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

[mhip]

Well...
My delivery date of 1-15-24 didn't change this time on said date on the site, so I took that as a good sign.
But now it's 8 days past that, and I have no tracking info.

Order 10164

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Well...
My delivery date of 1-15-24 didn't change this time on said date on the site, so I took that as a good sign.
But now it's 8 days past that, and I have no tracking info.

Order 10164

Same. I'm approaching one year on my order. Reached out to CS twice but no response. Not great.

 

[taxgenius]

Well...
My delivery date of 1-15-24 didn't change this time on said date on the site, so I took that as a good sign.
But now it's 8 days past that, and I have no tracking info.

Order 10164

Same. I'm approaching one year on my order. Reached out to CS twice but no response. Not great.

But at least you cut out the middlemen.

 

[mhip]

But at least you cut out the middlemen.

I’m claiming it as a loss on my taxes, you genius…

 

[mhip]

I received an email with this:

"You have now received your The SF-01 v3 Sneakers in Calfskin. We hope you like it and that it lives up to your expectations."

Only issue is that I have not received them, and have no tracking info that they've been sent.

 

[ArchibaldNat]

Hi everyone,

First of all I want to apologize for being radio silent these past few months as I was extremely ill and away on a medical leave of absence. I’m happy to announce I’m better now and am easing back into things. Consequently I'm here for any questions or concerns you might have! Please feel free to DM me should you have anything you would like to discuss in keeping with our current communication policy.

I’m also excited to announce we are planning a sample sale in the US. Below is a link with the inventory we are including; you can just copy and paste it into your browser.



Should you see any items that catch your eye, please reserve them by either DMing me or by putting your name in the corresponding row below for this chat. Please do not delete anyone's name when you enter yours; I will DM you for your shipping address and send a PayPal invoice for anyone who reaches out or replies below.

To note, this list is also shared with some of our other close customers so please reserve your items ASAP. Dispatch is a little slow but we will get it shipped out in a little over a week. Thank you everyone!

 

[Shoemog]

Good to see you back NAT and hope your good health remains.

Just looks like A/b is focusing on where it can make headway in terms of shoes - i.e. sneakers. I don't think there will be an offer for shoes....I have been one of those affected by the switch-a-roo-gate ...not really seen anything that takes my fancy. Just be grateful if you could respond to my email / DM about making good past promises.

 

[Evan1128]

I finally received some shoes 5 months after placing my order. The only issue being this isn't what I ordered. The shoes are supposed to have a white sole.
After reaching out to support about this they said:
"
Have looked at the internal notes, the team located a pair with the same specs in our separate stock and decided to send you that first (at least we thought we had). The pair you have ordered is in fact still in production so the correct one is one the way.

Given that we have delivered you the pair already, we would like to suggest some options here.

1. For you to return the pair and we can send you the correct pair.
2. To keep the Gum Sole pair for a discount of 15 USD. Add an additional 10 USD to your Archibald account as site credit.
3. To keep the Gum Sole pair for a discount of 15 USD, and possibly for you to purchase the other pair too for a 15USD discount too. Add an additional 10 USD to your Archibald account as site credit.

Once again apologies for the inconvenience caused, however please do let me know what you think."

After replying that I would like to return the incorrect item they sent and get what I actually ordered, I haven't heard anything back since. This was 3 weeks ago... Archibald makes great shoes for a good price, but I'm sick of the runaround.
At this point I'm convinced it's better to pay a little more to get Crown Northamptons, as to not deal with this level of unprofessionalism.

 

[Shoemog]

Hi everyone,

First of all I want to apologize for being radio silent these past few months as I was extremely ill and away on a medical leave of absence. I’m happy to announce I’m better now and am easing back into things. Consequently I'm here for any questions or concerns you might have! Please feel free to DM me should you have anything you would like to discuss in keeping with our current communication policy.

I’m also excited to announce we are planning a sample sale in the US. Below is a link with the inventory we are including; you can just copy and paste it into your browser.



Should you see any items that catch your eye, please reserve them by either DMing me or by putting your name in the corresponding row below for this chat. Please do not delete anyone's name when you enter yours; I will DM you for your shipping address and send a PayPal invoice for anyone who reaches out or replies below.

To note, this list is also shared with some of our other close customers so please reserve your items ASAP. Dispatch is a little slow but we will get it shipped out in a little over a week. Thank you everyone

Hi NAT

Would be wonderful if you could reply to my DM and email.

Thanks

 

[Shoemog]

Hi NAT

Would be wonderful if you could reply to my DM and email.

Thanks

Just to say thanks for getting in touch so promptly and for the discussion.

 

[Moostyle]

View attachment 2156325 I finally received some shoes 5 months after placing my order. The only issue being this isn't what I ordered. The shoes are supposed to have a white sole.
After reaching out to support about this they said:
"
Have looked at the internal notes, the team located a pair with the same specs in our separate stock and decided to send you that first (at least we thought we had). The pair you have ordered is in fact still in production so the correct one is one the way.

Given that we have delivered you the pair already, we would like to suggest some options here.

1. For you to return the pair and we can send you the correct pair.
2. To keep the Gum Sole pair for a discount of 15 USD. Add an additional 10 USD to your Archibald account as site credit.
3. To keep the Gum Sole pair for a discount of 15 USD, and possibly for you to purchase the other pair too for a 15USD discount too. Add an additional 10 USD to your Archibald account as site credit.

Once again apologies for the inconvenience caused, however please do let me know what you think."

After replying that I would like to return the incorrect item they sent and get what I actually ordered, I haven't heard anything back since. This was 3 weeks ago... Archibald makes great shoes for a good price, but I'm sick of the runaround.
At this point I'm convinced it's better to pay a little more to get Crown Northamptons, as to not deal with this level of unprofessionalism.

Crown Northamptons customer service and reply speed is one of the slowest in the business, I speak from experience. https://www.styleforum.net/threads/crown-northampton-appreciation-thread.686014/page-8#post-11655447

I since switched to dealing with Goral and it's a big improvement in that regard and the sneakers imo look way better.

As for your situation I have to say that a gum sole looks way better than a white sole on green shell (looks like shell), with the added benefit that gum soles do not pick up dirt and require constant cleaning (I have gum sole on white sneakers and I adore them and the sole stays pristine). The sneakers in your photo look damn beautiful and well stitched and even though they are not what you ordered I would really suggest you reconsider the colour combination and keep them and take the discount or maybe ask for a $30 reduction on these specific shoes.

 

[Evan1128]

Crown Northamptons customer service and reply speed is one of the slowest in the business, I speak from experience.

I ended up ordering some buffalo leather shoes from Northampton. Took exactly 2 months for me receive them. I got exactly what I ordered, and ahead of schedule, so I never needed to contact their customer service (as it should be). The pic is from after 1 month of use. The quality, comfort, and craftsmanship all seem to be a notch above Archibald, making the additional cost pretty worth it—especially with Northampton's resole service available.

As for the wrong order of SF-01 V3's I received... 2+ months ago now, Archibald London still hasn't responded to any of my multiple additional emails on the matter. Haven't received any shipping return label or update, and assume at this point, I will never receive the shoes I ordered. The principle of my experience is dissapointing to say the least, especially seeing how this isn't the first time Archibald London has sent me the incorrect shoes. The previous time they sent me SF-01 V1's when I paid for V2's.

 

[Evan1128]

I since switched to dealing with Goral and it's a big improvement in that regard and the sneakers imo look way better.

What soles does Goral use? Do they use Margom soles?
They look like Margom soles, but they don't specifically say that they are, and couldn't find any pictures that would positively identify them as such, showing the signature stamp on the bottom.
For the price point they're at, I hope they didn't cheap out with an "in house" sole.

 

[Moostyle]

I ended up ordering some buffalo leather shoes from Northampton. Took exactly 2 months for me receive them. I got exactly what I ordered, and ahead of schedule, so I never needed to contact their customer service (as it should be). The pic is from after 1 month of use. The quality, comfort, and craftsmanship all seem to be a notch above Archibald, making the additional cost pretty worth it—especially with Northampton's resole service available.

As for the wrong order of SF-01 V3's I received... 2+ months ago now, Archibald London still hasn't responded to any of my multiple additional emails on the matter. Haven't received any shipping return label or update, and assume at this point, I will never receive the shoes I ordered. The principle of my experience is dissapointing to say the least, especially seeing how this isn't the first time Archibald London has sent me the incorrect shoes. The previous time they sent me SF-01 V1's when I paid for V2's.

Great to hear that you had no issues. I did, hence why I can talk about the customer service speed and efficiency and also the quality issues, which were very much present in the most unwearable ways in every pair of shoes I ordered except one. Plus, the more I wear and look at my Harlestones shells the uglier they look with the lumpy folds they have developed.

As for your Archibald experience yes there is no doubt that these guys are inexperienced cowboys playing at being a shoe/fashion brand. They are taking orders, asking a workshop in Italy to do the work, and trying to gloss over any supply or quality issues that they experience. It's why I didn't buy any shells from them and only tried the Ultralight deer pebbleskins, which were definitely overpriced for the quality you get, especially as they are not resoleable.

I sincerely hope you get some satisfaction from Archibald and that you messaged NAT, who now seems to be back. I will repeat though that those green shells look amazing with the gum sole.

What soles does Goral use? Do they use Margom soles?
They look like Margom soles, but they don't specifically say that they are, and couldn't find any pictures that would positively identify them as such, showing the signature stamp on the bottom.
For the price point they're at, I hope they didn't cheap out with an "in house" sole.

No idea which soles they use but I doubt they are Margom as Margom doesnt have wider sizes as far as I am aware. They maybe feel a bit softer than my Common Projects margom soles but I have no idea if margom are significantly better or not. Either way, Common Projects are way too tight sat the same size so I think margom soles are a bad thing (for me).