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Waiting Too Long ruining excitement?

mumpy

A-List Customer
Messages
400
I personally believe it is completely unacceptable if you are told 6 months and it arrives after a year and a half.

I would have asked for a refund if not delivered on time.

Recent example from my experience. I bought an ELMC Roadstar but my size was out of stock and was told it would take 8 weeks to order materials and build it. Payment would be taken *after* jacket is built and before shipping. It took 4 weeks before I had the jacket in my hands. Granted, this was not a custom order (they can always sell this jacket to someone else) but this is how you do business.

OTR is the way to go for me. I have a pretty standard body type so finding jackets that fit well enough is not very hard.
 
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Bfd70

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,050
Location
Traverse city
Fortunately I’m a pretty easy otr and a size common in the secondary market. 4 months would be my max wait time which these days rules out and custom brands. At the 18 month mark there is 100% my interests have changed. I have the attention span of a squirrel.
 

torfjord

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,534
Location
Sweden
I don't actually mind long wait times. I feel like I've gone in the opposite direction to the other people in this thread who have been in the hobby for a while. My tolerance for waiting has increased with the years. I think my general excitement levels have gone down significantly. I currently have a Thedi on order since 2 months back, expecting to have it done in July. If it is done in July, great, but if it takes longer that's no problem. I haven't thought about that jacket more than two or three times since I placed the order. I'm sure it will be nice. But I own and have owned many nice jackets. The overwhelming excitement just isn't really there for me anymore. So waiting for 3 months or 6 months doesn't really matter that much tbh.
 
Messages
17,167
Location
Chicago
I find the longer I wait, the more my expectations for the outcome become impossible to meet, so it's actually not the waiting than ruins it, it's my own impossible expectations that have grown beyond reasonability and into something unobtainable. All told, at this point, I don't really care all that much about jackets anymore. I still like them of course but I don't have nearly the drive or excitement for them I used to. I should probably talk to my doctor and see if I can get a pill for jacket dysfunction. A little leather coated pill.
 

mvilla

A-List Customer
Messages
481
Location
Bristol, UK
I don't actually mind long wait times. I feel like I've gone in the opposite direction to the other people in this thread who have been in the hobby for a while. My tolerance for waiting has increased with the years. I think my general excitement levels have gone down significantly. I currently have a Thedi on order since 2 months back, expecting to have it done in July. If it is done in July, great, but if it takes longer that's no problem. I haven't thought about that jacket more than two or three times since I placed the order. I'm sure it will be nice. But I own and have owned many nice jackets. The overwhelming excitement just isn't really there for me anymore. So waiting for 3 months or 6 months doesn't really matter that much tbh.
The problem is when you get to the year mark, I suppose...
 

red devil

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,826
Location
London
I find it's best to forget about an order immediately after placing it. If I'm told it'll take 6 months, I expect a year. In today's day and age of instant gratification it's kind of nice to place an order expecting it'll take forever, completely forget about it and then get pleasantly surprised when it comes sooner than expected.

This for me as well, I place the order and forget about it. When it comes, it comes. I cannot imagine waiting with baited breath for months on end. On the other hand, excitement is right back when you have to wait for the delivery lol

I don't actually mind long wait times. I feel like I've gone in the opposite direction to the other people in this thread who have been in the hobby for a while. My tolerance for waiting has increased with the years.

I got used to long lead times by now... as long as I trust the maker to deliver. Which is the case with all the makers I currently have orders with.

I also have to admit that I sometimes delay the order myself as it happened early this year because I was losing weight and wanted to see where I would stabilise. It is a two way street in my case :)

@dudewuttheheck , do you have another order with White Kloud in the moment or just waiting for the engineers? They are looking promising from what I have seen in January.
 

BloodEagle

A-List Customer
Messages
442
Location
UK
Agree with the above poster - Ive waited years for custom guitars before now and months for jackets - I cant be bothered to go on someones waiting list any more and if I cant get it within a reasonable amount of time I wont at all.
 

AeroFan_07

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,352
Location
Iowa
Seems that I have some part in this extensive waiting list. Why would I say that? I'm a part of this wonderful lounge, and I have shared photos of victories & defeats, home runs and bunts. This website has gotten more popular. Plus Covid-19 and all that went along with that. As more folks have gained exposure to our boots, jackets, jeans, etc, the waiting lists have grown. However also the Pandemic and the lack of workers headed back "to work" seems to really be taking a toll, especially with PNW Boot makers. I see Wesco is an 18-Month wait for custom orders. That is simply insane. Pre-Pandemic, it may have been ~ 3 months, but that might have been stretching it.

I did custom order an Aero last November and it came in ~ 6 months. Overall, I think I have plumbed much of my interest areas for custom orders, and am thinking more off the rack if the fit can be obtained.
 

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,090
Location
UK
Ordered a pair of SJC Cord trews that won’t ship until end of September, got a discount for the advanced order & payment. By the time they drop I will more or less have forgotten about them and the $ paid. Will almost feel like a free pair of pants :)
 

Brandrea33

One Too Many
Messages
1,047
I'm approaching two years for a custom luthier built instrument. I commissioned a custom because 1) I wanted something uniquely "mine", 2) I wanted to pay more to help keep me motivated to stick with it during the inevitable plateaus, and 3) I wanted to support an individual craftsman. Since then I've bought four other production models, though none with the same size or specs as my custom. My practice has waned over the past several months because I worry I won't bond with "my" instrument when it does finally arrive, and the long wait has killed the excitement and some of the joy of playing.

I originally figured it would arrive in about nine months in time for my birthday. After checking in about once a month I realized there was no sense in trying to get an idea of where things stood in the process. So then I checked in quarterly just to reaffirm my commitment to the project. The last update I had was 6+ months ago when I was told there were three more projects ahead of my slot in the build queue. I had hoped it would arrive this summer but I would be surprised if it arrives yet this year. At this point I've come to accept it's best to just forget about it and be pleasantly surprised if/when I hear from the luthier that he has started building my instrument. In the meantime I keep telling myself the wood is just seasoning.
It’ll be worth the wait!


D82F24CA-33AF-4D30-A3D2-02829312417C.jpeg
 

Brandrea33

One Too Many
Messages
1,047
I find it's best to forget about an order immediately after placing it. If I'm told it'll take 6 months, I expect a year. In today's day and age of instant gratification it's kind of nice to place an order expecting it'll take forever, completely forget about it and then get pleasantly surprised when it comes sooner than expected.
This is exactly how I approach it.

In the case of my last jacket, I was told up front the wait would be 12-14 months and I sort of just put it out of my mind … I was pleasantly surprised when I got the call that he was ready to start my jacket. True to his word the jacket arrived right within that time frame.
 

Brandrea33

One Too Many
Messages
1,047
View attachment 529509

Worth the 9 months wait!

While I only needed minor adjustments to Thedi’s stock XL sizing in this model, by going full custom, View attachment 529510 I was able to drop the patch pockets that were functionally unusable for me. So, for custom specs…. yes, it’s worth the wait.
What an awesome jacket my friend! Unless I’ve missed it, it’s very deserving of it‘s own incoming!

More details and pictures please!
 

Mark

Practically Family
Messages
638
Location
UK
I waited up to a year for a jacket and another year+ for mods to be made on the same jacket with the same Greek based maker! Never again. Aero in my opinion have got it right, three months or there-abouts and have been great at communicating the process from start to finish in my expeirance
 

Cyber Lip

Practically Family
Messages
739
Location
Seattle
what i don't like is the idea that the wait is too far out from the time you can file a dispute with either paypal or your credit card company in the event the maker doesn't come through. At 1.5 years they can basically just do what they want, take as long as they want, etc. nothing is holding them to an obligation to come through at that point
 

mvilla

A-List Customer
Messages
481
Location
Bristol, UK
I waited up to a year for a jacket and another year+ for mods to be made on the same jacket with the same Greek based maker! Never again. Aero in my opinion have got it right, three months or there-abouts and have been great at communicating the process from start to finish in my expeirance
My premier highwayman took less than a month... That is a very good timeframe
 

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