Club Obi Wan

As I was surfing I found this website:

http://www.leatherattractions.com/indy-jacket.htm

It's Chris King's Indy mannequin for sure, as seen on the Wested website.

And...a cell phone pouch?

They have very cheap shipping too:

http://www.leatherattractions.com/shipping-info.htm

Anyone heard of these jackets?

Exploring this website further, it seems as though these Indy jackets can be completely customized.

http://www.leatherattractions.com/sizingcharts.htm

I'd be interested in seeing a 'customised jacket' from this manufacturer.

Based on the word usage and spelling, I'd guess English is not the primary language used by the proprietor of this website, and this is likely some shady overseas operation making knockoffs. Why would they boost that pic without creds to the owner?

I don't know, they seem quite reputable to me. Check this out:

http://www.leatherattractions.com/about ... appeal.htm

I'm sending them an email on their feedback page:

Regarding your Indy jacket page:
http://www.leatherattractions.com/indy-jacket.htm

The picture being used is of a mannequin owned by a guy named Chris King. The jacket on the Harrison Ford model is a Wested (www.wested.com), who made the original jacket. I would like to see pictures of YOUR indy jacket, as I might be interested in a purchase. Could you send me a picture of the jacket you sell, or do you sell Westeds? If you don't indeed sell Westeds, you should consider putting a pic of YOU Indy jacket on your webpage, as I can't imagine Chris allowing a company to his pictures to misrepresent a product being sold. Thanks so much!


Thanks so much,
Holly

Good one Holly, it'll be interesting to see their response.

Hope Peter reads that ! That could harm his business...
He makes the best jackets all around

Well it looks like they plagerized the image. There could be legal ramifications to that.

Yes, maybe so Bink.

It's certainly not acceptable to be displaying a Wested jacket on their website whilst selling their own jacket copies, if this is indeed the case?

Let's see how they respond to Holly - if at all.

They seem legit, but why do they have a post office box as their head office address? That's a little shady to me.

Indeed. How can they have tanneries around the world, their own factory, their own showroom, and have a post office box for an address. I am trying to be patient. I almost sent them a message, but I wasn't going to be quite as nice as ITG. I'll just hold off and see what their response to her message is.

They definitely are showing a picture of a Wested and not their own jacket. The legal ramifications of this may explain the post office box for their headquarters. They even have the gall to have a copywrite at the bottom of the page.

Have you looked at the shipping info? It says in there that if you order
a custom item, then you can NOT return it for an exchange!
It says this very clearly. You can have your order fixed if they can do it,
but you will not get another one in its place.

Also, nowhere does it say anything about a REFUND of your initial purchase
if you get an off the rack item. It just says they will either exchange it, or
give you a credit twards something else on their site. No actual refund of
any kind.

This whole thing sounds like they are getting items that original vendors
have as seconds, or returns, and then they are selling them at discount
prices.

Perhaps Wested is selling off some of their seconds and returns to this
place in order to recoup some of their money.

I know I will not be getting anything from this place, because if your not
happy with your purchase, they will still keep your money and just offer
you something else in return from their site.

Oh, and this place is located in Illinois, right here in the old USA. You
can see this at the bottom of some of the pages of the website. And its
a P.O. box at that!! That does not give me a whole lot of confidence in
this place if they don't even have an actual postal address.

Flathead

HEAD OFFICE

LEATHER ATTRACTIONS
P O Box: 268964,
Chicago, Illinois, 60626, USA.
E-mail : mailto:sales@leatherandleather.com


Says the head office is here in the US....interesting. Why would the grammar on the site be so bad?

Cheers
I J

Exactly where in Illinois is this factory and showroom that they have pictured on their website. If they show a jacket that was made by someone else and imply that it is their own jacket, might they also show someone else's factory and showroom claiming them as their own. People use post office boxes instead of street addresses to make it hard for someone to track them down. Does not sound like a reputable company to me. How can they put a copywrite on something that is not even theirs. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", I mean Illinois.

Judging by the about us portion of the site, the company has an international slant. If that's the case, English is probably their second or third language, so that would explain some of the strange English usage. It's not a good reason for poor business grammar, but a reason nonetheless.

I know numerous legitimate companies who give a P.O. address for their general mail contact, so that doesn't necessarily concern me. But to not have a SHOWROOM address, well, that's a different story. I wonder if these folks have a ill-reputed customer history that someone can trace?

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised,
that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). ...

The plot thickens. I think I'll try to google it and see if anything turns up...

I sent them an email also. I'll let you know if i hear back from them

Dear Sir,
What is your street address so i can come in and see your jackets. If i understand correctly if i buy on line and don't like it i can only be issued a store credit and not a refund is that correct? Are these jackets first quality or seconds?
Besr Regards,

Roger

FYI
http://www.chicago.bbb.org/common.html? ... d=27004954

Bingo. If a business fails to respond to even the Better Business Bureau, that can't be a good sign.

Agreed, but just to play devil's advocate, 4 complaints isn't a lot in the course of two business years....unless they only had 4 customers in that time of course...... ...and they did get resolved, seemingly.

Hmmmm...

I've written this email to Wested:

Just wanted to drop you folks a line and point out the following website to you:

http://www.leatherattractions.com/indy-jacket.htm

The picture their using is of Chris King's Wested Indy jacket on his custom mannequin.

I'd write them if I were you and insist they remove that pic.

Although you may not get a response, since they don't have the best of reps with the BBB:

http://www.chicago.bbb.org/common.html? ... d=27004954

-Richie

And this email to Chris King:

Hey Chris...just wanted to draw your attention to this site:

http://www.leatherattractions.com/indy-jacket.htm

That's obviously YOUR display with a WESTED jacket on it right?

I'd write these bums if I were you...I'm assuming you weren't aware they're using that pic.

-Richie

We'll se what happens when the offended parties get involved.

-Rabittooth

PS- I also wrote the company this email:

I can't help but notice you are using a photo of an original Wested Leather Indiana Jones jacket (owned by a gentleman named Mr. King) to advertise YOUR jacket on your website. This is not very indicative of a trustworthy company as it eludes to shady business practices. Please feel free to explain .

-R

Hey Rabittooth,

I sent an almost identical PM to Peter earlier this morning. I guess all the aggrieved parties have been duly notified. It will be interesting to see the outcome of all this uproar. Now, I know why they didn't put a proper street address on their website. They didn't want a horde of angry gearheads storming the ramparts of their secret showroom location.

No answer yet on my email.


Did you guys read this on there site about the jacket. Thats not a wested second or even thirds jacket


Featuring a zipper closure and double entry front pockets with hidden side entry. Inside there are two pockets, a side chest pocket as well as a gun/map pocket, it also possess a cell phone pouch.

hi im on the look out for a indy jacket and i found this company, i emailed them about a month ago and i still havent had a reply they do look very profesional but im not sure about them i would be interested to see if anyone else gets a responce

Dr

HOLD FIRE EVERONE
THIS MAY BE A SCAM THERE IS NO WAY THIS JACKET CAN BE THIS PRICE!
LET ME INVESTIGATE. i SUSPECT WHAT PRICE GLORY AND HIS PAKISTAN FACTORY AS WE NO LONGER MAKE FOR HIM.
CHEERS
pETER

Thanks for the quick reply Peter. It never ceases to amaze me how someone who supplies clothing for the stars replies on our little message board. I hope this issue can be settled quickly, so we resume arguing over the minute details of our jackets again.

Research so far:
Leatherattractions .com is hosted by pakhosting.com a Parkistan company and registered to Adnan Al Habibani of Skokie, Illinois and I have a contact tel no. At this time we are seeking a lawyer and speaking with Chris King about illegal copying under the NET act 1997 under which this is a Criminal Offence.
It would appear this is nothing to do with WPG. We are checking customer records for sale to Skokie. When you look at the quality of the other products listed one starts to realize why they used our picture.
Watch this space
Cheers
Peter

Agreed, but just to play devil's advocate, 4 complaints isn't a lot in the course of two business years....unless they only had 4 customers in that time of course......

This is true, however, U.S. Wings has complaints of this type as well with
the BBB that have gone unanswered as well. As a matter of fact, they
have quite a bit of them.

I know, because I had to post a complaint to the BBB when Wings would
not acknowledge a return I sent them even though they signed for the
package and everything when it got to them.

I let the BBB fight it out with them, and I did get my money back after
about two months. But Wings never sent me any type of correspondence
that let me know they finally processed my return. They just kept
denying I had sent them the return, even though I had the proof
of one of their employees accepting and signing for the package. It was
not until the BBB stepped in, with all my proof that they finally gave me
back my money.

So, just because a company may have been good when it first opened up,
doesn't mean its still good today. The BBB is a very powerful tool indeed!

Flathead

Research so far:
Leatherattractions .com is hosted by pakhosting.com a Parkistan company and registered to Adnan Al Habibani of Skokie, Illinois and I have a contact tel no. At this time we are seeking a lawyer and speaking with Chris King about illegal copying under the NET act 1997 under which this is a Criminal Offence.
It would appear this is nothing to do with WPG. We are checking customer records for sale to Skokie. When you look at the quality of the other products listed one starts to realize why they used our picture.
Watch this space
Cheers
Peter

I'm glad to have been of service in helping to bring this to your attention Peter.

I'd say that qualifies me for a 20% reduction on my next order...

To all those sending me info. I thank you.
Their email address of Leatherandleather.com belongs to NOLDC, Inc of New Orleans who cloak companies to hide identity,see NOLDC.Com
The plot thickens.
Peter

There is definatly something fishy about these guys i recieved an email of them today and i think that there english may be very limited isent the this

" Hi im looking for an indiana jones jacket and i came across your website i live in england and i dont have a credit card but im coming out to america in 2 weeks and i would like to come to your shop/showroom to buy one can you send me the address so that i can make arangements for this

also what customisation can i have on the jacket

regards
chris"


there reply consisted of two words "No sorry"

if thats not strange i dont know what is !!!!

regards
chris
Dr

hey peter i think i should get 20% off aswell if ob1al gets it afterall i did email you and them aswell

regards
chris
Dr.

Hey dr., I was only kidding about that 20% thing!

"Leather Attractions... I hate those guys."

I guess this is a good lesson why NOT to mess with IndyGear fans! Yes, Peter, do please keep us abreast of the situation.

bink

My emails have been ignored as well by these folks, but then I usually work in the background. Looking forward to seeing how this proceeds, Peter. High regards. Michaelson

I tried to phone and got a reply from a Pakistani woman who spoke poor English and at fist denied knowing his name and later admiited it was her husband. I have sent a letter to BBB and copies with 24 hour warnings to
his email addresses
Wait and see
Cheers
Peter

-----
From: webmaster [mailto:webmaster@wested.com]
Sent: 24 June 2004 14:33
To: 'info@chicago.bbb.org'
Subject: Re Leatherattractions.Com - illegal copying

Dear Sir,
We at Wested Leather in England are the makers of the original Indian Jones Leather Jacket which we sell repros of on our www.wested.com web site.
www.leatherattractions.com/indy-jacket.htm is a Chicago company registered to a Mr Adnan Ali Habibani of 9032A Niles Center Rd, Skokie, IL 60077 is not only offering an unlicensed copy of the Indiana Jones jacket but is illegally using a picture of our jacket commissioned by us which he has copied from our website to his and which he is pretending to be the jacket on offer. Also on his site he boasts of being a long established, high profile with tanneries all over world, large showroom etc etc.
What he has done or doing is a criminal offence under the NET Act of 1997 and he is liable to criminal prosecution.
We do not want to go down that road but would like to put a stop to this fraud.
Can you do Anything? Or recommend a good lawyer to act on our behalf.

Your Faithfully


Peter Botwright
Wested Leather Co

Peter, apart from calling it an "Indian Jones" jacket (I misspelll things, too from timee to tyme ) I think the letter is an excellent start. And if you ever need folks to back you up on your claim, you've got an entire forum on your side! Keep us posted.

bink

Maybe Lucasfilm can put some extra weight into this matter... since this thing is unlicensed...

Botwright doesnt mess around!! Keep up the good work Peter, and thanks for looking out for us!!

Cheers
I J

Alright Peter! Good job!!!

I suppose it's comparable to Nike training shoes copies being produced en masse all over the world by illegal backstreet workshops (and we all know how shoddy these copies always are, with low standards of production and workmanship).

In one hand, it's a testament to the good design and desirability of the original (in this case, a Wested) and on the other it's a downright rotten trick and an innapropriate (not to mention illegal) way to conduct one's business.

Peter, I hope you manage to get this resolved to your satisfaction, as soon as possible, and well done for taking your stance!

Just checked the INDY page on that site.

GONE.

muahaha.... Good job peter and everyone

Our work here is done.

Welp...the Indy Jacket page of their site is now gone.

http://www.leatherattractions.com/sizingcharts.htm

-Rabittooth

oh well ob1al a 20% discount was worth a go !! LOL im glad to see our work had the right effect

another case closed

chris
Dr

WOW! Way to band together folks. Kudos. See, COW isn't all about arguments, and which jacket or hat is best. We're like a big family. We may bicker at times, but when the time comes, we band together to help out one of our own. =D>

Good work guys,

Perhaps we should change the forum name to C-C-C-COWERBOOK.COM



For those that haven't seen: http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/

ID

For those that haven't seen: http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/

I've read that a few weeks back and although long, well worth the read. That laptop story should be turned into a movie. Absolutly hilarious and great to see a scammer get scammed.