Does anyone have a phone number for OES? It's not posted online. If I don't hear from Brian by the end of the week I'm gonna need to give him a call.
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Does anyone have a phone number for OES? It's not posted online. If I don't hear from Brian by the end of the week I'm gonna need to give him a call.
If it is concerning an order, it may take a while. Mine did.
Brian announced he is closing up shop to take a new job. He'll probably be kind of slow responding.
I really hate this, I really do. I hate causing a fuss, but he's got $165 of mine, and my credit card appears to have been charged two weeks ago, and I cannot get in touch with him. Others have ordered and received theirs. I know he is closing up shop, I'm not upset, just looking for some info. If others are getting theirs I assume I should at least hear something of some kind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Desert Reprobate
I don't have a phone number for him but he has always responded to PM's that I have sent him through this forum. You might try that if you haven't already.
tried it, only thing I haven't tried is callingQuote:
Originally Posted by SmokeBait
I had a aggravating time with my order too!good luck to you.
It took every bit of two weeks to get my order after he had announced his closing. I tried every way possible to engage dialogue. I never got any but, I finally got my tarp. FWIW.
I have purchased 4 tarps from OES.
Unless he has one in stock it can easily take 2-4 weeks, all mine did.
He's only a 1 man operation.
Like Outandback mentioned, 2-4 weeks is a pretty average (if not short) time to wait for a custom built tarp. Since his announcement he is calling it quits, he mentioned he had "in stock" tarps ready to ship out. More than likely you ordered a tarp that's not in stock.
He's gotta be swamped now.
I ordered one of the in stock tarps and it's been 2 weeks for me, as well. I don't need the tarp right now (a micro isn't going to do me a whole heck of a lot of good in the MN winter), but I have been a little surprised at the level of service given OES's reputation.Quote:
Originally Posted by exup
I'm sure he's VERY busy with the move and closing down, that's not an easy time for anyone. Some sort of communication would have been nice even if it had just been a notice at the time of ordering that it would take a couple of weeks for even in stock product.
I know I'll get the tarp and I'm sure I'll love it. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by exup
well any form of communication would be nice if other peoples stuff is also being shipped out.
i hear ya , redeye ... i never got an answer, but didnt order anything yet either.....but in your case....whats an email take ? a half a minute ? just to let you kno its in the pipeline ??
like others have said he is a one man operation .... sometimes it takes time before he gets back to people be calm ;)
my last order from him took a few weeks it also depends on where your order is in... well the order he got it
give it time i'm sure you will get your tarp ;)
him not getting back to people is something that comes up from time to time
he is very busy but i never heard of someone not getting there tarp he has been at it for many years ... trust us;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by G.L.P.
just saying if he's not going to send out a tarp for weeks and weeks that's fine. I understand that with a one man job. But don't charge my credit card when I place the order and go no contact for 16 days now, but also send out other people's orders that came in after, which shows you're in the shop.
I'm really not trying to make him look bad and ruin his reputation. I've looked at buying his tarps from over a year because of their quality, so when I heard he was closing up shop I ordered 2.
Think of this as an important moment along the path of acquiring your equipment. You must crawl before you can run. Next time you see this exact same thread topic pop up again here or somewhere else, you'll be able to kick back and say "It's not so bad, he's a one man/family operation! I got mine, so cut some slack why don't ya." It's beautiful watching all you guys grow up :cool:
My order to close to two months for the order date to the delivery. He made it up to me, and the quality is as good as everyone claimed. I have learned to order from the cottage folks when I can afford the item as opposed to when I need it. There is a certain amount of zen required in these transactions. Good luck to you.
I'm surprised he is doing anymore custom tarps, I heard he sold his sewing machine. I thought he was just liquidating his in stock tarps...
Well mine finally came,but it has shoe prints all over half of it now that speaks quality.
Was that the 12x10 tarp that he had listed as a cosmetic 2nd? I tried to pick that one, but when I got to the order page it was gone. Nice grab!Quote:
Originally Posted by American dream
is it broken?Quote:
Originally Posted by American dream
Don't know have not had it in the rain yet,but I do know that is one of the fastest ways to ruin fabric and at the price I paid I could have bought just about any tarp out there.
No I ordered a new one it was not a second.
I called and spoke with the credit card company. They would like for me to cancel because there has been no communication since I ordered on the 15th and was charged on the 17th. They said that although charging a credit card before shipment is legal, he cannot charge the credit card and go this long without any communication or shipment.
Luckily I was able to find a phone number on the bank statement so I can finally call Brian and OES and try to speak with them directly. I will call them this afternoon and see what happens. Will post what I find out.
Personally, I think you are over-reacting. Brian has a great rep, and has never stiffed anyone. You will get your tarp. The fees you paid to him are not all that much, and his business is changing. I would suggest you try to be more patient, but I can see where this has you all worked up.
This should have remained a private transaction. The information you needed could have been gathered from contacting the credit card company in the first place. All this has done is caused a mans name to be questioned due to a possible over sight. Could have been handled better. Best of luck.
Yep this is one huge OES flame thread. I think the mods need to delete it. I've owned one of his tarps before with no issues.
Lets not argue here. The OP is sharing an unfortunate experience with a vendor. That kind of feedback is allowed, just like positive feedback is.
The OP now has contact info. Lets hope it goes towards an amicable resolution.
Every time someone posts about a bad costumer service situation someone will try and get the thread closed.
I have sent Brian e-mails over the last two years, and a PM on here, and I've never received a response from him to a single one. That's why I got my OES second hand.
I'm glad that people point out the quality in the tarps themselves, but I'm also grateful for the people not afraid to let us know about the bad experiences.
Waiting a few weeks for a tarp isn't worth starting a thread over. Being charged for a tarp and then not responded to for weeks is worth giving people a heads up about.
Making great tarps doesn't make you great at running a business - and in this case, the fact that he's closing up shop shouldn't matter. It takes 5 seconds to reply to an e-mail.
While I'm sure the OP will get a nice tarp in the end, still an unpleasant ordeal to be subjected to.
I posted at the same time, so my apologies for the redundancy.Quote:
Originally Posted by angrysparrow
Thanks AngrySparrow!
I have been as polite about this as possible. I have said I have heard good things about his work. I have even mentioned I feel bad about bringing this up. Others have mentioned that his customer service at times is lacking. Others have ordered and received their shipments, I have not. This is not about me bad mouthing him, this is me trying to set up some sort of a connection with Brian because email and messaging have not worked. I need to know when he is shipping so I can arrange to have someone here to receive the tarps. I do not care that the tarps are taking a while to be made or shipped out, I care that there is no communication.
I think it's also fair that others who are trying to get his gear before it's gone should also be aware of what's going on, good or bad.
Sorry man, I retract my butthole comment. Good luck with everything. But I bet you'll have a response from OES soon, and more than likely, your tarp will be waiting on your doorstep one day soon.
Anything wrong with establishing an expectation that there is no billing prior to shipping? Or that in the case of custom work, maybe half down, and the rest billed at shipping?
Jacks R Better maintains a large inventory. In their latest self-evaluation of where their business is, they estimated that they ship 98% of orders within a day of receipt. For all the exclamations of that's service that are made in HF: Come on. What the Jacks are doing is indeed service, investing in inventory so the customer gets immediate service.
No shortages propping up resale prices, either, by my analysis.
How about it: No billing by HF vendors until the item is shipped for stock items; and no more than partial billing for custom work until deliver? That's good and established business practice protecting everyone's money and reputation.
I am comfortable paying for custom made items in advance. I also read the vendor site, or correspond with them, and get an idea of delivery time estimates. I think your reputation is for you to protect yourself, not by a policy. It looks like OES has said they are going out of business for a while and the OP is concerned with having zero contact. I don't think that HF should (or could) try to impliment a standing policy with all other vendors because of one or two incidents. When I order from so called 'HF Vendors' I don't always mention HF or my username. For all they know I found them through a search engine or another hiking forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by DemostiX
Of course there's no HF mandate expected. I described standard good business practice for contracted work in most fields.
Requests such as the OP's don't come often, but they come up too often, leaving reputations challenged.
" I think your reputation is for you to protect yourself, not by a policy."
is not the best thought-through sentiment. When all vendors in a field -- potentially competitors-- agree on and present a policy that the most naive of buyers can trust, they all benefit by seeing fewer challenges to the reputation of any.
Let's also keep in mind that with the word of Brian temporarily (and possibly even permanently) closing up shop getting around, I am sure that his email has been swamped with inquiries, and I bet a lot of them are about items/sizes/colors that his site clearly says are no longer in stock. Combine this with a big move and the start of a new career in another city, having to find a place to live, etc. Just playing Devil's advocate here, although I would be frustrated if I paid for goods and didn't hear anything back.
What I don't understand is, when I bought my tarp a few weeks ago, I got a series of what looked like automated emails confirming the purchase, etc. Is it possible that this system is temporarily offline or kludged up somehow? <shrug>
.
Brian finally contacted me last night when I sent an email titled "About to take my money elsewhere". He had evidently marked my order as shipped even though there were no Micro tarps in stock. My emails were then pushed down and deemed low priority. He said he had one more Standard tarp left that he was going to mail to me today with the guyline. He said he would refund my money for the Micro tarp. I asked that he do that and if he would be making any more micro tarps in the future and he has not responded.
But I did receive a message after that late last night saying all 3 items had shipped. We'll see what shows up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FourCats
Well I hope that means the Micro I ordered last week was actually in stock and shipped, though I'm seriously doubting it now. I came here to see what was up and if anyone else had had contact from OES because I ordered my Micro a week ago. The website indicates that he only had in stock items available and that in stock items were shipped Priority Mail 1-2 days after order. I too understand about being busy but I've had things shipped from all over the country and never had Priority Mail take more than three days in any of the Continental US.
I know waiting is par for the course with a cottage co. but taking someone's money with no product to give is really bad. Especially since I may have to cancel a trip if there isn't a micro for me.
SunshineHiker,
He does not have any Micro tarps in stock. It said that he had them in stock when I ordered on 1/15/2012, but the website is wrong. He does not have any of these in stock, and has not had them in stock for a long time evidently. But I thought I read or was messaged that someone had gotten a Maccat Micro recently, last month or so.
It also says he does not have any Standard tarps in stock, but he had one to ship out to me...
He also said he would mail the tarp on Wednesday morning. He didn't mail it until late Saturday. He still has not refunded the money to my bank account.
Best advice SunshineHiker is to call the credit card company and get your money back.
this is kinda odd for brian .... but glad your getting some results
;)
Brian did get back to me and gave me a refund though it hasn't hit my bank yet. He also did offer me a Deluxe MacCat at 15% off, but it would have been significantly more than I had originally wanted to spend and as a UL Backpacker I have no use for such a giant tarp. If anyone is interested in what he actually has left, I'd email him first before sending any money.
last time i had something refunded to my CC it did take over 7 days... so it might just be taking time ... give it a week if you don't get it then i would check to see whats up
I have his MacCat Deluxe and certainly would not call it a "giant" tarp. Got it because my stock Hennessey is tiny. His Deluxe is in between, as I decided NOT to go with a "giant" one and they are out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineHiker
Rain Man
.
The money showed up today. I know that how fast it showed up isn't something Brian has any control over and would not have blamed him at all. It's purely a bank thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by G.L.P.
Maybe it's not giant to you, but I'm 5'2" and my hammock 7ft with a 80" ridgeline so for for me, yeah it would be rather massive. Not to mention completely out of my budget even at 15% off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain Man