Check out Freefall Suits

[Chris_K 0]

Ill address all of the above in this post:

There is a few days delay once a suit is made so we can verify the measurements and do the quality control. Once in a while we find things that need to be adjusted, taking a few extras days before suits are sent out.

When I tell people delivery times (Such as the three weeks) its what I think is possible. Sometimes other stuff comes up that delays. Its a balance, if I said it was 6 weeks to hedge against a bunch of issues then you'd be upset at the 6 weeks. So I try to be accurate and sometimes I have been off by a few days.

Will - your suit was shipped and the tracking number was sent to your email.

wolfriverjoe - your friend and I spoke and he knows of the additional delay as I have to tweek a few of the options. He and I speak, he is happy and sends me positive vibes, then you post negative in this forum on his behalf? Yes there has been issues and I openly accept responsibility as its my job to control everything. Therefore every delay IS my fault. I have my life invested in making this work.

Greyburn - you received the receipt for the refund of your pants. Why it is taking so long for your credit card to process it I have no idea. As I mentioned in the emails I have spent lots of time following up, tracked the refund all the way your bank but couldn't track any further because they wouldn't disclose any of your banking to me. You said you'd get your credit card reversed and I thanked you for that as I've sent a cheque, spent hours setting up to be able to issue electronic refunds and then sent the refund to you. All I want is for you to get our money back. Yes you had to send me messages to get the process started and I apologize for the communication issues. I am working 120+hr (literally)weeks to resolve this and the production delays.

Deyan - you misunderstood. What he was saying is our margins are small. We use the money from your purchase towards your suit, there is just very little money left over after that equation. If a suit needs to be re-built that comes out of the mountain of materials that I bought as part of the expansion. I am an avid skydiver and will not be dis-appearing from the sport ever.

will glynn - the stock suits in the link are for sale. These are suits that were made last year and given to dealers as showroom pieces. These were not produced while you guys are waiting for your suits. My only focus is to build your suits.

Everyone. We've been hammered with issues, but we are working through them. Our suits are extremely durable and my only goal is to provide the best built suits at a low price...... a price that lets you spend the difference on skydiving. Those of you who know me know I absolutely LOVE skydiving, i'll be around for a long time and I'm willing to work longer and harder then everyone else to make this company.

Downsizing is not the way to prove your manhood.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Chris - you are a very good salesman. You just can't produce what you promise.

My friend placed his order over 8 months ago. He gave you a significant amount of money at that time.

He got nothing but empty promises and unanswered e-mails.

Until your associate started this "Ad Thread" (which is against the rules, see the sticky at the top).

I'm glad you are finally going to produce what was ordered.

But I'm not "posting negative in this forum on his behalf."

I'm posting on the behalf of anyone else out there who is foolish enough to fall for your promises and promotion.

And you didn't answer "all of the above." There were 2 others who are still waiting. (posts 6 & 13).

I wonder how many others that don't post on here are waiting too.

And there's still the question of the pic on your facebook page. Is it plagiarized? Or is it simply a stock image that you are both using.

As I said a few posts back - Weaverd started this thread Feb 21. It took you a month to ask me who I was talking about. It took another week for Weavered to respond to the thread that he started. And it's been over 2 weeks since then.
Your (collective) replies to the criticisms in this thread are a far more telling example of your customer service than any glib promises that you have made.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Andy9o8 0]

You still haven't answered the inquiry about possible plagiarism and/or design copy in post #14. Did you copy the graphic from Jedi's website? Did you copy the suit design from Jedi? If yes to either, did you have Jedi's approval? Or are you claiming that yours was first? Or do you deny any of that? Whatever the facts may be, please explain.

[willglynn 0]

Chris_K

Will - your suit was shipped and the tracking number was sent to your email.

That's true; I have a tracking number. I've been keeping my post up-to-date. If I receive the freefly suit, and it fits, and it's the correct colors, and it has the correct options, it will have been a 29-week ordeal -- and if there's a problem, it will end up being an even longer ordeal.

Either way, my Freefall Suits camera jacket is still in week 29 with no ETA.

[Birch4418 0]

With all these posts I would just like to add my experience with Free Fall suits/ Chris into the mix.

I have been very happy with Chris’s suits and personally own 2 of his suits (FS & FF) with my third on the way. 7 of my friends have also liked theses suits, and have recently ordered from him as well.

I have only had 2 small issues

1 Sizing; this was actually my fault for measuring myself too tight and then gaining 15lb in a short period of time (girlfriend is an amazing cook I can’t help it :-p ).

I had seen Chris in Florida at Christmas, when I mentioned that I had gained weight and the suit was tight he took himself out of jumping for the rest of the day to make adjustments to the suit for me free of charge. Customer service? I think so!

2 Shipping, Was a couple weeks longer than expected, However, I had received a message from Chris ahead of time mentioning it was going to be late; I didn’t mind since I was still on a course and wouldn’t be jumping for a week or two anyways.

Overall I really like the design of the suits and it gets compliments and questions all the time. I see more and more people wearing his suits and they all seem very happy with it. Yes, there have been some small issues, but that would be expected when you are dealing with a company that is growing. But Chris has gone out of his way for me to fix any issues that have come up, even if they are not his fault.

The end result is you have a dedicated owner creating great looking custom suits for a lower price than the competition.

Keep it up Chris

[greyburn 0]

I would still tell people they are best avoid Freefall suits for now. Although they have a few happy customers, many including myself have given up our hard earned money and got nothing in return.

[raveninca 0]

Birch4418

With all these posts I would just like to add my experience with Free Fall suits/ Chris into the mix.

I have been very happy with Chris’s suits and personally own 2 of his suits (FS & FF) with my third on the way. 7 of my friends have also liked theses suits, and have recently ordered from him as well.

I have only had 2 small issues

1 Sizing; this was actually my fault for measuring myself too tight and then gaining 15lb in a short period of time (girlfriend is an amazing cook I can’t help it :-p ).

I had seen Chris in Florida at Christmas, when I mentioned that I had gained weight and the suit was tight he took himself out of jumping for the rest of the day to make adjustments to the suit for me free of charge. Customer service? I think so!

2 Shipping, Was a couple weeks longer than expected, However, I had received a message from Chris ahead of time mentioning it was going to be late; I didn’t mind since I was still on a course and wouldn’t be jumping for a week or two anyways.

Overall I really like the design of the suits and it gets compliments and questions all the time. I see more and more people wearing his suits and they all seem very happy with it. Yes, there have been some small issues, but that would be expected when you are dealing with a company that is growing. But Chris has gone out of his way for me to fix any issues that have come up, even if they are not his fault.

The end result is you have a dedicated owner creating great looking custom suits for a lower price than the competition.

Keep it up Chris

That's awesome that you have had a good experience. One of the reasons I ordered from Chris in Florida was based on your opinion of the suits and the customer service, we were actually talking about it while he was fixing your suit in the bunker and that really sold me.

Unfortunately my experience has not been the same as yours, not even close. I am at least getting emails and updates from them now and have been promised that my suit will be ready between April 16th and April 30th (two months past the original quoted time). I am hoping that I have a tracking number by the end of the month. I too hope to be able to write a positive review about my new suit and how much I love it, but I am still waiting patently . There is also 3 others in addition to me from my home DZ (your new home DZ for a few years) who are in the same boat, ordered at Christmas and are still waiting.

Hopefully all 4 of us will get our suits in time for our opening weekend in a few weeks and we all become happy customers. As of right now though it's all in Chris's hands to make that happen.

[JeffCa 0]

I don't think I've ever seen a blatant advertising thread backfire so badly. Here is a company I've never heard of before, and now I know all of this. As I prepare to put in my order for a new freefly suit tomorrow (with an unnamed different company that delivered on their delivery date the first time I used them), I'll be thankful I'm not experiencing this. Good luck to all who are waiting!

Maybe a few years from now they'll have their act together, but absolutely must be avoided presently.

"So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

[rehmwa 2]

I think there is a policy of no advertising in the general forums.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Andy9o8 0]

rehmwa

I think there is a policy of no advertising in the general forums.

See post #9.

[EDunn69 0]

EDunn69

"We are currently processing the orders from the very end of Dec. Within the next 5 weeks we will be caught up on all the orders from January, February and March bringing us back to a 6.5 week delivery time."

Oh really?
I ordered my suit on September 29th and know I'm not the only one still waiting.
I did receive an email back on March 21 saying that its expected to be completed within the next 2-3 weeks.

Well, 5-1/2 more weeks have passed and still no suit. This takes my wait to just over 30 weeks so far.

[willglynn 0]

willglynn

***We are currently processing the orders from the very end of Dec. Within the next 5 weeks we will be caught up on all the orders from January, February and March bringing us back to a 6.5 week delivery time.

If that's true then you're not processing orders chronologically. I ordered on September 21, and as of my fifth delivery date (today), I haven't received anything.
To their credit, Freefall Suits filled half my order – I did, in fact, receive a freefly suit. That said, my camera jacket (ordered that same day in September, now 31 weeks ago) is still outstanding. Freefall Suits seems to have stopped providing me ETAs; I've heard nothing about my camera jacket since an April 3 email which seemed to imply that production hadn't started.

[raveninca 0]

The latest promised completion date has come and gone for me again. I am now 18 weeks in (10 weeks over the original quoted delivery date) with from what I can tell no end in sight. At this point I think I will be lucky to get my new suit before the Christmas boogie. I am just going to start posting my correspondence with this company in this thread, since your blog seems to have gotten you results maybe this will help.

Quote

Hi Chris,

You said that my suit would be completed between April 15 and April 30th. I emailed you on April 16th to asked if we were still on track and you replied saying that we should still be on track. I emailed you on April 30th, two days ago, on your promised completion date and I have not received a reply or a tracking number to say that my suit is on it's way or an update as to why that may be. I am really starting to get frustrated here, every expectation you have set with me you have failed to come through on and worse than that when the promised date comes and goes you just either start ignoring emails or blame someone or something else for the delay. I am tried of hearing excuses, please just tell me when my suit will be shipped out by. I am going to copy this email over to the thread on DZ.com I really wish I could of been updating that thread saying that I just got my new suit like I was last promised and that I love it and the waiting was worth it but unfortunately that is not going to happen. You have had many opportunities to make me a happy customer and have failed miserably at every corner. My season starts in two weeks and I am now looking through the classified's for a used suit that will fit me, thanks!

James Bartlett

On 04/18/14, Chris Kotscha wrote:
>
> Hi James,
>
> We should still be on track.
>
> Cheers!
>
> From:
> To:
> Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:49:16 -0300
> Subject: Re: Freefall Suit Delivery
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Just checking in to see how my suit is coming along. According to your last email you were expecting to have it completed within the next two weeks and I want to make sure that we are still on track.
>
> Thanks,
> James Bartlett
>
> On 03/30/14, Chris Kotscha wrote:
>
> Good morning,
>
> I wanted to keep you updated on the status of your suit delivery.
>
> Unfortunately we had some delays in production due to a few external influences and our move. This caused the cue to get backed up and caused delays in delivery.
>
> We have worked through all these issues and are getting back on track, in fact as part of the improvement and correction process we will come out being able to produce faster then when we started and with more redundancies.
>
> I expect your order to be completed between 16 Apr and 30 Apr.
>
> I thank you very much for your business and I look forward to seeing you flying your new suit,
>
>
>
> Chris
> Freefall Suits
> [email protected]

[willglynn 0]

raveninca

I am just going to start posting my correspondence with this company in this thread, since your blog seems to have gotten you results maybe this will help.

Posting here seems to get attention too.

I had no contact with Freefall Suits since an April 14 email exchange. I posted here two weeks later, and within hours Chris emailed me saying my camera jacket is complete, promising a tracking number. Now, it's been three days and I don't have a tracking number, but still – this was the first ever unprompted email I've received from Freefall Suits, and it happened right after post #37.

Customers shouldn't have to resort to public shaming.

[willglynn 0]

willglynn

Now, it's been three days and I don't have a tracking number, but still – this was the first ever unprompted email I've received from Freefall Suits, and it happened right after post #37.

…and now, a few hours after posting this, I received a tracking number.

willglynn

Customers shouldn't have to resort to public shaming.

Seems like it works.

[EDunn69 0]

I received my tracking number today also

[willglynn 0]

I just sent a reply to Chris. I'm re-posting here because it's of general interest.

---

Quote

I'm genuinely sorry it took as long as it did. Never in my life has I faced so many hurdles to getting things done. After tons of hard work from everyone, double shifts for months on end we are finally catching up on the cue. A few other suits are late but we are rapidly catching up on clearing out the entire cue.

Thank you for your patience as we sorted out the growing pains.

That's great. I hope you can deliver your product at your price with an acceptable level of service – you could actually force the jumpsuit industry to compete. Your success would benefit everyone.

However: I have stopped caring. I want to be done.

Every single opportunity Freefall Suits has had to impress me has resulted in disappointment.

I placed an order; you could impress me by filling it promptly. Then there was a problem with materials and production was halted: all right, so impress me with how you handle that by keeping me in the loop with how things are unfolding. Then I wrote an email concerned by the lack of communication: you could impress me by telling me what's going on and instilling confidence in your ability to handle things going forward. Then I wrote another email annoyed that no one replied: you could impress me by taking control of the customer service situation. On and on and on, weeks and weeks and weeks.

You did impress me at one point after making the sale:

Quote

I am heading back to the office this week and will ensure your suit gets built asap, even if I sit down and sew it myself.

…and then disappointed me further as my order continued to sit unfilled.

At one point, I told you what I need as directly as possible:

Quote

Look: I need to know if you’re going to make that jumpsuit and camera jacket. I placed the order on September 21, 2013 — that's 20 weeks ago tomorrow. Safety Day is 4 weeks away, the start of my skydiving season is 7 weeks away, and the local iFLY tunnel should have its grand opening around then as well. If you’re not going to fill my order, I need to get someone else working on it now.

You replied:

Quote

Your suit will be ready later next week.

That was 12 weeks ago today.

The reasons don't matter, the apologies don't help, and my understanding doesn't change anything. Ultimately, "disappointed" doesn't begin to capture my experience.

I went public when the frustration of dealing with your company was too much to bear. It took a lot to get me to that place. I've been disappointed by plenty of companies, even in skydiving: just three weeks ago, a canopy I ordered over the winter missed its delivery date, at which point we all found out that the factory hadn't even started production. They offered me a reason to wait a second time and gave me the information I needed to make a decision. I ended up ordering a competing product instead, but I'm not even upset. I'll happily talk to them again next time I need a canopy.

Freefall Suits, on the other hand, has taken "ordeal" to a whole new level. I believe I've accurately chronicled my entire customer experience, I believe it speaks for itself, and I believe people ought to know that this happened September 2013 through May 2014.

I want to receive that camera jacket. I want it to fit, I want it to be in the correct colors, and I want it to have the correct options. That's it. I want to be done.

--Will

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Chris_K

...When I tell people delivery times (Such as the three weeks) its what I think is possible. Sometimes other stuff comes up that delays. Its a balance, if I said it was 6 weeks to hedge against a bunch of issues then you'd be upset at the 6 weeks. So I try to be accurate and sometimes I have been off by a few days...

Off by a few days?

When you say "2 weeks" do you really mean 6?

Part of my friend's order finally arrived.

9 months to the day after the order.

6 weeks after Chris quoted 2.

After repeated e-mails asking what was up (after the promised 2 weeks was up). At least these were answered.

But the tandem pants he ordered didn't show. Apparently, there was a miscommunication during the manufacturing process, and the 36" waist was made a 46". So the waiting continues.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[galda 0]

Another unhappy customer here.

It has been 10 weeks past the original ETA. 1 FS suit ordered in December 2013.
The email conversation with Freefall Suits not has 32 entries, though as of today the suit I ordered has not been built yet.
Multiple delays and emails from Chris trying to justify them.
Seriously thinking of requesting a refund at this point. I have not been offered any compensation for the 10-week delay(and counting) and the fact that I missed the beginning of the season here and am forced to rent a suit while mine is still being built.
I understand that things happen and Chris is not having the best year so far, but keeping your customers so unhappy and uninformed about the current state of your order + multiple incorrect ETA's is not the way to do business.

Alexey

[mr.walczak 0]

I've warned people about these suits/company .. Horrible .. Constant lies about everything ... Search more about freefall skydiving on here you'll see other threads about this crap and more unhappy people

[raveninca 0]

Chris called me at my shop last Friday to apologize for missing his last promised completion date. The reason this time was that my suit was completed but something got mixed up with the waist measurement and the suit was too tight and had to be redone. Chris promised to ship out one of his demo suits so that I have something to jump with till my suit is done. He was also willing to make me a pair of swoop shorts to make up for my experience so far. I told him that was not necessary at all, all I wanted was the suit that I ordered to show up at my door and nothing more. Since he called on a Friday afternoon, we were swamped with work and customers needing their vehicles back for the weekend so I didn't get much time to talk. I didn't get a new date on when my suit would be completed but I did get a tracking number in an email the next day with what I am assuming is a loaner, demo suit, hope it fits. I emailed Chris again yesterday asking about when my suit would be done and when to be expecting it but I haven't received a response yet.

On one hand it's great that Chris is sending me a loaner suit in the mean time but on the other hand I still don't have an eta on when MY suit will be completed and shipped out, hopefully this loaner suit fits and my suit doesn't take very much longer. From this last correspondence it looks like Chris is trying to improve things but I will wait and see.

[greyburn 0]

I'm still without a pants or my $200 and its been 7 months

I was promised pants, then I was promised a refund. I got neither. Potential customers : this is what you should expect.

[galda 0]

Bad news, guys. Chris's email is down.

Quote

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

[email protected]

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain freefallsuits.com by freefallsuits.com . [64.46.52.220].

The error that the other server returned was:
550 Mailbox quota exceeded

[FionaB 0]

My fiance ordered an FS suit direct from Chris when we were in Eloy the first week in December. He is still waiting.
He has had a lot of the same stock emails listed on this thread. I have been chasing Chris via his personal facebook page, since any comment I make on his business facebook page gets deleted.
A week ago, FIVE MONTHS after the order was placed, he promised a delivery date and tracking number would be following soon. We're still waiting!!!
DO NOT TOUCH THIS FIRM WITH A TEN FOOT POLE!!!!

[ssm 0]

Has anyone heard front his clown lately?