Man, did I ever make a mistake. I ordered a full set of the Dark Drake armor from them just for the hell of it. I ordered everything by their measurements, all medium. Just as one example: the breast and back plates. They say the breastplate will fit a 46'' ....maybe it was 48''. I pulled it out of the box.........and that damned thing would only fit 'Mini-Me' from the Austin Powers movies. And buckles and straps........Good Lord. No wonder knights had squires to help them put on their armor. Impossible to do by yourself. I also ordered the darkened sallet helm to match. They sell it in medium and large. I think the medium was 26'' in circumference. My head is 23'' . That helm wouldn't fit a cantaloupe it was so small. I didn't even bother with the rest of it. It's now boxed back up and on its way to KOA . But....I haven't given up on them yet. I just ordered a round/flat/riveted/darkened haubergon from them, as well as a matching coif in a large. They say the haubergon is for up to a 50'' chest. Well...my chest circumference is a little over 41''. We'll see how that goes. I'm not wearing a gambeson under it.......not in Texas weather.........just a cotton tunic.....also in a large size. Take some advice from me............Know EXACTLY what you want , even if you have to make someone there go get it and measure it right out of the box. Don't get me wrong in any way....I still love and trust KOA. Anyone is allowed to make mistakes from time to time. This time I just took a different approach........better a little too much than not enough. :D .....McM

Is this really a KOA issue or a Dark Drake issue?

If they go by manufacturer sizing...

I would say the prime offender is Dark Drake if the standard measurements on their armour is that far off in reality. However, KoA should also take some time to check over such products and make sure that they are being delivered and then selling products that match the item descriptions posted on their website.

Better luck next time!

-Gregory

I won't deal with KOA anymore because their customer services and mangers are not competent and have no vision of customer loyalty

Yeah I had to stop buying anything from them after the last three swords I ordered from them were WAAAAYYY out of spec..to the point of being almost unusable...and not just out of spec from their measurements but from other examples of the same sword that I have owned or handled....called their CS and was basically told to go !@#$ myself

Has something really critical changed in the "who or how" of Kult of Athena's business practice? After years of such high praise from customers, it seems that there is a growing trend of bad reviews. I think that it is important to assess a business by their current practices and not the past, yet I have not seen anyone bold enough to step out and say "hello, KoA is not what it used to be" and collect enough reasons to make people believe so. If there is something negative going on with their practice, then that should be recognized and referred to potential patrons.

In the past I always had great service from KoA, after making perhaps a half dozen different purchases, usually comprising several items. But it has been at least three years, so my experience really shouldn't mean anything at all right now.

-Gregory

Yeah it seems almost like a switch was thrown around 2014...I did couple thousand dollars with them almost every year since 2006 with great results and cs...then starting around Yule of 2013 things started to go wrong...don't know

I asked the KOA manager if they were willing to lose me as a loyal customer for $15 worth of merchandise, and she said she didn't care whether or not I remained a loyal customer, she simply wasn't going to let me return the merchandise unless I paid for return shipping and a restocking fee..

So now KOA has a very vocal and very dissatisfied former customer.

This happened about 1-1/2 to 2 years ago, as a matter of fact.

Don't know if U.S. law is very different than Australian in this regard, but here if you ordered a thing and what a retailer gives you is not the thing, it is very much their problem to fix it. We have public servants with Norwegian titles that look after this sort of thing so you can not have to worry about the issue yourself.

Did you guys speak to Ryan or did he quit KoA? Ryan has always been good to us customers.

My last purchases at Kult of Athena a few months ago went O.K. , so the problems mentioned I haven't experienced myself so far.

Is Ryan still in charge ? Are there new employees who have a bad attitude and seem rather arrogant if I take some of these complaints as accurate?

Pissing off people who have been repeat customers spending thousands of dollars for a $15 restocking fee seems rather short sighted and stupid to me .... I can see where a low level " bad employee " might not care either way, but the owner of the business should have a good hard talk with " Customer Service " if they make him lose good customers, and years of an accumulated good reputation for great customer service.

Personally, I can recall dealing with Ryan and... Ashley, I think? Nothing but good things to say about either of them, at any rate.

Hello
I`ve had very good dealings with Ryan. I hope he`s still there. KOA has allways been the go to place for things sword-ish,unlike others who dont actually stock anything,when KOA sells something, its on hand.

W ell.....I started this, now maybe I can have a little sunshine on a rainy day. Yes, the 'Drake' order probably was the manufacturers fault, or a wrong size label on the box, or who knows what. But, KOA took it all right back. I haven't spoken to Ryan in a while, but Ashley is always happy and helpful when I speak with her. She has gone out of her way to assist me several times. So has Ryan. I recently ordered a haubergon from them with a matching coif, as well as a long sleeve tunic, and some 'Dark Warrior' greaves and bracers. I ordered it all in large size, and guess what........it all fit perfectly. The haubergon was advertised as being able to fit a 50" chest. My 41" chest pretty well filled it up. It came to just below my elbows and knees, just like I hoped it would, and the bracers and greaves come to just inside. Perfect. If a guy with a 50" chest COULD get it on, you would just about have to cut him out with tin-snips! :lol: Other than the 'Drake' thing, I have never had a problem with KOA, its managers or staff. I'll admit that a small problem presents its self every now and then, but none have ever been anything that I , or KOA couldn't fix. Hey....everybody has to groan and gripe about something most every day. I guess that was just one of those days for me. KOA is still my 'go-to' place, and until a better one comes along, I'm gonna stick with 'em. OH...by the way.... All that Dark Drake, Dark Warrior, King, etc. is made by Epic Armoury in Denmark, but I guess y'all knew that. Anyway, everybody have a great day. Don't feel alone.... I've been told to go 'F' myself too....Just not by KOA ! ....McM