Gary Brommeland

I need to clarify a few things here. First off, when we quoted our delivery estimates, they were our best guess based upon circumstances at the time the orders were placed. AFTER these orders were placed we ran into supply problems. (When I started this business there were 7 tanneries in the US tanning veg tanned leather suitable for holsters, 5 of which produced superb leather. Thanks to NAFTA and GATT sending most manufacturing overseas while the EPA simultaneously clamped down on the tannerys' emmissions' standards, they are now all out of business, save one. That remaining tannery was having problems which took better than 6 months to solve. During that time we made very few usable holsters and threw away more of them than I can count). Customers were advised of this situation as they called, and thru posts here and on other locations on the 'Net. No one who asked for a refund was refused (except in a couple of instances in which their stuff was nearly ready to ship).

The problem in directly notifying every one of my customers is that I had something well in excess of 400 orders at the time, and notifying that many people was simply beyond the scope of my manpower limitations. This was an "open ended" kinda problem - the tannery told me nearly a dozen times that they thought that the problem had been resolved, only to send me another batch of material that I was unable to use. It wasn't until it actually WAS resolved that I could report anything concrete to my customers. During that time, most every one of them wanted "updates" which resulted in such a volumn of calls and emails that it took anywhere from 8-12 hours a day just to handle all the corrospondence. The circumstances were explained over and over again to the same individuals.

Here's where the problem came to a head and resulted in my posting what I did: Even after repeatedly explaining the problem (very politely, I might add) the same people insisted on calling me over and over again, day after day, week after week. I would tell the same people the same thing a dozen times, and they would just turn around and call me again in a few days or so. By the time we had resolved the supply issues and were back to making holsters, the number of calls and emails had grown to the point in which it became a full time job for both my wife and myself to just answer the phone and respond to emails. We reached the point in which we were lucky to get a half dozen holsters a week out the door (which served to greatly exacerbate the problem further), while we both put in 70+ hour weeks.

After being pressured, coerced and threatened by these same people ( I do not mean a few individuals, either - I'm talking hundreds ) my blood pressure literally hit 180/138, IIRC and I realized that my customers were literally going to kill me if I did not do something fast. As it turns out, it was too little, too late - I ended up hospitalized and did nearly die.

Some folks are real quick to offer suggestions as to what I could have done differently, and maybe some of their advice has merit. However, there are many unique aspects to the holster business that are not found in other industries and very few of these folks have ever made a holster in their lives. All in all, I did the best that I could and quite literally almost died trying.

If you do a little research, you'll find posts where I've literally spent hours on the phone with customers helping them resolve concealment/holster problems and none of them were ever charged a cent. I've answered the phone at 11:00PM and stayed with the guy until well past midnight because that's what it took to help him out. I've worked for 2, sometimes 3 days at a time with no sleep in order to meet a deadline. I've given holsters away for free to people who couldn't afford them, or in one case to a guy who's dog ate it. I average 4 hours a holster (Max-Con V's and Def-Cons) to my competitors' "holster an hour" production rate because that's what it takes to provide the level of performance that my work is known for. I have poured my heart and soul into giving my customers more holster for their money, free time, talent & technical support and the best possible customer service humanly possible (given my workload). I have done my very best. However, I cannot make holsters without leather, nor can I make them while answering the phone and emails. I am just one guy.

So, if all that makes your decision easier, then by all means do what you feel is best for you and I hope that you find something that works well for you. However, it is my personal opinion, based upon personal experience that it always pays to know both sides of a story....

I am now going to lay this topic to rest. I've said all that I can, and have explained the circumstances thoroughly. It will serve no purpose to further rehash this stuff. I am now focusing on regaining my health and working thru my backlog. Once that has been done, this problem will not be repeated - we will only sell completed holsters. Orders are a thing of the past. Thank you all for the opportunity to share my side of things.
I'll be back online occasionally while I've got glue drying or otherwise have a few minutes, but my backlog needs to be resolved and that won't be done while I sit at a computer. I'll be back full time when that has been accomplished. 'Bye for now.