Kramer Leather Customer Service Experience

[Baxter6551]

Here are some more in Mahogany ….. yea I like Kramer. And the prior post about them selling seconds at gun show - a nephew (?) did similar on eBay and I bought several at great prices. No longer unfortunately. You can see that I use them. A little Kiwi Cordovan shoe polish makes them like new.

 

[PauldL]

Thank ya fellas!!
I really like the last one posted
Wouldn't mind one for my 1911
Surely don't need another holster but, we know how that goes, right?

 

[Baxter6551]

The last one in my post above is their "vertical scabbard". It was one of the "seconds" I was able to get years ago. Think I paid around $40 ? I can't find anything wrong with it to be honest. It's for commander.
These are belt scabbard with 686, MSP Paddle with 66, pocket holsters with 442 and Glock 42, vertical scabbard with model 28 and the belt scabbard with Govt. model.

 

[ogso]

All my pocket holsters are Kramers. I like the polymer patch applied to the outside of the holster to break up the outline. I do personally shorten them up and trim them down to suit me needs then color with some fiebings edge dye. Do they take time, yes. Are they worth the wait? To me yes.

 

[CyberPunkSpartan]

I'm confused... why does it take so long to build a holster?
I can pull the engine from my truck, drop off the block to the machine shop on Friday, pick it up on Monday, order all the parts and have them delivered within 2 weeks, and put the engine together over a week end, and have it installed and tranny connected and running all within 1 month. How many parts are connected to a holster?

It takes a lot of time and work for a holster. Now imagine havimng to make a few hujndred of them for different guns.

 

[PauldL]

I'm confused... why does it take so long to build a holster?
I can pull the engine from my truck, drop off the block to the machine shop on Friday, pick it up on Monday, order all the parts and have them delivered within 2 weeks, and put the engine together over a week end, and have it installed and tranny connected and running all within 1 month. How many parts are connected to a holster?

Took a little over 3 months for my Tucker & Byrd HF3 to me be made - but we'll worth the wait

 

[Smoke]

I'm confused... why does it take so long to build a holster?

To be fair Kramer stays busy. They sell A LOT of holsters so I really think that they have that much of a backlog to catch up on.

I also want to clarify that I own several Kramer holsters and I'm satisfied with all of them.

Particularly the shoulder holster.

My only complaint was that I'm convinced they knew the lead time was going to be longer than 16 weeks and they knew they weren't going to deliver on the two specific dates they proclaimed me.

If they had told me from the beginning that it's going to take at least 30 weeks to get my holster I wouldn't have ever complained

 

[GnarlsR2]

To be fair Kramer stays busy. They sell A LOT of holsters so I really think that they have that much of a backlog to catch up on.

I also want to clarify that I own several Kramer holsters and I'm satisfied with all of them.

Particularly the shoulder holster.

My only complaint was that I'm convinced they knew the lead time was going to be longer than 16 weeks and they knew they weren't going to deliver on the two specific dates they proclaimed me.

If they had told me from the beginning that it's going to take at least 30 weeks to get my holster I wouldn't have ever complained

Well.... when it comes to firearms, high quality, customized products, from limited sources takes time.
I am always willing pay extra, and wait longer, for high quality, reliable products Made In America!.

 

[Smoke]

10 years ago I ordered a holster from Kramer

I received it 8 years ago.

Seriously?

 

[Smoke]

Well.... when it comes to firearms, high quality, customized products, from limited sources takes time.
I am always willing pay extra, and wait longer, for high quality, reliable products Made In America!.

Again, I have no problem with that.

I'm not sure how I can say this in a way that you guys will understand.

They promised in their advertising a 16 to 20 week wait for the holster. I ended up waiting 42 weeks. How much effort would it take them, or their IT guy, to go on their website and revise the lead time estimate to a more accurate 30 weeks to a year?

I called them twice and spoke directly to Kim Kramer who insisted that she had my paperwork in her hands when she was speaking to me. She promised me twice that the holster would be shipped on two specific days.

Both times she knew when she told me that she wasn't going to meet those deadlines.

If you know that something is not true and you tell me it is you're lying to me.

If you promise me something in 20 weeks and it takes you longer than twice that to deliver and you knew it was going to take that long when you promised me you're lying.

What part of that is tripping you up?

 

[Smoke]

I also like to point out that they were making a holster for a Glock 19. Arguably the most common handgun on the planet. You don't think they'd keep a couple of those in stock?

 

[GnarlsR2]

"What part of that is tripping you up?"

There is no excuse for what you experienced.
No matter how incredible the product is, I would not buy from a supplier with a known history of "fabricating" delivery times.
If I get bad vibes from what I'm told by a supplier, I will simply cancel the order.
I have ordered product from a very large well-known firearm/ammo product distributor. When I get an "In Stock" status, prior ordering, I assume it is "In Stock" at the distributor. When I get a delivery notice on the "tracker" that says my order has "been shipped", with further checking I get a "label has been created", I realize it has NOT been shipped because the shipper has not taken possession. I called the supplier and get a "Customer Service" person and tell me that the product is "In Stock" at the manufacturer. That's Bravo Sierra and I cancelled the order.

It is well-documented that inexcusable lack of basic customer service will typically ruin a sales-driven business.

For the average consumer, experiencing just good quality basic customer service today is getting more scarce.
Generally for me, over the past years dealing with firearm related companies, the smaller companies seem to provide much better customer service than big corporations.

 

[SixgunFife]

My most recent experience ordering directly from Kramer was 4 or 5 years ago. I'd ordered an item for a revolver and it was a handful of weeks out from completion when I called back in and ordered another holster for a different gun. The associate on the phone said something along the lines of, "…I shouldn't do this, but…" and added the second holster onto the original order, meaning that I had both items in-hand in about 3 or 4 weeks.

They didn't have to do that, and I hadn't asked them to, but I surely appreciated it.

That said, I've found two Kramers on-sale used in as many days online, both of which I should have within a week. I like their gear, for sure.

 

[CyberPunkSpartan]

I ordered a few holsters with some custom modifications like an optics cut. Apparently this adds two months onto the wait time and $$$ as well. I talked to them today and am hoping they can cancel them as I do not need them anymore but it is frustrating dealing with them at times.

 

[Lance Boyle]

My take on all this is if you are in a business, manufacturing something, you should...no....need to know what you are capable of. By this I mean if you say you will deliver a product in X amount of months then you should deliver it in X amount of months. Yes, I realize that there can be circumstances that may throw a wrench into the plan, but that can't be used as a chronic excuse. You have to know your business and how long it takes to produce something. I have been waiting for something I ordered 15+ months ago. I have had "updates" about the item being delivered, usually saying that it will be another few months. I have received 4 of those now, the latest stating delivery "maybe" in the spring of this year. If that does occur, it will be 18 months after I was promised a initial delivery of 4 months, to 6 months maximum. In the meantime, they have informed me that they are taking care of orders placed after my order first, before they start mine. I am really a very patient person..if I order something and you tell me that it will be ready in 6 months, then that is fine, I won't contact you until the 6 months is up. You set the time frame, I did not. You know your work load, I do not. You know your capabilities, I do not, so therefore I rely on what you tell me as that is all I have to go on. Again, a month, maybe even two, if there is some unforseen problem, but a year? Just my rant for the day....

Ha! McMillan stocks enters the conversation. They take forever. If they screw up and mismake your order they'll gladly remake it but you go back to the end of the line to wait all over again. To me that is horse hockey but that is what they've done for years. I think I have five McM stocks and at least two had errors on them, one had the wrong style adjustible comb and the other had the wrong trigger guard inlet. I ended up fixing the inlet with steel bed filler instead of waiting an additional 5 months. They know that most customers won't deal with a second waiting period but I think it is extremely poor customer service. In hind sight I wish I got the tactical timmy bottom metal they cut the stock for instead of using the more traditional floor plate.

 

[Photog]

Ha! McMillan stocks enters the conversation. They take forever. If they screw up and mismake your order they'll gladly remake it but you go back to the end of the line to wait all over again. To me that is horse hockey but that is what they've done for years. I think I have five McM stocks and at least two had errors on them, one had the wrong style adjustible comb and the other had the wrong trigger guard inlet. I ended up fixing the inlet with steel bed filler instead of waiting an additional 5 months. They know that most customers won't deal with a second waiting period but I think it is extremely poor customer service. In hind sight I wish I got the tactical timmy bottom metal they cut the stock for instead of using the more traditional floor plate.

Update on my grip situation....sent me an email about a month or so ago, said they were finsished...but...they were flawed. Had a place where a small branch had apparently grown out of. The quality was about a .5 on a scale of 1-10 of their usual work. They did offer me a discount, but it was almost insulting. They said they would make another pair, in about 3 months....not holding my breath as their definition of 3 months is far different from mine. If, and a big if, I get them in 3 months, it will have been 22 months since the initial order where there was a promised delivery date of 4 to 6 months. Sounds like they have some of the same business practices as McM. They even told me that one of the delays was due to them fulfilling orders that came in after mine before they would make mine.

 

[smitty_bs]

Here are two of my 3" K-frames in my horsehide Kramer. The holster took 9 1/2 months to receive....wasn't happy about that but it is a nice holster. I think Kramer, to be fair to their customers, and to avoid being bashed in the on-line forums need to update their website to say the deliver should be about 10 months.

 

[CyberPunkSpartan]

I am waiting on 7 months. And they keep saying it is being prepared. I am getting ready to cancel my order. They keep pushing it back for no logical reason. If I knew it would take 10 months I would have ordered from Milt Sparks as I was deterred by their wait and I really like the PMK holster.