Club Obi Wan

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So, I had a custom Raiders jacket made in washed lamb. I actually visited the shop to have measurements made. I received it quickly and immediately fell in love. However, I was only able to wear it about three times before this happened. I put my hand in my pocket and it sounded/felt weird. As you can see from the picture it completely failed. It looks like there was just too much leather integrity lost in the pocket panel stitching during construction and the leather tore. This is with no conditioning or weathering. I wore it just as it came out of the box. Anyway, I've communicated with Wested and they can try to replace the entire panel, but can't guarantee the color will match. My question is: should I send it back and pay to have it repaired (£85), or see if I can get someone local to look at it? Do you think a leather repair shop can even tackle this? I mean, I get they'd have to do something drastic and there would always be some indication of the failure, but I could probably live with it looking a little weird if it wouldn't tear again.

Assuming the jacket hasn't been gathering dust at all since receiving, I would demand a complete replacement. That shouldn't happen to a new jacket if made properly. That is how I would fix it.

Ouch! I'm sorry that happened to you
In my opinion it would be best letting Wested fix it. Its their craftsmanship, so they'll know it best. Also, even if they can't promise complete color match it's probably better odds than another shop having the same color/material on hand.
You could always ask for an estimate, but my guess would be any reputable shop wouldn't charge much less than what you've already been quoted.

Agreed. Return it to Wested and let them fix or replace it, since it's their product after all. I'd trust the original manufacturer over a local leather repair shop.

Uhh... Wested needs to replace the jacket for free. That wasn't your fault. It is their problem and they need to make it right. The photo shows that the panel was damaged when they stitched the pocket to it. It looks like perforations through a piece of paper, like one of those tear-away coupons.

You should demand a free replacement. If they can match the leather color, then replacing the whole panel could be an acceptable option, but certainly at their cost, and they should eat the cost of return shipping as well. Again, this was not your fault.

Well, I politely asked if replacement or repair was an option because it failed so soon. I've had it since April, but only just wore it. Texas hasn't had jacket weather until now, so it spent a few months in the closet. Their response was a polite quote of £85 for possible repair, not including shipping with no mention of replacement or repair responsibility. Yes, I guess you could say it sat for a while and that makes me hesitant to push the issue. Perhaps I'd be more aggressive if I'd worn it soon after receiving it and the failure had occurred. A close look at their website reveals no guarantees of quality, workmanship or satisfaction, so I suppose it's difficult to stand on any real documented ground there. I should point out that, aside from this one quality issue, they have been very kind and were fantastic hosts when I was there. In fact, I ordered a custom goatskin as a replacement since they still have my measurements. I'm willing to let this slide as it's the only time I've had any kind of issue with Wested and they proved themselves quality folks when I dealt with them in person. I think -- or at least hope -- this is just a fluke. I've never had a custom made before now, but I've owned at least a half dozen Westeds over the years. My question is more just a sort of "this or that" one at this point. I need to decide whether to send it in for repairs or get it looked at locally. Sounds like send it in is the prevailing wisdom.

A local workshop can try an "inside glued patch" repair.
Not the most durable or neat repair, but it will allow you to keep the original panel (no color issue) and not spending a small fortune on shippings back and forth.

The machinist must unsewn the sleeve lining to enter the work area.
Carefully patch the damage (I would use a piece of thin leather, glued backwards), looking to cover the whole problem area
IMPORTANT: the machinist must NOT reinforce the patch by stitching the patch perimeter. That would leave visible stitching holes on the front of the jacket.
Just glued it. It should be enough...at least for some time.
Re-stitch the pocket inside part (not on the same holes, but right next to those)
Re-stitch the sleeve.

After this, my suggestion would be not to use that handwarmer anymore.

Good luck.-

In all my years in this hobby, I'll have to admit I can't ever recall seeing an entire seam fail on a new jacket like that.

Pocket corners, yes. Complete seams, no.

I, too, vote for complete jacket replacement, as even if repaired, you're going to know it's there and never be happy with the jacket.

JMO, though.

Regard! Michaelson

Yikes!
It looks like it wasn't so much stitched as perforated. I'm no jacket expert, but I think Wested should really fix this at their cost, or send you a replacement jacket and chalk up the cost to good customer-service PR and karma.

I never quite trusted those handwarmer pockets. Seeing what happened to yours, I think I will avoid ever putting my hand in there.
I hope you can get this repaired to your satisfaction.

Thank you all for the feedback. I'm going to stay away from the local repair option. I agree that it would be a half-solution and not really get me what I want. My two options are: 1) trash the jacket (and maybe replace it...although it hurts to effectively pay twice for a jacket) or 2) send it in and hope for the best, realizing I'll be paying a roughly 40% premium to get my jacket more or less the way I want it. I've pinged them again and asked more directly if a free repair due to manufacturing defect is an option. If the answer is "no", well...I don't know. I don't want to reward bad craftsmanship with more money, but I do want my cool washed lamb jacket. Decisions, decisions. I guess it's not a terrible problem to have, in the end. I have a ton of Indy jackets, so I'm definitely complaining from a position of privilege.

Again, though, thanks for the sanity check!

Wow ...

first off, Im pretty sure Wested will sort this .. i'm with Michaelson, I've never ever seen a jacket tear along a stitch line like that so it looks like a weak point somewhere in the leather. I'd ask for a replacement on the basis that if Wested can replace the panel they can sell it on .. I've had a lot of Wested jackets over the years and always gone back to them because of the quality .... and never seen anything like this happen. They are very reasonable to deal with so im sure they'll understand the issue...

TC

If general customer service is unable/unwilling to help - escalate.

Well, the response was essentially, "It's been too long since you bought it, there's nothing we can do." Unfortunately, there is no customer service escalation path. Wested is a pretty compact organization. If you're talking to them, you're already talking to the top. So, I don't see any choice but to mark this one in the "lose" column and move on.

I hate to read that, my friend.

Regards! Michaelson