ButteMT61
Well-Known Member
My point is drop the shackles and live it up....We ain't got much time left.
Regards.
Bingo. But we still gotta have fun while we're here... :lol:
My point is drop the shackles and live it up....We ain't got much time left.
Regards.
We see mostly posts from two BK employees so obviously, we want customer reviews, pictures, etc.
We see Jeff waiting and waiting with promises, while BK roll out a new line/hide/name/samples.
We read posts of how stupid "we" are and how bad other makers are.
So yeah Couchy, I'll take the pessimistic side of things if you don't mind. And you are free to cheerlead for them all you like. I read it all 'cause the humor is priceless
And you're different from other makers how???
ausreenactor said:TOMG1401 said:this BK free non-stop incessant, relentless advertising, product plugging garbage is unlike anything I've seen in 13 years on these Forums, I just looked at the Repo manufacturers section and cannot believe this is going on unchecked. They don't need to pay for a website, this is it!! ENOUGH, it's insulting.
This post was in long before the 'Reproduction Manufacturers' section was started. If the mods moved this post there the issue should not anger anyone in theory. Lots of jackets from BK are popping up here and on the Fedora Lounge courtesy of buyers/owners. If it appeases you will I will refrain from posting the pics of my completed A-2? :? I am sure that I can get everyone to PM me if they are keen to see it instead?
And you have inadvertently bought the post to the top of the list again...
This is why I went with BK....
Which, oddly enough, is the subject of the thread..
ausreenactor said:And many here would love to see JC posting more regularly. As a walking, talking reference library the value of input to queries from new forum members and old 'veterans' alike would be immeasurable. Sadly it is... Not too many posts over the five years of this iteration of the forum.
What is the preference? To have LOTS of input from a jacket maker keen to attract our business OR to have the bare minimum? I know where my money and preferences go. Every time! Fine for someone just down the road, but for someone paying international shipping on both choices? In ANY line of work. Too much information is better than none at all.
buzzthetower said:ausreenactor said:And many here would love to see JC posting more regularly. As a walking, talking reference library the value of input to queries from new forum members and old 'veterans' alike would be immeasurable. Sadly it is... Not too many posts over the five years of this iteration of the forum.
What is the preference? To have LOTS of input from a jacket maker keen to attract our business OR to have the bare minimum? I know where my money and preferences go. Every time! Fine for someone just down the road, but for someone paying international shipping on both choices? In ANY line of work. Too much information is better than none at all.
Couchy - I have seen on several occasions you post that you are dissatisfied with my lack of attention to the forum. I don't post here very often for a reason, if not many reasons, and here they are...
1. when I do post something here, I often get a number of customers who ask me why I have time to post on a forum, but the jackets take over a year to be delivered. How is my order coming along? I see you have time to post on that forum. This situation has spilled over to Facebook. People friend me, and then when I post photos of a family dinner or outing, I'm asked how their order is coming along. I have over 120 jackets on order, and not a single person among them wants to wait any longer for their jackets.
2. I have a wife and son, and already feel guilty enough that I spend so much time at the sewing machine - I work seven days a week, though I certainly make time for my family in the evenings and as much on the weekends as I can. But it feels like it's never enough.
3. every time I post a little factoid, I get more questions about the thing I tried to post. "If the contract was from 1944, then can you tell me when the three WWII jackets that I just bought were made? Where they small contracts? Were they all done in one factory, or did the company have several factories? Is that veg-tanned leather or chrome tanned? Do you think I would like the fit of this original on eBay in size 42, or would it look odd on me?" Then, if I cannot answer all questions in a timely and complete manner, I come across as a jerk. So it's better not to stick my head in that business. I will answer some things via PM, as I can at least keep the conversations short, but conversations get to be too big and too wide if I stick my head back into open discussions.
4. I'm the guy sewing the jackets. If I don't sew, I don't make money. If I don't make money, we don't eat. (Nope, I'm not getting rich doing this.) I cannot talk with people on a forum and sew at the same time. Yes, I tried hiring two people to help me sew last year, and both of them didn't have the technical ambition that it takes to make jackets the way I want them to, so both were let go. I may get more help at some point, but it's a huge drain on attention and energy to hire someone, and I'm not strong enough for that right now. I'm much better off sewing by myself, and having Vickie be the sales director. It's much different when you are the sales person with a job of promoting your product, but not making it, versus trying to make the product. Vickie doesn't know enough about the history, and I don't have the time to give her all my info for discussions on the forum. We are both sitting on plenty of work.
I was telling Vickie this morning about my desire to post this on the forum, and you know what she said? "You don't have time to do that." I'm a bad person, I know.
If you think any of this is not true, I'd be glad to give you my wife's email address, and you can ask her. Or my friends, whom note that I generally ignore them, at least much more than I want. I wish I was a better friend to people I've known for years.
You may think this forum is a place for GW to fight with Eastman, Bill Kelso, and others, but that is a nieve view of life. I know Platon, and we have both helped each other. And you can ask Mark Fisher or David Howell if I have had any impact on their operations. I want to see many jacket makers do really well. If Eastman had a bad year, do you think I would be a little paranoid, too? If he's doing well, I probably will be OK, too. If Real McCoys went under, don't you think I would be a bit scared, too? I do not moderate on this forum against BK, or any other maker. In fact, I've even PM'ed a few people to help them with others' jackets, not mine.
Couchy, in many ways I will never live up to your expectations, and I'm OK with that. Life is too short and limited to try to make everyone happy. I pick my battles, and there you will find me.
All the best,
John
ButteMT61 said:And that (^^^) my friends, is why the line is long and the jackets are that good.
And why my money goes without thought to such an admirable gentleman.
ausreenactor said:Of 14000 or so members
ausreenactor said::roll:
buzzthetower said:You may think this forum is a place for GW to fight with Eastman, Bill Kelso, and others, but that is a nieve view of life. I know Platon, and we have both helped each other. And you can ask Mark Fisher or David Howell if I have had any impact on their operations. I want to see many jacket makers do really well. If Eastman had a bad year, do you think I would be a little paranoid, too? If he's doing well, I probably will be OK, too. If Real McCoys went under, don't you think I would be a bit scared, too? I do not moderate on this forum against BK, or any other maker. In fact, I've even PM'ed a few people to help them with others' jackets, not mine.
Smithy said:buzzthetower said:You may think this forum is a place for GW to fight with Eastman, Bill Kelso, and others, but that is a nieve view of life. I know Platon, and we have both helped each other. And you can ask Mark Fisher or David Howell if I have had any impact on their operations. I want to see many jacket makers do really well. If Eastman had a bad year, do you think I would be a little paranoid, too? If he's doing well, I probably will be OK, too. If Real McCoys went under, don't you think I would be a bit scared, too? I do not moderate on this forum against BK, or any other maker. In fact, I've even PM'ed a few people to help them with others' jackets, not mine.
Thanks and good on you for posting that sentiment John. It would be nice if everybody here (and also over at TFL) took this idea and attitude onboard themselves.
Tim
Jeff M said:You can't win John.
Well you've put out a warning to BK customers posting here. Mightily stressed that you are doing business with BK as if all this is somehow taboo here. All exaggerated and simply just not true. What is true is members started noticing that the VLJ was becoming a BK only advertising site with their management controlling the flow of discussion to everything BK. Members awaited the arrival of customer's reviews and new jackets...even wondered and asked many times why they just weren't forthcoming. Some finally decided that there were many vender problems or delays associated with BK...but then plenty of new BK jackets were coming out in the BK arsenal to further advertise scattered throughout the forum. Where ELC..GW..and other jacket companies where brought up...promoted and discussed by excited 'members'..BK inserted itself into any jacket thread on it's own.
Seems that you and supposedly a few of your disgruntled PMer backers are 'all for' the big few repro makers scattering advertising into any discussion and even going so far as to say 'look here..ours is much better than the jackets you are discussing'..!!
I am sure that there have been many behind the scenes PMs discussing that the VLJ was becoming something quite different than what it had been in the past...as well as what direction VLJ wanted to go for the future. It has always mainly been a place where 'members' could discuss various repros and battle over the finer details. Throw jacket company management into the mix and the battles can turn quickly into wars..as past now defunct forums can attest to. Add management advertising in threads throughout and it can often seem much more insulting than an honest opinion offered up from just a normal member who may actually have his own expertise on the matter.
Van