I was looking to have a suit made for a friend's upcoming wedding. I flew to San Francisco (the closest KS showroom to me) for the initial fitting. I was supposed to be handled by Jocelyn and then had to reschedule, so Gino (the manager) took over. A second last-minute delay in my schedule, though, and I was assigned to Monica. Should have stuck with Gino.
At first meeting, Monica seemed like she knew what she was doing. She welcomed me warmly, offered a glass of whiskey and proceeded to go through all of the fabric choices, thread colors, tailoring details, buttons, etc. I pulled up the suit I had designed in their online "studio" so we could skip through some of the choices I had already made. Once everything was set, Monica took my measurements and entered them into an iPad. I paid for the suit in advance and was told that I would receive my garment within 4-6 weeks.
About 4 weeks later, on 7/25, I emailed Monica to check on the suit. She said it was almost ready and would be shipped shortly. I had been having some doubts about the next step in their process-- where the suit is shipped directly to you and you have your tailor make any necessary adjustments. It seemed complicated and reduced KS's liability should the suit not come out perfectly. So, I asked Monica if I could fly up again for the second fitting. She said that would be no problem and told me that she would change the delivery location to their showroom. The suit was scheduled for delivery the week of 7/31, so I booked my trip for that Fri. The plan was to come in for the 2nd fitting on Fri and then return on Tue so their tailor would have time to make any alterations.
Things headed downhill two days later, on the 27th, when Monica emailed me to ask if I could come a few days later than planned, as she wasn't sure when the suit would arrive. I told her that I had already booked my flight. She said she'd check with their "logistics team" to see if they could change the routing to the SF showroom. I thought that had been done two days prior. She responded on the 28th that it had shipped the day before and that the routing could not be changed. The suit would be delivered to my home and I would need to push back my flight to receive it and bring it with me to SF-- if that's what I still wanted to do.
So apparently, the request she said she had made on the 25th never actually happened. I emailed Monica & Gino and told them that this was not acceptable. The suit wouldn't even arrive for a week. Surely there was some way to reroute it to their own showroom. I asked her to escalate my case and find a way to get the routing changed. I also asked her to provide tracking info. It took a day, but she provided a UPS tracking # that showed my suit being shipped from Qingdao, China to Devens, MA. I then did a little research of my own.
Turns out Knot Standard is one of many online apparel retailers that uses a company in Devens called Quiet Logistics to process, package and ship their items. Apparently, KS's Chinese manufacturer only ships to QL and then QL ships to the customer. There was simply no way for Monica to have rerouted my shipment until it reached them. It would have been nice if she had been up front about this instead of telling me she would do something she couldn't do.
Gino responded to my email that same day and we talked by phone. He seemed knowledgeable and genuinely interested in rectifying the situation. He said he had already put in a request to have QL expedite processing and to have it delivered overnight to the SF showroom. The following Monday, Monica informed me that the order had been expedited and that the suit would be in SF the following day. No need to change my travel plans. This was a relief and I assumed that my troubles were over.
The following Friday, I returned to SF and saw my suit for the first time. It looked great, but seemed a little skinny in the middle. I tried it on and, sure enough, the jacket was a full 5-6 inches too tight in the midsection. I asked how this could have happened. Gino looked frustrated. After a brief conference with him, Monica told me that "someone" must have entered that measurement incorrectly. If you'll recall, dear reader, it was Monica who entered those measurements. Strike two, Monica.
I asked if their tailor could work some magic. Monica said she would find out right away and give me a call. I didn't hear from her until late Sunday afternoon. She told me that there just wasn't enough material to let out the jacket enough. At this point, I feel another company would have pulled every possible string to have a replacement jacket made and shipped by my 8/28 wedding deadline. Instead, Monica told me there just wasn't enough time to make a replacement. With no other options, I requested (and received) a full refund.
The off-the-rack suit I bought for the wedding looked OK. It certainly wasn't the suit I wanted, though. Guess it just wasn't meant to be. No more KS for me. read more