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WTF is going on at Aerostich?

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fkfw

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Has anyone else ordered something from Aerostich in the past three months and not gotten it?

I ordered some gauntlet gloves ($100) from Aerostich on May 28th. I waited a month and heard nothing from them. I wrote to customer service and 4 days later got a robot reply about Covid difficulties, etc., telling me that it would be another two weeks. I waited another month after hearing nothing from them and sent more emails. Nothing.

I called them today (one day short of three months) and the woman that answered the phone told me that their vendor says it will be another two weeks. I mentioned to her that I had been told that a month ago. I asked her if it was normal procedure for Aerostich to keep their customers in the dark for three months and that I was the one who had to contact them.

Hey, I know it's been tough on companies for the last 6 months to keep up with demand. I get that. What I don't get is that Aerostich is fully aware of their outstanding orders and - at least in my case - have made no effort to contact me.

I ran a company for 25 years. At the end of each day, I always made sure my clients knew what was going on with their jobs. They weren't always happy with the truth, but they remained loyal clients so they clearly appreciated the honesty.

I've never bought anything from Aerostich before. I chose them because they have a good reputation in the BMW community, and I prefer to but locally/American whenever possible.

I have no idea if I'll ever get the gloves, but I will never buy from them again.
 
Never dealing with Aerostich again is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Good company with a long standing reputation of good quality products and service. I understand your frustration, however I don't think most of us can fathom the difficulty of running an online retail business during a pandemic.
 
"WTF is going on at Aerostich?"

My guess is the same thing that is going on most everywhere.

The supply chain is fouled up in a huge way. When I read these "rants", I wonder why situations like this are taken soooo personal. There was no mention if the gloves had been paid for (charged to a CC). If a CC was charged and the item not delivered not delivered, that would be something to get cranky over...... but after a billing cycle, the determination to "move on" or "stick it out" should have been made.

A lot of these smaller companies are not going to survive this mess, (Covid). I wish the post would have been something like,

"Anybody know what is going on with Aerostitch? I ordered a long time ago and it's been crickets.

If the OP wants to move on in a new direction for gloves, there has been some good responses to a supplier in the Opportunities- Members and Vendors section.

:bliss

OM

fkfw said:
Has anyone else ordered something from Aerostich in the past three months and not gotten it?

I ordered some gauntlet gloves ($100) from Aerostich on May 28th. I waited a month and heard nothing from them. I wrote to customer service and 4 days later got a robot reply about Covid difficulties, etc., telling me that it would be another two weeks. I waited another month after hearing nothing from them and sent more emails. Nothing.

I called them today (one day short of three months) and the woman that answered the phone told me that their vendor says it will be another two weeks. I mentioned to her that I had been told that a month ago. I asked her if it was normal procedure for Aerostich to keep their customers in the dark for three months and that I was the one who had to contact them.

Hey, I know it's been tough on companies for the last 6 months to keep up with demand. I get that. What I don't get is that Aerostich is fully aware of their outstanding orders and - at least in my case - have made no effort to contact me.

I ran a company for 25 years. At the end of each day, I always made sure my clients knew what was going on with their jobs. They weren't always happy with the truth, but they remained loyal clients so they clearly appreciated the honesty.

I've never bought anything from Aerostich before. I chose them because they have a good reputation in the BMW community, and I prefer to but locally/American whenever possible.

I have no idea if I'll ever get the gloves, but I will never buy from them again.
Click to expand...
 
I do not believe there are new owners. Andy did hire a new COO or CEO. I would like to know the source of the new ownership information.
 
Ordered a couple small items several weeks ago. Ordered and arrived without an issue.
 
akbeemer said:
I understand your frustration, however I don't think most of us can fathom the difficulty of running an online retail business during a pandemic.
Click to expand...

Really? The two insurance companies I use for vehicles and the one we use for health insurance have all sent rebates (some multiple times) to us in the past few months.

If soul-less insurance companies have figured out how to keep their customers happy, how is it that Aerostich has not?
 
fkfw said:
Really? The two insurance companies I use for vehicles and the one we use for health insurance have all sent rebates (some multiple times) to us in the past few months.

If soul-less insurance companies have figured out how to keep their customers happy, how is it that Aerostich has not?
Click to expand...

I realize your upset but I would need another comparison. I would have to guess that a billion dollar insurance company has more everything than Aerostitch.
OM
 
This pandemic has screwed up a lot of product supplies. Where I work we have parts and products on back order since March, and when we call the manufacturer we get info that says we will get the product in a couple weeks, but then COVID hits them, or one of their vendors and we get put off a month or two. Then the month or two is over and something else messes them up.

Seeing what we are going through I can see why Aerostich is having trouble. It is hard to explain what is going on to your customers when your suppliers can't tell you accurate info.

Also, They could probably hire a couple more people to call customers about back orders, and it is tough to find employees that can handle the job.
 
PoorUB said:
It is hard to explain what is going on to your customers when your suppliers can't tell you accurate info.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get that their suppliers aren't making it any easier for them, but if Aerostich would tell me THAT instead of telling me nothing, I would understand.

If you track your sales and inventory with a computer, you can set up the software to alert you when someone has not received their goods and generate an email letting them know that you are aware of the situation. Maybe you throw in a discount coupon for your next purchase if your customer has been waiting too long. Seems like customer service 101 for a company that has such a loyal following...
 
Hopefully you get it sorted. All of my dealings with Aerostitch have been excellent but then again that was pre Covid.
 
fkfw said:
Yeah, I get that their suppliers aren't making it any easier for them, but if Aerostich would tell me THAT instead of telling me nothing, I would understand.

If you track your sales and inventory with a computer, you can set up the software to alert you when someone has not received their goods and generate an email letting them know that you are aware of the situation. Maybe you throw in a discount coupon for your next purchase if your customer has been waiting too long. Seems like customer service 101 for a company that has such a loyal following...
Click to expand...

I think it is a bit much to expect. We order items every day, and pretty much forget about the order. I could spend a day every week just calling on back orders and wondering when they are coming in, and this is just for my orders. Now consider we have 15-20 people on the sales staff it gets to be a bunch of work just watching orders when we can barely keep up any way. Consider the customer wants to know when the item might be coming in so that requires a phone call, or perhaps multiple calls to the vendor then a call to the customer, now multiply that by 100 or 1,000.

I think your rose colored glasses are getting a bit of tint taken out by reality.

If it were me I would find the product elsewhere and cancel the order.

I talked to a salesman at another wholesaler the other day. He told me they had an item they had on back order and were waiting on 28,000 of them. you want to start making phone calls on that one item? Keep in mind that is just one item they have on BO.
 
fkfw said:
Really? The two insurance companies I use for vehicles and the one we use for health insurance have all sent rebates (some multiple times) to us in the past few months.

If soul-less insurance companies have figured out how to keep their customers happy, how is it that Aerostich has not?
Click to expand...
A businessman that has owned a business 25 years should understand that a service company that processes paper and paperless transactions and a distribution company that orders and receives bulk inventory from multiple vendors only to repackage and ship small parcel to a multitude of end users are horses of a different color.

The pandemic has screwed with supply chains in ways that are unprecedented in modern times. There will winners and losers in the marketplace and there will be beaucoup business school case studies and books written soon on how companies coped with a once in a century event while already in an unprecedented shift to e-commerce that was already challenging supply. Have we not noticed Gray Van is replacing Brown Van in your neighborhood?

There are literally a million moving parts and companies are making decisions on the fly on what to do and how to do it.
 
dduelin said:
A businessman that has owned a business 25 years should understand that a service company that processes paper and paperless transactions and a distribution company that orders and receives bulk inventory from multiple vendors only to repackage and ship small parcel to a multitude of end users are horses of a different color.

The pandemic has screwed with supply chains in ways that are unprecedented in modern times. There will winners and losers in the marketplace and there will be beaucoup business school case studies and books written soon on how companies coped with a once in a century event while already in an unprecedented shift to e-commerce that was already challenging supply. Have we not noticed Gray Van is replacing Brown Van in your neighborhood?

There are literally a million moving parts and companies are making decisions on the fly on what to do and how to do it.
Click to expand...

Much of the riding gear that Aerostich sells is made at their facility in Duluth. I ordered some customized pants a few days ago and it will be 10-12 weeks before they are produced. They must have several very experienced and skilled workers to make their gear, and keeping them working and healthy in these times is its own special challenge.
 
Just think what they must be going through to keep their workers working and to rearrange their shop to keep everyone safe while still being able to do the work. Nothing easy for them to be able to keep building their products.
 
r184 said:
Ordered a couple small items several weeks ago. Ordered and arrived without an issue.
Click to expand...

Same here. However, I sympathize with the op. I am a loyal customer having spent thousands of dollars with them. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t put them at the TOP of customer service list. They are very good though. The quality of product- both theirs and those they vend for make their slightly less than perfect communication a very minor inconvenience for me. To the OP, perhaps get the gloves elsewhere this time but do NOT give up on them. They are unique, American, dedicated to quality, and usually reliable, honest, and a pleasure to deal with...and if you are ever near Duluth, well worth a visit!!!
 
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