Astrozombie

Man oh man......I have to bite my tongue here.......

Aint no shoes worth that much, and even if he was legit I'd back out just for being ****ed around.

TC is learning a hard lesson here, snake oil salesman never died.

I remember on some computer forum a ways back, some guy was making custom cooling units for overclockers, think they cost like $3K..............
in the end everyone was trying to track him down because he burned people on several forums for over 6 figures! The forums took out a donation fund to help out the folks who got taken, I hope TC at least investigated this "company" beforehand.

From what I hear it's very tricky to actually take someone to court for being scammers, even the feds don't really bother doing it unless you're really big time.

If he is legit, tell him he should work for Comcast part-time
New Homeowner Has To Sell House Because Of Comcast?s Incompetence, Lack Of Competition ? Consumerist

Stucky

So true! I think I've come across situations like this on just about every forum, devoted to every hobby/interest- even on a religious forum, where some creep with a diploma-mill Ph.D. took advance orders for a bible of his own translation ...and a year later, finally had some actual copies printed, and then instead of sending them to his victims, he sold them to new customers!

When dealing with strangers over the internet, one needs to always protect themselves.

*Always pay by credit card, so you have a generous period in which to do a chargeback.
*Never let yourself be strung along for so long that you lose the recourse of a chargeback.
*If using PayPal, always file an item-not-received case before the time period expires (I think it's 45 days) if you don't get your item.
*Never, under any circumstances pay by check, money-order; bank wire transfer; Western Union; MoneyGram; MoneyPak, etc.
*Always Google before doing business, to see if there are a lot of complaints on the business in question.

NO legit person does business in such a manner as to take people's money and make them wait MONTHS for a product, without offering a prompt refund.

I fear that this latest promise to the OP will be as worthless as all the others- because if they were legit, they would have offered him the option of a full refunbd at this point, or of continuing to wait.

I think scammers figure that people who are willing to pay $1300 for a pair of shoes; or buy a bible translated by a twit, etc. will pretty much be easy marks, and can be talked into anything- including waiting till all manners of recourse have expired. Law-enforcement does often prosecute internet scammers, when they get frequent complaints about one- but the thing is, in a situation like this, where a deposit was paid, and the purchaser is willing to keep waiting and waiting, no crime has really been committed...yet.

LuckySailor

Let me clarify. The shoes will cost me $1300. That is not the advertised price. I will pay more because I live in Canada-and our dollar is 20% lower than the US dollar. Add in some customs and duties and they will cost $1300 give or take a few bucks. So the shoes are a grand. And they are fabricated with all of the following……..Whenever I buy a new pair of shoes, regardless of the cost, I have to take them to the cobbler to have a lift added to the shoe, which costs me $70-120. Add in the custom orthotics $300. So a pair of shoes for me can be easily $400. These shoes are a bit of a treat for me. For my upcoming cross country tour, they will be worn everyday for 72 days on tour, not to mention all the training leading up to the tour. This is how I justify the cost of the shoes. I will keep you guys updated once they arrive. Thank you for all your input!

Homebrew01

But what if they don't fit, or are uncomfortable ? Is there an agreed upon resolution ?

Homebrew01

Interesting that there's no reply to this question. It would involve more money than the deposit you are fretting over.

LuckySailor

No, actually I've not checked back as I wasn't expecting to see anything beyond my last entry. Any adjustments are free for the first 6 months. They are supposed to leave his shop tomorrow. I will update the thread as I have more info

LuckySailor

Homebrew, on a friendly note, I used to live in Chester, CT. My son and ex-wife live in Southington.

JerrySTL

Please keep us informed. I also have a leg length discrepancy (about half of yours) and one foot is about a 1/2 shoe size smaller. Born with club foot. I use shims on my Speedplay X cleats that accommodates about half the length.

Homebrew01

Good cycling in that part of the state.
My son learned to ski at Mt. Southington, but now is spoiled by NH and VT.

LuckySailor

It seems that the practice for those with a leg length discrepancy is to accommodate half, and your body will adjust to the difference. That is what I was told several times before ordering my shoes. Including by the guy making mine. However, I was adamant that I wanted the full 17mm. I took pictures of my Merrill hiking boots, and a pair of street shoes that have had the heel to toe lift added, and sent that with my order. When I ride, I generally wear my Merrills. I do have a pair of Diadora cycling shoes that fit me quite nicely. I couldn't find anyone locally that had a 14-14.5 cycling shoe, except the ones I bought from a LBS going out of biz. So I got them at 75% off which was really the only reason I bought them. They don't bother my back until I get over a 30 km ride-which is all the time now. But when I was commuting, they were fine. I've seem some pictures of pretty whacked out custom cycling shoes for people with different shaped and sized feet. Will keep you posted.

StanSeven

Unfortunately this sounds like another case of the squeaky wheel. Attention gets directed to the customer screaming the loudest. It's so typical of small operations in demand because they offer products and services people want.

Stucky

Yeah, and if he actually ever does get the shoes [I hope he finally does!] It'll likely only be because they got wind of this thread, and want to try and save face. (Not that they can....such shoddy service is inexcusable- at this point they should have at least offered a refund; or a substantial discount on the shoes).

shrtdstncrdr

Luckysailor, what makes you believe this cobbler is going to give you anything? Has he said that by X date if he hasn't got the product to you he will refund your money?

Look, this guy is doing this as a side business. He has to be. Because if anyone believes a person can actually live on a reputation of never getting things done and still earn a living, they're fooling themselves.

I know a "prominent" saxophone mouthpiece maker who supposedly makes very special pieces at what were considered reasonable prices for hand crafted mouthpieces. So I called this guy and asked him if he really had finished pieces in the latest round of mouthpieces as he claimed on a certain forum. He assured me he had and would put the piece in the mail upon receiving payment.

What he didn't know was I would decide whether or not to buy one of his custom horns based upon his service with the mouthpiece. He failed. It took months and finally a threat to small claims court to get him to fill the order. I got the piece which really wasn't anything special. In fact, I'm pretty sure he scuffed up the beak interior in order to make it appear he did custom work.

My opinion? I think you go after your money with this guy, doing whatever ends necessary and then never do business with one man shops again unless they're local and have an open door policy of some kind. ie A regularly scheduled time when they are open to face to face interactions with their customers.

My three thousand plus dollars went to Yanagisawa instead of the rat hole. Two years now and making money back with that instrument.

Head up, eyes open and good luck to you!


Harv

Stucky

Well Lucky, it's April 4th....has Gyp-etto sent you a tracking number?

redcon1

Well played, Sir.

Stucky

LOL- I was hoping people would "get" that. Now I just hope OP gets his shoes!!! (Hoping to see him post today or tomorrow that they finally arrived...but I'm not holding my breath....)

LuckySailor

Patience guys. I'm still waiting. In Manitoba, we call today Easter Monday. I will keep you posted!

LuckySailor

My new cycling shoes have finally shipped! Of course they are held up numerous places waiting for …..whatever…. and of course customs and UPS want their share. I will have them monday finally. (SHOULD have them monday barring any more glitches from UPS here in Winnipeg.)

LuckySailor

My new shoes have finally arrived. The look of the shoe is what I expected. I have worn the shoes all afternoon around the house. They feel awesome/fine. They are super stiff as they should be. The custom orthotics inside feel good, comfortable. The yellow matches my bike perfectly, which is kinda cool. I will ride tomorrow, indoors to test them out. Much too cold outside, and very windy to boot. My only negative comment would be that the toe box is a little too generous. Yes, the price is steep for these. However, I look at it like this. Looking back, I hadn't bought a new suit in 12 years, or so, One new suit that I bought 3 years ago cost me $1300. I've worn it 4-5 times. These shoes will be worn for 72 straight days while I am on tour, and every time I get on a bike training or otherwise. You can see by the 17mm that was added to the bottom that without that, I would be walking with a serious limp, and would throw my back and neck out of whack, which then makes it painful to ride and enjoy. To me it's probably worth the money. The wait on the other hand is another story. When i ordered these, the wait was 4-6 weeks. Once the impressions of my feet were received by the manufacturer, that time frame changed to 12+ weeks. The wait is now 4-5 months.
I understand from a small manufacturer point of view that it takes time to train employees and that they sometimes screw things up along the way, and it really fouls up your day and schedule. This is why some of us don't have employees. It's just not worth the hassle sometimes- (most times!), when you're a perfectionist and a control freak. So, it comes down to the customer. Are you willing to wait or not? If I would have known the wait for mine would have been 6 months, I probably still would have ordered them, because I understand that I am only one man, with 2 hands, and there are only so many working hours per day and week. So here they are!

LuckySailor

I forgot to mention that these shoes are about a size 14. Good luck finding an off the shelf shoe in this size, in stock, so that you can try it on for fit. They right shoe weighs 614 grams (1 pound 5 ounces). The left shoe weighs 491 grams (1 pound 1 ounce).

Stucky

Wow! Glad to hear that you FINALLY got them; and that they'll work-out for you. You're patient man! After waiting 6 months, I would've been hunting Gyp-etto down, with a life-size Pinnochio replica to shove up his you-know-what! [I guess the Canadian version of that would be to leave an impolite message on his answering machine... )