I have been wearing a Lil' Joe's vest for a while now and was so thrilled with it that I wanted to order a second one to have just in case something happened to the first. Now at $325/vest that's no small investment, but with the quality of my cut, the fit/style, I was willing to drop the cash.
I was about to place my order directly with Lil' Joe's when I received an e-mail from the FX Shop (Lil' Joe's supplies the guys on SOA now so the FX Shop carries their vests) saying they were having some big sale and gave me a coupon. I thought, great, I can save $100 on the order and it won't come out of Lil' Joe's pocket. So, I placed the order with FX on Nov. 26th, 2012. I even confirmed with Lil' Joe's that it's the exact same vest no matter what dealer I order from.
I finally received my second Lil' Joe's Leather vest yesterday (Jan. 2nd, 2013) after waiting over a month from when I placed the order.
From the first look it was obviously nowhere near the quality of the one I already own and wear. In fact, it looked like a cheap Chinese knockoff and was about half the weight. I was really shocked and thought, this can't be right. I called the owner of Lil' Joe's, took some pics and e-mailed them, and was told he'd call me right back. I explained, very nicely, that I couldn't believe that his tag was on this and I didn't want him receiving any bad press/comments because of someone else's mistake. When I sent him the e-mail I even told him how much I loved the vest I already own.
Today, after no call or e-mail came through, I called him again and was told to "f*** off and send it back". He told me that I wasn't "his customer" and screamed that "he didn't have time to argue with me". Now I was really taken aback. First of all, I explained once again that I was nothing but nice, even going so far as to take pictures so that he wasn't just going on my word. I also explained that I run a club with quite a few people and two different chapters, all of whom are (or at least were) encouraged to purchase vests from Lil' Joe's because of the quality.
This is appalling behavior from any manufacturer, but especially one in this small of an industry who is the single most expensive vest manufacturer on the market. While some of their vests might be amazing quality, I highly suggest seeing them in person before spending the money, and certainly wouldn't expect them to stand behind their so-called "lifetime guarantee". I am very understanding that things do happen and mistakes are made. I wasn't even upset about it, and all I was hoping was that he would see the obvious discrepancy, apologize, and swap me out for a properly made vest. Honestly, I thought that was more than fair. He didn't see it the same way and even called me an a** hole when I explained (after being screamed at) that I had no choice but to make the community aware of these actions.
I attached a few pictures to show you the differences. From top to bottom here are some notes.
1. Original cut (bottom) with nice thick leather and beautiful curve. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather and harsh edges as well as higher collar
2. Original cut (top) with high end snaps in the correct places. Cheap cut (bottom) with low quality snaps in the incorrect places.
3. Original cut (bottom) with thick leather and nice edges/stitching. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather and **** edges/stitching.
4. Original cut (bottom) with thick leather. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather.
5. Original cut (left) with beautiful stitching and perfect arm holes. Cheap cut (right) with obviously garbage stitching and cheap arm holes.
Very disappointing.
I was about to place my order directly with Lil' Joe's when I received an e-mail from the FX Shop (Lil' Joe's supplies the guys on SOA now so the FX Shop carries their vests) saying they were having some big sale and gave me a coupon. I thought, great, I can save $100 on the order and it won't come out of Lil' Joe's pocket. So, I placed the order with FX on Nov. 26th, 2012. I even confirmed with Lil' Joe's that it's the exact same vest no matter what dealer I order from.
I finally received my second Lil' Joe's Leather vest yesterday (Jan. 2nd, 2013) after waiting over a month from when I placed the order.
From the first look it was obviously nowhere near the quality of the one I already own and wear. In fact, it looked like a cheap Chinese knockoff and was about half the weight. I was really shocked and thought, this can't be right. I called the owner of Lil' Joe's, took some pics and e-mailed them, and was told he'd call me right back. I explained, very nicely, that I couldn't believe that his tag was on this and I didn't want him receiving any bad press/comments because of someone else's mistake. When I sent him the e-mail I even told him how much I loved the vest I already own.
Today, after no call or e-mail came through, I called him again and was told to "f*** off and send it back". He told me that I wasn't "his customer" and screamed that "he didn't have time to argue with me". Now I was really taken aback. First of all, I explained once again that I was nothing but nice, even going so far as to take pictures so that he wasn't just going on my word. I also explained that I run a club with quite a few people and two different chapters, all of whom are (or at least were) encouraged to purchase vests from Lil' Joe's because of the quality.
This is appalling behavior from any manufacturer, but especially one in this small of an industry who is the single most expensive vest manufacturer on the market. While some of their vests might be amazing quality, I highly suggest seeing them in person before spending the money, and certainly wouldn't expect them to stand behind their so-called "lifetime guarantee". I am very understanding that things do happen and mistakes are made. I wasn't even upset about it, and all I was hoping was that he would see the obvious discrepancy, apologize, and swap me out for a properly made vest. Honestly, I thought that was more than fair. He didn't see it the same way and even called me an a** hole when I explained (after being screamed at) that I had no choice but to make the community aware of these actions.
I attached a few pictures to show you the differences. From top to bottom here are some notes.
1. Original cut (bottom) with nice thick leather and beautiful curve. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather and harsh edges as well as higher collar
2. Original cut (top) with high end snaps in the correct places. Cheap cut (bottom) with low quality snaps in the incorrect places.
3. Original cut (bottom) with thick leather and nice edges/stitching. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather and **** edges/stitching.
4. Original cut (bottom) with thick leather. Cheap cut (top) with thin leather.
5. Original cut (left) with beautiful stitching and perfect arm holes. Cheap cut (right) with obviously garbage stitching and cheap arm holes.
Very disappointing.