Held Gloves - nice gloves, but I've had it with service

[Computerbob]

Over 2 months ago, I shipped my kangaroo leather gloves to Held USA to fix a ripped stitch in one of the fingers. I had emailed them a picture and Tommy told me to ship them to him and he'd take care of it for me. I thought, "Wow, what great service! I like these people."

 

Now, it's been over 2 months and Tommy hasn't replied to a single email. I called the office and the lady said he was at some company-wide training thing in Germany (or something, she didn't really want to give me the details). Then I ran into him at the AIM expo in Orlando and since there were lots of people around, I didn't read him the riot act that I wanted to. I did, in no uncertain terms, let him know that I wanted my f'ing gloves back!

 

It's now been 3+ weeks since that expo and I still haven't heard one word from Tommy.

 

I love the gloves, but I'm pretty much convinced I'll never buy another Held glove in my lifetime.

 

Good Job, Tommy.

 

2" of stitching... or simply hitting reply on an email. That's all it would have taken to keep a customer. Ignore me and lose me. Or, if he'd have told me from the outset that it was going to take this long, I'd have been prepared for it. It's all about communication with the customer.

[Glenn Reed]

It's all about communication with the customer.

 

Hammer meets nail.

[Guest Kakugo]

Same here: Held is definitely a company I won't do business with again any time soon.

 

Communications with customers are routinely ignored and they seem to have some serious issues grasping the concept of "warranty" or even "remotely acceptable customer service".

[Bud]

Over 2 months ago, I shipped my kangaroo leather gloves to Held USA to fix a ripped stitch in one of the fingers. I had emailed them a picture and Tommy told me to ship them to him and he'd take care of it for me. I thought, "Wow, what great service! I like these people."

 

Now, it's been over 2 months and Tommy hasn't replied to a single email. I called the office and the lady said he was at some company-wide training thing in Germany (or something, she didn't really want to give me the details). Then I ran into him at the AIM expo in Orlando and since there were lots of people around, I didn't read him the riot act that I wanted to. I did, in no uncertain terms, let him know that I wanted my f'ing gloves back!

 

It's now been 3+ weeks since that expo and I still haven't heard one word from Tommy.

 

I love the gloves, but I'm pretty much convinced I'll never buy another Held glove in my lifetime.

 

Good Job, Tommy.

 

2" of stitching... or simply hitting reply on an email. That's all it would have taken to keep a customer. Ignore me and lose me. Or, if he'd have told me from the outset that it was going to take this long, I'd have been prepared for it. It's all about communication with the customer.

 

The folks on this forum are some of the most patient people I know. With an explanation, we will give a business and inordinate amount of slack when it comes to service.

 

Based on your experience, I would not consider doing business with them.

 

It reminds me of the recent seat thread. Terrible customer service, complete stonewalling of the customer, which some excused with it being a "part time" business.

 

 

[Ewell D.]

I had the opposite experience this summer. I bought a pair of summer vented gloves and the right hand glove was clearly smaller than the left. I tried wearing them hoping to stretch them but it didn't help. I returned to the dealer who agreed there was a sizing difference between the gloves. He said he would return them for a replacement pair as he did not have the size in stock. Within two weeks he called to say my new gloves were in.

 

Maybe he received better service being a shop, I don't know, but it left me feeling that I'd not hesitate to purchase another Held product.

[Bud]

And therein lies the problem.

 

One customer gets taken care of and another is ignored after repeated contacts.

 

Any way you look at it it's not good for business.

[Rinkydink]

And here I have just taken delivery of two pair of Helds. Yikes, I hope I don't have any problems.

[Bernie]

Rob, a local friend of mine had a similar problem with Held, but eventually they send him a new style replacement gloves. I know it also took a long time and he could not get them to call back or e-mail, almost like they don't like talking to there customers.

I sure hope they will come through for you Bob.

[Dashbaw]

I had planned to pick up Held gloves for my wife and myself next week, as we are heading south. Glad I stumbled across this thread. I am not interested in dealing with a company that does not stand behind their products.

 

DA

[Guest Kakugo]

I had planned to pick up Held gloves for my wife and myself next week, as we are heading south. Glad I stumbled across this thread. I am not interested in dealing with a company that does not stand behind their products.

 

DA

 

Then I can only recommend Spidi to you. Exactly the opposite of Held.

I had a pair of gloves which, after a week or so of use, became very uncomfortable to wear. No idea what happened. Spidi immediately changed them for another pair, no questions asked. I think it took all of three days for the swap.

[tallman]

I had planned to pick up Held gloves for my wife and myself next week, as we are heading south. Glad I stumbled across this thread. I am not interested in dealing with a company that does not stand behind their products.

 

DA

 

Have 2 pairs.

Over 150,000 miles with them (one Steve one Rain).

No problems.

If your concern is quality, my experience has been great.

But it is a pain when you can't get treated properly.

[eej1]

I have bought Held gloves, and a bunch of other stuff, from Revzilla. Favorite glove is the Steve Classic, the fit of the long finger option is great for me. Had to return some other Helds, Alpinestars and others (boots too) and never a problem. Communication and service from Revzilla was always good, and they took the manufacturer out of the equation.

[Computerbob]

UPDATE: Apparently my latest email to Tommy did the trick. I got 2 emails this morning. The first was an apology stating that he'd fixed the gloves and shipped them back to me. He made excuses about being busy, etc, but that doesn't make up for simply not hitting reply on an email for the past 10 weeks.

 

The second was titled "Held Gloves - Invoice for repair" with a PDF attachment and I almost fell out of my chair when I saw it come through. WHAT?!? After all this he's going to charge me for the repair!?! Then I opened it and saw a $0 charge and a $0 balance.

 

Still doubt I'll ever buy their product again, though.

[Computerbob]

I have bought Held gloves, and a bunch of other stuff, from Revzilla. Favorite glove is the Steve Classic, the fit of the long finger option is great for me. Had to return some other Helds, Alpinestars and others (boots too) and never a problem. Communication and service from Revzilla was always good, and they took the manufacturer out of the equation.

 

Revzilla isn't always the cheapest, but I LOVE the product reviews that Anthony does and they have just about the best customer service I've found anywhere. I even emailed them asking technical details about some tires I wanted to buy and they spent quite a bit of time writing up a reply detailing the differences between the two sets. Not just a copy/paste of what was on the website. Very good people. I'm the kind of person that doesn't mind spending an extra couple of bucks to get that kind of service.

[Bud]

UPDATE: Apparently my latest email to Tommy did the trick. I got 2 emails this morning. The first was an apology stating that he'd fixed the gloves and shipped them back to me. He made excuses about being busy, etc, but that doesn't make up for simply not hitting reply on an email for the past 10 weeks.

 

The second was titled "Held Gloves - Invoice for repair" with a PDF attachment and I almost fell out of my chair when I saw it come through. WHAT?!? After all this he's going to charge me for the repair!?! Then I opened it and saw a $0 charge and a $0 balance.

 

Still doubt I'll ever buy their product again, though.

 

Glad that after 10 weeks you heard from them and your gloves are on the way back to you.

[SinNH]

Good topic.

A week or so ago I checked out the Held site to buy a replacement for my worn out summer gloves.

With so many sizes "Out of Stock" I had a gut feeling that they were going under--- guessing that other companies with lower prices are cutting into their market share.

 

[Selden]

There are Held Gloves and there are "Held" gloves. Many of their newer products are made in Pakistan — in fact, I'm not sure if any are still made in Germany. I have a pair of Held summer airflow gloves, and while they are holding up well, and are very cool, a seam on one finger started to unravel soon after purchase. It was minor, so I decided to re-stitch it myself, but it wasn't reassuring.

[na1g]

"Tommy" must be very busy guy! Is he running the office and working in production, too? Doesn't matter - that kind of customer disservice won't keep customers. There is too much competition out there and while Held's products are generally (but not always) regarded as good quality and well-designed, service-after-sale is important, too.

 

FWIW, the summer gloves I got three years ago have stood up well, although the quality is nothing to get excited about. I've got some Olympia gloves a lot old than that and they are well-made and designed for a fraction of Held's prices.

 

pete

The last time I reached for the stars, I pulled a muscle.

[EffBee]

Working most of my life in the motorcycle industry, I know a lot of the people “behind the scenes” at many companies. So I try to not get involved in these discussions, because sometimes they involve people I know are busting their tails to work with customers, dealers, distributors, factory shortages, etc. And they end up taking the heat for all of it. And yes, they did ask for it by getting into the business.

 

I’ve known Tommy Kincaid of HeldUSA for years, and I can tell you that he’s a flawed individual. For that matter, so am I. We’ve spoken at length during industry events such as the Indy Motorcycle Dealer Expo, and he’s deeply committed to growing the HELD brand and is proud to represent them. At the same time, in this economy I’ll bet he’s also short on help and yes, I would also bet he repaired the gloves himself when he finally got back into the office from his other duties. You do that when you’re wearing eight hats and importing a line from Germans who think their products are worth gold, and selling them to a market that wants gold for the price of pewter. As BMW riders, we know a thing or two about that last sentence, don’t we.

 

I think Tommy made two mistakes. And I believe he’d admit them in a heartbeat. The first is failure to reply promptly. The second is not finding a way, some way, any way, to not let the situation drag out for 10 weeks. Maybe he could have called the office while eating an airport sandwich between flights, or called an employee at home after a day on the road making dealer calls. I’m not making excuses because there are NO excuses. But I’m sure there were reasons. There are ALWAYS two sides to every story. Even if the guy on one side is wrong or has made a mistake.

 

If one, or two, or three of you have had a bad experience with a company, and the rest of you want to swear off that company, then what are you doing riding what you’re riding? Or riding anything for that matter? Because I guarantee you I can find three people who’ve gotten lousy CS from Honda, Yamaha or anyone else out there. Including every glove manufacturer you can name.

 

Computer Bob was absolutely right to be upset and to bring this situation to our attention. And as the recipient of the poor CS, I understand why he's angry and back his decision 100%. But unless such things are totally endemic to a company, and until I hear both sides, I usually take such situations as skewed but possibly valid, and definitely with a grain of salt.

 

I own a pair of Held gloves. They’re the Street Fighters and they’re 12 years old. They’ve come unsewn three times, and I’ve had to have them repaired locally. But the leather is still in great shape and they are my favorite pair of gloves. Held owes me nothing. I got what I paid for and then some. When I don’t (not when someone else does), then I personally will decide what to do about it. But that’s just me. I guess we all differ. As we say, YMMV.

 

[StuGotz]

Try these, the are a real glove. Held have their issues, and the protection is not as good as you should have. These are backed up by the man you buy them from. I've had a few pairs over the years and NO issues. Buffalo Pro they are called. Pricey? Not really, when you have them for 3 times as long as Held...and you won't need customer service and all the excuses that go with....

 

https://shop.helimot.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=25

 

MB>

[Bud]

Working most of my life in the motorcycle industry, I know a lot of the people “behind the scenes” at many companies. So I try to not get involved in these discussions, because sometimes they involve people I know are busting their tails to work with customers, dealers, distributors, factory shortages, etc. And they end up taking the heat for all of it. And yes, they did ask for it by getting into the business.

 

I’ve known Tommy Kincaid of HeldUSA for years, and I can tell you that he’s a flawed individual. For that matter, so am I. We’ve spoken at length during industry events such as the Indy Motorcycle Dealer Expo, and he’s deeply committed to growing the HELD brand and is proud to represent them. At the same time, in this economy I’ll bet he’s also short on help and yes, I would also bet he repaired the gloves himself when he finally got back into the office from his other duties. You do that when you’re wearing eight hats and importing a line from Germans who think their products are worth gold, and selling them to a market that wants gold for the price of pewter. As BMW riders, we know a thing or two about that last sentence, don’t we.

 

I think Tommy made two mistakes. And I believe he’d admit them in a heartbeat. The first is failure to reply promptly. The second is not finding a way, some way, any way, to not let the situation drag out for 10 weeks. Maybe he could have called the office while eating an airport sandwich between flights, or called an employee at home after a day on the road making dealer calls. I’m not making excuses because there are NO excuses. But I’m sure there were reasons. There are ALWAYS two sides to every story. Even if the guy on one side is wrong or has made a mistake.

 

If one, or two, or three of you have had a bad experience with a company, and the rest of you want to swear off that company, then what are you doing riding what you’re riding? Or riding anything for that matter? Because I guarantee you I can find three people who’ve gotten lousy CS from Honda, Yamaha or anyone else out there. Including every glove manufacturer you can name.

 

Computer Bob was absolutely right to be upset and to bring this situation to our attention. And as the recipient of the poor CS, I understand why he's angry and back his decision 100%. But unless such things are totally endemic to a company, and until I hear both sides, I usually take such situations as skewed but possibly valid, and definitely with a grain of salt.

 

I own a pair of Held gloves. They’re the Street Fighters and they’re 12 years old. They’ve come unsewn three times, and I’ve had to have them repaired locally. But the leather is still in great shape and they are my favorite pair of gloves. Held owes me nothing. I got what I paid for and then some. When I don’t (not when someone else does), then I personally will decide what to do about it. But that’s just me. I guess we all differ. As we say, YMMV.

 

Well written response and there are always two sides to every story.

 

I would only say that in today's marketplace, customers expect a prompt reply, even if it is "it will take 10 weeks to fix it". Most customers can deal with the truth, even when it is not what we want to hear. But to stonewall is unacceptable. Regardless of the reason. I wouldn't refuse to buy because there was a product defect. All products will have some failures. But you have to be a stand up guy and deal with it.

 

With comparable products on the market place, I would choose to buy from a vendor that has a reputation for great customer service.

 

YMMV

 

 

[EffBee]

Working most of my life in the motorcycle industry, I know a lot of the people “behind the scenes” at many companies. So I try to not get involved in these discussions, because sometimes they involve people I know are busting their tails to work with customers, dealers, distributors, factory shortages, etc. And they end up taking the heat for all of it. And yes, they did ask for it by getting into the business.

 

I’ve known Tommy Kincaid of HeldUSA for years, and I can tell you that he’s a flawed individual. For that matter, so am I. We’ve spoken at length during industry events such as the Indy Motorcycle Dealer Expo, and he’s deeply committed to growing the HELD brand and is proud to represent them. At the same time, in this economy I’ll bet he’s also short on help and yes, I would also bet he repaired the gloves himself when he finally got back into the office from his other duties. You do that when you’re wearing eight hats and importing a line from Germans who think their products are worth gold, and selling them to a market that wants gold for the price of pewter. As BMW riders, we know a thing or two about that last sentence, don’t we.

 

I think Tommy made two mistakes. And I believe he’d admit them in a heartbeat. The first is failure to reply promptly. The second is not finding a way, some way, any way, to not let the situation drag out for 10 weeks. Maybe he could have called the office while eating an airport sandwich between flights, or called an employee at home after a day on the road making dealer calls. I’m not making excuses because there are NO excuses. But I’m sure there were reasons. There are ALWAYS two sides to every story. Even if the guy on one side is wrong or has made a mistake.

 

If one, or two, or three of you have had a bad experience with a company, and the rest of you want to swear off that company, then what are you doing riding what you’re riding? Or riding anything for that matter? Because I guarantee you I can find three people who’ve gotten lousy CS from Honda, Yamaha or anyone else out there. Including every glove manufacturer you can name.

 

Computer Bob was absolutely right to be upset and to bring this situation to our attention. And as the recipient of the poor CS, I understand why he's angry and back his decision 100%. But unless such things are totally endemic to a company, and until I hear both sides, I usually take such situations as skewed but possibly valid, and definitely with a grain of salt.

 

I own a pair of Held gloves. They’re the Street Fighters and they’re 12 years old. They’ve come unsewn three times, and I’ve had to have them repaired locally. But the leather is still in great shape and they are my favorite pair of gloves. Held owes me nothing. I got what I paid for and then some. When I don’t (not when someone else does), then I personally will decide what to do about it. But that’s just me. I guess we all differ. As we say, YMMV.

 

Well written response and there are always two sides to every story.

 

I would only say that in today's marketplace, customers expect a prompt reply, even if it is "it will take 10 weeks to fix it". Most customers can deal with the truth, even when it is not what we want to hear. But to stonewall is unacceptable. Regardless of the reason. I wouldn't refuse to buy because there was a product defect. All products will have some failures. But you have to be a stand up guy and deal with it.

 

With comparable products on the market place, I would choose to buy from a vendor that has a reputation for great customer service.

 

YMMV

 

 

Thanks, Bud. I agree completely. And if you look, all vendors have complaints.

 

Everyone is free to make decisions based on their own set of criteria. My point was that I, personally, would not be deterred by a couple of complaints on a motorcycle board. Complaints such as we've witnessed have value. But statistically I would not base my entire decision on such a limited population.

[Marty Hill]

Bought a pair of Held's last week...warm and dry. 300 miles so far and stitches seem to be holding up.

[RPG]

Over 2 months ago, I shipped my kangaroo leather gloves to Held USA to fix a ripped stitch in one of the fingers. I had emailed them a picture and Tommy told me to ship them to him and he'd take care of it for me. I thought, "Wow, what great service! I like these people."

 

Now, it's been over 2 months and Tommy hasn't replied to a single email. I called the office and the lady said he was at some company-wide training thing in Germany (or something, she didn't really want to give me the details). Then I ran into him at the AIM expo in Orlando and since there were lots of people around, I didn't read him the riot act that I wanted to. I did, in no uncertain terms, let him know that I wanted my f'ing gloves back!

 

It's now been 3+ weeks since that expo and I still haven't heard one word from Tommy.

 

I love the gloves, but I'm pretty much convinced I'll never buy another Held glove in my lifetime.

 

Good Job, Tommy.

 

2" of stitching... or simply hitting reply on an email. That's all it would have taken to keep a customer. Ignore me and lose me. Or, if he'd have told me from the outset that it was going to take this long, I'd have been prepared for it. It's all about communication with the customer.

 

the great thing about Capitalism is that YOU are the boss and can choose other merchants. How unfortunate because my Held gloves are fantastic, but I will look elsewhere for my next set based on several bad experiences I've read, similar to yours.

[Bud]

Bought a pair of Held's last week...warm and dry. 300 miles so far and stitches seem to be holding up.

 

[Chris K]

Just saw this today.

 

Motorcycle Media,

 

With much regret, I must inform you, Held North America Inc. will be closing its business on December 20th 2013.

 

Held Biker Fashion GmbH of Germany, should have new representation established for the USA very soon.

 

We have enjoyed working with you during the past 9 years.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tommy Kincaid

Held North America Inc.

[Bud]

Will be interesting to see who picks them up in the US.

 

Hopefully someone who will give good support to users.

[TEWKS]

I guess you'd call this.......In before the lock!

 

 

Pat

[Rinkydink]

Just saw this today.

 

Motorcycle Media,

 

With much regret, I must inform you, Held North America Inc. will be closing its business on December 20th 2013.

 

Held Biker Fashion GmbH of Germany, should have new representation established for the USA very soon.

 

We have enjoyed working with you during the past 9 years.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tommy Kincaid

Held North America Inc.

 

Sorry to hear this.

[JerryMather]

It's to bad that they are closing but there's another outfit that makes an outstanding line of gloves & is nearby in Morgan Hill to take up the slack, Racer Gloves USA.

[Computerbob]

I, too, am sorry to hear that they are closing and that people are losing their jobs in these hard times. However, I can't help but think that they would still be open if they'd simply done them better. Sure, my experience is probably only 1 of hundreds of thousands and I shouldn't judge an entire organization on my interaction with one person, but what I saw was a systemic issue. Not a single occurrence, but a routine of simply ignoring the customer until it's convenient. As I said in my emails to them and when I started this thread, "It's all about communication with the customer." I never wished them to close the doors. I only wanted them to open their eyes and start caring.

 

LOTS of companies could use that advice.

[racer7]

The story reminds of the issues Gerbings went through during the move/reorganization. Hopefully the brand will be back with adequate support but I sure don't envy the guys trying to sell it- there are a lot of OK gloves being sold at pretty low prices and Held has tried to play both ends by getting sutff made in Asia- which only confuses their customers about what their market proposition really is. In general, if you prime product is intended to be top shelf, it is unwise to play at mixing unless the lower price item is clearly distinguished which Held never did.

 

I use a couple pair of Steves and the WarmNSafe as well as some BMW gloves like the Pro Summer and Winter gloves. Never has a problem with any and some have a lot of miles on them (Steves) while some like the BMW Winter only get low miles because they're not needed too often where I live.

[UberXY]

Every business on earth has an unhappy customer somewhere. Even hookers.

[ncsonderman]

Just saw this today.

 

Motorcycle Media,

 

With much regret, I must inform you, Held North America Inc. will be closing its business on December 20th 2013.

 

Held Biker Fashion GmbH of Germany, should have new representation established for the USA very soon.

 

We have enjoyed working with you during the past 9 years.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tommy Kincaid

Held North America Inc.

 

I'm disappointed to read this as my Steve's are about ready to be replaced with another pair! I've enjoyed these through almost all weather and they have been the best gloves I've owned. 50+ K and still counting.

[rgmanley]

check out revzilla.com. Looks like they may be carrying the Held line.

[longjohn]

Looks like Schuberth is taking over starting in June:

 

http://www.schuberthnorthamerica.com/company/held-usa/

[racer7]

Schuberth is just adding another step in the chain. Some of Schuberth's (helmet) larger mail order dealers already don't carry adequate inventory of things like simple spares (or carry them at all) so I hope they do a better job at making sure those folks carry adequate inventory for Held stuff.

I'd have preferred a dedicated business so it got full attention but perhaps economics wouldn't support it.

OTOH, Schuberth is very good at dealing with service issues with their stuff so there may be an upside.

[Penforhire]

I've had poor luck with Held gloves. I love the design philosophy, material choices, and how they appear to be constructed. But both my Profi and Sprint model gloves required warranty repair (very slow through Held USA) and neither pair lasted very long.

 

After less than two years (lots of riding)they started to fail in ways the factory would not repair, where the material got too weak to hold stitching together. I would say I am rough on gloves but I've had other brands over the years last me much longer, including the Lee Parks deer/elk model I mostly use now.

[Rick1130]

I am also done with Held. Several years back I bought a pair of "Carbon" gloves and some of the stitching started to come undone within a year. I took them back to the dealer who sent them back for me and I get a reply from the shop that Held told them, Sorry, but they are discontinued, but we will sell you a pair of Steve's for a discount. Like an idiot I did, and those had the leather in the palm of my throttle hand crack and rip within a year or so, and I only used the gloves occasionally as I had other pairs I liked better. I had the shop send them back even though they were over a year old, but other than the rip, the rest of the gloves looked almost new. Well, they said no dice, won't do anything and do I want the gloves back? I told them where to put their gloves!

 

Rick G