Adventurebilt hats status update (read if you have an outstanding order)

Interbak said:

Like JohnnyC said, I got my first order in to Steve in Nov of '07, just as the real insanity was firing up over Indy 4, took 28 months, but it did arrive. My second one was a year or two ago, after the cancer, when he was trying to raise funds to keep going and fill orders. That hat was at full current price and he delivered in a couple months. I haven't heard from him in quite a while, hopefully he's still plugging away trying to keep up. Sorry to hear about those left in the lurch for nearly 10 years, nothing I could say would make you feel any better about it.

B

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Well let's see it then.
Johnny

Well i´ve considered order from a custom vendor, but having about, ill went to a traditional Hatter, isnt a raider fedora, but fit me.

Oh yeah there are some people I would order from in a heart beat, Art and Mike Moore, and not think a thing about it. However I am much more cautious about people outside of a small circle.

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I would add John Penman to that list. Particularly if we are talking about Indiana Jones hats.
Johnny

I´ve considered buy a Indy replica from custom hatters, but my experience was bittersweet. Months ago i bought a funyi hat and a Trilby from a custom hatter. I Have no complaints about the funyi, but the trilby, is almost starting to tear apart very poor quality, even the cheapest hats i own are better quality.

What going to say?, a yes i saw custom hatters from my country that make indy hats, but that those that made the indy replica weren't hatters, only aficionados, i had my doubts about ordering with them. Now that i found excellent hatters, i'm going to order with them.
Yep i wouldn't have a Indy replica that by the way i would love to have, but i can't afford the risk of un fillment orders.
I know that isn't the case and there are conditions as the health of the hatter, but still.

johnnycanuck said:

(Glen Morangie would be my recommendation but there really isn't such a thing as bad scotch)

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That becuase you dont know Los criadores

johnnycanuck said:

It is most unfortunate what has happened to Steve. With that said he has always been spotty with his communications. If you have ordered from him lately (past year) he has been keeping up with current orders (from what I have read on other forums) so if he said Christmas, I would pour yourself a tall glass of scotch (Glen Morangie would be my recommendation but there really isn't such a thing as bad scotch) and wait. If it doesent come, or no responce from communication by Christmas, Then raise the flag. I know it's hard but I had to wait two years for mine and I got my order in right before the rush.
Hope that helps.
Johnny

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Welll... hmm... I'm likely to be chastised for this but I actually don't like scotch at all. Can't stand it, even though I'd really like to like it- especially Glen M 'cause that's what Connor McCleod (Highlander) drinks haha. The only thing close to whiskey I can stand is Fireball, which I love (and I know that doesn't count)! I will have some rum though instead... or maybe a gin. Cheers!

May I ask what other forums you seen positive news on? I looked at COW but there is little new info there. I'm hoping that Steve's non-responsiveness is due to him doubling-down and making hats instead of answering messages; it does take time to get back to a lot o people and if you're in the workshop with a ton of things to do, every minute will be important. That said, you'd think he'd find SOME time, somewhere, to respond... or at least write a standard reply he could send out to let people know he's on the case. I DO know that he is responding to messages, because an acquaintance of mine has heard from him regarding a new order, after I messaged him about an update. I do have great sympathy for the ordeal he must've gone through, having seen similar first-hand, but it's still not right to be taking on orders you are certain to not be able to fill; that is something that eliminates any sympathy you might get. (If he is sick again, it could also be a coping mechanism... trying to keep going as if nothing was wrong... but that's the hobbyist psychologist in me writing...)

From the forum threads here and on COW I've look at over the last couple of days... there have been fairly long gaps in complaints from 2013 until now... either he has been better at delivering or ordering has died down significantly. (I could find no negative mentions of him on the Replica Prop Forum either.)

I've sent him three messages so far, all very courteous and sympathetic to his situation. I also tried to call the number on the website (662 497 1396). After several failed calls, a woman finally answered (with the worst cell phone connection I've heard in YEARS) but she didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I asked for Steve, said something confused about "wrong number" then hung up. Another number (662 570 5873) he listed on COW has also failed to go through. (Maybe someone in the US can check up on the numbers? I can't get to any US phone books from here.)

I'll wait a bit longer and we'll see. He's got about one more week to ship if it's going to reach me by Xmas, or at least let me know of any delay. This hat was a major expenditure for me, kind of a fulfillment of a childhood dream, and I just can't afford to lose the $500 it cost right now to go with another vendor (Steve gave me a "deal" on a 100% beaver cause he was doing a batch of several). I sorely regret not going with Penman (or Kitter, since I'm in Europe) right now, but the irony of why I didn't is that I really needed the hat before New Years Eve! Go figure...

Its called FRAUD. He has continued to take peoples money...and from what I'm hearing he simply is not OWNING IT. If he cant fulfill his business obligations he certainly can COMMUNICATE THAT in a timely manner to his clients. If he is not capable of speech or written communication, he is OBLIGATED to have someone do so in his BEHALF. Anything less makes him a POS. Ugly but true.

Bob Roberts said:

Its called FRAUD. He has continued to take peoples money...and from what I hearing he simply is not OWNING IT. If he cant fulfill his business obligations he certainly can COMMUNICATE THAT in a timely manner to his clients. If he is not capable of speech or written communication, he is OBLIGATED to have someone do so in his BEHALF. Anything less makes him a POS. Ugly but true.

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As I wrote, I believe mail fraud is still a federal offense and I agree- if someone is willingly taking money knowing they can't or don't intend to deliver, that person will have nothing but my contempt.

At the same time, extreme illness can make people behave and act very strangely- to a degree that you would simply not have imagined them doing when they were healthy. That doesn't really make them a POS- just human, with human psychological weaknesses. That's not a defense for SD in particular, since we have no idea what's really going on; it could be one way or the other, willful POS or just mentally broken, but it is something to keep in mind in this kind of situation.

That said... it certainly doesn't stop me from being dead set on either getting the hat I paid for promptly, or a refund. (I do have to keep at least a slightly open mind for the time being, since the only thing I've suffered so far is a lack of communication and while that's a bad sign, my hat isn't actually late yet!)

I wish you and all others get what is rightly yours.

As I have said before, anyone who has been waiting years for a hat from Adventurebilt needs to let it go already. It is an unfortunate situation and there is nothing that can be done about it. If you can't muster the good will to write it off as a charitable donation to a man who illness took everything from, short of his life, sobeit. Write it off for your own (and our) sake. It's just a hat already, it's not worth years of of ill-feelings and angst.

In an attempt to get back on track. How long ago was it you ordered your hat?
Johnny

johnnycanuck said:

In an attempt to get back on track. How long ago was it you ordered your hat?
Johnny

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Early October, with a promised delivery before Christmas. Steve states a "lead time maximum of 6 weeks" on the website. (I was initially talking to Penman, but his lead time at the time was 5+ months but I couldn't wait that long. Faster alternatives like "The Henry" were a non-starter for me because I wanted 100% beaver from felt that was naturally sourced, certified and not factory-farmed (for ethical reasons) which both Delk and Penman could provide. (I also tried contacting Kitter, since I'm in Europe, but never got a reply.) Obviously, had I known about Delk's issues I would never have ordered. I don't mind waiting when I can and know beforehand how long it's going to take, but I try to hold people to what they promise (within reason).

As a side-note... I have so far found THREE different phone numbers supposedly leading to AB/Delk:

Website number: 662-497-1396
Almost impossible to not get a "call failed" notice. Was answered ONCE by a woman, claiming it to be a wrong number, but the cell reception was horrible.

Number give by Steve on Club Obi Wan (when his health problems started):
662 570 5873
I just keep getting "call failed".

Number listed on the Better Business Bureau website:
(662) 327-4644
Haven't tried this one yet. Will do it tomorrow during regular business hours.

I brought this back with some pruning..
...bottom line...
A search here would have prevented this.
Most want others to do their work for them.
This is a forum that tries to be civil...
While this thread remains that way...
..it will stay.

RBH said:

I brought this back with some pruning..
...bottom line...
A search here would have prevented this.
Most want others to do their work for them.
This is a forum that tries to be civil...
While this thread remains that way...
..it will stay.

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Many thanks for doing so, as it's important for people to know that the problems with Delk still appear to be going on. I take responsibility for not searching diligently enough first, (which I usually do- I'm not one of those "newbs" that tends to pop into forums completely unresearched asking for well-know information). It just never entered my mind that there would be such immense problems with a person who has such a stellar reputation for quality on the surface. That said, my initial query was if anyone had been in recent contact with him and that information was not, from what I can see, to be found with a search. (It would, however, maybe have been more effective to post in the already existing thread, so my bad on that.)

I also implore everyone to keep from posts suggesting actions of an illegal nature, even if joking. I appreciate the support, understand the feeling (all too well) but ultimately it will not make things easier.

As soon as I have something new to report, I'll let everyone know.

Well done R.

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facade said:

As I have said before, anyone who has been waiting years for a hat from Adventurebilt needs to let it go already. It is an unfortunate situation and there is nothing that can be done about it. If you can't muster the good will to write it off as a charitable donation to a man who illness took everything from, short of his life, sobeit. Write it off for your own (and our) sake. It's just a hat already, it's not worth years of of ill-feelings and angst.

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Or ask for a refund, i for example i cant afford a 500 bucks for snything charitable or not. Its understandable that for health that isnst posible the fulfillment of the order. But not the lack of communication or the refund.

facade said:

As I have said before, anyone who has been waiting years for a hat from Adventurebilt needs to let it go already. It is an unfortunate situation and there is nothing that can be done about it. If you can't muster the good will to write it off as a charitable donation to a man who illness took everything from, short of his life, sobeit. Write it off for your own (and our) sake. It's just a hat already, it's not worth years of of ill-feelings and angst.

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Facade - You are far from the point here in that you are focused on victims from the distant past while this discussion involves a very recently placed order.

But we can give you Steve's address so you can make a charitable donation. Or maybe you can make a donation to the victims of AB hats fund. Send now to avoid the Christmas rush...

Small update from my end. I've been trying online white pages to try and verify current numbers and addresses, but they all want money to reveal any information and since I don't' know which are scams and which are not, nothing there. I did find a notice at the trademark office that the Adventurebilt TM is "abandoned". (How's that for unnecessary information you never knew you didn't need to know!)

Two more messages sent to Steve. Still total silence.

Called the phone numbers again and made a tiny bit of progress.
First number: Woman answered and said in an irritated voice "This is not Steve's phone" and hung up before I could ask anything. I asked Mr Penman if he could verify the number and he said it was the only one he had but hadn't heard from Steve in a while. (So, maybe the phone is answered by a relative that has been instructed to not put Steve on unless the caller is "known" OR something else has happened to the number/phone.) Second number was a landline and has been disconnected. Third number just returns a "The owner of this number is currently not accepting calls" message, whatever that means. (I'm not familiar enough with current operator messages to know what that means exactly.)

Note: I realize that I'm going through motions already done by others a few years ago, but I'm going to persevere anyway. We are coming up on two weeks of non-answers. I have so far not been anything but supportive and enthusiastic in my messages to Delk, but the next one I send will be more firm, as I'll be contacting the authorities and filing a fraud complaint. Even if it ultimately yields nothing, it's a matter of principle.

Fed in a Fedora said:

Facade - You are far from the point here in that you are focused on victims from the distant past while this discussion involves a very recently placed order.

But we can give you Steve's address so you can make a charitable donation. Or maybe you can make a donation to the victims of AB hats fund. Send now to avoid the Christmas rush...

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The thread was immediately hijacked by posters grousing about the past. Their comments have since been deleted and my post was in response to those deleted comments.