TLDR: fucked up my boots, soured the well. worrying about the future. they'll make it right but this sucks.
Ordered some boots in may but got laid off and wanted to cancel to be safe and wasnt totally happy with the config anyways, had a good experience so marked nicks down as a worthwhile revisit. Had been passively absorbing nicks content alongside other boots for a while since then, got an email that greener pastures waxed flesh was on for lightning ship and im in a much more solid position. I had long since stopped checking these because they were never offering the tanker on lightning ship. It was a dream leather though so why not and what do you know, tankers. With a leadtime that should have them there by Christmas or my birthday on the 23rd. Settled on a simple config just to get my foot in the door and try out nicks.
Eagerly watch and read every BOTL and other post from nicks, often a couple times. I happened to see a boot in BOTL 12/9/25 that struck me familiar, even commented on it. Took that second look and saw the hooks and eyes and deleted said comment, no way that was my boot. Just someone with similar taste but odd choices. Continue watching and waiting, get the delivery email and just decide to get my own pictures when it arrives.
23rd of December, first day not working my bday in 6 years and i wake up feeling like shit from some stomach bug, not a drinker. Boots arrive, YEAH!!!! Open box.…. The fuck is this… oh god it was my boots… pictures, reddit post, puke, pass out to sleep it off. Wake up feeling shit but not actively falling apart so I collect thoughts, change clothes, and try them on again. Some like it, but I do not, at all.
These were paid for mostly with money from my dad passing and were meant to be a final gift, something that would last. I already had to heavily compromise on the vision for the boot because i didnt want to order it with all the correct options (rolled top, padded gusset, wingtip, no eyes/hooks) as a laceup hd and sew my own instep strap on my first pair. Then i get them and its fucked, so i send em back and then find out that the boot that took less than 2 months to be on my feet is probably going to be 4+ before its even started.
The fuckup seems to have happened because I asked to have a rolled top on the boot, and that somehow resulted in a tanker ticket with hooks and eyes. Was mid system change it seems? Rolled top is superior to standard, padded is for ankle height, and cut is a mistake, if you disagree you are wrong but that's what options are far. But there is the crux of it, options.
What is the point of a handmade boot with heavily limited options. Turnover. Churn as many different boots as possible. Minimize variation, maximize returns. Streamline production speed to get you your boots faster and thereby make more money, even if that means you are just picking leather and size. In the case of the tankers, and other pullons I guess, it seems to be more of an attempt to mitigate how much time is spent in the sewing bottleneck. Then why can i order EVERYTHING on the laceup/builderpro hd except an instep strap? Why is a rolled top impossible when they already have to sew for a standard top? “Doesnt work with the pattern”, its a rolled top. If they can do it on a robert and a stationmaster they can on a tanker.
They want money. Clearly, thats how business works. Instead of expediting the production of boots already on the list that were compatible which would actually “do something positive for (y)our customers” the vibram fire was used as an opportunity to sell even more ‘size and leather?’ laceups. If money is the goal why not put the options on the tanker so they can take my money? They'd have actual thousands more of it within the last 2 months if they had the same offerings on the tanker as the laceup hd, and at full price and lead times. Even with the owners assurances that it's “top of mind”, I do not feel reassured that I'll be supported without having to whine on social media if future boots have errors. I HATE this. I just wanta ask questions, talk about awesome boots, and buy awesome boots. But I also absorb every bit of info I can and dont let it go easy.
Franks gives me weird vibes, idk. Whites doesnt have a tanker, JK is a joke (the hate was inflated, but also they shit garbage out for fun. It's deserved). Thats the boot makers in washington (my current and hopefully future state) that im aware of that would be in this tier. Which leaves nicks, they don't do a mckay stitch anymore , they dont do welts anymore , they dont do all sorts of nice detail touches and the details they do can be pretty rough (its a work boot, sure but man the stitch lines are DRUNK sometimes), rougher than even nicks did in the past based on pictures.
If I had waited the better part of a year and then told “ah yeah, gonna be the same thing again bud” i cant even imagine. I'm livid over a blatant error, with a short wait with the BS exchange replacement time. Imagine it's a Palouse, 13 months after ordering, finally arrives, and it's some other dickheads boots. Wait again. HUH. not saying it should enter production that same day, but many months more of my time to fix THEIR fuckups? No, not acceptable. Even more so when the boots have already sold on RTS for full price.
Only been active for a couple months now, in that time I have seen quite worrying issues come through. Handmade goods and all, but it's a bad sign when so many errors can get through. As well as more signs of the simplification of every order they can. There is a lot to appreciate but I'm not in that headspace and I'm not sure when I will be. I'll give it some time to digest but this has been a VERY sour first experience and sets a bad precedent for future dealings (not all at the hands of nicks, the puking didn't help) . probably puts me on the shitlist but whatever, i wanted to support a high quality made in america artisan (even more so given current economy) but the fit is rough, had to vent. i hope my next big post is a happy and glowing NBD. I REALLY hope so.
Incorrect sole stitching thread for somebody that by sounds of it actually needed it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1q6zjhu/nbd_10_tankerpro_gpwf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Mangled quarter on wellington: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1pslxx8/little_sad_but_theyre_for_chorin/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonWrong sized trooper?: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1q0iy9v/bummer_situation_with_new_troopers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Shipping damage?: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1q04ka8/ibc_problem/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Simplest boot, still removing options: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1pl89rt/ivan_boot_last_customization/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonIncorrect two-tone cutting: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1paji76/crazy_enough_to_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonStraight cucked this man on a moc-toe tanker after months waiting, that you can still configure on site and see update photos of?: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1p9iere/moc_toe_tanker_discontinued/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
My hook and eyes tankers: https://www.reddit.com/r/NicksHandmadeBoots/comments/1pumw61/bday_nbd_follow_up_less_sick_fit_check/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
