair amount using another affiliate (which is closer to home and in-country), but feel it is worth it to not start from scratch again.

 

[aaronatKW]

Hello folks!

Aaron here, of course.

I have been at the New York Kent Wang shop now for nearly six years. I like it.

I like the products we sell, and I like the people who visit.

I try to treat everyone as I want to be treated. This is what I (and all of us) strive to do. Sometimes I may fall short, for which I apologize.

I hope you will continue to explore the range of our offerings.

I am, and continue to be, at your service.

 

[New Shoes1]

Sad to hear this. I was always very pleased with the service and product, but have not ordered since 2015. Was looking forward to stopping in at the NYC office and trying to update my pattern.

 

[danix]

This is what you can expect.