nunatak gear: unreliable

[ibarash]

Sorry in advance about the length of this post.

 

For those of you that haven't heard of Nunatak, it is a small company

based in Twisp, WA specializing in premium lightweight down climbing

gear: sleeping bags, jackets, pants, booties. My boyfriend and I are

planning a 3.5 week climbing expedition to the Brooks Range Alaska which leaves in a few days. 1.5 months ago, we ordered a dual alpinist sleeping bag from Tom at Nunatak, with the guarantee that it would be recieved in time for our

trip. Being a bit of an anal person, I checked in with Tom

periodically between then and now, inquiring about the status of the

bag. I was repeatedly assured that all was well, and that I would be

getting the bag with time to spare.

 

Then earlier today I get the following message from Tom:

 

"Ilona. Just received the package that was to contain your bag. it was

not

included after speaking with Seattle sewing again, looks like it did

not get

sewn by her for some reason or another. as none of this matters to

you, ill

be crediting your card this afternoon. I cant believe I dropped the

ball on

this for you, you have my most sincere and regrettable apologies. I

hope

your trip is going to proceed with a backup. nonetheless, I do not

blame you

for not recommending Nunatak to your associates.

good luck,

tom"

 

So, since he has given me permission to not recommend Nunatak to my

associates, here I am, posting to the greater climbing community.

Here was my response to Tom, sent just a few minutes ago:

 

"Tom -- I am shocked. What a surprise... I almost don't know where to

start.

 

In spite of the numerous emails back and forth, the numerous times I

have asked on the status of the bag and you have confirmed to me that

all is going well and I "should have one fine bag" in the next little

while, 1.5 months after the order was placed I find out that the bag

wasn't even sewn???? That means that every time you said that all was

going well, you were not telling the truth. You probably did not have

a chance to actually check on status of the bag in person, and just

assumed that your "sew-er" was doing his or her job. But that leaves

me in a very awkward position. We were, as I have said before,

counting on the bag and therefore counting on your word and your

company's name to provide us with what I thought would be the perfect

product for our trip to Alaska. We will find an alternative, but we

would have been much more able to find a better alternative had you

told us 3 weeks ago that you would not be able to get us the product.

As it is now, we have 5.5 days. Completely unacceptable.

 

One of the most appealing things to me about your company (in addition

to your fine products) was the personal attention from someone who was

(I thought) clearly in touch with needs of mountaineers and climbers,

and therefore aware of the time and design constraints involved. Every

ounce is counted, every piece of equipment is optimized on a trip like

we will be taking in a few days. Your product was an important element

to the whole equation. I think you need to fire "Seattle sewing" as a

first step, and secondly you need to reevaluate your statements and

priorities. If you cannot do something for someone, give them time to

come up with alternatives. Double check everything you do before you

make commitments to people.

 

I have no doubt that your products are high quality and well designed.

We obviously made a mistake in not ordering the sleeping bag from you

2 months in advance, instead of 1.5 months. But you said it could be

done, and 3 weeks ago you said that all was going well.

 

As I said before, I'm shocked.

 

Ilona"

 

Take from this what you will...

[Gary_Yngve]

I think you're being too hard on them... Shit happens.

Small companies don't have the luxuries of huge stockpiles of stuff. They have to rely on other people for some stuff. Maybe the other folks dropped the ball and were late in telling Nunatak.

 

To me it looks like:

Shit happens.

Tom got screwed over by one of his providers. He notified you immediately, apologized, took all the blame for it, and credited your account. This is much more than you'll get from most other places. You're really being too hard on him (though understandably you're mad).

[marylou]

I think it's unfair of you, and poor form, to post this on the Internet, especially since it was based on one error.

[Fence_Sitter]

i agree... most companies would just say screw you and send it late without a refund... i know it sucks that it happened to you, but shit happens and it probably wasn't his fault...(that is what it sounded like) but hommes took the blame... i think that was classy on his part... but i understand your frustration...

[pindude]

ibarash,

 

Ditto what Marylou, Gary, and Fence Sitter said.

 

The internet can be a great tool, but I'm tired of every person who airs their personal customer service woes to the world. Sometimes it can be legit, and I can understand your frustration and anger, ibarash, but calling Tom a liar and telling him he should fire his Seattle seamster/seamstress is going too far. I'm sure there are many successful orders and happy customers for Nunatak, or they wouldn't be in business, and as a little business, airing this the way you have can hurt much more the little guy, as opposed to a bigger company. At least Tom had the guts to apologize and admit he screwed up, and you do have a few days to get another sleeping bag prior to your trip.

 

Most importantly, it would only be fair if you told Tom you aired this on cc.com, or any other discussion board you might have posted your gripe, and he has a chance to respond to the same audience(s). So, ibarash, have you told Tom you posted here, and did you post this anywhere else?

[jon]

Obviously you should be frusterated by this, but if there is anyone who got screwed here it is Tom. You've got 5 days to go find a bag in Seattle, there are tons of places with tons of bags. He not only lost a sale but is now having this aired out all over the internet for what appears wasn't his fault. Considering it was a custom bag he is probably is out custom materials that were already cut for your bag. I don't know how many employees he has, he obviously doesn't have enough business to have a full time sewer or equipment, so do you think it is easy to run a business like his where most everything is custom made. Cut the guy some slack.

 

Hope you are find a bag that works and have a good trip.

[fleblebleb]

Yikes, you're one vindictive crapperella aren't ya, eh, Ilona or whatever your name is? Is that your name, really? Like that Bulgarian porn star they voted into the Italian parliament? Cool! Anyway, this isn't some big dollar mill that just lent their name to the latest giga-SUV-truck-hybrid monstrosity right after sending a 40 person team to climb the highest mountain on the moon, this is just some guy in Twisp. If you can't figure out that a small shop making everything to order has a much smaller margin for error than a big shop making stuff in huge batches, tough luck. No custom uberbag for you. Go home, come back and entertain us with more whining some other day. Maybe you can go to Jim's shop, buy something, put some wear on it, not get to return it, and yell bloody murder? Or maybe you should just shop at REI? You know, they have these hats these days that say Life Is Good, and if life isn't good you can just take the hat in for a full refund! How cool is that? Life no good, full refund, life good all over again!

 

Oh, wait. A full refund is exactly what you got, isn't it?

 

Enough of this. Now be a good girl and make your second post on Mike Layton's thread in spray. Make sure you TAKE IT OFF! Then do everything trask tells you for a month and all will be well and everybody will want to be your friend, even if only because we're all fascinated by trask's power of imagination.

 

[Attitude]

Hmmm...

 

Tom @ Nunatak did screw up royally. When he took her money, his job was to make sure that the bag was finished as ordered on time. He selected the subcontactor and it's his responsiblity to make sure the work gets done.

 

But, once he noticed the error, he did the right thing by apologizing and refunding the money.

 

This is a cautionary tale, vendors (large and small) don't always deliver as promised.

[Fence_Sitter]

But, once he noticed the error, he did the right thing by apologizing and refunding the money.

 

read: did much more than he had to... (and probably more than he should have)

[marylou]

I hope there aren't too many bears up where Ilona is going.

[russ]

I totally disagree with most of you. Ilona clearly established a relationship with Tom expressing her concern that the products would be delivered as promised with check-in calls. One thorough call to his manufacturers verifying the content of the order and status of delivery would have detected the omission error. Tom did an incomplete job - period. I would have asked how long it take to make a bag and try to get him to put it at the front of the queue to meet delivery. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't offer to do that on his own.

 

However, I would only "voice" my displeasure on the internet after someone had asked for feedback on the company, then I would tell my experience.

 

Have a good trip Ilona.

[Peter_Puget]

Fence_Sitter said:

But, once he noticed the error, he did the right thing by apologizing and refunding the money.

 

read: did much more than he had to... (and probably more than he should have)

 

Let's see FS the man made a promise took the money with his promise being relied on and completely fails to perform and you really believe that aplogizing and refunding the money was (1) more than he had to do and (2) more than he should have done? I say both those actions are the minimum what he should do. He failed at his end of the bargain.

 

Did this post unfairly screw him? Who knows? If I was expecting a bag from him next week just before I went to Alaska would I be worried right now? Yes. Would I be glad that this was posted? Yes. I'd be on the phone right now chatting with him. May this post unfairly represent his business pratices? Of course but how is this different from someone complaining about poor mail order service from some other company or even REI? Are small guys always off limits? Just some questions.

 

PP

[Fence_Sitter]

the dood tried to get the thing done... he could have blamed the sewing company, but he instead took the blame on his shoulders... he could have just finished the bag late... he has every right to considering the circumstances... i am sure that hommes is feeling the same way that the oroginal poster is... the same thing happened to him, but he suffers double penalty... sounded like he was sorry adn tried to get it done on time, but simply couldn'e... how many times has a big retailer been late on their promise and done nothing in compensation? i have had this happen a few times... some of the better comanies will give you compensation and the worse one s will tell you tough luck... hommes in twisp did her one better... so more power to him...

[layton]

I got me a fine 1/2 bag from this company right on time!

Light n' warm. Who's hasn't screwed up.

[Attitude]

Fence_Sitter said:

But, once he noticed the error, he did the right thing by apologizing and refunding the money.

 

read: did much more than he had to... (and probably more than he should have)

 

All he did was apologize and refund her money. Just like REI would have done.

 

 

[Fence_Sitter]

Attitude said:

Fence_Sitter said:

But, once he noticed the error, he did the right thing by apologizing and refunding the money.

 

read: did much more than he had to... (and probably more than he should have)

 

All he did was apologize and refund her money. Just like REI would have done.

 

 

personal apology from the owner... yeah right... and i bet unless you went in an asked a manager, they would want you to just wait for the bag to come and give you some lame excuse...

[RuMR]

Man...i'd be pissed as all f-ing get out! Especially since she was checking up on it continually and made the purchase w/ the understanding of a specific date that she was leaving...

 

And, I'd be spewing to everyone that would listen...Bullshit if you ask me...

[cj001f]

You definitely "b" a rash.

Here's a thought for everyone harshing on nunatak - you ever think that maybe he did ask the seamstress, and she just didn't fess up? Sort of like the normal work "Are you going to have this done on time?" "h Huh" "you sure your going to have this done on time" "uh Huh" crap that goes on all the time.......

[RuMR]

We are not talking about buddies here, but a stated verbal contract...The one thing small biz has over big biz is customer service, and frankly, he dropped the ball...

[cj001f]

RuMR said:

We are not talking about buddies here, but a stated verbal contract...The one thing small biz has over big biz is customer service, and frankly, he dropped the ball...

He had some issues - I'm not disagreeing. I think depending on anything, ANYTHING!, that is "crucial" gear to a big climb, to arrive 5 days before departure, without a backup, is beyond retarded.

[RuMR]

Good point...

[chelle]

A counterpoint on Nunatak service and quality! I ordered some booties from him back in 2000 and he had them to me before they were due to arrive. I thought he was a great guy and did a great job with customer service. The booties are awesome, have been on many trips and are still serving me well.

[thelawgoddess]

sometimes quality of gear has little to do with quality of service. sucks that you had a shitty experience.

 

i love my nunatak kobuk jacket.

[Rodchester]

I've met Tom and found him to be a good guy with a good company and good product....but he dropped the ball....period. It doesn't matter if you're dealing with the little guy or REI. They have to deliver, or you can't do business with them. If this had been REI eveyone here (MOST ANYWAY) would be screaming about the man keeping them down. And how you should buy from the little guy. I always thought that the argument was that the little guy gave you better secrvice and better info and better blah blah blah. Not this time.

 

I still support and use small shops the majority of the time. But an error is an error.

 

read: did much more than he had to... (and probably more than he should have)

 

Where did you dream up this? They had an oral contract with a clear indcation of time based performance. Tom did what he had to business-wise and legal wise. He had to refund the money (VISA would have had a field day with that one and Tom could have had real problems).

 

Further, Tom did exactly what he should have done....be open and honest about it. But he still dropped the ball. As far as getting an apology fromt he owner goes....of course. He is the owner and the guy running the show, answering the phones, taking orders, etc., its a small shop, that's how it works. No, I would expect the CEO of TNF to aplogize, but I wouldn't expect him to take the order either.

 

Hope you were able to get a back-up.

[ibarash]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the responses, and all opinions. Just wanted to clarify a few points:

1) I posted this to the group as a warning, so that people do not do as I foolishly did and trust oral promises to get important gear from Nunatak in time for a big trip. Whether it is Tom's fault or his sewers or the postal service is really none of my business. Tom originally agreed to get the bag to us 1.5 weeks ahead of when we were leaving. Being told 5.5 days ahead of time that it was not going to come, is unacceptable. An apology from the person who took the order (and just happend to be the owner) and a refund was the minimum necessary recompense, and Nunatak went no further.

2) I have no doubt about the quality of Nunatak's gear. I am extremely disappointed that I will be unable to take his product with us on our trip.

3) Alternatives to this bag are difficult to come by, especially when you live (as I do) outside of the NW. Ah ha, you say, why are you posting here when you don't even live here?? I'm from Seattle, starting climbing there, and I still consider it my home. Anyone have any suggestions where to get good dual person down sleeping bags besides Nunatak? I'd love to know for future reference.

 

Ilona