Club Obi Wan

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Just my 3.5 cents. For those who wonder; no, I'm not waiting for a hat from Steve. Wish I was. But I know myself well enough - I could not take the current wait situation. I really do want one more... someday. And the wait will be worth it.

You do know that if you pay the new price the wait is only 6-8 weeks, right?

I must have paid a very old price. I'm still waiting since May 2008. I just hope my orders (3) didn't get lost.

Bruce Wayne wrote: You do know that if you pay the new price the wait is only 6-8 weeks, right?

Not with my luck. I'll order one and a week later something will gum up the works. Last time I ordered a hat, Steve announced the Indy 4 job a few days later! And the hat before that one was right before the first incident that screwed up his wait times. It's probably safer for everyone if I don't order.

Or maybe if you buy, now they will announce Indy 5.

Model # 25 looks like great knife. I prefer the 6" blade, myself. The stainless steel is harder to sharpen but what the heck...hunted with or not, it'll make a fine gift for your son. Use will increase its character. And it's worth the wait.

XPLSV wrote:I ordered the Model #25 Trapper, with the 6" blade option, stainless steel, the @25 handle, Nickel Silver Hilt with Aluminum Butt and a Nickel Silver Butt cap. Looking at my delayed shipment notice I received at the beginning of October, I guess I didn't order it until March of 2006...a couple months later than I thought. Scheduled for February 2011 delivery. I originally ordered it as a hunting knife...now I'm not so sure it won't just become a collectable that I hand down to my son someday...

I did just part with several vintage brown fedoras...there's plenty of room on the shelf now for the AB...maybe that will be good juju...

Indiana MarkVII wrote:I must have paid a very old price. I'm still waiting since May 2008. I just hope my orders (3) didn't get lost.

March '08 here. No word.

I am beginning to wonder if and when I am going to get my hat, been almost 3 years and still no hat. I know Steve has been working hard on our hats, just did not think it would take almost three years for my AB. I was hoping maybe I would get it for x-mas or even before, but I have not seen anything. Has anyone around here received an AB from Steve lately? I know he has other orders outside of COW so maybe he is still filling Dec. 2007 orders. Only Steve know where he stands on orders.

IndianaChris

Has ANYONE from 2008 received a hat yet?

Chewbacca Jones wrote:I agree that, if you get in line for an AB, you gotta know you're in for a long wait. Pure and simple. If you can't deal with that, stay off the line.

However, I think a lot of customer anxiety could be avoided if Steve did what John Penman does. Every once in a while, put up a brief post announcing where he is in the regular order pile and the reblock/repair pile, and maybe a general info update post if needs be. It would take five minutes out of every month in his life, and it would be very well spent in the long run. As it stands, by knowing nothing regarding his progress, a customer does not know when/if to be worried that his order was lost in shipping, or even accidentally missed. A small light at the end of the tunnel does wonders.

The other thing is, people always say that if you have a question, ask Steve. But they also say, Steve is too swamped to answer emails or phone calls. So, you're trapped. How do get information, when even the methods Steve advises does not work? It all comes down to communication. I truly believe that many of Steve's worries, and those of his customers, would evaporate with a few extra minutes work each month to communicate more on a mass scale (rather than the tedium of individual replies, except where unavoidable). Even if it meant he shipped 14 hats a week instead of 15, I think customers would see the peace of mind as worth it.

Just my 3.5 cents. For those who wonder; no, I'm not waiting for a hat from Steve. Wish I was. But I know myself well enough - I could not take the current wait situation. I really do want one more... someday. And the wait will be worth it.

THIS!

lantzn wrote:Has ANYONE from 2008 received a hat yet?

A lot of those orders are probably from folks who don't post on these boards.

I received a hat from Steve not long ago but it wasn't an Indy hat so the wait was not as long as he does not need to use the same Indy blocks and materials. It is frustrating, I know, but well worth the wait. And rest assured, Steve is still sending hats out. We are just a small percentage of his orders so it seems like forever for another member to receive a hat while hats are being received world round. Steve's customer service is excellent and I've never had too much trouble getting in contact with him. Just be patient and persistant, when trying to get in contact with him. Let us also not forget that he works seven days a week to keep up with the work load. Building and maintaining a blog like John does would mean taking time away from hats, which he feels and many of us on here feel he doesn't have either as I have witnessed on numerous occassions, folks jumping down Steve's throat whenever he seems to get a break. You will all get your hats. Steve isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Dave

gabrielle wrote:I ordered end of May 2007 right before the price went up. Still no hat. It will be 3 years this coming May. Should I be worried?!!!

We ordered at about the same time, I'm not worried.

Piker and gabrielle, I hope you mean you ordered May '08. May '07 will be four years in a few months, right? October '08 here. I'm not worried either. Just impatient! That's what makes this such a great thread.

Put in in perspective; I'm pretty sure he had more orders globally than we have members here!

Feels like four years anyway! Or longer! It'll be worth it though.

Bruce Wayne wrote:

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Just my 3.5 cents. For those who wonder; no, I'm not waiting for a hat from Steve. Wish I was. But I know myself well enough - I could not take the current wait situation. I really do want one more... someday. And the wait will be worth it.

You do know that if you pay the new price the wait is only 6-8 weeks, right?

Did the $400 price fall within that category?

lantzn wrote:

Bruce Wayne wrote:

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Just my 3.5 cents. For those who wonder; no, I'm not waiting for a hat from Steve. Wish I was. But I know myself well enough - I could not take the current wait situation. I really do want one more... someday. And the wait will be worth it.

You do know that if you pay the new price the wait is only 6-8 weeks, right?

Did the $400 price fall within that category?

Nope

lantzn wrote:Has ANYONE from 2008 received a hat yet?

Waiting on my Nov 2007 order.

XPLSV wrote:

lantzn wrote:Has ANYONE from 2008 received a hat yet?

Waiting on my Nov 2007 order.

Wow, I am not surprised by that considering, 500 order were placed in nov/dec 2007, that's a lot of hats. I thought we would be past those orders, apparently not. I am sure Steve is still working hard on these orders, hopefully you will get your hat soon.

IndianaChris

XPLSV wrote:

lantzn wrote:Has ANYONE from 2008 received a hat yet?

Waiting on my Nov 2007 order.

Yep, still waiting on my Dec 2007 hat.

I know Steve is hard at work on all those hats, but I haven't heard from him AT ALL. I just sent my payment via Paypal as he described on the AB website.

It's getting real hard to continue to convince my wife that we haven't been taken.

This is our most desperate hour, help us Steve, you're our only hope. <Sorry for THE OTHER movie franchise>

Evening all. My ABD ordered on 7th July 2008 arrived today. That's nearly two-and-a-half years, but it is a beautiful hat. Soft as butter.

Question: mine has a small wrinkle on the front brim just up by the ribbon. It's something I think I can live with in a handmade hat, but is this likely something caused in the production process or in transit,perhaps where the brim maybe folded up a little in the box...?

Just wondering.

I'm sure if it really bothers me, I can steam it out easily enough. Any suggestions?

swisslet wrote:Evening all. My ABD ordered on 7th July 2008 arrived today. That's nearly two-and-a-half years, but it is a beautiful hat. Soft as butter.

Question: mine has a small wrinkle on the front brim just up by the ribbon. It's something I think I can live with in a handmade hat, but is this likely something caused in the production process or in transit,perhaps where the brim maybe folded up a little in the box...?

Just wondering.

I'm sure if it really bothers me, I can steam it out easily enough. Any suggestions?

Wrinkle? I can't really picture what you might be talking about without, well, a picture.

I sent money for a hat on 2/11/08 and requested a paypal refund on 11/13/10, guess it's time to call Mr. Delk

I'm not sure that Steve is able to give refunds right now, I think there's a post about it here somewhere.

Excelsior!
Riothamus

Indeed, this is what Steve wrote back in July:

Me getting to and reponding to emails is a constant struggle. I get overwhelmed with the emails. And I have no doubt that I have missed some. It seems to be in regards to a refund, and the way I have had to handle those is I have to refund after I sell a hat. Why. Because I already bought up the bodies and parts to make the hat when you ordered. I refuned over 40 grand right before the economy crashed,and many had lost jobs and needed their hat order money to pay bills. I refunded until I ran out of refund money. What I can do, is to send you your hat body and the parts bought, and then the difference between that and what I charged you for it. So, I now have stacks of hat bodies that were bought for refunded orders. After this happened, awhile back, I posted a notice in the vendor section that I could no longer refund, due to this occurence.

The recession hurt alot of small business's, and I am not immune from it. And I refunded folks until I could not do it anymore, as it would cut into the operating expenses. I never really planned on being a banker, holding monies until someone lost their jobs, and found myself in that postion, and being the guy that I am, heck, I gave mucho money back, until I ran out and built up a huge inventory of bodies and parts. So, the recession kicked my tale to, not just the ones who got refunds. I recently got some money for the Henry, but those payments are not made to me in a timely manner, and I used all 2500 bucks of that for refunds on prior requests. I am struggling here, to keep all folks happy, and failing, it seems. So, if you want what was bought to make your hat, and then my profit on that hat, I can send that to you. Email me, with HAT BODY as the header so I can find it.

I hate it that this is the way that it is, but generally one does not have to refund so much, and the recession was the cause of it. And I turned into a savings institution for alot of folks. Hard to pull that off. Fedora

When you already have waited this long, it would be a shame to pull out. Steve is a very busy guy but he will eventually deliver a work of art!

bigrex wrote:I sent money for a hat on 2/11/08 and requested a paypal refund on 11/13/10, guess it's time to call Mr. Delk

You could probably sell off your spot. Always an idea.

Just to double check this....Steve IS just ONE man right?
In all seriousness, dealing with half the work on this thread alone would have kept him busy as all #### surely? Now compound that by how many people obviously want a decent hat and found his company before, during and after the release of Indy IV and what you have is a guy who is trying (and doing it pretty ###### well in all honesty) to keep a business like his going...I'd second the call to cut him a lot of slack here...It's all our faults this isn't the nice, comfortable process we'd all love it to be...If only we'd all ordered in a slow and timely fashion, one after the other eh?
I dunno...I'd say just leave it..It'll come when it comes, and when it comes you'll love the guy so much you'll line up for another and make his life pace that much faster...
Steve is a good bloke, and I'm waiting as long as it takes for him to deliver all that I asked for...If he doesn't feel like chatting to me by email every day, well, I'll have to find a way to live with "life-after-Steve"...
It's worth the wait, we all know it, and the ones who waited know it better than the rest of us...
Let's all just cut him some slack eh?

fifthchamber wrote: Let's all just cut him some slack eh?

Its not that anybody does or doesn't - for those waiting 2 1/2 - 3 years, sometimes the ratio of waiting finished vs the unknown of how much waiting is left makes ANYONE anxious.

fifthchamber wrote:Just to double check this....Steve IS just ONE man right?
In all seriousness, dealing with half the work on this thread alone would have kept him busy as all #### surely?

I absolutely agree, and don't call me Shirley.

I absolutely agree, and don't call me Shirley.

That man will be missed....RIP...

And yeah, I HAVE to stop calling people Shirley, my girlfriend gets jealous that I have so many female mates...It's not a wise idea..

Its not that anybody does or doesn't - for those waiting 2 1/2 - 3 years, sometimes the ratio of waiting finished vs the unknown of how much waiting is left makes ANYONE anxious.

And yeah, I can understand that some people might be a little worried to have had no contact from him, but then they'll have to remember as well that if he was able to reply to them all they SHOULD be more worried since it would mean he wasn't working...So I'd suggest that some perspective gets applied to the situation..That's all...##### about it is fine, but perhaps not here since it just makes everyone more worried...(and that's what we have friends and loved ones for!)

I'm just suggesting that since people KNEW what they were asking for when they ordered, and were aware of the fairly long waiting lines, they should have anticipated a fair delay in getting their goods..That's all (I feel a major part of the problem is that most of us in the west are so "fast-food" crazy that if we order and it takes a while to make or prepare we start to freak out and worry about dying soon...Kinda funky no?).

Besides which, if you've already been okay waiting 2 years or more, there's not much actually "missing" is there? When it arrives you'll have forgotten about the whole thing so it'll be even better, and stress just kills you slowly..So, that's why I think we should consider the pressures on Steve a little more before mouthing off here.. That's all..

What do I know?

Regards.

fifthchamber wrote: I'm just suggesting that since people KNEW what they were asking for when they ordered, and were aware of the fairly long waiting lines, they should have anticipated a fair delay in getting their goods..That's all (I feel a major part of the problem is that most of us in the west are so "fast-food" crazy that if we order and it takes a while to make or prepare we start to freak out and worry about dying soon...Kinda funky no?).

I purposely try to stay out of contributing to this thread. I'm waiting on a hat, and I'm perfectly fine waiting. I know that when I receive my grey train hat made with a body from the same batch as Harrison's, I'll be ecstatic.

I'm just tired of people suggesting and/or assuming that all of the customers (at least the ones from the board) "KNEW" about the extended wait times. First off, the Adventurebilt website didn't have a lead time listed on it for quite some time (I know it didn't when I ordered mine, and it didn't for awhile after that). The only way you could have "known" about the lead times was if you were reading all the threads discussing them. Just because you are a member here, active reader or not, that doesn't mean you were aware of the lead times. I for one don't read every thread on the board, and I'm sure others don't either.

My hat purchase was an impulse buy. I heard through the grapevine that there were grey bodies still available and contacted Steve about it. He said there were a few available, and I bought one. I didn't spend time on the board reading about the hats and deciding whether I wanted one or not. I am lucky enough to own a hat he made in 2005 and am thrilled with the quality. I didn't need to research the product. I trust what I own and the man who made it. So, at the time of my purchase, I had no idea what the lead time was. In fact, I even told Steve that I wasn't concerned about the lead time as long as he was guaranteeing me a grey body from the production-used batch.

Just to summarize, I am not complaining about the lead time. I am happy to wait for my hat. I am not here to tell people to stop wondering about the status of their hat order. I am just asking people to stop assuming that the entire world, including every individual who actually ordered a hat, "KNEW" what the lead time on an Adventurebilt hat was when they ordered it. I didn't (it wouldn't have stopped me, but I didn't).

That's all I wanted to say.

Mike

Heya Mike...

In my self defense, I'm not the kind of person to do so much research about things like that either, and I can understand why you'd be defensive about that....Although I wasn't referencing you when I mentioned that most people should have understood...

Perhaps if I can write it more clearly, I think that everyone knew (from the start) that Steve was a one man operation...That would automatically mean that there was a fair possibility of a delay in getting anything more than say two hats a week made smoothly right?

Then add that knowledge to the fact that it's clear (just from the length of this thread, but try any of the others referencing Adventurebilt) that there were a LOT of people wanting his hat-making skill at (pretty much) the same time and you have to expect a certain time lag..

That's all I meant...Even if you've NEVER looked online, you could still predict a fair delay from a very popular one-man-show and even more so if the product is something as consuming as hat making...
I wouldn't want you to assume that I'm saying it's unconscionable that people want to know about their hats, but more that complaining about it in public is just pointless (unless you like scaring people, worrying others, and annoying the seller as well..)

I guess my point is this, if you were sitting in the pub, and Steve was sitting next to you, you chatting with mates, and he with his, would you want him hearing about your complaints about something that really should have been expected from the start? That's all...I think it's just rather impolite to use a public forum like this to complain to Steve...(Even if he DOESN'T reply to your emails..).

And I don't mean you...At all...It's clear you're not complaining...I'm sorry to offend you..
I just don't think any of us owe Steve any different than what we'd give him face to face....

That's all..

That's just my opinion..And (not always) worth the entire cent I paid for it back in 1978...

Regards.

fifthchamber,

I wasn't necessarily complaining about your comment; yours just happened to be the most recent one and available for quote. If you look at the previous page of this thread, there are a number of posts where people say that the customers knew about the lead time.

It is just that some of the members here have complained about the "customer service" (i.e. lack of communication and unexpected lead times) and then other members chime in with a "you knew what you were getting into, stop complaining" comment. I'm just stating that the it wasn't common knowledge and it wasn't advertised. People do have a legitimate complaint, but others are trivializing it.

fifthchamber wrote:I guess my point is this, if you were sitting in the pub, and Steve was sitting next to you, you chatting with mates, and he with his, would you want him hearing about your complaints about something that really should have been expected from the start? That's all...I think it's just rather impolite to use a public forum like this to complain to Steve...(Even if he DOESN'T reply to your emails..).

If it were something that should have been expected from the start, then there should be no complaints. If it wasn't something that was to be expected, I do believe that people have a right to complain/vent. And if you don't receive replies to your emails (or receive any type of status update in the 3 years since you ordered), then you probably would complain more.

Once again, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that a lot of people seem to think that customers don't have a reason or justification for their comments. I believe Steve is doing all he can to fill all the orders as quickly as possible, and I appreciate that.

Mike

Two or three years is a long time to wait for anything, period. Most people are not prepared to wait for something like this, or the aforementioned custom knives, or other custom hand made items, because most folks just don't buy stuff like that very often. It's not convenient to wait for, and most of the time these items are quite expensive.

Bottom line is Steve got swamped, and the volume surpassed what he estimated, causing the wait time to skyrocket, and bury him. I guess nobody really KNEW, not even Steve. So we wait. I imagine he's as frustrated as we are.

I ordered back in November 2007. As I recall from that time period, people were hoping to get their hats by the time Indy 4 came out. I never would have thought that the wait time would have been 3+ years on the day I placed my order. From the talk about getting hats by the release date of Indy 4, I honestly thought there would be a chance that I might get a hat by then.

That has obviously not been the case. I honestly feel that Steve was truly swamped by the volume of orders that came through and I honestly do not fault him for that. He had no idea...

To that extent, I'm content to wait. I think a majority of the COW members feel the same way. Obviously, some folks who placed orders do not feel that way. I don't feel any urge to put pressure on Steve...but I ponder the idea of placing some sort of info on his site as per the status of current orders being filled, eg 7 1/4's from November 2007, 7's from December 2007, 7 3/8's from October 2007, etc. It is likely some folks might not be appreciative that there are different time lags for different sizes as he only has so many blocks to be working hats at a given instance in time...but it would go a long way when it comes to those of us concerned about where we stand and whether our order is still in the "queue." Pluses and minuses on this idea, to be sure.

Steve, if you're reading this, I certainly believe your heart is in the right place and you're doing the best you can to handle the avalanche of orders you never expected. Keep pluggin' along

jnicktem wrote:

bigrex wrote:I sent money for a hat on 2/11/08 and requested a paypal refund on 11/13/10, guess it's time to call Mr. Delk

You could probably sell off your spot. Always an idea.

jnicktem,

Yes, I was contacted by someone offering to take my place, that sounds like a win for everyone if acceptable. I know Steve is honest and will produce the hat as soon as he can all in good time, but looking at the economy (annoying on my part since I've waited this long) I think it wisest to call it quits on the hat if I can. I'm going to try to call Steve and see what can be done. I've done the math and wait times are going to be getting longer until the influx of orders right around the time of the Crystal Skull are filled. I estimate a solid three years+, but I hope I'm wrong.

Thank-you,

Rex

bigrex wrote:I sent money for a hat on 2/11/08 and requested a paypal refund on 11/13/10, guess it's time to call Mr. Delk

I ordered March '08, and thought about getting a refund a couple times. I'm glad I forced myself to wait before sending that email; especially for the (low) amount we paid back then!

When 5 rolls around, we're gonna be glad we waited it out and got our hats from 'THE' man!

...I wouldn't mind an update though.

I asked Steve about a possible change to an order he's working on for me sometime soon and he replied quickly, so I'd guess that his lack of emails just means he has to be real conservative about his online time now...Shame, but it is what it is..
Not much of an update, but for what it's worth he's still doing well.

So does ANYONE have ANY IDEA where Steve is in the que?

Travis

Hollowpond wrote:So does ANYONE have ANY IDEA where Steve is in the que?

Travis

Unavailable for comment.

Just a comment, if anyone wants to turn over your place in line to someone else, or sell your spot to them, Steve is all right with that arrangement. I'm going through that process right now as someone make a couple payments to me and has contacted Steve for an order in my stead.

Yea that's what I had to end up doing. Just passed 2 1/2 yrs and finally broke. I know Ill regret it but thats life. I know the new owner will enjoy the hat more so Its for the best. Maybe now that I dont have the wait time keeping me away I can start posting more on the board.
Best Regards,
Joe

Well today marks 3 years since I e-mailed Steve for an order for a hat, and got a quick response back. If I have waited this long I am sticking with it. I don't want to put any pressure on Steve or anything, I know I will get my hat eventually, I just hope its not another year. I know Steve is busy making all our hats, and I know it is hard for some to keep waiting when they have put good money on the line, and eventually have to ask for a refund. I guess we will figure out Steve is in his que when he is available to comment on the matter. I have waited 3 years and I am sure it will be worth it.

IndianaChris

A lot of those orders that Steve is filling right now are most likely not from COW members, so I wouldn't necessarily be alarmed that nobody has posted a new hat in a while.

Yep, we were just a tip of the iceberg.

Regard! Michaelson

Is THAT why it's so cold in here?

Hollowpond wrote:So does ANYONE have ANY IDEA where Steve is in the que?

Travis

Well...I'm awaiting my 7 3/8 LO November 2007 order, if that helps. Latter part of the month. Don't really have any idea with regard to the massive order amount of that month, though...

Bernie