Menswear Start-Up Combatant Gentlemen Hammered By Angry Customers For Botched Orders
Combatant Gentlemen, a technology-focused menswear start-up that developed a wide following for catering to “ballers on a budget,” has apologized for a litany of customer service problems that prompted angry clients to publicly shame the company. For at least several months, the start-up — which launched in 2012 to sell men’s clothing for bargain prices online and via its mobile app — has taken a beating on social media. Irate customers have festooned Combatant Gentlemen’s social media pages with angry complaints over lengthy shipment delays, or not getting what they ordered at all. On Friday, Combatant Gentlemen founder and CEO Vishaal Melwani was forced to acknowledge as much in an emotional letter he sent to customers. Melwani, a University of California, Irvine graduate and the son of tailors who worked for Versace, wrote that his company has been “struggling to fulfill [its] mission.” Combat Gent’s woes have coincided with the peak of the summer wedding season — a time when grooms and groomsmen flock to the company to purchase tuxedos at reasonable prices. “You may have seen the explanations — orders stuck on shipping containers, sizes out of stock, items backordered due to demand,” the CEO wrote. “And while this all remains true, it really comes down to one thing: keeping up has proven incredibly difficult.” Read more at CNBC.
