Club Obi Wan

My carbon grey Fed 4 reg. I ordered on 10/20 just arrived in Los Angeles. Bashing and steaming as I type this. It's not up to the the Keppler that I have but it's still a fine hat.

This are the pics from my new hats.

This is the package and the content. You can see a carbon gray and a dark brown federation.

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0570.jpg
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0572.jpg
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0574.jpg

I want to read your opinions about my bash. This is my first bash so don't be so cruel. I'm trying to get a crystal skull bash, I believe.

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0605.jpg
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0608.jpg
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq34 ... MG0610.jpg

What do you think?

Better late then ever! It did come today, just in time...

ronkiyo, those are sweet. It looks like a good Crystal Skull bash to me. I love the Carbon, it's the one I wear all the time (Well it was the only one I had until now.) Bashing is the best thing ever! Have fun with it.

BelloqObama wrote:ronkiyo, those are sweet. It looks like a good Crystal Skull bash to me. I love the Carbon, it's the one I wear all the time (Well it was the only one I had until now.) Bashing is the best thing ever! Have fun with it.

Thank you, thank you. It was worth the wait.

Great set of hats, Ronkiyo.

Congratulations.

The bash looks fine to me.

I always did think the one in your avatar looked a little 'plastic'...

BelloqObama, great job on the bash and distressing. Looks awesome.

By the way, I have a good feeling this morning.

I believe that my hat will come today.

Indiana Joosse wrote:By the way, I have a good feeling this morning.

I believe that my hat will come today.

That's the spirit.

Thanks for your comment, by the way.

I was just told a hat came to NJ by hats direct and NJ being so close to NY gives me a lot of hopee!!!

Wee, that teaches me not to trust my feelings...

No hat today, I'm afraid...

IT came Just delighted will post pictures later!

To those of you that have not received you Feds, I feel your pain. I paid extra money for my Fed to arrive by Halloween, but it didn't.
Today's the fifth day and if it doesn't get here today I am going to be very dissappointed. So Fed, please show up today!

Well, no hat for me today again.



Guess I'm going to have to contact them. They did say not to be patient...

Edit: Drat, they said contact them after fourteen days...

It's here! It was waiting at my front door when I got home tonight. Yay!

Congratulations Twilekjedi!

Now let's see some pictures!



By the way, I have a good feeling again. I'm sure my hat is going to come in today!

No hat again today...

I just received my fed! I can't wait to bash it!

One Federation Dlx Moonstone on the way as of today if I am correct. Let's see how long it takes to get to Wisconsin.

It has now been fourteen days, so I sent them a message.

I have to say that I am only doing this because they themselves said not to be patient. Personally I think fourteen days is actually not that long, considering it has to come from Australia.

But I thought it best, in case anything was wrong.

Hey ronkiyo nice hat. Is that a standard Fed IV or a FED IV deluxe?
Nice job on the bash. Looks great

IndyGeek78 wrote:Hey ronkiyo nice hat. Is that a standard Fed IV or a FED IV deluxe?
Nice job on the bash. Looks great

They both are standard.

Edit - I deleted my posting because it was too much of a gripe. Hatsdirect is a company that is willing to go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service. I have nothing but respect for them.

The various delivery services are a completely different matter.

Definetley going to get a FED IV now after seeing how good it looks. Was a bit worried it wouldnt match what I had in mind but it exceeds what I had in my mind. Sweet

Any news Joosse?

Cammer wrote:Edit - I deleted my posting because it was too much of a gripe. Hatsdirect is a company that is willing to go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service. I have nothing but respect for them.

The various delivery services are a completely different matter.

Well played, Cammer! Place the blame where it truly belongs!

HIGH regard! Michaelson

twilekjedi wrote:Any news Joosse?

Nope, nothing yet.

Not really...

Been in touch with hatsdirect, and they said it might be held up at customs. So I suppose that could be seen as news...

So, you going to be posting pics soon?

I feel like quoting Joe Cocker...

Yay Ive ordered a Fed IV. Nows it's just a case of waiting and twidiling my thumbs.

Michaelson wrote:

Cammer wrote:Edit - I deleted my posting because it was too much of a gripe. Hatsdirect is a company that is willing to go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service. I have nothing but respect for them.

The various delivery services are a completely different matter.

Well played, Cammer! Place the blame where it truly belongs!

HIGH regard! Michaelson

Thank you Michaelson. After re-reading my post I realized that the negative vibe might be misconstrued as the fault of Hatsdirect. And since it was a nonproductive gripe/rant that had nothing to do with them it really wasn't worth posting anyway.

Now for an update - Jenny emailed me back within two hours. She said that she was shipping out a replacement hat sized one cm smaller. She also said that she would talk to me about what to do with the first hat after I received the replacement. So I went ahead and upgraded the shipping option to the Courier service. It cost another $15 or so, but I might have better luck with the hat condition upon arrival, not to forget mention of the tracking and faster delivery. About two hours after our last email I recieved a tracking number that indicated my replacement hat was already on it's way to me. All of this within FOUR HOURS of receiving the first hat!! Incredible.

This experience goes to show that Hatsdirect really seems to understand world class customer service. They are one of the best I've ever dealt with. :tup:

Cammer wrote: After re-reading my post I realized that the negative vibe might be misconstrued as the fault of Hatsdirect. And since it was a nonproductive gripe/rant that had nothing to do with them it really wasn't worth posting anyway.

While I understand and respect you reasons to delete the post I am happy that I was able to read it myself. I in no way took it as the fault of Hats Direct except possibly improper packaging. That tiny possibility aside I have dealt with pretty much all the big players in the shipping industry over the years and no matter how they try to be nice...they are brutal to your packages. I once watched a program which many here may have seen, about the design of packaging materials and boxes in particular. It was an interesting show which allowed an inside look at what our precious cargoes go through on a normal delivery....if you wish to test your packing skills first play T-ball with your box; if it passes then you might be good to go. So when something ship as far as these hats. I am not surprised to hear of a abused box, though I can surely understand your frustration.

Indiana Joosse wrote:So, you going to be posting pics soon?

Just did on the Fed IV Display Page

viewtopic.php?t=28726

I've had one hat from Hats Direct where the box had a distinct foot shaped hole in it, miraculously the hat survived unscathed. They could do with stronger boxes or perhaps double skinned boxes. As for most people their hats are travelling quite a long way.

when i had bought my Fed IV earlier this year it went from Australia to massachusetts in a week and a half. ive bought stuff from new york that didnt arrive so fast. Make sure when you take a pic to send it back to them, they love seeing us rocking out their hats.

Mark Brody wrote:Looks like a lot of people are taking advantage of that exchange rate after all.

Well, they're getting good business from all of us! Haha, I just ordered mine and can't wait.

Mine arrived this afternoon with box damaged but hat in fine condition.

Still no hat for me...

I wasn't really too worried about it, until I received this message from Jenny at hatsdirect:

"Hi Evert,

It's getting to the stage when it's not funny anymore. I have another customer in the Netherlands who ordered his hat on 3rd October and it still hasn't arrived either!!! Not sure what is going on.

I will check things again at our end and see if we can shed any light on the situation.

Cheers Jenny"

Oh, boy....

Indiana Joosse wrote:Still no hat for me...

I wasn't really too worried about it, until I received this message from Jenny at hatsdirect:

"Hi Evert,

It's getting to the stage when it's not funny anymore. I have another customer in the Netherlands who ordered his hat on 3rd October and it still hasn't arrived either!!! Not sure what is going on.

I will check things again at our end and see if we can shed any light on the situation.

Cheers Jenny"

Oh, boy....

My wife loves Wicked Weasel bikinis so over the last couple of years I have purchased several items from Australia, including my Fed IV dlx, and none of them have ever taken more than 9 days to arrive, including weekend days. I really like Jenny, but 5-6 weeks and just now starting to be concerned?

Cammer wrote: My wife loves Wicked Weasel bikinis

;0
LOL

Marty

I bought me a Fed from Australia
and it took a long time in the mail-ya
But it came just the same
now I know why they claim
that Hat Direct will never fail ya!

BurmaShave!

The Librarian wrote:

Cammer wrote: My wife loves Wicked Weasel bikinis

;0
LOL

Marty

Sorry Marty! Can't post them on THIS forum. But they are out there, she has done some modeling...

I think the service at Hatsdirect is excellent. This is the latest reply I received from Jenny:

Hi Evert,

Don't worry. If we can leave it another week to see if anything turns up. If not , we will send you a replacement hat via EMS Courier and lodge an insurance claim. There will be no additional charge to you.

Keep in touch.

Cheers Jenny

---

So that made me feel a lot better. Whatever happens, I'll still get my hat. I do not believe I could hope for more.

Oh and Cammer, the least you could do is post the link....

Just another post praising Hats Direct's customer service, and condemning indifferent parcel handlers.

I ordered my Fed IV in early June. I received shipping notification the next day and my hat arrived eight days later (Australia to Southern California).

Though the shipping carton wasn't punctured, one end was crushed inward 3 to 4 inches. While this didn't really damage the hat, it did push the front of the brim upwards (towards the crown). The deformity remained after I removed the hat from the carton, which indicates to me that the carton was crushed not long after it was shipped (i.e., long enough to hold the brim in this position for several days). This may explain why I've had some difficulty shaping the brim to my liking; it certainly couldn't be my inexperience in bashing/crown shaping...

That said, with the service I received and the quality of the hat, I wouldn't hesitate to order from Hats Direct again.

The first hat that I described a few posts up is still very deformed along the brim. The crown has regained it's shape fairly well and should be fine, but the brim has four very distinct creases that will need professional help. I would work with this hat and try to fix it, but it will be going back to Australia when I get the replacement, hopefully today or tomorrow.

The brim creases are very similar to the creases that I noticed on Indy's hat in KOTCS when I watched it again the other night. Given that they might actually look pretty good, but I guess I would feel better about it if I had done the distressing instead of the evilhatsmashingdeliverypeople (EHSDP). I should send an email to the Hollywood prop people and tell them a great way to distress Indy's hat for the next movie would be to just send it to Australia and back.

Friday my hat was in Los Angeles customs awaiting release, I'll check momentarily to see if the tracking has been updated. I had the replacement sent via courier so I could track it and to reduce the time spent in the clutches of the EHSDP.

EDIT - just tracked it and got this message: "Your item was processed at the international processing centre UNITED STATES - USLAXA at 14:31 on 10 Nov 2008, and has been transferred for delivery processing."

I can just imagine all the customs agents saying to each other; "What's with all these brown fedoras coming from Australia? Hey Bob, how is that one fitting you? You know, the one that was supposed to go to some guy in Oosterbeek, Netherlands?"
--------
Indiana Joosse - I will find a link that is family friendly. I don't want to post a link here that goes further than the Indy movies (PG-13). You have been through so much hat trauma that you deserve at least that. ;-)

5 days from Australia to Scotland. Superb. What a hat. Cant say anything else. It rocks. As soon as I work out how to I'll post pics.

My new replacement hat arrived today!!

A total of 5 and a half days since I got the tracking number in my email.

Cammer wrote:
I can just imagine all the customs agents saying to each other; "What's with all these brown fedoras coming from Australia? Hey Bob, how is that one fitting you? You know, the one that was supposed to go to some guy in Oosterbeek, Netherlands?"

To qoute Short Round: Ha, ha, very funny...

Cammer wrote:Indiana Joosse - I will find a link that is family friendly. I don't want to post a link here that goes further than the Indy movies (PG-13). You have been through so much hat trauma that you deserve at least that. ;-)

Thanks Cammer.

Why don't you just send it to my email adress.

That would make my wife very happy...

That's happy spelt D - I - V - O - R - C - E

We all know the song...

;-)

Thanks for the sympathy though.

Sigh.

For anybody out there keeping track:

the hat has still not arrived.

Indiana Joosse wrote:Sigh.

For anybody out there keeping track:

the hat has still not arrived.

I actually was keeping track and waiting for you to post something on this.

I say that it is time to email Jenny back and let her know that it hasn't arrived. That way she can get the insurance claim going and get a new hat in the mail to you.

You are being much more patient than I would have been!

I agree. Something's gone terribly awry here. Well, shoot, I was hoping that your next post would be with good news.

Thanks for the support guys.

I have actually been in almost daily email contact with Jenny, letting her know that it hasn't turned up yet and making quips about what the people in customs were doing with all the hats. Yesterday I also asked her if the other customer from the Netherlands had received his hat yet. This was the reply I received today:
---
Hi Evert,

No, neither hat has arrived yet. Obviously a great hat collection happening in customs.

We had a hat come back to us which we sent to Germany in June this year and it only just came back to us last week. The hat has had a wonderful time travelling around the world! This doesn't happen often but when it does we do our best to get another hat to our customers as quickly as possible.

As I said before, if it hasn't arrived by next week, we will send you another hat via EMS Courier.

Cheers Jenny
---

As you can imagine, this is not making me very hopefull....