Stetson 100 to Optimo

[Felt and Straw]

I recently sent my Stetson 100 off to Optimo for a good deep clean and a reblock. After four weeks it arrived home today and not only is it no cleaner, but the block is sideways, the bow is ready to fall off, the size tag is missing and the dimples on the sides of the crown are not even. I'm amazed. I'll call them on Friday and let you know what they say...

Picture of sweatband with tag in back prior to sending to Optimo:

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Picture of loose ribbon, back stitching that isn't stitched, and no tag anymore upon receipt today:

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Picture of crooked block (hard to tell in the photo but easy to see when looking at the hat), uneven bash on sides, and dirty marks on crown and brim (which were the reason I sent it to be cleaned in the first place)...

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It's a Stetson 100, I thought it would get better than normal handling. I didn't expect it to come back worse than it was sent...
Very discouraging....

 

[Lefty]

Ouch. I would expect that paper tags might be lost, but the rest is just no good.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Usually I send them in to get the sweats replaced when I get them cleaned. I always get them back open crowned because i like to shape them myself.

Haven't had any missing vintage tags yet on the ones that I wanted left original... yet there is always a first time, most were glued in and glues wear out.

Depending on what the stain was and how deep it went it might not have been removable.

And going by how it's hand shaped, It's not going to look like it came off a shaped block.

Give Graham a call and tell us what he says.

Does it look like it was never cleaned?

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I have sent 3 hats to Optimo and I have never gotten a hat back like that.....

I also haven't had to wait 4 weeks either....but that is a matter of how many hats they have backed up.

I usually get a phone call when they get the hat and we go over exactly what I want done and they tell me if it can be done and what they are going to do for me. No surprises that way...

Did they call you?

I also put a note in with the hat telling them what I would like and that I think is what triggers the phone call and we go over the price etc then.

Like suggested above, call Graham and see what is up.

 

[fedoralover]

It looks like it was hand creased, nothing wrong with that. I frequently have mine pop out a little like yours and be a little uneven. You can even it out yourself quite easily but just pushing the one side dent back to where it is even with the other side. I suspect it just came out a little during shipping. I don't know about the other issues. I had a Stetson 100 that had some stains and they wouldn't come out either. Naptha or whatever Graham uses won't always make everything look pristine again.

fedoralover

 

[billysmom]

So sorry for your disappointment. And after all that time spent anticipating a different outcome! Surely Graham will be responsive.

Sue

 

[Johnnysan]

Very unusual...

I recently took three Stetson Whippets to Optimo and was very pleased with the results. The work was limited to replacement sweatbands, cleaning and reblocks...no staining as pronounced as yours, so maybe my experience is not a fair comparison. I too am interested to hear what response you receive from Graham.

 

[rlk]

Appears to be bleaching rather than staining which can't be helped by cleaning unfortunately.

 

[High Pockets]

With the exception of one, all of my vintage hats have gone to Optimo for a complete re-furbish. Each time when they received the hat Tiffini called me to discuss it with me and explain things like;
"We'll try to clean it up but the stain may not come out."
"We won't be able to do anything with that liner, we need to replace it.", etc.
And that's on a total re-build.
A friend of mine had an old Stetson re-built by Optimo a few weeks ago and they couldn't get all the grease out of the felt at the front of the hat, but she had explained that to him before they ever started on the hat.

The only thing that didn't go perfect on one of mine was it came back without the wind trolly,.....one call to Tiffini, (she of course was apologetic), and a brand new one was in my mailbox a couple days later.

I sure hope things go well for you.

 

[Felt and Straw]

This was my third hat to them. Other two were cleaned and blocked and returned relatively quickly with no issues.

I sent it with a detailed note of what I wanted. I actually told them in the note that I was willing to pay for the full renovation service in order to get the hat cleaned and blocked to the best standard they could. I sent it with delivery confirmation and when I hadn't received a call approximately a week after the post office web site noted that the hat was delivered I called them. A woman (not Tiffany) advised that they had it and would call me the following Monday to check it in. When that call didn't come I called again on Wednesday of that week and spoke with Tiffany who said they had the hat, wouldn't do the full service renovation since I didn't want it resized, but would do the clean and block that I requested.

A couple hours later I realized I hadn't given her my credit card info and I called back the next day. This time I spoke with a man who said Tiffany was out sick, they had my CC info on file from my other orders and that the hat wouldn't be worked on for approximately another two and a half weeks because they were so busy from the trunk sale in SF. I can understand the delay and frankly that was never an issue for me. I didn't mind waiting for the right pair of hands to work on this hat.

As for the tag, as seen in the first photo, it was tacked in with thread. Although I can understand loosing small pieces, I also think that is what differentiates people like me from the professionals - a professional shouldn't loose it. The stains are something I believe I can get out with a little H2O and some gentle soap, but I wanted the hat done up with a good block and all the TLC that comes from a professional working on a classic.

It isn't just that the bash is uneven (although it is) its that the entire thing is off center. It's as if when they put it on the block they didn't line the center of the block up with the center of the hat. As a result the entire block is off center by several degrees, which is only exacerbated by the different length bashes on the right and left side.

With the exception of the tag, it's all fixable and I expect they'll take care of it. Its just absolutely not what I expected based upon my limited personal experience and the observations of others on the Lounge.

 

[Quapaw]

Interesting. I hope it's nothing against Stetson 100's.

I sent mine off to Optimo a little over 3 weeks ago and am still waiting it's return. No stain issues but mine needed a cleaning, a new sweat and a stretch back to it's original size.

I didn't realize the stretch would require a new ribbon, makes sense though. They were out of thin ribbon that matched and they originally were going to replace it with a wide (1 5/8") ribbon. I only found that out after my second call to check on it. They are now replacing it with a ribbon 1/8" wider than the original.

My curiosity is now up, hope I'm pleasantly surprised when it is back in my hands.

 

[colps]

I have had excellent results with optimo.I hope your issues are resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[daizawaguy]

Pre-Christmas is a time to avoid. Not an escuse for a bad job, but I would avoid a renovation (not much profit) at the busiest time. :rage:

 

[Fedora]

I am not surprised. They once reblocked two brand new Akubra Federations for me. I had bought 3 of Optimos Indy fedoras, liked the block and wanted that blockshape on my 2 new Akubras.

After getting the hats back, both sweatbands fell out of my hats in short order. Why?

Well, instead of snipping the stitches that hold a sweatband in place, he just grabbed the leather and ripped out my sweats by hand. He tore off most of the tape on the inside of the sweat that one must sew through to keep the sweatband in the hat.

This is not how you remove a sweatband folks. You just don't grab it and rip it out!! Any hatter knows that!

So, find yourself another hatter. Instead of a butcher. Because he sure as heck butchered two brand new hats of mine. That is my own personal experience with Optimo. And, I will never forget it. First iimpressions are lasting. He lost me real fast as a customer.

Then, back to the 3 Optimos I bought. I bought 3 of his Indy hats, because I was told, the hats were beaver. Well, turned out they were rabbit!!! Two strikes, and you are OUT in my world. Fedora

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Hmmmm....

Good days/bad days, at any hatter's business operation, I suppose.

I either take care of my own hat cleaning and creasing or accept the imperfections of the vintage hats I acquire.

Only once did I send a hat to Optimo and that was a very old and valuable Montecristi panama. It was not around any holiday times (a lucky accident on my part as I wouldn't have thought of that being a factor) and I was able to speak with Graham twice before the hat was cleaned, blocked and trimmed to my specs. I'm confident that he did the work himself, very carefully, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

It's very possible that as business picks up and work must be delegated to employees, the standards of quality become difficult to oversee and maintain while keeping the work moving through the house. I have owned businesses where my people made me look great at times and not so great at others. Also, I appreciated it when a customer who had a legitimate gripe about a human mistake would calmly contact me to explain the problem like a civilized adult and arrange a re-do before running around town telling everyone my company sucked.

 

[tonyb]

Also, I appreciated it when a customer who had a legitimate gripe about a human mistake would calmly contact me to explain the problem ...

Yup. I was once employed in what was essentially a PR position by a business that -- how shall I put this? -- provided many opportunities for me to earn my keep.

It didn't take long for me to realize that people who complained were often doing us a favor (provided the beef was reasonable, of course). They were giving us the opportunity to win back their trust. When they just stopped calling is when we lost 'em, usually forever.

 

[Quapaw]

As a newbie to this forum I rely fairly heavily....

Hmmmm....

Also, I appreciated it when a customer who had a legitimate gripe about a human mistake would calmly contact me to explain the problem like a civilized adult and arrange a re-do before running around town telling everyone my company sucked.

on the members opinions. I sent my Stetson 100, a hat I have owned for 25 years, to Optimo based on reviews of their work I read here.

At this point my personal experience has not been up to the standards I had previously read. I have a personal disdain for uncivility but from a newbie's perspective is the proper decorum to only post positive experiences here? I am not suggesting by any stretch to bash this or any other firm but the sharing of concern about poor quality or poor results is one of the things I look to the forum for direction on. If that is not allowed, I will seek my information via other sources.

From what I have read, Mr. Thompson appears to be a very astute businessman as well as a talented hatter. If the Holidays are too busy with the construction of new hats perhaps he should refuse the renovation jobs until his time permits. I believe Mr. Fawcett follows this particular course of action. During periods of heavy activity he politely refuses requests for renovation.

I didn't give much thought to the impact of the season but again I sent my hat to them in October. It does look like it might be coming back as a Christmas present at this point .

 

[Matt Deckard]

I don't think it was a personal attack. And this board is here to share experiences good and bad.

So your experience is welcome information. Being a bulletin board means posting here weighs on peoples egos at times and I've said enough bad things about companies to make people spit when my name is mentioned.

In the end... If people are reading and watching I think we end up with better hats.

You don't like what came back from Optimo.
Hopefully it can be cleaned better. If it can't I want to find out why.

 

[mayserwegener]

I have a Hückel Seal Velour currently at Optimo for a clean, block ,new sweatband, and liner. They received it around the 12th. I asked for the old sweat back which they sent me last week. I will report back how this one ends up.

BTW last month I sent them a Habig Homburg for a block, clean, and new ribbon/bow and it came out great. I have had them do other work in the past and it turned out ok. I only had one sweat replaced (1940 Habig Homburg) and it is still ok.

 

[Felt and Straw]

Just to set the record straight

Hmmmm....

Also, I appreciated it when a customer who had a legitimate gripe about a human mistake would calmly contact me to explain the problem like a civilized adult and arrange a re-do before running around town telling everyone my company sucked.

Everything of value I've learned about hats, I've learned from this forum. Within the forum there are certain people that educate others and then there are those like me that just kind of suck up that info and benefit from it. HPG is one of those people that I've learned a lot from and I appreciate those posts tremendously.

I work in a very large organization that relies heavily on internal email to communicate. One thing I've learned is that the written word is easily misunderstood. With verbal communication there is the inflection, the lift of an eyebrow... those telltale nonverbal clues that enable us to more easily understand the intention of the speaker. All that is lost in email (posts) so it is easy to misinterpret someones remarks...

When I read the post I too wanted to respond but I applied my office experience and realized that the post is correct. I too feel that it isn't honorable to inappropriately comment on a business, particularly in these times when so many people's livelihoods are tied to such tenuous economics. However, and here is where I want to make sure I don't sound defensive or irritated - because I am neither, I do think it is important to try to respectfully inform this community about the good experiences and the bad.

In my first post, in which I meant to be matter-of-fact rather than malicious, I noted that I would call then Friday and let everyone know how they handled it. Shortly thereafter I noted that I expected that they would take care of it... I am sure they will do what they can, but the fact that a 100 (or any hat) was treated this way is something I think I should share.

Since my first post two other loungers have noted experiences that I would never have expected. It never would have occurred to me to specifically note that I wanted a period accurate ribbon if one was being replaced. It just seems to go without saying to me. Thanks to Quapaw I'll now make sure I always note that. I also appreciate Fedora relating his experiences: wow!

The hat wasn't sent during what I though was the holiday period, it was sent in October.

So, just to set the record straight, I don't think Optimo sucks. They did a good job on the other two vintage hats I sent them (as I noted above). I do think they will be responsive and make it right (as I noted above). I'm not stinging from HPG's advice, because I think he is correct. If I left the impression that I am bashing Optimo I want to correct that right now, I'm not. I am, however, very surprised and disappointed with the work they did...

I'm gonna go binge on some turkey and make googly eyes at my wife and be thankful that my life is actually so good that I can sit at a computer and exchange experiences and experience with the rest of you on this Thanksgiving Day (for those of us in the states).

Peace and Cheers! :eusa_clap