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-Christian LRRS/CCS HasBeen ECK Racing
2011 Pit Bike Race CHAMPION!
Leather is supposed to protect your from road rash, not wear through. My old motogp suit held up for somewhere around 14 crashes before needing repairs, and the leather itself never wore through. One particular crash in turn 1, which was likely at close to 100mph. Sounds to me like quality is coming down to match their customer service.
Didn't vanson make all their leather in-house with special processing? Why were they waiting for a shipment of leather to use on my alterations?
Sounds like outsourcing to me, just like their shit gloves that they were selling. Had a pair of those that the palms wore right through in less than a season, no crashes, just regular street riding.
Last edited by Awesome; 05-29-12 at 10:35 AM.
It's all water under the bridge, and we do enter the next round-robin. Am I wrong?
One thing I've learned here is that, if I need work done to a Vanson product, contact 9secondrubsession. He's got the connects.
Awesome, that sucks you had that experience and I 'm not going to make excuse for the after the sale service. It really started because you bought the wrong jacket without ever trying it on.
I've had two pieces custom made. My first was in '06. I went down, was fitted, told them what I was looking for and got the jacket. I had green bones put on it and sent them a picture/X-ray I had of my left forearm. They copied it and cut the leather to match. I waited 4-6 months( really don't remember) and got that jacket. It was/is exactly what I wanted.
I had an old suit that was 2 sizes too big shorten. They told me it would never fit right even it they take off the inch or two from the sleeves and legs. I told them I did not care, I got it cheap. They moved the zippers and shortened then sleeve. You would never know.
I dropped my old suit of for repair when I got sized for my new one. They patched one sleeve and replace the thread on a zipper and condition the sleeve leather(which is why it tore and needed to be patched). 30 bucks. They called me when it was done and I asked if they would send it with my new suit. They did.
My new suit. I was fitted in January. We went back and forth to get the proof right because I changed my mind on the color. I asked if I would get it for the first weekend and I did. There was one mistake. I wore it the first weekend, sent it back, they fixed the mistake, and over nighted it so I would have it for the next race weekend. You would never know there was an alteration done to the suit. I think my suit looks like a million bucks.
Tim
LRRS #44
Superbike Services 44
Taking an optimistic look at the situation and giving Vanson the benefit of the doubt, I would hope this thread might lead to improved customer relations at Vanson.
Disclaimer: I have never dealt with Vanson and I don't know anything about running a business, so take the following with large grains of salt.
Here's my take on a possible state Vanson is currently in. They started as a small business long before the Internet was an important business tool. back then, they were small and easily managed without needing any corporate structure, and they built their positive reputation by providing quality products. Since then, they have grown and and are missing a couple of key components which are contributing to negative customer service partially offsetting their positive reputation of providing quality products.
1- Vanson's management didn't evolve as the company grew to ensure positive customer service remained a top priority. Are employees at Vanson making promises to customers without having the proper info to do so? I would believe something like this is too blame for the overly optimistic initial estimated delivery date Jay initially got from them, rather than Vanson knowingly lying to him for some nefarious reason. Does Vanson have an adequate IT system so orders can be tracked with appropriate information about such orders available to people answering the phones?
2- Vanson is failing to recognize the important role of information technology these days. Today, potential clients search online for others experience before dealing with a new company. Vanson needs to make sure all current customers aren't neglected or provided wrong information, resulting in threads such as this.
People today expect timely and accurate information when dealing with businesses. For example, we are now used to being able to track orders and packages online, and understand if a UPS package arrives late due to a snow storm along the way. What would it take for Vanson to provide a similar online system for alterations and custom orders? Somewhere a client could log in, and see what the current estimate for completion is, and get automatic notification when issues arise that might impact the expected completion date. For clients that prefer dealing with people, the same information would be available to whoever answers the phone or greets customers on site.
So, a possible positive outcome in my rose colored world would be Vanson making effective changes regarding customer service and overcoming what I hope are simply growing pains being experienced by a local company with a bright future. When that happens, we will be able to thank Jay for initiating this thread and 9minutesflat for bringing this thread to the attention of Vanson's owner (in addition to pissing off half the readers while entertaining the rest!).
So, how about it Mr 9flat? Why don't you put your business smarts and Vanson connections to good use and make sure that Vanson can make lemonade out of this lemon of a negative experience by guiding them towards taking the proper steps in improving customer service and eliminating future threads like this?
Roland Arsenault
LRRS and USCRA #763
2012, 2013 and 2015 Big Fish Small Pond Champion
"The 4 board is an upshift marker, not a brake marker"
As I said earlier, spend an hour in the store and all will be clear.
Great products, ridiculously unhelpful staff.
The whole place has plummeted downhill since I bought my first jacket 15 years ago. Sure, they might be catering to a few racers, but I can't believe that keeps them afloat.
Remember - OP was told the alterations were almost done. Yet over a month has passed now and he's learned NOTHING has been done to date!
Did you grit your teeth and try to look like Clint Fuckin' Eastwood?
Or did you lisp it all hangfisted like a fuckin' flower?
Rolker, That's very optimistic of you. However, they stated that they are not interested in resolving this issue, so I highly doubt they're going to take it as a learning experience and opportunity for improvement. Mike, is taking the tough guy approach. He does not want to resolve the poor service, poor communication and flat out lies in his business, he wants to escalate the issue, and refuse to do the work that his business agreed to complete.
I was told my jacket was nearly complete. Exact work stated 'at the tail end of the process and will be done very soon'. It is now being returned to me, and not one bit of the quoted and agreed upon work has been done in 5 times as long as they told me it would take to complete and be back to me. As far as I'm concerned, this vendor could not have provided a worse experience.
Last edited by Awesome; 05-29-12 at 11:26 AM.
It's all water under the bridge, and we do enter the next round-robin. Am I wrong?
I would not put it passed them, considering the tone on the other end of this morning's conversation. Though the jacket will likely be sold or donated. You will not see a vanson patch on my arms. I'll likely just have a full custom jacket made, maybe by barnacle bill. I've only heard the best of reviews about dealing with him. And it'll probably be cheaper than a vanson, 'off the rack' jacket in it's ridiculous size. I would like to see someone with the proportions that would fit this jacket, I can't even imagine it.
It's all water under the bridge, and we do enter the next round-robin. Am I wrong?
Zip-Tie Alley Racing
LRRS/CCS #103
PPS | Dunlop | Boston Moto | Woodcraft & Armour Bodies | 35 Motorsports | Pit Bull | K&N
Yeah, I know I'm being way-overly optimistic here. This escalation from Mike to the point of telling you to basically GFY is just unacceptable. Obviously, dealing with customers who are not getting what they were promised is not one of his strengths that led to whatever success his business currently enjoys. I'm just hoping, for the sake of his company and all the current Vanson product users that might need future services, that if he does bother reading through this thread that he learns important lessons and takes the necessary steps to eliminate such horrendous customer service...
Roland Arsenault
LRRS and USCRA #763
2012, 2013 and 2015 Big Fish Small Pond Champion
"The 4 board is an upshift marker, not a brake marker"
Are your arms 2 inches longer than mine?
I should do a Cinderella competition and give the jacket to anyone that it actually fits properly. Along with a nice web page that explains the whole experience. I highly doubt it happening.
I'm happy to see this review is showing up very high on the list when you google 'Vanson review', and after this morning's conversation with Mike, I will be certain to spread the experience as far as I possibly can. Shit, maybe I'll even hand out Vanson sucks T-shirts at the track.
Last edited by Awesome; 05-29-12 at 12:02 PM.
It's all water under the bridge, and we do enter the next round-robin. Am I wrong?
9secondsfart *should* have had nothing to do with this. I can't imagine what a 3rd party could say that would precipitate being told 'go to hell' like that. Absurd!
Exactly.
My take away from this is never, ever bad mouth Vanson if you ever want anything out of them. Worst possible handling. Worst possible.
Hopefully the CEO also refrains from disclosing info to 3rd parties. Said 3rd party is who made him aware of this thread. Lotsa fail here. Vanson and the aforementioned 3rd party.
still love my suit and if I buy another suit it'll probably be another Pilot. Heroic would probably be second in line.
And Jay I know a couple people with Barnacle Bill leathers. they say he's awesome and actually went to his house/shop to get measured and talk about the design. granted they are a little closer to him than us but still a couple states away. He's one of those good old guys that will talk your ear off and treat you right.
LRRS Am #331
Graphic Tailor / Woodcraft / Armour Bodies / Suomy / Cycle Performance Autobody / Shorai / ChickenHawk Racing
He should have given ideas on what to do and how to resolve a problem. He should NOT have taken the liberty upon himself to do it. What could he say? Simple... Hey Mike, check out this thread.... http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...n-sucks-1.html
This has been one amazing thread. And I just wanted to not contribute (keeping the trend here) by saying it makes my heart melt to see a good old fashion googlebomb on a company who deserves it. Any company who refuses service because you wrote a bad review basically confirms the bad review, and deserves many more. I know it has definitely influenced my future purchases as a new comer to the industry, and that was not based solely on one person's experience.
nedirtriders.com
"Made" is a very loose term in the realm of leather. There are a lot of processes that can happen at different times so they could do some final finishing in house, but with the amount of actual finish on their leather I would say that is highly, highly unlikely. There is not much finishing done in the US anymore and far less tanning as well.
-Alex
I can resist everything but Pete's mom.
So I searched for some other customer reviews and figured I'd post those in here as well.
Customer service? HAHAHAHA. Nicole has the worst cutomer service I have ever encountered, literally yelled at me for attempting to place an order very nasty in general. Tried another, higher ranking employee, not much better. Very long wait for jackets. Had to special request that my jackets be made in the USA, that upset them as Vanson is now mostly a product of El Salvador, a fact they do not advertise, and no, the savings are not passed on to the customer. Once request was made for American made jackets emails were no longer replied to, I ordered 3 jackets at a cost of over $1,800.00 and they couldn't care less. I will never buy another Vanson jacket and will not recommend them to anyone I care about. I regret giving my credit card information to these people.
Follow up: 6 months later I was correct about giving my credit card info, fortunatly I was able to catch it before any real damage could be done. Ordered my jackets made in america, came to me with tags saying "MADE IN EL SALVADOR" Took over 6 months for delivery.
It's all water under the bridge, and we do enter the next round-robin. Am I wrong?