Heritage of Scotland: a cautionary tale, and a plea for advice

**tartanswede** · 1st October 09, 11:30 PM

Hi everyone,

My first post, and it's not a cheerful one, I'm afraid.

I made the mistake of ordering some stuff from heritageofscotland.com.
Had I stumbled upon this place earlier, I wouldn't have done that.

Back in May, I ordered what they call a "Women's kilt". It's an oxymoron, I guess, but it's supposed to be just like a kilt, but for women. That is the garment to the right in the picture.

Imagine my surprise when, after several months, the garment on the left shows up. It doesn't look much like what I ordered, apart from being the correct tartan and not being bifurcated. When I approached HoS about this, they claimed that it is, indeed, what I ordered. Very strange, as anyone should be able to notice the lack of similarity - just look at the area around the waist.

That was the cautionary tale, and here is my plea for advice:
I know that quite a few people here have had experience with HoS/Gold Bros, and that there are quite a few Scots (and other Brits) around. Unfortunately I live in Australia (and I'm Swedish) so I'm not at all sure what the law would say about this whole affair. Probably not much, although there may be some Commonwealth agreement that I'm unaware of.

So my big question is: Is there anything I can do about this? I am of course going to contact my bank and discuss the possibility of a chargeback as HoS obviously did not send me the item I ordered, but I would actually prefer to have the kilt (my partner would look awesome in it).

[Apologies if I come off as a bit stiff - writing in English does that to me sometimes.]

**Paul** · 2nd October 09, 02:33 AM

I've only had positive experiences with Heritage of Scotland.
I recognise the skirts as being different styles on their website. Are you sure you ordered that style: "Women's kilt 16 inches long" and not a "Billie Kilt"
Check your order form online and if you indeed did order the 16 inches long one then really get onto them... they did send you the wrong thing.

**Jock Scot** · 2nd October 09, 02:59 AM

Welcome, from Inverness-shire. Sadly your experience with that company is not unusual, it seems.

**SFCRick** · 2nd October 09, 03:00 AM

Yeah, you got the "Billie Kilt"

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 2nd October 09, 03:46 AM

It looks like what you ordered was a "mini-kilt" and what you received was a "billie skirt." If you've already contacted the company and given them the chance to correct the error, and they won't do it, your only recourse really is to talk to your bank about doing a charge back. Most credit card companies are pretty good about these kinds of arbitrations.

FYI, we sell various styles of lady's skirts, including mini-kilts and billies. These are 100% Scottish wool, made by Lochcarron of Scotland. I'd be glad to help you get your lady friend the skirt she wants.
http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/ladykilt.html