negative review with strap maker kainheritage

[bakedsamurai]

My father bought 2 straps, 1 is a brown calf, another is black croc for his friend's birthday. Brown calf worn not often for 1-2 months, and already seeing wear on the leather ( due to friction between buckle and leather .





My father bought a crocodile strap from kainheritage for his friend's birthday. After 2-3 weeks of wearing it, my father's friend told my father that the crocodile leather cracked into half.

We have to buy a thick black dye to cover the grey ( cracked area ) color, but still can see the cracked leather under different lights. Should have stopped my father from buying it, cos i had the same experience last time.



http://www.network54.com/Forum/35339...n+strap+as+new

This person replied to a negative review on another forum that he will have the problem resolved. Once the thread was closed by the admin, he continued to ignore my father's emails. Until now not a single reply.

[taxico]

i think it would be good to first know what your expectations are, and how you wish to resolve it.

if your expectations are high (ie, leather strap should be wear like synthetic straps) or you wish to resolve it by having a few new straps custom made to your high specifications and given to you as "compensation", then i think there's no point moving forward because those are both likely impossible for a singapore business.

if this due to shoddy workmanship, or something suspect, or related to a valid "warranty" claim, or at least something the strapmaker is directly responsible for, i think you have a case

i am not an existing/past/future customer of this strap maker you have problems with (because my usual strapmakers are based overseas and i don't use local strap makers as they don't have access to the materials in the quality i want), but leather is leather...

unlike a synthetic strap, it's not meant to be exactly as you got it on day #1 for a long time... my opinion is photo in #1 is normal and common (especially that fraying at the edges for cheaper types of leather). using a different buckle might help reduce some wear.

your description of photo #2 is debatable, but if that strap was mine, i would not say it is the strapmaker's fault that it cracked. i would probably ask the strap maker to dye the exposed portion (after i am sure it won't crack any further) to a similar colour for free, and try to figure a way out to "stabilize" the split.

other people with more experience in wearing leather straps can chime in, and correct my view if they are wrong.

anyway, i hope you are able to get a reasonable resolution to your issues.

[Ryuden]

I have seen your post on P.com and thought it was the other way round, that Kain Chan have replied and tried to resolved the matter.


http://www.network54.com/Forum/35339...egative+review



I totally understand where you are coming from and couple hundreds of dollars is still a lot of money to some, and you are just frustrated with a product, that to you, doesn't deliver.

But going around and posting bad reviews won't help in my opinion, as everyone have different levels of expectation. And worst is, everyone have different ways of handling daily wearing of their leather straps. More often than not, leather straps are easily damaged due to bad handling of the wearer when mounting and unmounting the strap everyday.

Most owners that I have seen usually uses this method,





Where they will pull the tail back and create a bent in order for the buckle tongue to be easily pull out. This will cause the leather to wear out faster than necessary.


The correct way is by doing this,





Pull the tail towards you and using your finger, dig out the buckle tongue. This will help lengthen the life of the leather.


Another way is to use a deployant buckle which limits the choices of straps as the leather need to be thin enough in order to fit the deployant buckle in.

Like in the first pic, there is nothing you can do to eradicate the problem as the friction of the leather edges rubbing against the buckle sides is eminent unless you uses a larger buckle which will look weird. The buckle marks on the strap surface is also normal and you just have to minimize the wear by using the correct method of mounting and unmounting your watch.

In the second pic, I believe you have the answers you seek from knowledgable forummers here and also P.com, and ironically, you have done the research yourself.

http://www.gleni.it/difference-croco...n-leather.html


Thank you for the genuine review of the straps but this is where it should stop.

Moreover, you wanted Kain Chan to respond to your issues, which the first time he failed to do so for whatever reasons, he already did and his offer, was fair in my opinion after getting ranted at and received a publicly negative review.

I hope you manage to resolve this with Kain Chan.

[bakedsamurai]

Yes, i wrote on p.com, and kh responded to it to get admin to close the thread. Once the thread was closed, he continued to ignore my father's emails until now. Not a single reply.

Look at the croc leather, it split into half.... don't know if such quality will pass muster with customers. And only 2-3 weeks old strap.

[chiu_peow]

It is strange that after your first experience with the strap maker, you did not stop your father from buying from the same strap maker.

What experience you had with the strap maker previously?

My father bought 2 straps, 1 is a brown calf, another is black croc for his friend's birthday. Brown calf worn not often for 1-2 months, and already seeing wear on the leather ( due to friction between buckle and leather .

My father bought a crocodile strap from kainheritage for his friend's birthday. After 2-3 weeks of wearing it, my father's friend told my father that the crocodile leather cracked into half.

Should have stopped my father from buying it, cos i had the same experience last time.

[bakedsamurai]

I tried to stop my father from purchasing from him, but i can't coerce him into doing it. My father wanted to save a few dollars, henceforth he went to buy from him without heeding my advice.

Although KH is using the lowest quality Caiman skin ( listed as crocodile on his site ), it is immensely unacceptable for it to crack just after 2 weeks of wear.

[chiu_peow]

Since your father wanted to save money, then there should be no complaints. There is a saying - "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys".

As bro Ryuden pointed out, it is common sense that the sides of the leather will be scratched by buckle while putting on and taking off the watch. You have gone to the extent of posting in several sites similar reviews seems that you have ulterior motive.

The last round in march, you also have issues with the strap maker. Were you too demanding in the negotiations in resolving the conflict?

For all we know, it is you who bought the straps and try to get more freebies again?

I tried to stop my father from purchasing from him, but i can't coerce him into doing it. My father wanted to save a few dollars, henceforth he went to buy from him without heeding my advice.

This person replied to a negative review on another forum that he will have the problem resolved. Once the thread was closed by the admin, he continued to ignore my father's emails. Until now not a single reply.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/35339...n+strap+as+new

[iwearwatch]

Too be fair, I had bought a couple of KH straps and I been using them for 1 year plus and they are of good quality and till date I have no complaints. I bought their monster tail series which cost Above usd 100 per strap....and they use good quality calf leather and till date no serious signs of wear and tear.

[bakedsamurai]

Looks like a bias reply from you, focusing on calf, and not crocodile. It is unacceptable for the hornback caiman to crack within such a extremely short period of wear.

He pretended to reply on a negative review on another forum to have the thread closed by admin. Once closed, he continued to ignore my father's email, not a single reply from this person. We have the right and duty to alert members of such unacceptable attitude from this seller.

It is normal for my father to feel infuriated when this person used such tricks to get a review closed, writing reviews to alert members.

[iwearwatch]

Fyi TS, for crocodile horn back or any exotic leather straps are only the top layer, the middle and leather under layer are usually made of calf leather. I bought a hornback crocodile from KH too, been wearing daily and it's still very good and durable.

It all depends on how you use the straps subject to major absuse. Lol

[bakedsamurai]

Fyi TS, for crocodile horn back or any exotic leather straps are only the top layer, the middle and leather under layer are usually made of calf leather. I bought a hornback crocodile from KH too, been wearing daily and it's still very good and durable.

It all depends on how you use the straps subject to major absuse. Lol

Of course it's the top layer only. The strap was bought and given to father's friend, only 2-3 weeks, worn not more than few times. It just shows the quality of lowest quality caiman leather he uses, as simple as that. Abuse? How can wearing normally be abuse?

Last time i bought from him, that time it was listed as the highest quality alligator strap. I brought to local leather worker and discovered that it's the lowest quality caiman skin being listed as highest quality alligator. I remember the strap has a black line, the strap was broken during the making process, and being glued back .... listed as brand new on his site.

I went to his website immediately, and realized that there was a black line from the picture of his site. Don't tell me i have magical powers and i abuse it to change the picture on his site. No need to defame someone else. Don't be too loyal to a strap maker until you see his true colors, i hope one's loyalty doesn't get himself into trouble by acting impulsively.

[taxico]

Looks like a bias reply from you, focusing on calf, and not crocodile. It is unacceptable for the hornback caiman to crack within such a extremely short period of wear...

i think you might have mixed up the end user, and the tanner (at the tannery) with the strapmaker...

because a 75 year old ammo strap can endure everything you throw at it doesn't mean the best hide from heng long will be up to the same task and come out equally well.

caiman leather isn't some sort of magic material. if you want an expensive but "bullet proof" leather strap, your answer is shell cordovan from horween - preferably unlined and with as few stitches as possible. your second best bet is probably kodiak leather.

but even shell cordo, like any leather, deteriorates with time, just at a much much slower rate.

anyone can destroy a bespoke $1000 caiman leather strap from ABP in 2 minutes if they really wanted to. it doesn't mean the atelier produced a bad strap.

the onus is on you to intelligently prove your case, not just go on internet forums belligerently bellowing that a $xxx (???) strap from KH should not crack/deteriorate in 2 weeks/2 months.

again, i have no affiliations nor interests in/with KH straps, and i'm not speaking up in his defence.

you are right that using the lowest grade leather doesn't mean the end product is crap. it just means the product should be priced cheaper, and accordingly, lower expectations. this certainly doesn't excuse the manufacturer of a product from any valid consumer warranty claims/dissatisfaction.

how you prove your claim(s) is important, because any reputable business will protect their name... especially if the words go beyond ordinarily acceptable "standards". be mindful of this when you are expressing your displeasure.

[bakedsamurai]

This is getting preposterous, because you are suggesting that the strap might have been abused, i suggest you don't defame someone else indirectly. Caiman leather breaking within 2-3 weeks is unacceptable, watch your mouth and don't defame. I don't have to prove anything, but the accused needs to prove it. He is just a dishonest seller who listed his lowest quality caiman leather as alligator in the past, many customers thought that were buying the highest quality alligator straps.

[Ryuden]

TS, just my very own personal opinion.

You should try and contact Kain Chan again and ask him nicely about how to move forward from this experience. From where I am coming from, it doesn't do you any good going around and saying bad things about anyone.

There's a difference in giving an honest review of your bad experiences and trying to give someone a bad name/reputation. From your review, it looks like the latter. I am not accusing you but that's just how it's being portrayed.

Yes you mentioned many a times that Kain Chan ignored your emails, but take a look from his point of view. If you were him, would you be happy to be bashed around from one site to the next?

There are many many reviews of bad experiences but that's where the intention ends. Just relaying one honest point of view of a product that gone bad.

I believe Kain Chan is reasonable enough and like I mentioned, he already offered you a refund and its posted online which gives you more or less a form of "black and white" where everyone who read is your witness.

Lets just end it here and sort this out with Kain Chan. Once refunded, don't purchase any more from him.

[triton]

well said

anyone can destroy a bespoke $1000 caiman leather strap from ABP in 2 minutes if they really wanted to. it doesn't mean the atelier produced a bad strap.

the onus is on you to intelligently prove your case, not just go on internet forums belligerently bellowing that a $xxx (???) strap from KH should not crack/deteriorate in 2 weeks/2 months.

you are right that using the lowest grade leather doesn't mean the end product is crap. it just means the product should be priced cheaper, and accordingly, lower expectations. this certainly doesn't excuse the manufacturer of a product from any valid consumer warranty claims/dissatisfaction.

how you prove your claim(s) is important, because any reputable business will protect their name... especially if the words go beyond ordinarily acceptable "standards". be mindful of this when you are expressing your displeasure.