Archibald London: true craftsmanship, no middlemen, Official Vendor Thread

[XxLogo]

Hi @ArchibaldNat, would this also include the Court Classic Sneakers [https://www.archibaldlondon.com/ca/collection/product/the-court-classic-sneakers-in-kudu-leather] not being produced for the near future after this next batch? I was wanting one, but was hoping to purchase in the next batch before hearing about this...

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Hi Natalie,

In the interests of transparency, and in the context that you are asking customers to continue putting faith into the brand after this extremely disappointing saga for the current customers (of which I am one), I have a few questions that I was hoping you could answer, a few of which may also be useful to future customers:

1. Do you have a strategy to deal with the blown out wait times for the final SF-01 batch, or has there been any firm discussions with the craftsmen regarding this issue? Or will future customers still be risking potentially 6+ month wait times for the final batch of sneakers if there are delays like the current batch?

2. Noting your comment about pre-orders not being charged until production starts, can we define exactly when is "full production"? This current batch could be said to be in "full production" for nearly 6 months so if this happens again, charging money a few weeks into production still leaves customers out of money for potentially several months.

- To follow up this question, what about the current customers who have been out of pocket for 6+ months? Reading reviews and other comments, it seems like the issue of refunds has been brushed aside (this is my personal experience too). Should refunds not be offered to customers in the event of excessive delays? Personally, I am now at a 10 month wait, which puts me outside of the scope of protections from Paypal or my credit card issuer, and I don't think thats fair that you have taken our money and not offered a means for us to get our money back, especially as we waited past the point of the protections of our financial institutions in good faith for you.

3. Going forward, what will be the plan for shoes that arrive to your warehouse damaged on arrival? My initial pair which was delivered to your warehouse in December 2022 was damaged on arrival and the solution was to include me in the following batch, which we are still waiting for. Should a damaged pair not be pushed for an immediate remake, and not have to wait a further 3 (or more) months? This was something I regret not pushing your team for when I was informed of the issue late last year, and despite assurances from your team for the last 7 months that you were "expediting" the process, I don't feel that I have received any priority over any of the customers that ordered >3 months after I did.

4. Rohan has mentioned a "gesture" for the current customers that have faced this extremely long delay, can you clarify what this would be? Quite frankly I would wager that the only gestures that would be acceptable to most of the current customers would be either be at least some sort of partial refund, waiving shipping costs or express courier delivery as soon as their pairs arrive to the warehouse. Given how this whole saga has gone I certainly hope it is not a discount coupon for future purchases...

5. My previous emails were not responded to for months, I believe Rohan has mentioned that this was due to an issue with Zendesk. Can I confirm that this has been fixed?

6. I have also noticed the Google reviews page for AL has disappeared, is there a reason for this?

Apologies for the long post, but quite frankly I have had a completely horrible experience with AL (and it seems like I am not an isolated case), and I didn't feel like there was any accountability or genuine effort made to make right by your customers who have been affected by these delays. Thus I hope you can be transparent and open to prove that you have taken steps and measures to improve the experience for future customers, and prevent them from having a similar experience to me.

1. The craftsman is insisting this is a one-off issue; apparently there have been some unfortunate circumstances dealing with health and also prioritization of larger brands once our account manager was back on his feet. Unfortunately as a smaller brand, we tend to fall to the end of the line when they are in dire straights. To that end, we will be visiting him in person to discuss everything as soon as the Italian holiday has ended. We are also looking to ensure there is someone on the ground in Italy to oversee production on a very regular basis for every production batch to ensure we have priority.

The entire point of shutting down the SF-01 collection is us making a stand that we will not accept production delays to this extent anymore. We are just as frustrated as everyone else as it is our brand and reputation on the line, and not only does it kill our sales it kills your faith in us and our product.

We are offering one final batch to both drive the point home to our craftsman that we are very serious about shutting down this program if they cannot deliver on time, and to also give anyone who wants a pair a chance to purchase one before they are gone.

1. When I reference “full production” I mean we will not charge until the materials have been ordered and confirmed by the supplier(s), and we have also confirmed there are no foreseeable holdups with the scheduled assembly process.
2. Damaged pairs are absolutely unacceptable and will be dealt with immediately; we are supposed to have a two week “honor code” turnaround for any such pieces, however that has fallen through the cracks with the recent issues and current situation. This is another point on our priority list to deal with when we speak with our craftsman and account manager in person, in Italy, on site.
3. We are working out the gesture.

The issue with full refunds for items that are MTO (made to order) is that the materials are ordered specially based on the design requests, and the production not only takes place separately but is more expensive (think of it as making a fresh sample every time).

I DO want to importantly note that we have begun receiving tracking receipts from Italy this past week so shoes will be begin to arrive and we will of course ship them out immediately.

1. Zendesk has been fixed and I am also tracking it myself along with our ops team due to this ongoing situation.
2. I am not sure about this point, as I still see the google link to the AL page. The address for our location is, however, incorrect so that may be one of the issues for why you cannot find it. But we do not (and have not ever) directed customers to external review sites and will be launching our own “on platform” reviews for product very soon in the future.

No apologies needed; we want to be transparent and are here to address all of your questions and concerns. The more you understand where we are coming from and what we are also dealing with, the more it will give you some insight even though I know it will not make the situation any less frustrating.

As I said before, please also feel free to DM me here, use my WhatsApp +1 707 292 5436, or email me at [email protected] or obviously use our [email protected].

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Hi @ArchibaldNat, would this also include the Court Classic Sneakers [https://www.archibaldlondon.com/ca/collection/product/the-court-classic-sneakers-in-kudu-leather] not being produced for the near future after this next batch? I was wanting one, but was hoping to purchase in the next batch before hearing about this...

Nope those are continuing!

Effectively, we are closing the program for all of the assembled construction sneakers (SF-01 models). All the strobel construction sneakers (Court Classics, UltraLights, GATs) will continue 🙌

 

[XxLogo]

Nope those are continuing!

Effectively, we are closing the program for all of the assembled construction sneakers (SF-01 models). All the strobel construction sneakers (Court Classics, UltraLights, GATs) will continue 🙌

Awesome, I will hopefully order a pair in the next batch then!

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Been waiting for a pair of Pippo loafers since April. Just saw they got pushed off another month again to September. What's the status of that batch order?

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Been waiting for a pair of Pippo loafers since April. Just saw they got pushed off another month again to September. What's the status of that batch order?

Sent you a DM to get more info so I can follow up on this for you. Let me know

 

[Unique Username]

Aaaaaaaand here we are still with yet another updated delivery date…

12/28/2022 (order date)
3/31/2023 (first updated delivery date)
4/18/2023
5/25/2023
5/30/2023
6/5/2023
6/15/2023
7/5/2023
7/15/2023
7/25/2023
7/28/2023
8/4/2023
8/11/2023 (latest “super real, we totally promise your shoes will be delivered by” date /s)

 

[Concordia]

Has anyone tried the vicuña sweaters? Wear large or tight, how do they hold up, etc?

 

[XxLogo]

When is naked ending exactly @ArchibaldNat @ArchibaldRoh

 

[brianwong]

1. The craftsman is insisting this is a one-off issue; apparently there have been some unfortunate circumstances dealing with health and also prioritization of larger brands once our account manager was back on his feet. Unfortunately as a smaller brand, we tend to fall to the end of the line when they are in dire straights. To that end, we will be visiting him in person to discuss everything as soon as the Italian holiday has ended. We are also looking to ensure there is someone on the ground in Italy to oversee production on a very regular basis for every production batch to ensure we have priority.

The entire point of shutting down the SF-01 collection is us making a stand that we will not accept production delays to this extent anymore. We are just as frustrated as everyone else as it is our brand and reputation on the line, and not only does it kill our sales it kills your faith in us and our product.

We are offering one final batch to both drive the point home to our craftsman that we are very serious about shutting down this program if they cannot deliver on time, and to also give anyone who wants a pair a chance to purchase one before they are gone.

1. When I reference “full production” I mean we will not charge until the materials have been ordered and confirmed by the supplier(s), and we have also confirmed there are no foreseeable holdups with the scheduled assembly process.
2. Damaged pairs are absolutely unacceptable and will be dealt with immediately; we are supposed to have a two week “honor code” turnaround for any such pieces, however that has fallen through the cracks with the recent issues and current situation. This is another point on our priority list to deal with when we speak with our craftsman and account manager in person, in Italy, on site.
3. We are working out the gesture.

The issue with full refunds for items that are MTO (made to order) is that the materials are ordered specially based on the design requests, and the production not only takes place separately but is more expensive (think of it as making a fresh sample every time).

I DO want to importantly note that we have begun receiving tracking receipts from Italy this past week so shoes will be begin to arrive and we will of course ship them out immediately.

1. Zendesk has been fixed and I am also tracking it myself along with our ops team due to this ongoing situation.
2. I am not sure about this point, as I still see the google link to the AL page. The address for our location is, however, incorrect so that may be one of the issues for why you cannot find it. But we do not (and have not ever) directed customers to external review sites and will be launching our own “on platform” reviews for product very soon in the future.

No apologies needed; we want to be transparent and are here to address all of your questions and concerns. The more you understand where we are coming from and what we are also dealing with, the more it will give you some insight even though I know it will not make the situation any less frustrating.

As I said before, please also feel free to DM me here, use my WhatsApp +1 707 292 5436, or email me at [email protected] or obviously use our [email protected].

Any updates on how these are progressing? I was optimistic last month when Rohan said the shoes were being sent out but I note the date has now been pushed back to August 25, so it seems like we are still making no progress.

Going back to your point about refunds I understand these are MTO shoes, but this is not about a change of mind, this is about completely blown out delays with no end in sight that I would think customers should be offered their money back as this is well beyond what would be considered a reasonable delay. You have essentially taken my money for almost an entire year and I have nothing to show for it. I note that you are endeavouring to change the process for next and final batch but that does little for your current customers that have already entrusted you with their money.

If you still haven't received a tracking update on my pair of shoes then I am assuming that it still hasn't been made yet, and if that is the case then I would like a refund. I ordered October 4 last year, and I think 10+ months is long enough that I should have the option to recover my money. If you disagree, I'm happy for other members on here to weigh in with their opinions as to what is considered a reasonable delay.

 

[XxLogo]

Any updates on how these are progressing? I was optimistic last month when Rohan said the shoes were being sent out but I note the date has now been pushed back to August 25, so it seems like we are still making no progress.

Going back to your point about refunds I understand these are MTO shoes, but this is not about a change of mind, this is about completely blown out delays with no end in sight that I would think customers should be offered their money back as this is well beyond what would be considered a reasonable delay. You have essentially taken my money for almost an entire year and I have nothing to show for it. I note that you are endeavouring to change the process for next and final batch but that does little for your current customers that have already entrusted you with their money.

If you still haven't received a tracking update on my pair of shoes then I am assuming that it still hasn't been made yet, and if that is the case then I would like a refund. I ordered October 4 last year, and I think 10+ months is long enough that I should have the option to recover my money. If you disagree, I'm happy for other members on here to weigh in with their opinions as to what is considered a reasonable delay.

If this was Kickstarter, I would say yea unfortunate being delay after delay but you crowdfunded for a reason.

With this being a vendor sold thing, even at MTO, and being pushed out many months already past the expected retail date, even for a MTO, it should be refunded if no communication is happening from makers end. That would be good CS and ensure customer is happy. Cut the loss and not like they can’t be resold after if they are indeed being made.

Though, I also don’t know the entire story

 

[mhip]

Yeah, I thought the kinks had been worked out...
I ordered what I think will be my 6th pair in March for June delivery.
And then...........

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Yeah, I thought the kinks had been worked out...
I ordered what I think will be my 6th pair in March for June delivery.
And then...........

We thought they had been too, and yet, this last production turned out to be the worst we have every experienced since we started the program. We have some idea of what happened, but not everything is fully clear and until it is we will not re-launch the SF-01 program.

 

[ArchibaldNat]

As Rohan has messaged some of you privately, we began receiving shoes towards the end of last week and dispatched them immediately. A second delivery is already on its way with tracking numbers shared and will arrive in the UK at the tail end of this week and shoes will once again be dispatched immediately.

This nightmare is almost over.

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Please know we are doing our best