Leffot + EG complaint

[Nicola]



My take is that Leffot was trying to screw over a customer they lost. EG was extending a professional courtesy to a competitor. (?)

Leffot is the EG customer. Not the guying stealing from the earthquake victims.

 

[lasbar]

Agree with NYR...

EG mustn't have taken your order but that's business for you...

I did try to buy some Golden fleece directly from Lesser and he told me to go through my tailor due to their special commercial agreement...

He did tell me it would have better for him to sell directly but that's the way business is made....

 

[Patek]

I understand Leffot's position, but I feel they should have contacted me directly. They went out of their way to go behind my back, pull up my order with EG (I assume they did this using my shipping address) and make EG cancel my order. That is not a way to get customer loyalty.

 

[clee1982]

Sounds pretty business as usual to me.

1). EG should have not take your order, though guess they guy on the EG side wouldn't know. I mean imagine you're EG, and you get an email that says a customer wants MTO with xyz detail, nothing else much (though the shipping to US part should have cause them to think twice about whether they got some other agreement with their US based retailer).
2). EG's reply in the email was truthful, but not very smart, should have said something in the line of it is an exclusive design agreement with Leffot, thus prevent them from make it for you while you're a US based customer, blah blah..., am I encouraging business to lie? I hope not, but I would imagine you would still be angry, just less angry...
3). Leffot is doing what all business do, but they forgot what goes on the net stays there, not an easy situation for them

 

[Cary Grant]



I feel the blame shouldn't be on Leffot, but on EG for taking your order. Someone there should have known that this was a Leffot exclusive...

EXACTLY.

EG made the mistake.

 

[clee1982]



I do a lot of these breach of contract litigation claims.

Leffot is not to blame here.

Leffot did a deal with EG and EG agreed to an exclusive with Leffot but they broke that deal.

Then EG did a deal with the OP and broke that deal too!!

Now EG are trying to pass on their damages to the OP by forcing the OP to accept losses caused by their own breach. They are attempting to unreasonably force the OP to accept cancellation when he is not obliged to accept cancellation at all.

The OP has not committed any breach, EG have.

So what is the solution?

Simple, there is still a contract between the OP and EG. The OP is not obliged to accept the cancellation which EG e-mailed the OP from "the store manager". The OP had nothing to do with the exclusive deal, he is entitled to demand performance and delivery of the sold goods.

The OP is entitled to demand delivery from EG in terms of the contract with EG notwithstanding Leffot's exclusivity.

If EG CAN NOT provide delivery, well then the OP is entitled to demand restitution by demanding EG pay the difference between the price of the product as contracted with EG and the price of the product where he will be forced to buy them, in this case the only place is Leffot.

So if EG was in the USA our courts would probably order EG to buy the shoes from Leffot and deliver them to the OP in fulfilment of their contract, that way everybody meets their obligation.

I would not let EG off the hook here.

sounds correct, but 1). how easy is it to "sue" or "settle" with EG in reality 2). I would think EG (or Leffot) would just not do any more MTO and/or Bespoke order with OP in the future

 

[Nick V.]

If I understand this correctly. Steve designed the shoe. Right?
If thats correct, it's his insight, vision and, talent that got you interested in this pair of shoes.
I'm not aware of Steve's arrangement with E.G. That's none of my business. But, if he spent his time and incorporated his experience developing the shoe, Just pay for it, as you were willing to do.
For the Lawyer's out there, this is an "intellectual property" issue. A case where it doesn't pay for a small business owner to pursue.

Don't use Steve. He's a good guy and valuable to this forum.

 

[zippyh]

Pretty clear who the whiny ass baby is in this situation and it ain't Leffot.

 

[clee1982]



If I understand this correctly. Steve designed the shoe. Right?
If thats correct, it's his insight, vision and, talent that got you interested in this pair of shoes.
I'm not aware of Steve's arrangement with E.G. That's none of my business. But, if he spent his time and incorporated his experience developing the shoe, Just pay for it, as you were willing to do.
For the Lawyer's out there, this is an "intellectual property" issue. A case where it doesn't pay for a small business owner to pursue.

Don't use Steve. He's a good guy and valuable to this forum.

Not a lawyer, but can that constitute a intellectual property? I highly highly doubt that.

Whether there was an agreement between EG and Leffot, I have no idea. If Leffot had smart lawyer, they probably should have, though judge by the size of the business, probably not.

 

[sellahi22]



If I understand this correctly. Steve designed the shoe. Right?
If thats correct, it's his insight, vision and, talent that got you interested in this pair of shoes.
I'm not aware of Steve's arrangement with E.G. That's none of my business. But, if he spent his time and incorporated his experience developing the shoe, Just pay for it, as you were willing to do.
For the Lawyer's out there, this is an "intellectual property" issue. A case where it doesn't pay for a small business owner to pursue.

Don't use Steve. He's a good guy and valuable to this forum.

Not a lawyer, but this is clearly not protectable IP. There is no IP protection for fashion designs, only trademarks like logos etc.

I think OP is completely justified in being pissed off. Leffot has the potential to be a nice shop but the owner goes way overboard with markups. The markups range from minor but unnecessary (like 5-10% on a pair of stock Aldens), to completely outrageous ($475 for the MTO EG's). I understand that his business model is to cater to ignorant rich guys who don't know anything about shoes, but I don't understand why any informed consumer would ever shop at Leffot.

 

[ddonicht]

I agree that legally, the only one who might be held accountable is EG. From a customer service standpoint however, this is ugly. This is a high end product we are talking about and not something you get at Payless Shoes (or whatever the local store is for $20 shoes). I mean would you expect the same level of service buying a Mercedes as you would a Kia? No. And if you are getting the same level from the Mercedes dealership (based on the assumption that it is bad service there instead of great service at the Kia dealership), then you are likely to go by a BMW or Jaguar. The same thing applies here. A quality product is generally a quality product and comparable to other quality products of the same ilk. What will really separate them is the company's reputation and a consumer's experience with them. In this case we have someone who feels to have gotten a raw deal by both companies. Regardless of legalities, he does not feel like either company handled it in an appropriate manner. As such, he is not likely to go to either one again and by sharing his experience here, other people may choose to go elsewhere as well.

 

[wysiwyg]

The day after placing my order, EG contacted me and told me that they were available for special order and the price they quoted me was $475 less than Leffot.

This is the real travesty here.

 

[Grenadier]



I would not let EG off the hook here.</p>

What about the OP, who cancelled a custom order contract with Leffot?

 

[TheWGP]

Two main takeaways here:

Don't post online about hot deals until you have the package in hand.

Don't deal with Leffot - their customer service is only exemplary if you're paying them a super-high premium. Gotta pay NYC rents, I guess... agreed that Leffot's target market is uninformed ibankers and lawyers and so on in NYC, if you're serious about your shoes and care at all about your money, you should probably not be purchasing there.


Did I mention don't post online about a good deal until you have your package?

 

[lasbar]

It is insane from EG if they really made the shoes for their commercial partner..

If I was Leffot I would have been livid but the premium they're asking is a hefty one to be fair.

Charity or not...