• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

PME Legend

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Messages
80
Reaction score
49
Honestly, I'm on the fence about fixing it at this point. I just processed a drop-off order via Fedex.com to ship it back to Japan and that alone is going to cost me upwards of $219, then Kiya at Self Edge is going to eat any duties and return charges. So yeah, FCL is offering to fix it for "free" but it's going to cost me and Kiya money. That's crazy for a 2-month old jacket I've worn no more than 3 times to run quick errands.

I can still cancel the Fedex shipment and not be charged. I might just look into a leather glue or something I can dab the area (it's unseen and under the armpit). I'd hate to shell out the money, wait a few weeks (or months, who knows?) for it to come back then just have another rip happen somewhere else down the road. As it is, I'd colder now in Texas so I want to wear this thing while I can, not send it halfway around the world only to get it back when it's warm again.
I feel you, however, fcl should really take care of it's customer and take the damn shipping costs on themselves.
I've had pretty much the same happen to me with a jacket(pme legend hudson bomber, buffalo leather), the stitching came loose on my pocket..
After i contacted them i had it sent, fixed and returned free of charge.
 

Understatesman

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Messages
1,556
Reaction score
1,627
I feel you, however, fcl should really take care of it's customer and take the damn shipping costs on themselves.
I've had pretty much the same happen to me with a jacket(pme legend hudson bomber, buffalo leather), the stitching came loose on my pocket..
After i contacted them i had it sent, fixed and returned free of charge.

Yup, the way I see it: I received a faulty-seamed jacket. Yet here I am paying a couple hundred more to return it to have them make it to the promised specs it was advertised for and sold as. I mean, this ain't no Zara jacket, where I can kinda say, "welp, kinda expected." On top of the fact that it's certainly not used, much less broken in. Imagine a new car panel falling off as you drive off the lot. And then having to pay them to reattach it.

Good on Kiya and Self Edge for helping out in this, but bad on FCL for taking my money and not standing behind their original work.
 

mozi

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
97
Reaction score
116
100%

I am surprised that a couple of active, long-time members here keep telling @Understatesman how amazingly Self Edge and FCL are doing by him.

@understateman is going to be paying $200+ for a repair on a nearly brand new jacket from a brand that they talk about as the pinnacle of the leather jackets. Not to mention the hassle of having to ship a heavy leather jacket, and waiting who-knows-how-long before getting it back (btw, have they told you how long this would all take?)

The repair itself should be covered by FCL warranty anyway, so it is already built into the price of the jacket.

Are there really duties for shipping an item back after repairs? Don't think there should be if handled properly, and that just shouldn't be the responsibility of the customer.

So really, all Self Edge (or FCL) is covering is return shipping. That's 'OK', but far from great or even all that good. Anything less would frankly be offensive.

Given this is such an isolated incident out of 600 FCL jackets, why shouldn't @Understatesman, or any future customer in similar situations, expect Self Edge & FCL to cover all of the costs associated with it? Never mind the hassle of shipping it and waiting who-knows-how-long for it to come back.
 

Ed13

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
300
Reaction score
117
If it makes any difference.. Self Edge is the largest Fine Creek stockist in the world, we've sold over 600 of their jackets in just 2.5 years.
I don't want to dump on Self Edge but I do not understand why this was not handled better. The blame should be with FCL for allowing a substandard jacket to be shipped. Even the best manufacturers can make a bad batch or item. It is Self Edge's role to make sure FCL helps take care of this. As stated they are the largest stockist in the world for FCL and sell over 240 jackets a year. This should give Self Edge all the leverage they need to force FCL to step up and do the right thing.

I have been in this situation more than once over the years. Making sure suppliers understand I don't expect customers to pay for a manufacturer's mistake is part of the job. Having frank conversations with suppliers about my need to trust how they conduct business and repercussions in possibly selling more of other companies products in their place works well.

If there is a reason Self Edge is not willing to use the leverage they have that is OK as long as they don't lay these costs on their customers. The shipping expenses are high to the customer as a percentage of the cost of the jacket. To Self Edge all cost they would incur should be covered by the profits on the next jacket they sell (240 year) or approximately $2 per jacket sold a year. Sometimes as a business it is best to eat the immediate costs for long term gain.
 

Bing75

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2019
Messages
86
Reaction score
92
Not bought a leather in ages but just ordered this from RL
s7-1378883_lifestyle
 

somatoform

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
2,315
Reaction score
169
I don't want to dump on Self Edge but I do not understand why this was not handled better. The blame should be with FCL for allowing a substandard jacket to be shipped.

Yeah, but....

When you come to clicking out parts of a hide you do your best to avoid any flaws, but it’s not always possible to spot everything. With the best will in the world you’ll still land on some bad luck eventually.

So I'm not sure how blame is attributable till AFTER it has been determined as a weak point.

Best case scenario for Understatesman is that FCL realizes it was a defect on their part and refunds his cost of shipping to Japan. If FCL realizes it as a defect on their part but still don't refund his cost of shipping then aspersions can be cast.
 

UrbanComposition

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
6,583
Reaction score
19,823
So I’m going to end this year by paying it forward and going to offer to cover the cost of shipping to Japan. I really don’t think anyone is to blame, leather is a tricky substance to deal with and while I don’t know @Understatesman and the guy behind his internet persona, I do know @kiya and want to contribute to the success of his store, and in the end I want to make this easy on everyone.

@kiya let me know how much shipping costs later. If anyone else wants to contribute a couple bucks let me know.
 

mhip

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
8,271
Reaction score
8,665
So I’m going to end this year by paying it forward and going to offer to cover the cost of shipping to Japan. I really don’t think anyone is to blame, leather is a tricky substance to deal with and while I don’t know @Understatesman and the guy behind his internet persona, I do know @kiya and want to contribute to the success of his store, and in the end I want to make this easy on everyone.

@kiya let me know how much shipping costs later. If anyone else wants to contribute a couple bucks let me know.
While you're in the spirit, I'd also like you to stop by and go through my closet...
 

dieworkwear

Mahatma Jawndi
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
27,320
Reaction score
69,979
What’s the hivemind have to say about leather/suede jackets with buttons instead of zips?

Feel like button vs zip depends on the style of the jacket. I like buttons on leather trucker jackets and A-1s.

So I’m going to end this year by paying it forward and going to offer to cover the cost of shipping to Japan. I really don’t think anyone is to blame, leather is a tricky substance to deal with and while I don’t know @Understatesman and the guy behind his internet persona, I do know @kiya and want to contribute to the success of his store, and in the end I want to make this easy on everyone.

@kiya let me know how much shipping costs later. If anyone else wants to contribute a couple bucks let me know.

I'll pitch in a little. Understatesman has been a good sport about jokes in this thread.

Will email you later.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.3%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 61 39.1%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 10.9%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 17.9%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,207
Messages
10,579,332
Members
223,892
Latest member
cprice
Top