TARTANWEB Disappointment

[denmcdough]

Alan H, sounds good. I agree with most of what you said. It's time to let Tartanweb respond. Heck, I've already stated that they would refund the money. I'm only responding to comments that are from others' perspectives, and not mine.

I, too, am done with this thread. I will post on a new one when this has all been cleared up. If you think this has gotten dragged out, then why keep looking at it????

[GG]

Well, I'm still awaiting an answer from Scott.

Greg

[denmcdough]

OK, I was not going to come back to this thread, Greg, but I wanted to inform you that Scott, who has been in communication with me, is suppose to give his lengthy response, here, on this forum.

Until Scott posts, I won't really get into this much further, other than to say that I'm not getting a refund, but will have a new kilt made.

Let's wait and see what transpires!

Best,

Den

[stkildaman]

With Den's knowledge and permission I herewith attach a copy of my reply to him:



Dear Dennis,

I am the CEO of the StKilda Group of which Tartanweb is one company along with Gaelicthemes, R.G. Hardie, Vernon Tailoring, and St. Kilda Retailing.

I first learned of your complaint when advised by a business connection of your postings. To say I am upset at the furore on the forum caused over your kilt is an understatement.

For the owner of a company to know nothing of a problem and to be given no opportunity to correspond directly with that customer and later find out that e-mails have been exchanged between that customer and a member of staff outside of the business is not correct. An employee has absolutely no right to correspond with you on business matters over his personal hotmail account. On the day I was first made aware of this issue I instructed Mr Reid to write immediately and tell you we would remake and compensate costs etc. Why he chose to do that from his hotmail account has not been satisfactorily explained to me as yet. Personal service and good relations are encouraged but should always be conducted through the medium of the company for very good reasons.

Peter Reid is one of the staff who works for Tartanweb and is not divisible from the company for whom he works. Ultimately he is the person responsible for supplying you with product which was not quality controlled but it is for the company to correct this. The company supplied a kilt to you which was incorrectly pleated –you correctly returned it and correctly expected that it would be rectified and returned. It was returned to you and normal procedures and common sense were not used and from what I can see and from what I have researched with the kilt supervisor that kilt should never have been sent out before Christmas as a rush. From experience when things go wrong take time and double check—that was not done.

I have been in Highlandwear for far longer than I care to remember and I am the last person to say we never make a mistake---of course we do but we try and learn and always and I stress ALWAYS put the customer first. Peter is a young man who is conscientious and who has worked for me for less than a year and is now seeking to set up his own kilt making business. You are a customer of Tartanweb and he had absolutely no right to involve you in personal affairs. His duty was to the company and to you as a customer of that company. I have spoken to him in no uncertain terms about how he has dealt with this matter and the damage which has ensued because it can easily be construed that he was looking after his own interests and not yours and the company’s. You were clearly looking to protect him but have inadvertently I believe, affected the company. I ask you to stand back and take personal relations out of this.

What I have seen in the pictures you posted on X Marks is a disgrace and if a company had spoilt my Christmas as we spoilt yours I would be furious but that anger should always be tempered by giving a right of reply and testing the true mettle of a company which is how they deal with you.

I have procedures in place to be notified of any complaints or feedback and rely on this being done. For Tartanweb the company to be pilloried due to a staff member not complying with instructions and corresponding with you outside of the business is clearly for me to deal with internally.

As the owner of Tartanweb let me assure you that your kilt will be remade. Any shipping costs incurred by you and other expenses will of course be refunded. I will also discuss with you in due course some other recompense. I will be dealing personally with the remake of your kilt and with the kilt supervisor. I expect the cloth to be in on Monday. The new kilt will be sent to you next week.

I would ask that you correspond with me directly as being the correct route to deal with this matter. Please feel free to telephone or email me at any time to discuss any matter. Tartanweb has been a registered trademark for 20 years and is arguably the oldest highlandwear web company and we take pride in the quality of our manufacturing and the thousands of satisfied customers over the years. I apologise for the way this has been handled and the obvious distress caused and we will resolve for you.

Kind regartds
Scott Chalmers

[Steve Ashton]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to clarify something for you.
Scott Chalmers delay in responding to this thread was by no means his fault. It was mine.
Scott contacted me almost immediately after hearing of this situation and asked how he could respond and offer his formal reply.

Scott of course would not post to this thread until he had had an opportunity to contact denmcdough directly and they had worked this out between them.

Scott and I have been working over the past couple of days trying to get him registered on the forum. At first I misspelled the username he wished to use.
This morning we got things worked out and as you can see the moment he was able to post he did.

My apologies to all for my mistake which caused the delay in Scott's ability to reply in a timely manner.

[artificer]

With Den's knowledge and permission I herewith attach a copy of my reply to him:
...
Kind regartds
Scott Chalmers

Welcome aboard, Scott.

Thank you for addressing this issue publicly (as well as taking care of Den). It's always great to have a business owner come in and explain circumstances personally.

ith:

[ForresterModern]

Welcome aboard, Scott.

Thank you for addressing this issue publicly (as well as taking care of Den). It's always great to have a business owner come in and explain circumstances personally.

ith:

***. Thank you and welcome to the forum, Scott.

Den, nothing can undo the discomfort you have suffered and will always remember. Hopefully getting a properly made and fitted kilt, and quickly, will help heal the wound, and the "additional recompense" offered satisfy your needs. Best of luck.

Jeff

[denmcdough]

Well, Scott has finally answered, and I certainly welcome his comments. Thank you, Scott, and to everyone who has posted.

In every tragedy there's a silver lining, so the saying goes. In many tragic events, it's difficult to fathom any good that can come out of it, especially if it's catastrophic. Well, having and ill-made kilt is not a catastrophe. So, it's rather obvious that the good coming out of this will affect both sides: I will have my new kilt made, and Tartanweb (TW) keeps its reputation in tact. In fact, I honestly don't believe my original thread will damage TW, although it could have. Thank goodness Scott stepped in to give his side, and to see to it that his customer, Moi, is taken care of. If anything, it will make them stronger.

When we screw up, which is human, we, hopefully, learn from our mistakes and move on. TW has certainly done that, so it will make many members, here, feel confident that when they purchase from TW, they'll be cherished and looked after. The learning curve, here?....have some quality control in place. In reality, though, I think the quality control issue should really have started with the tailors who made the kilt. As artisans, they should have seen this from the get go.

I was beginning to think my cause was lost, but it's heart warming to have a vendor step up to the plate and admit a mistake, and then go out and correct it. My hat is off to you, Mr. Chalmers! You hit a home run!

So, in closing, I hope everyone's fears about TW's quality control are put to rest. Case closed! I'm moving on and have that damn "Jones" all over again.

Oh, will I post new pics when the new Robertson arrives? Yes! I can't wait!

Cheers to all!

Dennis

[ShaunMaxwell]

I have purchased three kilts from Tartanweb in the past, and had plans to make my next kilt purchase there as well. This thread certainly gave me pause, but I feel somewhat reassured having read Scott's response.

I am glad to know that Scott has joined the forum and hope he will be a continued presence, as is Nick of Scotweb. I think it's good for owners Highland wear retailers to be represented on this forum, for their good and ours. It gives them a voice to respond when problems arise, and allows us the opportunity to be heard by those who need to be made aware when their company's err.

Glad to see a favorable resolution to a distressing situation.

SM

[seanachie]

Quote:
As for miscommunication, I don't see how that can be! The kilt was made horribly. It was sent back to Tratanweb, and they agreed, after looking at the pics, that it was not done correctly. And, Peter agreed, on the second take, that it still looked horrible. Money to be refunded. Nuff said!??

I would, however, welcome any other comments from Tartanweb.

This was the point of my Post #39. I was suspicious of just such an event. I have seen in multiple work situations where a personal relationship develop between vendor and client. This can be healthy and good, and I rely on those relationships for meeting my companies needs. Where this gets dicey is when someone does something or asks something that compromises their employer. I have had it happen before.