Club Obi Wan

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:49 pm**

As the title says I have been trying to contact Steve Delk about my order for some time now, with emails and a few pms, but I haven't gotten any response.

So, dose anyone know how to contact him?

Thanks

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:56 pm**

If you really need to contact him in a hurry, try calling him.

I have always had good luck with e-mails though. Sometimes you just need to be patient though.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:04 pm**

Isn't his number something that just rings and rings and rings? I thought the best way to get ahold of him was to just keep sending e-mails ... plodding along until you got an answer. I even snail mailed him, once.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:06 pm**

Thanks for the tips.

I heard somewhere that his spam filter some times cleans more than it should. Which makes me wondering if, because I use hotmail, my emails were getting filtered out?

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:09 pm**

I use hotmail too, and mine get through. Also make sure your subject line clearly states what you need, like: "REGARDING ORDER."

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:22 pm**

Just go to him - second star on the right and straight on till morning

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:41 pm**

Just go to him - second star on the right and straight on till morning

Oh ok, I didn't know he lives in neverland.

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:22 am**

It's just the feeling you get when you get your AB - like it came from someplace quite from out of this world

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:47 am**

I'd add to that that if you don't believe in Steve, you probably won't get a reply either.. Belief goes a long way...

He does seem to have a window for emails.. It's usually best to email and reply at about 10.30pm Japan time.. I've found.. So perhaps aiming for that window would see you have more success?

But basically like Nick says, you just need to keep trying and make sure he can see that the email isn't junk or spam

Good luck..

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:25 am**

It may be that your e-mails are getting routed to his spam folder. I can remember only once that I did not get a reply back from Steve within a day or so. After a week, I resent the e-mail from a different e-mail address and got a response back from him. He has said that he dedicates some time in the mornings (from about 7-9am, I believe) to reading and answering e-mails. Now, that is central time, but that may be your best bet. If he sees an e-mail coming in while on, he may read it then. I've also called him and always been able to reach someone. His mother always answers and will either hand the phone off to him or take a message, depending on how busy he is at the moment. PMs, however, he has said repeatedly, are not a good way to contact him. Hope this helps.

Dave

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:45 am**

True about his mother taking the calls, but the number folks have is HER HOUSE number. His shop located out in a portable trailer behind her house.

That's why I never call him anymore myself. I have had several enjoyable conversations with her in the past, but I imagine the amount of business Steve has received in the past 2 years has pretty much overwelmed her. I wonder if she's answering the phone anymore if she doesn't recognize the phone number?

Regards! Michaelson

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:11 pm**

I, as well, have sent emails to him in the past with better luck than I do now. About a year ago, he was answering them diligently and within a day or two of my sending them. Now, however, he hasn't returned the latest one of mine and that's been, geez I can't remember. Not saying I'm mad or disappointed as I know how busy he is, I just wanted to chime in and let others know they're not alone, as well as to say that whenever I've tried "calling" him, I always got his mother. And all I can say is, if you're not afraid of calling and, therefore, bothering her (after all, you know from what others, as well as myself, have been saying - you'll get her and not Steve), I say go for it. You WILL NOT find a sweeter, more down-to-earth lady that side of the Mississippi River. She's worth the call and always appreciates the support of her son's fans and customers.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:45 am**

The "best" way might be a tad impractical, showing up on his doorstep

.
Good luck, I hope you are able to contact him, I've had troubles in the past, but eventually was able to get him, does take perserverence though, busy guy.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:33 pm**

I thought Steve was retiring or taking less orders now?

I don't think it's ever been terribly easy to get a hold of him. Of course it's gotten worse over the years thanks to the last film. In general I just think anyone thinking about going into business or already has a business should always keep in mind that the most important part of it is keeping the line of communication between you and your costumer open and make yourself as easily accessible as possible. If you know you're going to be very busy then make the necessary arrangements to meet your costumers needs.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:12 pm**

True, but Steve is the ONLY person in this business. He has no secretary or hired help. And I'm sure if it were in the cards, he might have someone for such duties. In fact, he did try having an assistant once, and it went horribly wrong as the individual took advantage of him. I can't see him wanting to make that mistake twice. Unlike Peter, who has Gemma and others working for him, Steve is a 100% one man operation, The more time he takes answering e-mails and calls, the less time he has for his backlog of orders and actually producing the hats people are waiting for.

Steve is truly old school when it comes to his business. If it wasn't for Crystal Skull, the wait wouldn't be nearly as long. But the fact of the matter is that the movie produced an incredible amount of orders for a one man shop. The only reason he raised his prices was to cut down on the demand, but by that time, the backlog was in place.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:44 pm**

All I'm saying is that customer inquiries regarding their order status or wishing to cancel an order should be handled in a timely fashion. It's fairly common knowledge that Steve is busy and is a one man operation. However IF a sufficient amount of time has passed and the customer needs to get a hold of Steve about their order they shouldn't have to take up a small quest in order to reach him.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:01 pm**

Here's what Steve posted July of last year concerning the refund question:

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

If you do a search regarding this topic using the search function, all these questions are answered several times over by Steve. Nothing has changed in the way he's doing business, with the exception that he's had health issues between those postings and now, so that's also put him behind.

Regards! Michaelson

Posted: **Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:01 pm**

I didn't know about his health issues. I do hope he's feeling better.

Moderators, given the order wait times of 3-5 years and an understandable communication backlog, would it not make sense for a sticky one-way status thread? That is- Steve or an appointed responsible moderator/friend would maintain a sticky thread, only for Steve's approved updates, on the fedora or vendor or bazaar forum, that is updated at least monthly or quarterly with a brief general status/outlook of his business/production/orders/health. That would save him the burden of answering tons of similar inquiries that he receives, while satisfying his fans'/customers' curiosity. I think a single periodic update for his eager customers here is not too much to expect, and is not too burdensome for him or moderators to maintain. What do you think?

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 8:31 pm**

We are not his only customers. He has literally hundreds of orders OTHER than those made by members of COW.

If he decides to post information like that, he would do so in the vendor section. Otherwise, no, making this a stickie will not work, as he rarely has time to look at COW anymore as it is, and like I said, we're not the only orders on his plate. He's working on the orders as they come up in his order book, regardless of their affiliation with COW.

What you propose would cause him to have to pull away from his bench to try and separate COW orders from other orders to offer update information.

If we did it for him, we'd have to do it for every vendor we have as as members here.

We are a gear research/discussion site. Not a vendor order clerical office.

Sorry.

Regards! Michaelson

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 5:41 pm**

I ordered a Fedora from Steve back in March 2008. This was just before the CS came out. I knew he was backed logged, so I didn't hound him with emails. I don't want a refund, I would like the Fedora. I have waited this long, so I don't mind waiting, but he has not returned my emails in over a year when I send them periodically looking for an update. I am begining to think, that I won't ever see the fedora. What should I do?

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 7:05 pm**

Solo wrote:I ordered a Fedora from Steve back in March 2008. This was just before the CS came out. I knew he was backed logged, so I didn't hound him with emails. I don't want a refund, I would like the Fedora. I have waited this long, so I don't mind waiting, but he has not returned my emails in over a year when I send them periodically looking for an update. I am begining to think, that I won't ever see the fedora. What should I do?

I can't speak for Steve other than say he has always delivered a hat. may take a long time because of the overwhelming orders but he will deliver. That I know.

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 7:12 pm**

BendingOak wrote:
Solo wrote:I ordered a Fedora from Steve back in March 2008. This was just before the CS came out. I knew he was backed logged, so I didn't hound him with emails. I don't want a refund, I would like the Fedora. I have waited this long, so I don't mind waiting, but he has not returned my emails in over a year when I send them periodically looking for an update. I am begining to think, that I won't ever see the fedora. What should I do?

I can't speak for Steve other than say he has always delivered a hat. may take a long time because of the overwhelming orders but he will deliver. That I know.

I guess my real question is, Have other members here received a fedora from Steve that have placed an order after 2008?

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 7:50 pm**

That I can't say.

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 7:55 pm**

"After 2008"? I ordered in 2010 at the new prices and got a hat in the time he states on the Adventurebilt website...

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 8:07 pm**

I haven't been on this forum as much as I would like to or should be.

I wasn't aware of Steve's price increase, Personally I would willing to pay extra money in addition to what I already sent him, to meet his new increased price if I was guarenteed that I would get the fedora that I ordered.

Posted: **Wed May 11, 2011 8:30 pm**

If you are willing to pay the difference from what you already paid to his current price, you would be able to get your fedora in about six weeks. If you send Steve an e-mail make sure you put something in the subject line that you are changing your order.

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2011 3:11 pm**

Everyone is typing in ALL CAPS. Maybe it is time to try something different?

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2011 3:14 pm**

Bruce Wayne wrote:Everyone is typing in ALL CAPS. Maybe it is time to try something different?

I think everyone has beat that horse to death already.

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2011 6:44 pm**

What I was refering to is that I don't type in all caps & I always get a response by the next day.

Posted: **Sun May 15, 2011 8:21 pm**

Michaelson wrote:We are not his only customers. He has literally hundreds of orders OTHER than those made by members of COW.

What you propose would cause him to have to pull away from his bench to try and separate COW orders from other orders to offer update information.

If we did it for him, we'd have to do it for every vendor we have as as members here.

At least here we have an outlet for some form of information. I cannot imagine what Steve's hundreds of non-COW customers are thinking and doing after three-year waits and no communication from the vendor for two years. They must be contacting the BBB and Paypal by now.

Regarding sticky status thread- understood. However, I was not proposing that an admin necessarily do it and not proposing info with that level of specificity. As stated- perhaps a general status of orders posted by Steve or his rep, like "Orders from March 2008 shipping now" perhaps once a month or once a quarter. If that's too much to expect, then I'll just resume my hopeful waiting and keep my counsel. Admins often seem to speak on Steve's behalf in his absence, so I thought admins would also be able to mitigate. I didn't intend to imply that was the only option though.

It is frustrating, if true and for the same type hat, that 2010 orders are shipping before 2008 orders, regardless of pricing. I paid full price as of 2008; others paid full price as of 2010. I really hope that is not true.

Again, I email Steve periodically and have received no communication for nearly two years. It's not the wait alone but the additional lack of communication which is frustrating and I hope that is understandable to others. Sometimes beating a dead horse is helpful for those who need to occasionally vent and to acquire some apparent, even if not real, news.

Posted: **Sun May 15, 2011 11:50 pm**

belloq wrote: However, I was not proposing that an admin necessarily do it and not proposing info with that level of specificity.

Only an admin can stickie a post. That's why an adm. replied.

As stated- perhaps a general status of orders posted by Steve or his rep, like "Orders from March 2008 shipping now" perhaps once a month or once a quarter. If that's too much to expect, then I'll just resume my hopeful waiting and keep my counsel.

That's entirely up to Steve. He has no 'rep'. He's a one man show.

Admins often seem to speak on Steve's behalf in his absence, so I thought admins would also be able to mitigate. I didn't intend to imply that was the only option though.

There have been replies from adms., owners of AB's and other hat makers throughout this entire thread. It's not the job of the adm. to 'mitigate' for any vendor here.

Speaking for myself, I only reply because those are the facts as I know them, and I have posted them for others to have the same information I have.

I have not been able to raise Steve either, so I'm hoping he's ok as well.
Regards! Michaelson

Posted: **Mon May 16, 2011 1:36 pm**

As always, thanks for the info, and I do hope he's alright and able to communicate soon as well.

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2011 12:18 am**

_, you're right. Steve has almost always popped up from time to time, even when busy, unless it was health related. That's what has me concerned. I had been in pretty regular contact with him here recently as I had a Raiders rabbit on order and we were discussing my CS beaver that was coming up on the list. Steve was great about contact. I had no problems. There was a note on my Raiders hat that said when the CS should arrive. The date came and it wasn't here, and then there were all those storms down South. Steve had told me to keep in contact with him, but the next time I wrote, my main concern was not my CS being late in estimated arrival time. My concern was, is my friend Steve ok! I sure hope he is, as that is the main thing, and am not too worried about the hat. If Steve's OK, it will all work out with the hat. It has to get confusing with so many orders! Steve is a man of integrity, so I am not worried about getting the hat. I just want to know he's OK! I'm also hoping that if he is OK, that the reason for any delay and reason he can't reply right now is that he's working on Indy V hats, in prep for a summer begin shoot date!

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2011 1:23 am**

He last emailed me on the 1st of May, if that helps anyone's concerns. It was about an order. He hasn't logged in here for awhile. Probably just needs a break from the craziness!

Posted: **Wed May 18, 2011 9:17 pm**

I should contact him too. I hit the three year mark today!

~Ron

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 5:15 pm**

The order I requested & paid for is approaching the 3 year mark. What I've learned here is that those of us who have waited this long can only expect to wait longer. I paid $400 plus shipping, in full, as per Steve's request. I emailed Steve at least 3 times about an ETA & never received a reply. & now I've read his refund policy & that gives me cause for concern. If I had been informed of the nature of this wait at the time of purchase I could haved avoided all this.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2011 5:49 pm**

I don't think anyone could have anticipated the wait stretching out this long 3 years ago.

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2011 6:24 pm**

I have sent a couple of emails over the past couple of weeks with the header of asking to change my order and in that I email, I was offering to pay more money to match his new price, since it has gone up over that past 3 years.

I have not received a reply.

I hope his health O.K.

If he is healthy, then I do have an issue with the lack of commuincation. I understand that he is a one man show, but he could have always hired a part time employee just to take care of his emails and paperwork.

I understand the long wait due to demand but the lack of commuincation is really unacceptable when you have accepted peoples money.

Posted: **Wed May 01, 2013 7:55 pm**

I am new to the COW but I placed a order in April of 2009 and haven't heard much from him. Now I know about all his health issues.

Posted: **Fri May 03, 2013 1:30 pm**

Kustomkid wrote:I am new to the COW but I placed a order in April of 2009 and haven't heard much from him. Now I know about all his health issues.

A number of us are in the same boat. At least now you get some sense of why things have been delayed for so long, and that you aren't alone in this situation.

It is strange to think that this thread is two years old...

We all hope for the best.

Posted: **Sat May 04, 2013 5:50 pm**

Thank you. I end up ordering a hat from penman, so that should take my mind off of Steve until his arrives. I do hope Steve was able to beat his cancer for good. My dad has major lung problems, so I know what he has went through. This is a great forum and I'm glad to be here

Posted: **Sat May 04, 2013 8:39 pm**

I wasn't able to get a hold of Steve via email for a few weeks but then I all of a sudden got an email with the tracking number. He is definitely still making hats it seems

Posted: **Sat May 04, 2013 8:49 pm**

mtrixman wrote:I wasn't able to get a hold of Steve via email for a few weeks but then I all of a sudden got an email with the tracking number. He is definitely still making hats it seems

That is great to hear! When did you order yours

Posted: **Sat May 04, 2013 10:22 pm**

Steve is working hard. I just heard from him last week about an offer I made related to his post from January about needing to sell some beaver hats. Hang in there.

Club Obi Wan

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