80kms

This Post is a 100% cut and paste from another “customers” experience:

see original here: Brass Monki Epic

The Brass Monki Epic

Now that I got my money back, I think it’s safe to post this. Alright. So. From the beginning!

I’mma put the conclusion of this post here on top too, in case you can’t be bothered to read the whole thing (I totally don’t blame you, it was complete torture for myself as well to write this thing)

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT ORDER ANY SNEAKERS FROM BRASSMONKI.COM, YOU WILL REGRET THIS, YOU WILL LOSE MONEY AND UNLESS YOU HUNT THIS GUY DOWN (figuratively speaking) YOU WILL SEE NEITHER SNEAKERS NOR THE MONEY YOU PAID FOR SAID NONEXISTENT SNEAKERS.

A friend of mine had stumbled upon a site, that customizes Nike sneakers, called Brass Monki. They looked totally badass and you could have anything you wanted on them. The site itself also looked really professional and neat, so I couldn’t wait to order a pair.

I saw a pair of Watchmen sneakers (yellow with a smiley and a spat of blood, like the button) that I really liked, so I ordered those. They were about 180 euros, which isn’t that ridiculous, considering the normal Nike sneakers he uses to customize already cost 120 easily on itself. I made the order on September 21st. The only thing that struck me as a bit.. odd, was the fact that you didn’t need to register for an account or anything, just give in your order, give your shipping details and you’re off.

I got an automated email right after my order, telling me to wire the money to a bank account (in the UK). So I did, on September 22nd. A week went by. I heard nothing. Another week. Still nothing.

Two weeks after my order I sent an email asking if they received everything alright, since I haven’t heard from them since. No reply. Another week passes. I send another mail, this time through a form on the website. No reply. The next day I decide to call the phone number that was in the automated mail. A man picks up at the other end, who I found out was the father of the “Founder/Head Artist at Brass Monki”. I asked him what was going on, if anything went wrong with the payment because I hadn’t received ANY confirmation whatsoever. He said he’d talk to his son and have him contact me right away.

The next day I received my first email from Daniel Reese, “Founder/Head Artist at Brass Monki”. (the “” are ironically, ofcourse, you’ll soon find out why) He received the payment, and he’d ordered a blank pair to start working on right away! He also apologised for not being in contact sooner. I was totally relieved I had heard something from him after 3 weeks, I was starting to get worried I’d been scammed.

A week passed and again I heard nothing. I’d started doing a little research, checking his facebook for activity, checking his twitter, going back in his tweets, etc. I saw a tweet from August saying it normally takes 3-4 weeks for the sneakers. I assume he meant order, customize and deliver. So I send yet another email, getting a little agitated for hearing so little from him, having no information about my order whatsoever. Yet again, no response.

A week later (by now it’s been 5 weeks since ordering) I decide to just skip the emailing and call the number again. No answer. I try again the next day. No answer. The next day. Busy tone. An hour later. Busy tone. The next day I finally grab a hold of his father again. I ask for more details about my order, and leave my phone number with the guy. He promises he’ll have his son call me back with more info.

A few days later, I receive a general email from the guy, telling me (and other customers apparently) he has some problems connecting the payments he received on his bank account with the orders that have been made on his website. I was getting angry. After over 4 emails and 2 phone calls he STILL can’t figure out who I am and what order I placed? I made it very clear in the description of the transfer, kind of sneaker, size, order number, etc. Which I also repeated in the reply of that email, along with the condition that if I don’t receive more information regarding the status of my sneakers by the end of the week, I’d cancel the order, and demand a refund.

On the same DAY I already received a reply. I was so shocked, this had never happened before O.O He said the sneakers took 6-8 weeks to complete, and that he tried to call me back on the number he’d received from his father, but he got “what sounded like an engaged tone”. He assured me my sneakers would be completed and sent within the week. Huzzah! Or not. At this point we’re already October 31st.

The next week. Yet again silence from our good friend. By then it was November 8th, I decided to send yet another email asking if he’d sent them already, and by when I could be expecting them. No reply.

Yet another five days later. This guy was REALLY starting to get on my nerves, as you can see here below in the mail I sent November 13th:

“Sending you yet another mail to ask about the status of my sneakers. It’s been 2 weeks again since you said they’d be completed and sent soon. By now it’s 8 weeks in total since I first placed my order. I wasn’t joking around when I said I’d cancel my order when I didn’t see any progress soon. I have nothing of proof to see you’re actually working on them, let alone a guarantee I’ll be getting them soon. I’ll be calling you (or your father who’s more likely to answer the phone) tomorrow if I yet again don’t receive a reply to this mail.”

And call I did. Again, three days of not responding or a busy tone. I decided to send a last email, again with the condition that if I did not receive any information regarding the status of my sneakers by the end of the week, I’d demand a refund. If he’d fail to do so, I’d file a complaint with the ECC (European Consumers Centre). This was purely bluff of course, since people who I asked for advice (my parents have a few lawyers as friends) said he didn’t meet the conditions to be an actual “shop” so basically he couldn’t be touched. Legally.

The same day I received another email stating “your order is due to be shipped on or before 02.11.11”. Wait whut? 2nd of November? That’s a fucking month ago! Turns out he made a typo (like a boss). It was supposed to say 02.12.11. So basically when he told me back in November they’d be completed and sent within the week, he was blatantly lying his ass off. I replied asking what the hell was going on, but once again, no reply. Then over the span of a mere 3 days I received 3 (Holy crap!) emails from him, all very confusing ones, stating he has another email adress which he more frequently checks (thanks for telling me now), and his own cellphone number to contact him on (yet again, thanks dude).

I found his cellphone number a bit off, it had no land code or anything, so I decided to google what UK cellphone numbers normally look like. I wasn’t getting any quick results so on a whim I decided to just google his entire cellphone number. I stumbled upon an Australian guy’s blog. A bigass epic post (much like this one) describing his ‘experiences’ with our mutual friend Daniel Reese popped up on my screen. The guy’s been waiting on his sneakers, which he ordered for his son, FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS. HOW THE FUCK IS THIS POSSIBLE. The entire email exchange between the two (well it wasn’t so much an exchange as it was a one sided stream of requests/pleas for information.) I could NOT believe what I was reading, and there were even more people who responded to this post, people in the same situation, waiting for their sneakers or demanding a refund. I decided those goddamn sneakers weren’t worth it, so I once again, made a phone call to his father, explaining briefly what I’ve encountered on the internet, asking kindly for a refund. He said he understood my frustration, and would see to it personally that my situation would be dealt with first thing.

The thing that relieved me the most was reading about a guy on that blog post who actually DID receive a refund, so I still had a chance to see those sweet 180 euros again. So a few days later, I got an email from him stating he’d transferred the refund into my bank account the day before.After that, hell, he practically started spamming my inbox, and every one of his customers’ inboxes for that matter, having sent 5 “December Updates” regarding people who had asked for a refund, or regarding the tracking numbers for the sneakers he did send. Since they didn’t really apply to me I couldn’t care less.

After having assured me he had wired the refund onto my bank account, I anxiously awaited said refund, but it didn’t show. For two weeks I sent him an email *every day*. Seems he just didn’t transfer anything, even though “he was sure of it”. Until, eventually, on December 20th I *finally* saw the money appear on my bank account. I can not express the relief I felt when I saw the refund. Months of annoyance and irritation can finally be put behind me. Talk about a Christmas miracle.

Conclusion of this way too fucking long post:

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT ORDER ANY SNEAKERS FROM BRASSMONKI.COM, YOU WILL REGRET THIS, YOU WILL LOSE MONEY AND UNLESS YOU HUNT THIS GUY DOWN (figuratively speaking) YOU WILL SEE NEITHER SNEAKERS NOR THE MONEY YOU PAID FOR SAID NONEXISTENT SNEAKERS.

I can NOT believe this guy is still in business and not yet in jail for scamming people or malpractice. If there even is such a thing as malpractice for a webshop. He’s been doing this for over 2-3 years now, things are still as fucked up as they were in the beginning, he lies to his customers because he can’t keep up with his orders, he simply does not know how to run a business, which is why his dad had to jump in and help him get his shit together. This is the blog post which has opened my eyes => http://www.80kms.com/?p=468 go check it out if you like, it’s quite amusing to read what excuses he can come up with, as long as you’re not the one having to hear them. I also have yet to see anyone anywhere who has actually RECEIVED a pair of sneakers from this guy.