I think I'm getting ripped off by Wested

[jeremy2487]

Dear Sir
Thanks for your email, I have added this for you, your order is going to be 28 days as we are awaiting on the washed goatskin, however I can offer you the new soft goatskin at the same price that I have in stock that I can send Tuesday please let me no.
Cheers Gemma

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I'll wait for the washed goatskin to come it. I like how it looks more and I don't mind waiting.

Thanks,

Jeremy

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Hello,

I placed an order with your company for a washed goatskin jacket. On October 25th, I received an e-mail informing me that the washed goatskin jackets were out of stock, and inquiring if I wanted a soft goatskin instead since it would be 28 days till they were back in stock. I replied that I would rather wait for the washed goatskin jacket. However, on the 3rd of November your company shipped me a jacket. This was only a week after the email I first received, before washed goatskins were supposed to be in stock. When I opened the package, I discovered to my dismay that I had been sent a soft goatskin jacket instead of a washed goatskin jacket.

Do you have washed goatskin jackets in stock (possibly in larger sizes) or will they be in stock in the future? If not, please send me a shipping label so I can return the jacket you incorrectly shipped to me.
---

Dear Sir
Thank you for your email, the jacket that you was sent was the new washed goatskin leather. This is slightly much less distressed then the older washed goatskin.
If you are unhappy with this jacket please return and we can exchange for you.
Cheers Gemma

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Well, the problem I have is that the 'new' washed goatskin looks nothing like the photos that where online. I also noticed that you've removed that listing for the washed goatskin from your site and replaced it with a listing for a soft goatskin jacket. At this point I'm trying to find out what my options are. Can you get the original washed goatskin that i ordered? Or are you no longer planning to stock that item? I'm specifically looking for the more weathered, natural looking leather.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Hello,

I'm a little concerned that I have not received a reply to my previous email. At this point I'm not interested in exchanging the jacket with your company and I'd like to return the jacket and get my money back. As you can see from the photos below you clearly did not send me the jacket i ordered. The jacket you sent me was made of a much poorer quality leather that looks more like plastic leather than a jacket that costs over $200. Since you did not inform me that you had changed the leather used in manufacturing the jacket and I did not consent to be shipped the new one, the fault is clearly on the part of your company. I therefore expect you company to cover the cost of the return shipping and request that you send me a prepaid shipping label so that I may return it. If your company ever decides to restock a similar quality jacket to the one i originally ordered, I will choose to repurchase it at that time.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Still waiting to get a response, the last email i received was on nov10

[jeremy2487]

[Noah]

I'm sorry to hear about this bad experience. Wested is known for having bad communication and quality control. I would send them another e-mail and wait for them to reply after that. This wasn't your fault since you didn't get what you ordered. I hope you get a reply soon. Keep us updated on how it goes.

[jeremy2487]

I'll just be happy if i can get the right jacket, I understand that leather being what it is can change from batch to batch, but this was absurd. It looks like i'm wearing plastic when i put it on. Has Wested had the reputation of making right on there mistakes in the past or have others been ignored like this?

[Noah]

On some occasions they corrected their mistakes, but other times they weren't so willing about it. There's a number of stories where they were ignored, but I hope everything goes fine for you. It really shouldn't be a problem for them to exchange it for the right jacket.

[jnicktem]

I have a Wested washed goat... and the picture of your jacket does not look like washed goat to me. At all. From what I have seen- people who e-mail Wested about a problem with their order tend to go unresolved. The best way is to give them a call. That seems to work much more often.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

I've noticed that some of your replies to Wested sound a little... unkind. One of the things that frustrates my sister when she works at Michael's is that many customers will act unkind, intentionally or not. Sure, the employees are supposed to be cordial, but the customers should be the same way, or else (at some point or another) the employee may snap. In the case of emails, they are better dealt with by simply ignoring them, so maybe that's what Gemma did with you.

Steven

[jeremy2487]

The first two emails are perfectly fine. All I did in both was state the facts of what has happened. The third one I was intentionally communicating my rising disappointment with the service I've been getting. If she cannot handle customer complaints without getting offended, then she's in the wrong line of work. I find your theory of why I'm getting ignored I little unrealistic.

My theory of what's going on is that they didn't have the jacket i wanted in stock, Gemma asked me if i wanted a different one and when i said no, she sent me a different one anyway. Now that I'm complaining about it she's ignoring me. I could be wrong I don't know. Regardless, they either owe me the jacket i ordered or a full refund with shipping.

Jeremy

[Pennsylvania Jones]

Ahh, sorry. Yours sounds better, but I think that maybe she got you mixed up with someone who wanted a soft goat. Either that or she just wants to mess with you.

Steven

[Kt. Templar]

The Wested picture you have posted looks like novapelle. Not washed goat.

The jacket they sent you may be their soft goat. However insulting their leather is probably not the best way to get a return. That leather is similar to the leather on US Wings 'VIP' A2s they charge about $350-$400 for.

I doubt that they have the know-how to send you a returns label especially internationally. She was probably trying to work out how to do it when you fired back the broadside.

[jeremy2487]

However insulting their leather is probably not the best way to get a return. That leather is similar to the leather on US Wings 'VIP' A2s they charge about $350-$400 for.

Did I order novapelle? No. Do I think that It looks like plastic? Yes. Do I Think that people have the right to spend $300-$400 to own a jacket that looks like plastic? Yes. Do I want to own one? No.

Seriously, I really think it's a damn ugly jacket. Furthermore, you seem to be implying that Wested has the right to withhold letting me return the jacket simply because I think it's ugly. That's the reason I WANT to return it. If I liked how it looked, I'd keep it - even if it wasn't the one i ordered.

I posted this thread to give people an idea of the customer support provided by wested. Which is not good at all. You say they where trying to figure out how to send me a shipping label; then why didn't they send me an email to let me know?
Secondly, it's not hard at all, you can do it right from the websites of UPS and FedEx last i checked. I'm 99% sure you can even email them. It's not hard.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

It's another story of Wested's bad customer service, and I no longer consider Wested as an option. It's just too much trouble for a jacket made by the people who made the originals, yet is not made from the original patterns.

Steven

[Biker Jacket Jones]

Not very encouraging for someone [me] who's shopping for a leather jacket (Indiana Jones style or otherwise) and was thinking about ordering from Wested, especially since U.S. Wings rounded off the price of their USW Striated Lambskin Indy-style Hero Jacket to $295 as opposed to $395 (I was watching when they first listed it, and it was, indeed, $395). Would there be as much red tape to go through if I ordered something like the Casino Royale Leather Jacket, since I'm also looking at that? That seems harder to mess up, since there are fewer options to mess up, but I still might be in trouble if I needed to return the jacket for size or any other reason (bad leather, sent a size I didn't order, etc.). All of this is making the jacket that originally got me into this, the Last Crusade Crystal Sculls Jacket, seem like a risky and not-so-good option, considering the newer alternatives being offered from other companies. Shoot, I might just go with Magnoli. Even Heron isn't looking too bad any more (their jackets are lined in fake polyester, but even $150 plus an outside relining job would still likely be no more than $250).

jeremy2487, if your emails aren't being responded to (I've been sending them emails off and on since March 20, 2010, and they still haven't responded to them), your best bet is to use the information here to phone or fax them. You could even go for snail mail if all else fails. If nothing else, get one of the other members here to act as a liaison, with him emailing them on your behalf to get to emailing you.

In the mean time, here are some words of wisdom for you to ponder.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

Great words of wisdom, Babuchanan! ;D ;D ;D

Also, I've been looking again at the pics of the U.S. Wings Legend Jacket, and I've noticed that the shoulder seam doesn't droop off of the shoulder. This confirms what many members on this forum are saying: that they're lying through their teeth when they say that they used the original patterns. Those patterns were destroyed by Peter Botwright after Raiders was released.

Steven

[modelmaker4]

i thought they meant they used the patterns made by neil cooper.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

Lies, all LIES!!! I don't think Neil Cooper had anything to do with Raiders. If you could see them typing the description for the Legend Jacket, they were probably looking left a lot as they did it.

Steven

[modelmaker4]

what i meant was the patterns he made for the jackets his company produced in the '80's before his company became us wings. neil cooper acquired the license to make jackets from lucasfilm when temple of doom was in production, so it's reasonable to assume his company made patterns based on jackets from the lucasfilm archives, but i am guessing there.

if you go to indygear.com and read the articles on the jackets, all the info is right there.

and you are coorect, cooper didn't work on raiders. but i already knew that.

[Mr. Fusion]

jeremy2487, I realize you are frustrated with Wested. You have every right to be. Let me ask you this, did you join this message board just to complain about Wested's customer service?

-Josh

[jnicktem]

Neil Cooper made the hero jacket for Raiders at the very last minute. Peter made most of the stunt jackets, and a few of them might have made it on Ford's back.

[modelmaker4]

okay, i concede to jnicktem. where'd you get that info?

[jnicktem]

A friend of Spielbergs.

[Deleted]

Nov 18, 2010 18:42:40 GMT -5 jnicktem said:

Neil Cooper made the hero jacket for Raiders at the very last minute. Peter made most of the stunt jackets, and a few of them might have made it on Ford's back.

Don't believe everything you hear or read.

[modelmaker4]

i 'm a believer in that philosophy.

[jnicktem]

I didn't hear it just from that one guy. There seems to be a lot of evidence showing that.

[Pennsylvania Jones]

Then I guess either they aren't really using the original pattern or they just made a few "improvements" to their Legend Jacket, like the width of the shoulders and the zipper on the wrong side.

Steven