Adventurebilt Indy IV Update?

IndyAJA77

New member
eazybox said:
Very strange; you certainly are entitled to some sort of update if not a refund. I ordered mine in 2007 as well and received it just before the movie came out-- but I placed my order before the big announcement that resulted in the avalanche that snowed him under. It's hard to tell what's going on with Steve now because few people can get in touch with him anymore, at least last I heard. New orders had been getting filled within a few weeks, but since his string of illnesses, perhaps even that has now gone out the window.

Perhaps your order was lost somewhere along the way? In that case, if you can provide proof of your payment, perhaps you can straighten things out if you persist with your inquiries. I feel for you and hope it works out.

Jack

I still have my credit card statement with ADVERTUREBILT on it. If it ever comes to that, I do have proof of purchase. What is concerning is that it appears that some people who ordered around (after?) I did have received their hats.
 

eazybox

Member
IndyAJA77 said:
I still have my credit card statement with ADVERTUREBILT on it. If it ever comes to that, I do have proof of purchase. What is concerning is that it appears that some people who ordered around (after?) I did have received their hats.

It does sound like your order was lost. On the scaminformer.com site, people who ordered later than you have reported repeadely emailing and even leaving multiple phone messages for Steve, and receiving no responses. As Professor Jones Sr. would say, the situation is "intolerable," but there may be something further going on with Steve's health of which most of us are unaware. He has not even logged on to Club Obi Wan, where he used to be a regular poster, in a very long time.

If you pay the full current price, you're supposed to receive your hat within just a few weeks. What is most concerning to me is that I haven't heard of ANYONE receiving a hat from Steve for a long time under any circumstances. Most people who ordered from him probably are not members of these forums, however, so there's no way to be certain about that.

John Penman, of course, is a protege and close associate of Steve's. Here is what he wrote about the situation on scaminformer.com. This is directly copied and pasted, and I hope he won't mind my sharing it here:

1 hours 15 minutes ago by Penman
"Some people got there facts wrong.. When the indy 4 movie came out his orders was listed at 6 months at a lot cheaper price then his current price. About half. The movie hit and the order came in much, much, much more then any human thought possible. Steve did make a mistake by trying to fulfill those orders at the old price. Trying to do the right thing but it backed fired. He stated that the time line had changed drastically in a short period of time but people forget about all that. He couldn't give a realistic time line but people didn't focus on that they still wanted the hats. He worked 18 hour days 6-7 days a week on that list at the old price. For over two years he made hats for these customers at the old price. He had bouts with diabetes and lost vision in one eye. had a hear attack and fighting prostate and colon cancer. He continued on working 5 days a week at a pace of 12 - 14 hors a day. He finally jacked his prices up to $650.00 and the very few that he got order and I mean a few got work on his only day off.
Again, people knew going in that the wait was going to be anywhere in the 2 years or more time frame. I have had two hats on order with him since 2008. Im still waiting and I knew that it would be years. These people are upset and I understand that. but they knew going in and not totally telling or remembering the truth. I call bull**** on every last one of them

Steve did not run away from that list or those customers. Steve is fighting Cancer and still trying to fill those orders. I know this because of two reasons. He has been a friend and mentor to me so I do talk with him from time to time. He is a man of honor.

I think he should just close the biz down and try and take care of his health but he still pulls himself to his hat shop when he can to work on the list which isn't very long right now. He does have the hope to take care of it but it is very hard on the man. I don't think he responds very well to emails because after working when he can takes to much out of him and he must be ashamed of how things worked out.

John"

It is encouraging that he apparently doesn't have a very long list of orders left to fill. I hope yours is one of them.

Jack
 
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eazybox

Member
IndyAJA77 said:
I still have my credit card statement with ADVERTUREBILT on it. If it ever comes to that, I do have proof of purchase. What is concerning is that it appears that some people who ordered around (after?) I did have received their hats.


I wish they would give us more time to edit our posts. In the first sentence of my last post, I meant to say it does NOT sound like your order was lost. At least, that conclusion can't be made yet, since there seem to be others in the same boat as you. Hopefully, you won't have to wait too much longer.

Jack
 

Sakis

TR.N Staff Member
This is Steve Delk's message from the Indygear.com's Club Obi-Wan forum on Jan 15, 2013:

Fedora said:
AB_final_designApril08.jpg
Hello all. I am sure most of the fans here know I have suffered from cancer and have been really sick for a long time as we fought it. I have suffered like I did not know a human could suffer but it seems that I have it beat, I think. I am in remission. My immune system is still weak and I seem to catch everything that goes around and even a scratching a bump turns into a huge infection. I am now finally recovering from the flu with pneumonia which the flu turned into and have had to deal with that since Dec.

But this long illness has left me devastated financially which has effected the business of getting hats made on old orders. And so I am here with hat in hand begging for some help. I really need to sell 6 beaver hats in order to get the production moving again. And while I have pride I will accept charity too as I am in dire straits today. I have lost everything but my hat shop which is still on my mom's land. I live in a 30 ft camper, having lost my house but the only money that I owe are hospital bills, chemo bills and of course I owe people hats. I paid my utility bill this month but my water will be cut off the 20th of this month. My family basically can help me out no more and so I am appealing to you guys.

I went from being on top of the world with making the last Indy hat to almost dying and losing everything. My life insurance policy would have cleared up the old orders by refunds which would be handled by my daughter so no one would have lost a thing upon my death. My daughter has kept that paid up for me thankfully.

So if 6 people would please purchase a beaver hat real soon it would save me and I would get these made within 4 weeks as I have a huge cache of hat bodies bought several years ago when times were good and before I became ill.

I am a proud guy but I have had to lose that pride with this illness and so I will take charity if no one wants a hat. This is killing me to have to come here in this way but it is my last resort. I feel that if something does not happen to turn this around I very well could be charged with fraud or something similiar. I am frankly surprised it has not happened already, but being as sick as I was that was not my top worry. Living longer, or not dying was.

My email is sdelk@cableone.net if anyone can donate to old Fedora and I will thank you ahead of time. Also anyone that wants to email me you can do so at that address. You guys know my website so I won't post that.

I want to get back on top of things and gain some respectability again yet that will require some help from the fans, and I hope I am not asking too much. God Bless all of you and I hope this is a good year for all of us.

Oh, I have a cell phone, but no service right now. If I can sell 6 hats and get some charity help, I can get it on. My number is 662 570 5873 and I will post here when I get it on so if anyone wants to talk they can call me. I am not at the site phone number as that is my mom's phone and I no longer use it. Thanks! Steve Delk
 

Piker

New member
I just figure that I can kiss my $$$ goodbye and move on. He's a scammer and I got scammed, placed my order and paid my money in May 2008.
 

Mickiana

Well-known member
Piker said:
I just figure that I can kiss my $$$ goodbye and move on. He's a scammer and I got scammed, placed my order and paid my money in May 2008.

Didn't you read the post above? He's not a scammer. He did not set out to scam. Poor business planner likely, very bad health crises definitely. Write to him again requesting a completion date. It can't hurt.
 

Sakis

TR.N Staff Member
I agree with Mickiana. It is very understandable for you to feel cheated but considering this guy's past and what he's been through I don't think this is the case.
 

eazybox

Member
Steve Delk's membership with Club Obi Wan has been revoked. Bad news to anyone still waiting for hats ordered years ago. Apparently, Delk is only accepting new orders and has no intention of fulfilling his past obligations to customers which date back to 2007 or 2008.

Buyer beware.

Jack
 

IndyAJA77

New member
That's terrible news. Does that essentially mean that I don't have any recourse for either getting a hat I paid for (ten years late) or getting my money back?!?!
 

eazybox

Member
It is terrible news and everybody loses with it, including Delk. Of course, there are extenuating circumstances as pointed out above, and I'm sure we'll never know all the details, partly because no one seems to be able to contact Delk and get any answers from him. No one, that is, who doesn't pay the $600 or $700 for a new order.

I heard that John Penman, a good friend of Steve's, was going to take up the slack on his remaining orders, but that was years ago and I don't know what's happened with that since. Penman, when contacted about it, has always staunchly defended Delk and urged people to be patient because, he, too, was waiting for his hat. Penman is also no longer a member of COW, so it's hard to be sure where this is going.

While I am still sympathetic to Delk because of his apparent health problems, I understand your frustration completely. You have a right to be upset and to expect answers about what happened to your hard-earned money. I wish I could give you some of those answers, but I am as much in the dark about it as you are. It's just a very sad situation all around and I feel for you. I hope things eventually work out somehow...

Jack
 
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eazybox

Member
Here is a direct quote from a COW member who has also been waiting a long time:
"Coming up on 9 years for two hats.
Numerous emails have gone unanswered.
Offers to roll payments of two hats just to get one have gone unanswered.
Offers to pay the difference have gone unanswered.

But funny how when one inquiries about purchasing a new hat I get a reply in two days and continued correspondence over five days until I mentioned that I had two orders I am still waiting on..... then all emails stop."

So, you are not alone in your ordeal.

I know it doesn't help those who are waiting for long overdue hats from Adventurebilt, but anyone in the market for the authentic Indy hat need look no further than the original maker, Herbert Johnson. They have found the long lost Raiders block, they make their hats entirely by hand with the same Portuguese felt used to make the original screen used Raiders hat, they also source the original ribbon from the original maker, and their customer service is incredible. They currently have a turn around time of a couple of weeks and your hat is FedExed to you overnight.

Their new website is not online yet the last I heard, but anyone interested can inquire and place pre-orders on their Facebook page. Do not do a Google search as that will only take you to the old, inferior quality Poet hat. HJ is undergoing a "reboot" and is once again offering top quality bespoke hats. I believe their limited time offer of free shipping is also still in effect, as well.

Jack
 
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Sakis

TR.N Staff Member
Don't take me wrong, but how reliable can be the fact that they found "the long lost Raiders block"???
 

eazybox

Member
Sakis said:
Don't take me wrong, but how reliable can be the fact that they found "the long lost Raiders block"???

It's a long but very interesting story and makes perfect sense, especially after you have one of their new hats right in front of you. Go to COW and read the thread HERBERT JOHNSON REBOOT for the details.

Your skepticism is understandable and I shared it as well at first, but I can only speak for myself and my own experience. I've been trying to find the right Raiders hat for over 30 years, and I've seen and owned some great looking replicas, including a Magnoli/HJ/AB. I've also owned several HJ Poets, some of them made by Richard Swales, who made the originals for the films.

I studied photos of the Raiders hat from every angle, and I watched scenes from the movie frame by frame, observing all the distinctive details of the block shape that made this hat so special and so difficult for passionately dedicated craftsmen to duplicate.

As good as some of those replicas were, there were always a few nagging details that weren't quite right-- that made it obvious, on close examination, that the hat was indeed a replica and did not come from the original block.

As soon as I took this new HJ out of the box, there was no question to my eyes that I finally had "a chip off the old block." No more nagging concerns. No more fussing and fuming over details that "don't quite make it." My personal quest for the Grail is over.

Again, I'm just speaking for myself, and I'm only describing the overall block shape that marks the hat with its unmistakable character, regardless of the way it is "bashed." But I couldn't be happier. After 30 years of repeated disappointments and "good enoughs,", this is IT for me. This is one hat collector who is finally hanging up his hat. ;)

Jack
 
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Mickiana

Well-known member
I've got an Akubra Federation Deluxe and a Penman Raiders and I love them both. They are different in their nuances. The Penman makes the grade in accuracy with those features of the hat done to its extremes. The Akubra slightly mutes those features, the dark colour, the height, the shape of the Penman. The Penman is softer and more pliable, ready to take form, while the Akubra is firmer with a stiffness in the material.

I know some are disappointed by Delk, but I can only imagine he really tried. He was quite sick and I don't know how he is now. A common problem of the artist is an impractibility in business. Knowing how to do something well is very different from the business of selling that product. If his business was a one man show, then he had the pressure of making the product and building a business as well. Put on top of that getting really sick and I don't wonder we don't hear from him anymore.
 

eazybox

Member
Mickiana said:
I've got an Akubra Federation Deluxe and a Penman Raiders and I love them both. They are different in their nuances. The Penman makes the grade in accuracy with those features of the hat done to its extremes. The Akubra slightly mutes those features, the dark colour, the height, the shape of the Penman. The Penman is softer and more pliable, ready to take form, while the Akubra is firmer with a stiffness in the material.

I know some are disappointed by Delk, but I can only imagine he really tried. He was quite sick and I don't know how he is now. A common problem of the artist is an impractibility in business. Knowing how to do something well is very different from the business of selling that product. If his business was a one man show, then he had the pressure of making the product and building a business as well. Put on top of that getting really sick and I don't wonder we don't hear from him anymore.

Perhaps he's under doctor's orders to avoid stress, and of course the unfulfilled orders would be a major source of that.

Jack
 

Glenville86

New member
I bought one from him in beaver about a year ago. Asked how long and he told me he just had a cancelled order and made mine right away. Only bummer was the box he mailed it in was not reinforced and the hat/box was completely smashed. Had to redo the bash and the felt had some worn down "spots" from the damage.

Mine was made due to me paying the total upfront and it was a new order. Funny thing is it is not my favorite Indy fedora from ones I have but is a quality fedora.
 

eazybox

Member
I have one of Steve's CS hats. It is a nice hat IF you can get one. I paid $250.00 for mine, and I think that's a big part of the problem-- he was making them almost at cost, and then he got snowed under with orders. He got sick, is now under extreme financial pressure trying to pay his medical bills and keep the lights on, and he has to focus on generating new income that will help to lower his debt. Maybe his intentions are good. Occasionally, I have seen posts by old customers who have finally received their long overdue hats, but I haven't seen one of those posts in a long while.

Jack
 
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