A Message From Aero Leather USA

[ButteMT61]

Yeah, I'm having trouble reconciling it too. There's a piece (or two) missing from this story, and I don't care to speculate. It's bad for all involved. Hard to believe this is even happening here.

 

[North]

I know from personal experience that things can happen in ones life that makes it "impossible" to satisfy people around you. This includes the job and the family and friends. It can be as simple as exhaustion from work with a deep depression lying in the back, it can be physical, it could be a family member or a frieed in deep deep trouble.

This sounds like common sense to most people, but for some, who has never experiensed it, its alien.
So I just want to say that serious things can happen that is more important then jackets, and certainly more important then money.
They money was going to a jacket, its not like its money for rent or food, so its money that can wait - for a bit.

If its a crise of some sort, then it will take time, and trying to hurry it up wont help.
It *****, but there are worse things in life that can happen.

Just relax and try to have some empathy, it is said time and time again that something went wrong.

After things have cleared and everyone has gotten their money/jackets but not you (whoever you are) then you can start to shout.

Just a reminder that people are human, both them and you, and I.

 

[HorseHide]

If a bartender told me to pipe down, especially the head bartender, I think I would do as he said. Scot is a good guy but it isn't wise to try his patience. A word to the wise . . . .

Really? While I'm hopeful that calmer heads will prevail all around regarding this AeroUSA "thing", he's upset about the possibility that he's been ripped off. And seeing as this guy has 9 posts (to your 1486), I'm not sure that the bartender has that much leverage with this member...

 

[HorseHide]

+1 to HD's, to Butte's and to Griff's comments.

There is too much here for it to be "just a misunderstanding". On the other hand, I would hope that we would all have enough compassion to feel for the guy if the "wheels fell off" in some aspect of MM's life (small consolation to someone who is out $1000, I know...).

What I do know is that MM will carry this with him for a long, long time. Prospective employers, bankers, or any one else doing a background check on him will be reading about this years from now. Rightly or wrongly his reputation is destroyed by this. We should all keep this in mind as we watch this drama unfold.

 

[DJH]

One good thing to come out of this mess for me, is that I had the opportunity to learn what a stand up company Aero (the proper Aero) is and how much they care about their customers - even one step removed ones like me, who they didn't even know existed before.

Great customer service is a wonderful thing!

HorseHide, I can certainly feel for Mark, having had to close up a business myself when the cash flow just wasn't there to support it. I guess starting a small business just before 9/11 wasn't one of my best decisions We are still suffering financially from this, all these years later.

 

[Harvard Square]

What is the full history of Mark Moye's relationship with Aero Leathers? Were there financially difficulties in the past? Were they swept under the carpet? Was Mark Moye given a second chance by Aero?

Why do Aero claim that volume of work is the reason for long waiting times not the fact that they have no horsehide at the moment? Are there cash flow problems which means that they cannot regularly order basic raw materials?

 

[Tony B]

Aero are snowed under with work which is why they have been expanding the factory and taking on new machinists, the leather situation is something seperate. I spoke to the importers a while back about the chromexcell and they said it is just hard getting the stuff from horween... too many customers after it and either not enough dead gee gees or not enough production capacity to keep everyone happy.

 

[Rudie]

If it was just the FQHH waiting times for jackets in steer, goat and the mid-weight horse would be shorter. Better not damage Aero's reputation by gossiping/defaming.

 

[jlanderson]

One good thing to come out of this mess for me, is that I had the opportunity to learn what a stand up company Aero (the proper Aero) is and how much they care about their customers - even one step removed ones like me, who they didn't even know existed before.

Great customer service is a wonderful thing!

HorseHide, I can certainly feel for Mark, having had to close up a business myself when the cash flow just wasn't there to support it. I guess starting a small business just before 9/11 wasn't one of my best decisions We are still suffering financially from this, all these years later.

I'll second that ... Heartily so. Holly and her father, Ken, are overflowing with character, integrity and empathy for their customers AND their would-be customers. Business people like that are rare these days and should be cherished, in addition to being patronized as much as one's wallet allows.

And I do feel very, very badly for MM. I went with a PayPal-only transaction with him, as I told him, because I knew he was a one-man business and I wanted him to get as much of a commission as possible rather than getting bled dry by eBay's fees. And I kept holding off on contacting my card issuer in the hope I'd hear from him. It killed me ... absolutely killed me ... to unleash Bank of America but I had no other choice.

 

[cloudylemonade]

What is the full history of Mark Moye's relationship with Aero Leathers? Were there financially difficulties in the past? Were they swept under the carpet? Was Mark Moye given a second chance by Aero?

For various legal reasons I cannot and will not go into these details on a public forum, or with anyone besides Mark Moye. Any situations between ourselves and Mark Moye in the past have nothing to do with the current situation, if we were aware of the severity, and details of what is happening now we'd have stopped supplying him with jackets long ago.

Why do Aero claim that volume of work is the reason for long waiting times not the fact that they have no horsehide at the moment? Are there cash flow problems which means that they cannot regularly order basic raw materials?

That is because volume of work is the reason for long waiting times, there are only so many jackets we can make with the number of staff we employ. As most customers are aware, we have been taking on new trainees to help minimise wait time, but their training takes time to ensure they are producing top quality jackets. I am happy to say that some of our new machinists are now fully trained, have proven the quality of their work and are now working hard on our orders.

As far as the supply of horsehide goes, we have never said we have no horsehide at the moment. We have four suppliers of tanned horsehide, three of these have been having difficulty obtaining enough hides to fill our needs. We are currently sampling from a fifth tannery which is looking very promising. This is as a result of the fact we are using more Horsehide than last year, due to increasing orders.

We are NOT "out of Horsehide", and have never said we are. We are just short enough that we have none to spare for trade orders for a few weeks, most of which are bulk orders for next Winter Season anyway. We are working on Steerhide Trade orders and Retail Horsehide orders right now.

By late April we should have sufficient Horsehide in all our different finishes to spread across both the ‘trade’ and ‘retail’ queues. As a side note, the Sheepskin deliveries we've been waiting for from Australia are due in any day, that means 2 or 3 machinist can be taken off horsehide production which will slightly lessen the amount used every week.

The only "end customer" affected by all of this are those who have a special order in with one of the stores that stock Aero and are therefore in our "Trade" order queue, and for this we apologise for any extra delay, which should only amount to a couple of weeks.

We have no cash flow problems in Scotland whatsoever, but we thank you for your concern.

Holly @ Aero

 

[trob09]

Ditto, again.

Trob09, I like your style.

Thanks!

 

[Die-Motte]

Better not damage Aero's reputation by gossiping/defaming.

Totally agreed!!!
In my opinion Aero is a company with top quality products and sterling customer service! And I think the way they are dealing with this special situation is simply outstanding!
I can understand that it is extremly annoying when you spent 500 $+ on a jacket that has not even been ordered! But it really looks like Aero is trying to take good care of every customer!
I think it is great that Holly keeps on posting here! She already gives a lot more information than necessary to solve the current problems! So there is definitely no need for a hostile attitude towards her or her company!

Cheers, Verena

 

[cloudylemonade]

Thanks Verena, we really are trying to do all we possibly can to take care of people who are essentially Aero customers, despite the fact the problems have been created by someone else.

Again, if anyone needs further assistance from us, please just email me - [email protected]

Holly

 

[oneterrifichog]

It sure sounds like something serious happened on Mark's end. Certainly out of charactor. I've known him for years and this dropping of orders just doesn't jive. No conciliation for those who feel left hanging...but this one man operation failed because of something quite drastic happening to that man...in my view. I am sure if/when he can get it together everyone will be made whole...no matter the problems. I know many of us are bewildered that this could have ever happened.
HD

HD you are exactly right I have known Mark for years and even traveled over to meet him to pick up jackets I had ordered. I always found Mark to be A++++ in his manner and philosophy about this business. Frankly Mark seemed to love doing this and helping people get the jackets they ordered. Mark, I feel for you buddy and hope things work out for you.

Wilbur

 

[dr.velociraptor]

Man I almost pulled the trigger on putting a deposit through eBay (deposits dropped to $300, hopefully that wasn't a tactic to raise quick money before closing the doors), I am really glad I didn't do it now. When businesses like this go under they rarely refund everything they owe, they close shop, turn the phones off and possibly file bankruptcy protection. I've seen it with Big Bear Choppers, they knew they were going under for the better part of a year and were taking deposits with no intention of even starting the chopper build. These things never end well, unfortunately Aero will take the hit on it since most people directly associate Aero USA with Aero.

Hopefully all you folks get your refunds back, but usually that money is spent by the time a mass refund has to happen and it doesn't materialize.

 

[ButteMT61]

Aero USA usually over the years offered various partial payment options on ebay - not a **** or anything new. It simply allowed folks to order, and save up the rest. JC at Good Wear takes deposits for jackets too - balance due when jacket is being done. No need to speculate, Griff's post was great. I'm not bashing Aero by trying to give MM some slack here. S**t happens, and even if there are issues now, I can't imagine the MM I know feeling good about this. Again - we have NO idea what happened between he and Aero. None of the folks I've met, emailed, phoned in the whole batch seemed to have a bad bone in their bodies. I met Wil's son at Aero and he was the nicest young man I've met in ages.I'm just wondering if I could move to Scotland and become an apprentice now. I'm sick of the city~ lolNo, I'm serious.

 

[Lungomare]

Hi!

I live in Austria, far away from USA and even far from Scotland. My only contact to Aero Scotland was by e-mail with Amanda. I've ordered several jackets, two times a jacket had to be made again, the majority were perfect and a pleasure right out of the box.

I have always been surprised about the efforts of Aero to fulfill all the wishes with customizing without taking a deposit - what a credit of trust! And as customers we are to give at least the same trust in Aero beeing able to solve the problems with Aero USA. The only thing to accept might be some delays ...

Concerning the leather there is no reason for making any speculations on the availability - Aero has always provided us with the best leather available! And I am convinced they'll do that in future, too!

I put my trust in Aero and their efforts - now and in future.

Kind regards,

Johannes

 

[wdw]

I'm going to Aero tomorrow to get measured up for another jacket. It'll be interesting to sense the atmosphere.

 

[ButteMT61]

I trust Aero too. And I certainly will be buying more jackets from them. Without a doubt.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I,too,want to thank Holly for posting on the FL.
Her Dad has a strong constitution and could handle the heat of any forum (for sure).
Looks like Daughter like Father...which is quite a good thing...in my view.
Van