Jimbob Report post Posted October 13, 2011 I have ordered from STleather before....the so called female manager is rather rude and always in a hurry...her English is rather poor....so you have to repeat ur order many times...till she has it straight....not a big problem, but does cost time. Now my first real big order came in....it took for ever!!!! To make her understand what I Needed.....the box came torn all to pieces, a second hand box....flimsy and not fit to carry a big order like that!! The content was poored in with no cushening, paper or packing material.... needless to say some items are damaged! Some rivets and snaps was flooting loose in the box and seems I am short on both now... Now to the leather that was included....a side of 2-3 oz tooling leather, it had across the hole side grease or oil spots on it.....absolutly trash....nobody could have used this side.... I did say when I called that they please hand pick it.....she assured me of that....it even said it on the order!!! When I called, nobody answered for two days....then finally this same manager got rude with me again, told me blue lies about there packing service and finally told me all leather comes that way!?!?!!! Needless to say, that was my last order wih STleather......my 450 dollar can be spend witj somebody else, somebody wants my money bad enough to be kind, honest and willing to serve me as a preferred customer...oh, and a little know how about leather would help too... Anybody had simular experience with this awful company!? I thought I let you all know..... Greetings Jimbob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drphil Report post Posted October 13, 2011 (edited) Well, I have had similar experiences. Not as bad as yours has been. I ordered a few books and patterns from them and received them the next day!! It was from their place in St. Louis to my place near Des Moines, but still I was amazed at the fast shipping. However, my second order was no so fast . . . I will come back to that. The books and patterns arrived in good condition, but in a used box . . . ok fair enough I guess. I placed my order through email and had a good experience. The patterns were much cheaper than other sources and were clean with no creases etc. After that, I decided to go out on a limb and order some more from them. I ordered some craftools, dyes, and a hide. I received a small used box with the craftools and dyes no prob after a week and a few days. The craftools were just thrown in the box clanging around in the bottom when I got it. I later found a small ziplock bad they used to be in inside the box. Guess they slid out? The hide is another story. had to wait over 3 weeks to get it and when it did show up it had dark marks over half of it (similar to the grease marks on jimbob's Im sure). The entire hide had nick marks, holes, scars, unusual coloring and an unusual smell over all. What a disappointment it was. I will probably not order another tooling hide from them! The hide came rolled up wrapped in a sheet of poster board wrapped in packing paper. No box. I also ordered some kidskin lining leather that they never sent shipped billed etc. so no loss to me I suppose. This hide was just received on Tuesday oct. 11th. I inquired as to why it was taking so long and was told that they had to wait to get one of my books in stock. Then I was told the hide had the wrong address on it . . . turns out it had the CORRECT address on it. I just assume they forgot to ship it and put it in the mail after I inquired the first time. Of course things that like I will never TRULY know. Bottom line, they do have good prices on books and patterns as well as tools and dyes. Those items are probably safe to get from them as they cannot get that messed up. I had no torn pages etc. But do not order tooling leather from that place. I was kicking myself for not spending an extra $40 to get a W&C hide. I do know of a few people that love their lining leathers and have good things to say about them, but I dont have any experience with that side of their business. If I order from them again, and that is a big IF, it will be to get stuff that I know cannot get harmed, that is cheap (compared to other stores), and that I know is not a rip off reproduction of something quality that I really wanted. Edited October 13, 2011 by drphil Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ladykahu Report post Posted October 13, 2011 I have ordered via email from them. I live in australia and got my order just fine. very well packaged (it was a used box, but as a greenie I like that) and in the usual time from for something from america. Looks like email orders might be the better idea with them. I will be ordering further things through them, as they seem to be the only ones who will ship me 'flammable' items. Natalie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimbob Report post Posted October 28, 2011 Follow up!! Ok, now after some weeks, I have received another side of 2-3 oz tooling leather.....not much better to do something serious with it, but way better then the other side was!! And it was send for free as an appologie to the mess they made!! Also been send a bag of 50 snaps for free, wich was rattling loose and mostly some of them lost in the broken box they send the first time...... I have talked to the Lady with the thick accent and she first was as rude as usuall....then when I told her about sending everything back, telling the story here on the forum and demanding my money back....she got much more understanding and finally appologized!!! Wow....what a little pressure shure can do...!?! All in all, I have been satisfied with what I got now, no extra charges have been made and I think they have understood what my issues where...so I hope. They do have good prices on lot's of items.....but some real quality issues!! AND they shure dont know a lick how to pack items well..... I do not think I will order ANY leather from them anymore!! Fair is fair, so here is my follow-up on STleather James Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buckeroo1 Report post Posted October 29, 2011 Hey JimBob...did you lose the address of that FANTASTIC company I told you about? Just in case you did, here it is again: Beiler's Manufacturing and Supply 3025 Irishtown Road Ronks, PA 17572 Phone: (717) 768-0174 Beiler's has one of the nicest catalogs in the industry, and their prices are second to none. Because they are an Amish company, they really cater to the harness industry...but the supplies are all priced well because they do not use computers, nor do they use fancy boxes (but they pack very well), I purchase ALL my dyes, hand tools and "linen" thread from them...not to mention ALL my hardware too! Finally, in today's world of high shipping cost....they charge "ACTUAL" shipping fees, unlike some companies that charge a percentage (that is always in their favor too). Write or call for their catalog...its FREE! No...I am not getting paid for this endorsement, I am just a very happy customer and wish that the other companies in this industry would follow their wonderful lead. I am a 100% totally satisfied customer!! Oh yeah, they sell some of the highest quality leather on the market....very very nice leather, and it comes as if I picked it off the stack myself! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alsleather Report post Posted October 30, 2011 Follow up!! Ok, now after some weeks, I have received another side of 2-3 oz tooling leather.....not much better to do something serious with it, but way better then the other side was!! And it was send for free as an appologie to the mess they made!! Also been send a bag of 50 snaps for free, wich was rattling loose and mostly some of them lost in the broken box they send the first time...... I have talked to the Lady with the thick accent and she first was as rude as usuall....then when I told her about sending everything back, telling the story here on the forum and demanding my money back....she got much more understanding and finally appologized!!! Wow....what a little pressure shure can do...!?! All in all, I have been satisfied with what I got now, no extra charges have been made and I think they have understood what my issues where...so I hope. They do have good prices on lot's of items.....but some real quality issues!! AND they shure dont know a lick how to pack items well..... I do not think I will order ANY leather from them anymore!! Fair is fair, so here is my follow-up on STleather James I have had numerous problems with S-T also. Every time that I call an order in, the first thing that the lady asks me is my customer number. I guess she uses a person's zip code for the customer number, which I have never understood. Then the next question is what is my credit card number. I tell her that I am not giving my credit card number until I am done. I then give her the part number. One time I gave her the wrong part number and she told me very bluntly that it was the wrong number. Another time I was called that I gave her the wrong credit card number, which I did not and she was very upset with me. Also there was a time that I ordered an item and it was always out of stock. I questioned her about it and asked me what I ordered it for. I told her that it is in your catalog and you should have it in stock. The item finally came a few weeks later. I have ordered leather from them and had bad results. I do order a few items which they have cheaper than other places and have received them in excellent shape. I try to be nice to the lady but she is very irritating. I know other people that have quit ordering from them because of her. Allan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jbarv Bulls Report post Posted November 4, 2011 When I first started leatherwork, I placed my first order with ST Leather because they were the absolute cheapest I found. The woman on the phone was to the point, but polite enough. The double shoulder I ordered from them smelled suspiciously like cat urine when it got wet, was tough to cut and stamp, and was pretty awful. Out of the 20 stamping tools I ordered 2 years ago, only 1 is not bent ( pretty sure Ive never used it ) . When I called to ask about a warranty on the tools, she told me not to hit so hard LOL . The buckles they sent were fine, the snaps they sent were hit and miss. Bottom line, you get what you pay for. Cheap leather is cheap, cheap tools are cheap. Not a terrible way to test the waters on a budget, but expect to get what you pay for. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites