Defensive Carry banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Mark Garrity...

6K views 31 replies 14 participants last post by  QKShooter 
#1 ·
Any of y'all know how to get in touch with Mark Garrity?...I placed an order with him about 7 months ago...he told me he had a 4 to 6 month turn around so I e-mailed him the other day to check on the progress of my custom holster...no response...I called him today and got an automated response saying "the code or number you have dialed is incorrect"...called information...got the same number that's on his website...I'd be abliged if any of y'all could help me get in touch with him.
 
#3 ·
To me that sounds exactly like Mark.

He has, from my expirience, an inability to deliver as promised, and while he is a fine craftsman, is a poor business manager. The inability to get in touch with him after the projected completion date, no phone response, and lack of communication via Email tends to mirror my expirience with the individual.

To be fair, I would give him six weeks past the projected completion date. There are things in leather bending that are beyond the control of the leather bender. After that, he's fair game as far as I'm concerned.

Biker
 
#7 ·
...

Well I'm certainly not ready to give up on him at this point...nor am I bashin' him...I realize there are many quality custom holster craftsmen out there, but Mark is the only one that is makin' the type of holster I want...I'll give him all the time he needs...I'd just like an update as to where he's at with the project so I've got an estimated time of when I can start usin' it.
 
#8 ·
I certainly know from experience how demanding a LEO job can be. The same can be said for custom holster making. However it seems that there's a point when one would have to choose to have either a full time job or a full time business.
 
#10 ·
I have a crossdraw holster I paid for back in 2007 but never received. Sent many, many emails and left many phone messages but never did end up speaking with a human about the problem, nor did I ever receive a call-back or email once the original payment and order had been received and confirmed. I basically gave up trying over the past year.

If anyone knows a fool-proof way to contact him (or anyone at the organization), I too would be grateful.

Contact information that I had used up to then:

Mark Garrity
Garrity's Gunleather
POB 82664
Phoenix, AZ 85071
ph (602) 863-9575
mark@garritysgunleather.com
www.garritysgunleather.com
 
#13 ·
...

Yeah...I want to make it clear that he did NOT take any funds up front...he did however give me a timeline...and once again, I ain't bashin' the guy...just want let him know that I still want that holster...bad...and would like to know when I can expect to be wearin' it...
 
#16 ·
Cattledawg: I have not tried to reach him lately (as I didn't need to), and the contact information I have for him is the same as provided by ccw9mm above... And, yes he is a member here and as far as I know he used to (at least) read postings.
 
#19 ·
Cattledawg & ccw9mm - PMs sent.
Drew78 - If your's is the order I am thinking of I sent a few e-mails for payment arrangements and got no response so moved on. I apologize things did not work out. I know I am not the only game in town - so much so that I often refer customer inquiries to other custom makers if I feel those makers can provide an equally suitable product in a more timely fashion.
 
#21 ·
FiringDragon...thank you so much for the help...it's greatly appreciated...

Mark...I just sent you an e-mail with my information...you asked me to aslo PM you to make sure you get it...I tried but your PM is full...anyways...you've got an e-mail waitin' from me titled "custom holster"...thank you again...
 
#22 ·
My Mark Garrity Story

Hello fellow members,

Here is my history with Mark Garrity. I will try to be as factual as possible and not inject any of my personal feelings. All quoted information was copied and pasted directly from the emails they refer to.

I ordered a custom holster, belt and mag. pouch from Mr. Garrity on March 9, 2009, and paid a $ 115.00 deposit.

I was quoted an approximate turn around time of 6 months.

at about the 7 month point I began attempting to contact Mr. Garrity by repeated emails, voicemail messages and letters. This was to no avail.

On January 23, 2010 I heard from Mr. Garrity. He recounted what seemed at the time to be reasonable excuses as to why:
A) My order was not ready
B) He had not answered any of my communications in 4 months.

I accepted his reasons and was understanding of the fact that he is a full time LEO and and an artist. Both conditions that make keeping deadlines difficult.

In his last email (date stamped Jan 01/23/10 3:14 PM) Mr Garrity stated "I am just about through with your order".

In this last email he ended by stating "were on track now and things are coming along. Give me a shout if you don't hear from me in a couple weeks for payment arrangements.
Thanks,
Mark"

Needless to say, I waited 2 weeks and, having heard nothing from Mr. Garrity, began sending him emails, phone messages (while it was possible) and the occasional letter. To date I have had no response of any kind. Moreover, it has been impossible to leave voicemail messages as his phone is constantly "busy" (even though I have made over 100 attempts at various times of the day even at 1:00 AM. In fact, I just tried now, its "busy".

What I find most disconcerting is not that my order is late. I ordered what I consider a piece of "art" and I understand that artists can't be rushed. No, what I find most hurtful is the complete lack of communication.

I am now at a point where I am considering legal action, something that even as an attorney I am loathe to do as I hold LEOs in high regard and have been very impressed with the examples of Mr. Garrity's work I have seen.

All I really want is the holster set I contracted and paid for.

What say you?
 
#23 ·
It saddens me to hear that Biker.

Currently, I would prefer to just have my holster set. If not then a refund of my deposit and have done with it.

However, I'm very close to my "tipping point" right now. when I get there, when I am sure beyond a reasonable doubt that a person I have been trying to do business with and have treated fairly has determined to swindle me, then I will bring as much legal pressure and social internet pressure to bear as I can muster.
 
#29 ·
Mark and I have discussed this in PM. I think we can work this out to our mutual benefit.

In these tough times I believe I should try and support members of our community with a little more patience (ok, a lot more!) than I would in the past. This is not meant as a knock against any of the other posters in this thread, just what I plan do do.

I will let you all know how it turns out.
 
#25 ·
BikerRN,
This has been going on for years and I have kept quiet. Can you please tell the whole story. You changed the type of gun the holster was for at least twice, three times if I recall correctly; each time leaving me with a partially completed holster, so yes i got frustrated. I never complained (until now), I never charged a stocking fee or change-of-order fee as many makers will do. I did complete your holster, and when I contacted you saying it was finished you stated you no longer wanted it and refused payment and delivery (I guess to teach me a lesson). Well, I advertised it for sale on another forum and it sold within 2 days of my contacting you to tell you it was finished, so no lesson learned.
 
#27 ·
Mr. Garrity,

While I changed the gun, unless you work awfully slow, you wouldn't have even started on my holster by the time I had changed the gun.

You simply failed to live up to your end of the bargain, the agreed upon completion time. When I called and left messages, they were unanswerd. When I Emailed you, no reply. I highly doubt that you had even started making my holster, and are grasping at straws to try and lessen your guilt, or appearance of poor business practices. If I recall correctly I even asked if you had started on my holster before I had changed the gun, or asked if it was too late to change the gun model.

It wasn't until I started hammering at you in a forum thread that I got any reply from you. Since you didn't reply to me until I started besmirching your name in a forum, I can only assume that you care what the court of public opinion says about you, and that you have people out there that will let you know when someone post something bad about you. Since that appears to be the case, I will tell my version of the events in a public forum, since that seems to matter to you.

I have never denied that you make beautiful products, but your business acumen leaves a lot to be desired.

EDIT TO ADD:

If I recall you quoted me three or four months. At the nine month mark is when I cancelled my order. If you're going to tell a story, tell the whole story. The only reason I didn't tell about changing the order is because when I asked you, you hadn't started on my order yet. So it wouldn't be pertinent to the discussion at hand.

Quit trying to play the injured party here. You were the one that "flaked out" and even went so far as to almost have a nervous breakdown in an Email to me. I guess you really are an "artist".

Biker
 
#30 ·
Reading this thread seem like dajavu all over again. I have a friend that is in the same business as Mr. Garrity and hearing things from the makers side was an enlightening experience. There seems to be so many stumbling blocks faced by holster makers that we (the public) never consider in our frustration to get our gear.

Every piece of leather is different, its thickness, grain, imperfections ect., all play a role in what holster comes out of what hide. Just because your are next on the list, does not mean there is a piece of leather that will suit your project. Most of these guy's are one man shops with families emergency's and all the standard distractions. They are still business people and should conduct themselves accordingly, but you are not dealing with Galco who has a CS department and paid management to send you free stuff when you feel wronged.

I asked my buddy about taking deposits, as it seems one of the big irritants to customers is that fact that "the guy has had my money for XX months!" But if the maker does not take a deposit, they get XX months down the road, make a holster and find out the customer has gone elsewhere or has no funds. These artisans are the production shop, shipping and receiving and accounting, not to mention the hours they spend on the phone and on-line doing sales and talking guns with chowder heads like me. Factor in all of this, then ask for something "different" than a stock rig and you have all the makings of a disaster. Oh ya, and they have to eek out time to design new gear and make patterns for all the new guns that come down the line. I personally don't know how they stay sober enough to get anything done.

All of us on boards like this feel a sort of family or community connection to each other, but the real behind the scenes reality is that there are some folks who make a living here so the same "buyer / seller" capitalistic rules still apply. Makers need to quote reasonable times, but most often, they are over confident in their abilities to produce and like most business folks, never want to turn away a customer.

The real fly in the ointment for most of us (the public) however is communication. If it going to take 12 months to get my gear, tell me 14 and deliver it at 13. If it is going to be late, communicate that to me so I don't feel the need to fill your in box with "when will it be done" e-mails.
Every business has a limit as to how much product they can produce in a day or a month, if you have a 2 year back log, you need to raise your prices. People seem to be willing to wait for good product, Matt Del Fatti has a wait list that is over 2 years the last time I looked and I don't recall ever reading a negative thing about his business anywhere.

So the point in my ramblings are this: We the buyers need to be realistic about what it takes for a one man shop to produce a top quality product, and makers need to be honest when they take deposits and give approximate delivery times.

The internet has the power to make money for business, but it also has the power to ruin them without the burden of facts. While I can feel the frustration of those who have posted here looking for any signs of completion, I would caution those of us reading threads like this with our popcorn about rendering a final decision about a business here because of the frustrations of a few unhappy people. Not the they don't have good reason to be upset, but there is always more to the story, trust me.
 
#31 ·
I've often wondered why a simple method of communication couldn't be crafted, one that leverages the power of the internet and allows simple capturing, tracking and communication of production information at each major stage of production.

Think of it:

  • A simple set of data elements captured about each and every order placed with the shop.

  • Each item (holster, car, whatever) gets produced on a first-come, first-served (FIFO) basis.

  • A simple Job Data Form is filled out by the shop for each job that's contracted for that captures the OrderNbr, Customer Info, Product Type being ordered, Estimated Days, and Steps Completed.

  • A simple set of no more than five major steps is defined for the items being produced. For example, All Raw Materials Obtained; Leather Cut; Leather Shaped; Finishing Coats Applied; Shipment to Customer.

  • Each and every time a major step for a given work order is completed, the shop notes this on the job order via either simple data entry or a barcode scan (ie, scan OrderNbr, then scan StepNbrCompleted).

  • The web site is used to communicate with the customer. The web site scans the list of orders and provides simple information to the customer whenever the customer asks for an update. By entering the OrderNbr and ZipCode for the order, the customer can get basic data about the work order, such as: the basic order details; the number of items ahead in the queue; and the estimate of the date of completion given the speed of production that's occurring.

  • So long as the shop keeps the major steps updated for each and every order, the system automatically estimates completion dates based on the open work orders scheduled in sequence in the system.

  • The customer can opt to be automatically notified at each major completion point for major steps in the production of the item.

  • Over time, the shop even has estimates of shop efficiency that tracks actual times for production against the shop estimates being used for each job type.

  • Key elements:

    • Simple data entry by the shop, requiring a bare minimum of time commitment to track.

    • Simple and automatic communication to customers of job status.

    • The shop can remain focused on gathering specs for new orders and producing those orders. The shop can avoid continually looking up status of orders instead of working on them.

    • A simple production schedule exists at all times, based on the date of order, time estimate for production of each item, and the sequence of the work orders that exist in the queue ahead of the given order.

    • The system cleans up after itself, archiving old job orders that have been closed for more than N number of months.

  • The major risks would be data entry errors, computer failure. But so long as the data is kept simple and updated, communication with the customer would be simple and automatic, while affording the shop a simple production schedule for all orders.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top