Kramer Leather Customer Service Experience

[Smoke]

1. Who here owns a Kramer Leather holster?

2. Did you actually get it within the promised time frame?

I'm not questioning their quality. I've bought four holsters from them. I'm completely satisfied with the quality but every single one of them came about a month later than they promised.

 

[URIT]

The Kramer website's FAQ section advises a 14-16 week wait, so considering your past experiences an expectation of 20 weeks would not seem out of order.

 

[Onomea]

I think an overly optmistic estimate of wait times is pretty common among custom holster makers. Just the way it is.

This bugs some potential customers so much they refuse to deal at all with them. Others get testy at times — as I have. Best approach, frankly, is to just fire and forget, and be happy when it does, finally, show up. With a new gun, I will often buy an off-the-shelf holster to tide me over in the meantime.

I will say I had an experience with Kramer wherein they delivered a month or two later than originally predicted, and the holster was very loose. (They did not have a model for my gun, a Colt 3-5-7.) When I brought this to their attention, they had me send the holster back, and they sent me a new, better fitting holster in about a week. I thought that was good customer service.

 

[Smoke]

I did some research after I started this discussion. Apparently Kramer Leather was started by a guy named Greg kramer.

Greg Kramer passed on a couple years back and apparently now the company is run by his wife and she has three or four employees. I don't know how much business they get but that's not a lot of people

 

[Greymann]

My last kramer holster took 11 months to arrive.

 

[Photog]

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....

 

[madmikeb]

I have a bunch of Kramer holsters. The one I bought last year took a lot longer then the time listed on the website. I ordered in in February and got it late fall.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed for the first time. It was the first shoulder holster I had bought from them and the backside of the metal snap was exposed and it would have scratched the gun. I ended up getting a small piece of leather, thinning it with sandpaper and gluing it on the exposed metal. It cured the issue but then the retention strap was a little short and it was difficult to get it snapped until I got it broken in. even now it's a little tight but I'm sure it will get better with time.

That being said, I don't think there is a better CCW holster on the market then a horsehide belt scabbard.

 

[Malysh]

I did some research after I started this discussion. Apparently Kramer Leather was started by a guy named Greg kramer.

Greg Kramer passed on a couple years back and apparently now the company is run by his wife and she has three or four employees. I don't know how much business they get but that's not a lot of people

This is false. Greg Kramer is
alive and well. His wife, Kim, answers
the phone, places orders, charges orders, etc. She is the "office manager".
Kramer and I both grew up on Long
Island about the same time. He started by working for Gene DeSantis.

R. Nichols will be along shortly to bash Kramer and Milt Sparks, as he never passes up an opportunity to do so.

 

[Malysh]

And yes, Kramer Leather is behind and late with orders. They advertise 14-16 weeks, but it's more like 23-24 weeks.
Most custom holster makers are running late. Try Sparks, and you'll be waiting about 11 months.

 

[Chubbs103]

Over the years, I have tried a bunch of different holster makers. The easy button for me (for OWB), is Kramer. They are just more comfortable and more concealable for me.

My last one took about 10 months, despite the 14-16 week estimate.

 

[smitty_bs]

The one I received in January took 9 1/2 months. Wasn't real pleased about that.

 

[Narragansett]

Well, I debated whether or not to buy a Kramer. I decided to do it, but I do not think I will do it again. I am a full 3 months into a 4 month wait. I will contact them now and start asking if they are going to meet the schedule. Squeaky wheel thing.

I agree with horsehide being the best. I have a contact in PA that is a horsehide holster maker, and he makes nice stuff. I want another holster, and I am going to contact him

Below is a horsehide holster he made for my Glock 36

 

[Malysh]

Well, I debated whether or not to buy a Kramer. I decided to do it, but I do not think I will do it again. I am a full 3 months into a 4 month wait. I will contact them now and start asking if they are going to meet the schedule. Squeaky wheel thing.

I agree with horsehide being the best. I have a contact in PA that is a horsehide holster maker, and he makes nice stuff. I want another holster, and I am going to contact him

Below is a horsehide holster he made for my Glock 36

That's well executed holster, Pete!

If you contact Kramer you will only fuel
your aggravation. Also, inquiring a
month before the holster is estimated
to be done is putting the cart before
the horse!

 

[Smoke]

This is false. Greg Kramer is alive and well.

I'm glad to hear that. Maybe since you know you could call him and tell him to get off his *** and make my holster

 

[Smoke]

I own 3 Kramer holsters. Glock 19, Glock 26, S&W 4006 and I'm waiting for a shoulder holster for my 19.

I've never used another custom holster maker. I'm probably only ever going to buy another holster for my M&P 9. If I do it will probably be from Kramer because I can afford to wait.

But it will very likely be the last.

This particular holster was promised between 12 and 16 weeks. We contacted Kramer in the 16th week and were told we'd get it between Feb 7th and 12th.

I'm hoping that with that small a window I'll actually get it soon.

 

[Malysh]

Gotta fight your own battles, friend

 

[Smoke]

Gotta fight your own battles, friend

I wasn't serious

 

[Malysh]

I know, I couldn't resist!

 

[Smoke]

UPDATE I called Kramer this morning. We ordered the holster on September 26th. So it should have been here about the middle of January at the latest.

We emailed in late January and we were told that the holster would certainly be here between February 7th and February 12th.

I called this morning and I was told that the holster wasn't complete yet and they hope to have it shipped within 2 weeks.

When I pointed out to the lady that she had advertised a 16-week delivery time frame and if they kept this promise we wouldn't be getting it for over 20 weeks, her response was "Oh well,sorry."

I'm fairly certain I won't be buying another holster from them

 

[smoothshooter]

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....

No excuse for running a business like that.
Extra long backorders and missed delivery dates are common with gun-related product suppliers. More so than with most other small businesses.
I firmly believe you could get 3 new-built-from-the-ground-up Indy race cars built in half the time some of these holster guys take to fill orders.
I refuse to wait that long.