Coaches Leotard Production Time

[chalkbowl]

We ordered our competition leotards the last week of August from Dreamlight whom we have used in the past and LOVE! However, our estimated delivery date is for December 19th, a 15 week turnaround. I just inquired about ordering one additional leotard as we have a new athlete on our team, and the estimated delivery date for that letoard is the end of January...an 18 week turnaround!

How are the other leotard companies doing this year? I feel like soon I will be ordering our competition leotards a full year in advance!

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Chalkbowl; That is a L O N G turnaround. We ordered in early June and received in mid-August. We must have received preferential treatment. (This is sarcasm so noted by the small face. We are a smaller team and struggle to get leo manufacturers attention to our needs.)

Growing pains of a smaller business growing bigger. Dreamlight supplied our leos and warm-ups this year. The billing / call center changed to Texas and the manufacturing moved. It took a lot more phone time to place and confirm sizing leos, return and then the order placement of the items. More effort for our gym this year. (Applause for th individual who did the heavy grunting.) The business is growing and I suspect growing pains bring our consumer challenges. This year we have had some errors which did not happen with our last big order. Dreamlight took care of them - but time is essential.

Like you I do like the outcome - the gymnasts look stunning, clean and classy.

Best, Eric -

 

[titanic]

We just got new leotards from Alpha Factor and they were great. Ordered last week of July and got them first week of September - a six week turnaround and we were pleased since they were a large custom order.

 

[Gymsanity]

Sorry, but I find that sort of business model unacceptable, no matter how good the leo! Years ago I coached the child of a mother who started one of the more successful leo manufacturers. She started with one sewing machine in her gaming room. Business took off so rapidly that she soon rented a small warehouse space and bought 4-6 sewing machines and hired a couple of gals to help. Business kept growing, so she hired more people to run her machines 24/7. Being a mother, she understood/felt that no one should have to wait that long for their order. Her commitment to great leos, at a great price, with a fast turnaround lead her to be very successful.

 

[Sari]

Wow, that's a long time to wait for your leotards!

We ordered 20-25 leotards this year (not sure how many exactly, this was back in May/June) and had a turnaround of about eight weeks. And I was already getting antsy!

 

[raenndrops]

When we had GK, we would order the first week of August and were LUCKY if they arrived by the 2nd meet of the season (in NOVEMBER). We switched to AF last season and we were able to get the entire team order (47 leotards, bags, and warm ups PLUS 4 Coaches warm ups) in 8 weeks.

 

[Jasmynn]

Gk is horrible, customer service is non existent.

 

[chalkbowl]

I've heard of issues with GK in the past, that's why I was wondering how other companies were measuring up this year. Our athletes compete December-June with move-ups officially done in August. I ordered the leotards the MOMENT our last parent conference was finished and we knew what level all our athletes were going to be (and who are newbie level 3s would be). So we can't order from ANY company any earlier then we did...so it looks like we may have to change manufactures in the future

 

[Deleted member 14190]

We ordered our leotards from dream light in the same time frame and NEVER got them!! That's right! Supposed to get them in late December, fast forward to mid January, "u should have them in 2 weeks". Feb 1st, Sorry an error was made during production, they put no liner in the sleeves but had it in the body, after we clearly had it on our order (lots of mesh on the body and sleeves so the coloring would of been very different, and the fit was so tight that wearing anything under was not possible. I suspect because it was a new Leo that they actually messed up on the sizing as well. So all this time they knew they screwed up but were just delaying the news while they figured out what to do, which was nothing. Mid feb, full refund demanded by me issued. Conclusion, we did not have a competition Leo... The girls bought matching shelf Leo's threw a little bling on them and used them for the season. ....NEVER again.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Yikes Coachp that is a story that I will pass along to the "uniform specialist" at our gym. I do recall 2 years ago that our first foray into Dreamlight was marred with delivered leos fitting different than sizing leos. We wisely took pics and measurements of sizing leos and comparative pics and measurements of delivered leos. It helped to make the resolution decision easier for Dreamlight.

Chalkbowl; It sounds like in the abscense of Dreamlight giving you a guarantee that a new vendor is needed.

While I enjoy the fancy Dreamlight leos for our Optionals they do not wear as well as I expected. Liner, mesh, bling - excellent looking - just not as durable as I was sold. The L3-5 leos, new this year, are not as nice a fabric as expected. We are not entirely pleased with the fabric on leo. Additionly, our "uniform specialist" opted for a Yoga pant bottom and we have had numerous issues with them. I have no idea what is the prompting for the yoga style. Fashion/personal likes/demand....I have no idea. The tops, w/extra material folded down, has the pants slipping down during warm-ups and even walking. They were purchased /sized correctly for each athlete - as per fit instructions. Without options from Dreamlight, 2 client seamstresses have been loosening the pants yoga bands and sewing in elastic and then seaming them up. It solves the problem - but what a headache. Chalkbowl, you know all to well that on top of doing the difficult athletics, the uniform challenges are just a topper that sends a coaches frustration meter to the top. The uniform jacket is clever, cute, but too many just misses (not durable fabric), a couple of seam misses on sleeve cuffs, and a font change that makes the branded gym name not as prominent, and colors that turned ut not as vibrant as expected. Great jacket -but not what we expected. First couple of meets our L3-5's attended this Fall the uniforms looked sharp - but not a "home run." It easily could have been a "home run." As an aside, wow in our area lots of black based leos this year - lots!

It will be interesting to have the conversation with a Dreamlight company rep at the next Congress about quality and servicing our needs. I listen to the explanations given by the rep and our "uniform specialist" and I just get frustrated.

FYI: We took delivery of undergarments and as sundries from Dreamlight this morning and the 80+ items are being inspected and coded into our computer. Hmmm....I will wait to here about any concerns.

For those who are reading, all vendors have challenges in servicing gymnastics clubs. The best of them, struggle with our collective demanding styles/choices/timing. I choose to communicate the hits and misses.

Best, SBG -

 

[Deleted member 14190]

To top it off they offered us nothing, zero, just a refund and bye bye. The sales person totally made up excuses and actually attempted to blame us until we provided them with a copy is the invoice. The customer service was zilch. And we have 80 kids on team! One would think that they would at the very least offer a rush job on some temporary Leo or a discount. NOTHING , even after I asked....

 

[Grant W.]

Good to know. Being in the MAG world leos werent such a huge priority to me. With me opening up a gym in approx 2 1/2 years, I will have to focus on Mens and Womens leos. Which company that you have delt with has good customer service and a decent turnaround time? Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Gymnastisism]

To top it off they offered us nothing, zero, just a refund and bye bye. The sales person totally made up excuses and actually attempted to blame us until we provided them with a copy is the invoice. The customer service was zilch. And we have 80 kids on team! One would think that they would at the very least offer a rush job on some temporary Leo or a discount. NOTHING , even after I asked....

Wow! That's really bad! I would have thought they'd make up some plain coloured tank leos to kit everyone out.
I guess the thing with leotard companies is that they don't have very much competition, they don't really have to keep people happy to keep coming back, because there's not a whole lot of other companies to choose from.

 

[catou]

We ordered our leos from GK this year. Girls could try sizes until mid-august. We are supposed to receive them the third week of november. I hope they will be ok because we have our first competition 10 days later and the girls can't put their old leos because their old gym don't exist anymore. (The gyms in our area fused) We have about 120 kids in regional and provincial categories, and many more kids needing sleeveless competition leos for smaller competitions. So we keep our fingers crossed.