Vanson Leathers complaint
Some of you know I have recently (well, over the last half year) had a series of very bad experiences with Vanson Leathers.* Here's a letter i have drafted that I plan handing to my lawyer to see if I have a case, and I will also send to the MA Attorney General's office as well as the BBB (I know they won't do shit but I want something on record).* The reason I am posting here is just to inform everyone of what transpired.* I'm not telling you what to do- that's your decision.* Take this as information and nothing more.
To Whom it May Concern:
I am writing this letter to describe a series of events that occurred relating to a business transaction between myself and Vanson Leathers Inc of Fall River, Massachusetts. I purchased a set of custom-fitted motorcycle leathers from Vanson, and on almost every level, the company delivered sub-par service and quality. Ultimately, I asked for a full refund, and was promised one so I returned the product. After receiving it, the Company went back on their word and has held back a portion of the refund under the protection of a “non-refundable deposit” clause on the original order form. I feel the Company still owes me the balance of $XXX.XX.
I will now state the facts of what transpired:
September, 2005
Received “custom leathers” package from Vanson, which includes leather swatches and a special measuring device for the custom measurements form. I had my measurements taken by a dressmaker and the measurements “reconciliation” form verified that the measurements were correct. I also had a few detail points that I wanted to make sure were not lost on the designer, so I included these very specific details with extra measurement information for clarity. This detail applies to the sleeve cuffs and the ankles. I have attached this document for reference (it is titled “Fitting Notes”).
September 20, 2005
I placed my order on this date, by fax with a sales person named Liz. I sent in all the measurements, the order form, and the fitting notes. Payment of $XXX.XX was made as a deposit. This form contains a clause that states “all custom orders must be signed and be accompanied by a 50% deposit. This deposit is non-refundable once work has commenced on your order.” More on this later.
Late September, 2005
I received confirmation of my order being entered into Vanson’s system and was given an estimated completion date of October 31, 2005. I reminded Liz of the special instructions for the sleeves and ankles.
Late October, 2005
Checked in with Liz on week of October 31 to verify status of order. Liz did not have an answer for me and promised to get back to me. She did not. I called several times and was told that “the computer says the order is still in ‘pattern.’” Exactly what this meant, Liz was not able to tell me.
Mid to Late November, 2005
Kept calling Liz weekly to find out the status of the order. Kept hearing the order was “in pattern” but did not receive any other information than that (though I did ask for it).
December, 2005
Received call from Liz stating the reason for the delay was that the leather colors I had chosen were not in stock. This was the first time I had heard about this. My order included four types of leather: perforated red, solid red, perforated brown, and solid brown leather. It was the perforated red leather that was not in stock, apparently. Liz asked me if I wanted to use another color instead. I declined. The next day, Liz called me and told me that to expedite my delayed order, they had taken solid red leather and hand-perforated it. The perforated leather I had ordered (the perforated model costs extra) is machine-perforated and has a lot more holes per unit area for cooling purposes. I did not know yet what this hand-perforated leather looked like, but the main point here is that I did not authorize it, and they did it anyway. This was a Friday and Liz told me to call her once I received the order to tell her if it “looked okay” or not.
I called Liz a week later to find out when I would receive the order, and I discovered she had “left the company.” I found out later she had been fired. I never got a good explanation of why, other than “she screwed up a lot of orders.” I was then handed off to Amanda for my order fulfillment.
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