Leaderboard

My two cents... In SMU's case, sounds like the shop is guilty of communication errors. However, now that True is no longer direct to consumer and added a "middle-man" into the process, it's on True to make sure that their authorized fitters know what they are doing and know how to communicate any issues back to True. I feel that this is the part of the process that broke down, and in SMU's case, it's on both the shop and True to rectify the problem. And look...if it turns out it's definitely more one-sided fault, then it's ultimately up to True to take command, since it's their product, not the shop's. So if the shop is just completely incompetent, True should take over for this specific case, and then later, either re-train the shop or "de-authorize" the shop from selling their product. Just because you're an authorized True seller/fitter, doesn't mean you're good at actually fitting & selling the product (like oldtrainerguy28 is). Luckily for me, the LHS I got scanned at, the guy who did the fitting really knew what he was doing, and he was the only employee in that store authorized to do the scan at that time. If you wanted to get True skates at that shop, you had to make an appointment, and only when he was at the store. Even then, at that time, he had only done a handful of scans (sold product), and he even mentioned that there were still kinks in the process, such as bad connectivity issues, etc. Hopefully a year later, those kinks have been smoothed out. Heck, I know of certain authorized True fitters, that have, at this point, only done 1-2 sold scans. Point being, I would highly recommend going to a True fitter you know well/has a great reputation or calling the shop ahead of time and asking how many pairs they've scanned and sold. Just don't assume that if they sell Trues, that all will be perfect.

I don't see how only the shop can be considered in error here. it should NEVER be acceptable to just add padding to the toe of a custom skate to get the length right, and if I was in the business of custom skates, I would NEVER listen to a shop even if they were the ones requesting that. I have the feeling that some people would just defend True no matter what they do, and even after they have accepted responsibility. we get it, CCM and Bauer customs also have issues, but that's not the topic of debate here. In this case, their process and responses have let down the customer, not the other two companies.

Your custom skates were made too big (for arguments sake lets say they are 2 sizes out), they get sent back to be fixed and get returned with the toe box stuffed with a rubber material and the sides compressed inwards to make them narrower. The fit is now ok (putting aside the holder and steel length) but is this an acceptable solution for custom made skates? - Would you, as a customer, accept it or request that the skates were made to the correct size? - Would you as a fitter or shop owner be comfortable selling this to a customer? - Would you as an agent of the skate manufacturer be happy that this product is an accurate representation of the quality and product produced by the company? Lets face it, if this scenario played out in a shop for a retail skate we all know what the customer's response would be : customer: I'm looking for a size 9 skate. LHS: I don't have any in stock but I do have a size 11. Let me pack the toes and squash the sides together so it will fit you........

An old adage comes to mind: Garbage in, garbage out. Here's the issue; irrespective of brand, the factory is relying on accurate scans to make skates properly, as they aren't doing the scans or the fittings themselves. This is the same issue that we had before scans; when we had a handful of skilled fitters who never had any issues with anything they submitted, but would hear the nightmares of those shops and reps who just submitted length and width, max stiffness and a quadruple thickness felt tongue with 2" length, because, you know you need that flop (yes, I know there's no such thing as a quadruple thick felt tongue, but I'm sure someone would've ordered it if it were offered.) Now that it is open to a vast majority of stores and employees, more problems will arise. And I'm not going to get into it about who does it best; I think you can achieve the best results for your customer with enough knowledge and communication with the factory. And I'm sorry, but being able to wave an iPad around or herd someone onto the Bauer scanner does not make you a skilled fitter. You're looking for other things. I would get back to my customer 2 days with the final spec sheet after doing the fitting. Why did I do that? Because you learn from every fitting you've ever done. And I felt that a 2nd look a day later was important, because there may be something that I had overlooked when I did the fitting, and I could draw from the previous fittings I had done to see if there was a different or better solution. In all of the years I had fitted customs, I had only one remake, which was when a customer wanted something I didn't recommend (oversized toecap which he insisted he needed.) And even then, I waived the relasting fee the store was charged. While I think True is trying to rectify the problem, at some point they should've asked the store what happened there. I do feel that stuffing the toe box with foam wasn't the right choice; that holder size isn't going to shrink by itself. Perhaps another scan and traditional measurements would've solved the problem. The fact that the shop didn't question it immediately just screams inexperience.

Yeah one thing that's reassuring me about a purchase is that a couple of my teammates have gone to the exact LHS that I will be going to get fitted/scanned, and have had great results.

He just looks so peaceful, bundled up in his sleeping bag on the couch. Nice, even breathing. Nice, patent airway. *twitch*

I could see where small Cox could be a problem.

For what it’s worth, I always had trouble finding skates that fit. For a while I was in ccm skates that were probably too wide, but good enough. Makos fit me great, and were the most comfortable skate I ever wore. But, all good things come to an end. Empires crumble, Cliff Burton dies, skates breakdown. Since this summer, I’ve been wearing Vapor X800s, and im REALLY happy with them. I think skates today are so much more mailable during baking, people that have had trouble finding skates have more options because making those fine tuning adjustments are easier. Im not saying there’s always an option for everyone, and, as has been noted, nothing really fits like a Mako, but it’s always worth trying on new things. Im kind of annoyed by companies rolling out a new updated skate line every year, but, in some cases there are changes in fit, so a make or model that didn’t work 5 years ago suddenly works now.