professorpaddle
Registered
So here is my quick question.
Has anyone on here ordered an Argonaut from 4th Element and if so what was your experience?
Here is my long question/rant.
I purchased my suit from a local shop in Seattle back in Feb. Both the shop and 4th Element said the Order would have a 10 week lead time. I foolishly assumed that meant, you pay for the suit then in 10 weeks (ish) you get it or perhaps it ships to the dealer...
I had a dive trip planned in late April which was dead on the 10 week mark and while I was hopeful to have it by then I also had accepted that it likely would not be ready. Like anyone that had dropped 4k on a new suit I eagerly waiting checking their status page on my order. In March I emailed them to find out why the order still stated Order Received but had not gone "In Production", I of course also asked with fingers crossed if the suit would be done by my April dive trip which was on the last weekend of the month. They replied back and confirmed that the suit was "going into production" and that it would not be ready for that dive trips dates. I understood. Oh well right?
Since my old suit failed I had been diving wet a few times per week which sux! I figured I could keep at it, although It does not help that my daughter is all cozy in her drysuit constantly rubbing it in... Whats another couple of weeks. So we did that dive trip and it was great diving but I was having a hard time squeezing out dive 3 and 4 each day.
Well a few weeks ago I went online to again check the status and it still said "In Production" but now there was a new ready date listed of May 21. Oh crap that sucks bad because 10 weeks had passed already and that was going into week 13.... I figured I will just check in... you know squeaky wheel gets the grease and all. I stopped by the shop and they basically said what I figured, out of our hands, you have to wait when you order a "Be-Spoke" suit. I emailed 4th Element again, no responses as of yet. But now the website shows a ready date of June 9th which is more like 16 weeks... Of course I am less than excited about diving wet again back to back for a 5 day trip over memorial day, but I also have another one planned in late June.
10 weeks to 16 weeks if it is actually ready by then... that's just an extra month and a half, no big deal I guess right? Last week I emailed and asked if perhaps they could tell me if the June 9th Date was accurate and also how long from that date it would be before it actually arrived... "Crickets....."
I could careless about bespoke or that crap... I have size 14 feet and I am 6'3" but only 200lbs. I was sick of diving XXL suits with tight booties and baggy torsos. When mine fell apart and needed to be put to rest I knew I just wanted good material, quality seams and custom booties with a tighter torso. I am starting to think I should have just bought a Santi and had it sent to a local shop to have custom boots sewn in....
So am I being un-reasonable?
Is the lack of communication/response normal?
Being my first "Custom" suit is this wait normal?
Don't tell my wife but I started to browse the classifieds hoping I could find a sub 1k suit that would work to get me through the summer because I am starting to think this suit might never arrive....
Has anyone on here ordered an Argonaut from 4th Element and if so what was your experience?
Here is my long question/rant.
I purchased my suit from a local shop in Seattle back in Feb. Both the shop and 4th Element said the Order would have a 10 week lead time. I foolishly assumed that meant, you pay for the suit then in 10 weeks (ish) you get it or perhaps it ships to the dealer...
I had a dive trip planned in late April which was dead on the 10 week mark and while I was hopeful to have it by then I also had accepted that it likely would not be ready. Like anyone that had dropped 4k on a new suit I eagerly waiting checking their status page on my order. In March I emailed them to find out why the order still stated Order Received but had not gone "In Production", I of course also asked with fingers crossed if the suit would be done by my April dive trip which was on the last weekend of the month. They replied back and confirmed that the suit was "going into production" and that it would not be ready for that dive trips dates. I understood. Oh well right?
Since my old suit failed I had been diving wet a few times per week which sux! I figured I could keep at it, although It does not help that my daughter is all cozy in her drysuit constantly rubbing it in... Whats another couple of weeks. So we did that dive trip and it was great diving but I was having a hard time squeezing out dive 3 and 4 each day.
Well a few weeks ago I went online to again check the status and it still said "In Production" but now there was a new ready date listed of May 21. Oh crap that sucks bad because 10 weeks had passed already and that was going into week 13.... I figured I will just check in... you know squeaky wheel gets the grease and all. I stopped by the shop and they basically said what I figured, out of our hands, you have to wait when you order a "Be-Spoke" suit. I emailed 4th Element again, no responses as of yet. But now the website shows a ready date of June 9th which is more like 16 weeks... Of course I am less than excited about diving wet again back to back for a 5 day trip over memorial day, but I also have another one planned in late June.
10 weeks to 16 weeks if it is actually ready by then... that's just an extra month and a half, no big deal I guess right? Last week I emailed and asked if perhaps they could tell me if the June 9th Date was accurate and also how long from that date it would be before it actually arrived... "Crickets....."
I could careless about bespoke or that crap... I have size 14 feet and I am 6'3" but only 200lbs. I was sick of diving XXL suits with tight booties and baggy torsos. When mine fell apart and needed to be put to rest I knew I just wanted good material, quality seams and custom booties with a tighter torso. I am starting to think I should have just bought a Santi and had it sent to a local shop to have custom boots sewn in....
So am I being un-reasonable?
Is the lack of communication/response normal?
Being my first "Custom" suit is this wait normal?
Don't tell my wife but I started to browse the classifieds hoping I could find a sub 1k suit that would work to get me through the summer because I am starting to think this suit might never arrive....
