Having my doubts about Springfield Leather

[CaptQuirk]

 I started with Tandy, because that was a name I knew as a kid. After a while, I heard about Springfield, and gave them a try. The prices were pretty good, and so was the selection, but what set them apart, was a flat rate shipping offer. Oh yeah! I was on board for that! Well, the past few orders started costing more, and that is when I found out that they no longer had a flat rate. Ok...  Then I placed an order, and it was so screwed up. Stuff I didn't order, stuff I did order wasn't in there. Some of that was on back order, some of it was just not sent. I finally got the stitching wheel, and then got charged for it. Never got the snaps. And to top it all off, they screwed up and sent it on a net 30, and I just got the bill for that. Not sure I want to go back to them. Am I wrong?

[Elliot]

You haven't scratched the surface yet

It gets worse.

[thefanninator]

I did notice that they stopped the flat rate shipping but other than that no complaints from me. I ordered from them twice  in April and about a week ago. And several other times over the last 3 years. Call them.

Edited August 28, 2016 by thefanninator

[Tugadude]

I assume you've called them?  Did they get things worked out?  I buy from them frequently but tend to go into their store when I'm in Springfield on business.  I find them to be super friendly and knowledgeable.  Several of their employees that work the floor know me and always greet me.  

I'm in business and I can tell you my company makes mistakes.  But we're still a leader of the industry because we take care of our customers.  If you aren't satisfied, talk with the owner.  He is there most days I've visited.  I'm certain they want to get it right and for you to be happy.

As for the flat rate shipping, they posted the very legitimate reason why that had to cease.

Good luck.

[MADMAX22]

Don't buy from there amazon or ebay listings though, I was looking at some of the HO old world harness and they raised the price $90 for there listings on ebay and amazon.

They have good customer service, however being on the west coast with the way there website doesn't get updated for out of stock items it doesn't work for me. The way out of stock items/billing/communication is handled for those items I don't have the time or lack the effort to deal with. If I was on the east coast it may be a little different.

[CaptQuirk]

Ok, I guess I'm just over reacting then. It just seemed like a lot has gone wrong with the last few orders, and shipping is an issue with me, when it costs as much or more to ship as the stuff I just bought.

[MADMAX22]

I think we are all going to feel a shipping pinch even more in the near future. Now that almost everything is ordered online prices to ship things are going to steadily creep up. It use to be gas prices that was the excuse, now its just more money in pocket unless wages are going up somewhere I haven't heard about.

Then places like amazon and walmart are going to end up making there own delivery service then things will get interesting again. Even that will probably not be good for us the end user.

I still don't understand the price jumps in the past two years (for everything). Fuel went up what a couple years ago then came way back down however that gravy train of an excuse seems to be sticking around.

Edited August 28, 2016 by MADMAX22

[CaptQuirk]

It's like this for me- I live in the middle of the woods, near a small town most folks in the next county over don't even know about. The closest Tandy is almost 3.5 to 4 hours away. The closest Hobby Lobby or Michael's is about 1.5 hours away. I can sometimes get Chicago Screws, but most hardware store don't even know what they are. Rivets and snaps? Not a chance. The only way I can find leather, is if I jump a fence and grab a cow.

 So now I have a guy, who has seen one of my holsters on someone else, or the pawn shop recommends me (They think my work is "Jam up", which means they like it). Said guy now wants a holster, and he wants one fairly quick. I go through my supplies. Leather, check. Got enough to do the work. Then I notice I'm low on thread, or I bust my last needles (Have gone through half a dozen in a night), or run out of snaps (Again, gone through half a dozen trying to set one). It costs twice as much to ship as it costs to buy, and the wait is 3-5 days depending on where I order. Or, drive to Macon to find the Hobby Lobby is out... or closed.

 So I order from Springfield, and half my order isn't right. "We'll send the right stuff out, but some of it will be a while, we are out and don't know when it will be in. Coulda said something WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE. That would have given me the option to get it somewhere else in time, instead of waiting.

[JLSleather]

First order from SCL about 6 or was it 7 years ago. Pathetic. But everybody here said "give em a chance ..blahblah".  Second and third order... not much better than the first, though they "got me" for less money.  I remember one confused fella was on this site, going on about how great their customer service was... .he only ordered threee times and they messed up EVERY order,,... and i finally said.. 'they messed up every order you ever made, and you're HAPPY about it ?#!!@#@!!"  But then, I think "customer service" means giving you what you paid for, in the time i agreed to , at the price i agreed to.

I'm frankly APPALLED at that "everybody makes mistakes" crap.  I've had the cows over at cutesy tell me too -- hey, when you "get big" mistakes happen and sometimes you dont' have time to catch it.. blahblah".  So, then -- WHY doesn't it say at the top of your site (with all your other "pitches". that we have a lot of customers and may make a mistake, but we'll fix it even if it sets you back a month".  Never seem to see that.  

So I dint' order there much at all for quite a while. Snaps or screws, a bottle of dye.. etc.  Occasionally I'd get a side of leather, but without going through my receipts I'd say about half was unacceptable and got returned to them.  They DID always "accept" the return -- but seriously, my credit card company would not have given them a choice and they know that.  In the end, I prefer to just order where I can get what I need WITHOUT doing it twice.

NOW HAVING SAID THAT ↑ →→→♠♠→→→

I din't have a complaint when they stopped "offering" free shipping.  They don't owe me free shipping, and anything they shipped without charging me was a benefit... not something I was "entitled to".

The piece of leather i bought was overpriced,and not great looking quality.  But i knew that ahead of time, and agreed to that price. The leather itself, while not stunning and clean, was also not bad enough to return.  End result, I certainly paid more for that piece than I would have at Hermann Oak, but I wanted ONE piece of that weight, and they had one, so ...

And the last couple of orders (I did use them a couple times this year) were actually an IMPROVEMENT in the service from "before".  My orders were filled with the right items, in reasonable time, at teh price agreed to.  And that's all I ask of anybody I order anything from!

 

[TonyRV2]

I've used SL a few times this year without any issues.  Maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know.  If there's a better supplier out there with reasonable prices I'd sure be happy to hear about them.