So I’m sat here penning the fourth of my weekly blogs, and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m doing so at the end of another very busy week.
One of the highlights of the week for me was meeting Jon Anderson of Keepers Goalkeeping Coaching (KGC). We’ve just completed a really enjoyable project with KGC, producing kit for resale to their keepers including long and short-sleeved shirts, shorts, trousers, socks, sweatshirts, rainjackets, beanies and glove bags. Although much of the business is dealt with by email and over the phone, I always try to meet our partners in person wherever geography and timing allows. I was really impressed with Jon’s genuine passion for goalkeeping and it’s clear that when it comes to coaching he really knows his stuff. If you’re in the Derbyshire or South Yorkshire area and looking for a coach, or even just thinking about looking for a coach, I’d recommend dropping Jon a line – his contact details are on KGC’s website.
Like Jon, the vast majority of the people involved in the professional goalkeeping community, both those connected with brands and those with clubs and coaching schools, have been a pleasure to get to know and do business with. Unfortunately however, as in every community there are exceptions. Whist the significant majority of my experiences with GKHero have been nothing but positive, there have been a few disappointing events, none more so than being let down massively by a brand that many of those reading this will know well. We were approached by this brand last season and they asked whether we would stock their gloves. After a very positive conversation with the brand’s figurehead we reached an agreement and a few days later we received invoices for the stock I had agreed to purchase and these invoices were paid immediately. The guy confirmed they’d received the payment, but in the coming fortnight provided excuse after excuse for the stock not being delivered to us; everything from him being on holiday to being ill. Out of the blue I then received an email informing me that he’d changed his mind and we wouldn’t be receiving the stock. This, as you can imagine was frustrating, we’d put in a lot of time in working on promotional images and updating our website in anticipation of the stock arriving. Still, I’d been assured that the payment would be refunded, so whilst I was disappointed, we’d not lost anything other than some time. Days and then weeks passed without a refund being received, and after an occasional response to our chase-ups, they simply stopped replying. Although payment we’d made wasn’t likely to bankrupt us, I’m talking hundreds of pounds rather than thousands, I wasn’t prepared to simply write-off the payment as a gift to a brand and to a person who by now, as you might expect, won’t be top of my Christmas card list.
To cut a really long story slightly short, I took legal action against the guy and, true to form, he failed to respond to correspondence from me or from the Court. In the absence of any attempt to defend his position, the Court ordered him to pay me the amount I had paid for the goods, plus my costs. Unfortunately, for me at least, he’s also tried to ignore the Court Order. I’ve now applied for a Warrant from his local Court to enforce the previous Order and it seems that this should be more difficult for him to ignore, but I’m confident he’ll give it his best shot!
I genuinely don’t know what has happened or is happening to this brand, they’re still supplying gloves to quite a few relatively high-profile pros outside the Premiership, yet the stories of non-delivery, non-response to emails and exceptionally poor customer service are rife. What’s more, the brand’s limited company was dissolved by Companies House in the summer.
The lesson here? If you have reason to hesitate about buying from a company there’s probably good reason. There’s so many accounts of customers’ nightmare experiences with this brand available to read on the web it’s unreal – and I was warned about the reliability of the brand by people I trust. Unfortunately, against my better judgement, I believed what the guy told me and got sucked in by all the hype surrounding this brand and I paid the price. What might be the most unfortunate part about all of this – I suspect I’m just one of many.
Anyway, turning to something a bit more positive, our best-sellers this week have, perhaps unsurprisingly, been HPG’s 2011 models. I say unsurprisingly because, despite being the glove of choice for many professional keepers the world over, they’re less than a tenner. They’re selling very fast though and stock is now only available in sizes 7 and 8, and size 9 only in a couple of models.
On a personal note, I’ve had a great four days up in Lancashire with Mrs Brain and our two boys. I already know I’ve got dozens of emails to catch-up with, which I’ll try my best to do tomorrow. If you’re expecting an email from me don’t be surprised if something lands in your inbox late tomorrow night as I’m expecting it to be a very long Monday!
As always please feel free to direct any questions, suggestions or moans to me using any of the many channels available.
Chris
GKHero 