All-Star Manufacturing Question About Cheer Uniforms

[SharkDad]

I understand there are reasons for uniforms being late or for mistakes to happen. But uniform companies provide aproduct. There are few other services I can think of where as consumers we accept this kind of terrible service on a regular basis without some compensation for mistakes. I have seen countless heartbroken kids and angry parents in many different programs with uniforms that never fit right or arrived at the last comp of the season...and they still get stuck with the bill.

If a uniform company continues to make the mistakes I have seen for many years I encourage the gym to seek out a new uniform company or face the consequences of their customers.

If the gym refuses to provide a better service option to parents by continually choosing a bad uniform partner I encourage parents to leave and find a smarter gym, or show their displeasure by taking it out on tuition.

There are known uniform companies that do guarantee their service and do fix their mistakes in a timely manner.


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[BabycatchingCheerMom]

I would just stick to Varisty uniforms! I love them.

Our gym and another gym in our area had problems with Varsity this year, and we never ended up with the product promised. Just my $250.50....


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[cheerheart4life]

Our gym and another gym in our area had problems with Varsity this year, and we never ended up with the product promised. Just my $250.50....


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You got a refund or a uniform?

 

[BabycatchingCheerMom]

You got a refund or a uniform?

I got a wrong uniform.


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[cheerheart4life]

I got a wrong uniform.


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I hope you contacted them and worked it out!

 

[BabycatchingCheerMom]

I hope you contacted them and worked it out!

The entire lot of uniforms were not as ordered. By the time the unis were delivered, there was no time. I believe we're going with a new company this year. (Moved from rec to AS)


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[cheerheart4life]

The entire lot of uniforms were not as ordered. By the time the unis were delivered, there was no time. I believe we're going with a new company this year. (Moved from rec to AS)


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I would email the whole entire case and bring it up. They will def make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[hopskipandjump]

Ill never understand why this industry puts up with the terrible uniform service.

I think another (albeit small) factor in not sourcing uniforms is the little logo in the front. (Maybe applied more to GK than the others.)

I'm still wondering when Under Armor is going to get I the cheer uniform business (they already make tennis apparel, so the basic "shapes" are there.)


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when I was brave and daring, I went to the Under Armour facility and proposed cheer uniforms. They were not interested. lol.

 

[SharkDad]

I would email the whole entire case and bring it up. They will def make sure it doesn't happen again.

I wish this were true. Sadly I can't tell you the number of times in 14 years the same issues happened over and over and over. . .

 

[njallday]

@sharkdad I get what you're saying here (and in past other threads on the issue), really i do... but i feel like it's not as simple as you make it out to be.

so say you're the parent of a kid who got the wrong uniform or it has serious issues. you go to the gym owner say "get this fixed in a timely fashion, or i demand a refund." so they scramble to their varsity rep since they don't want to get you a refund but varsity says no, it won't be done on time. so, staying true to your word, you demand a refund and maybe you'll get one. but then your kid is uniform-less and can't go on the mat with her team if she isn't in full uniform. so does she quit? would you be willing to pull your kid from a gym because of a uniform issue?

yes, as a customer, you need to advocate and demand change or it will never happen but you'd essentially have to sacrifice your own child to get that change.

should gym owners be advocating for change and be willing to walk away from a company that makes poor business decisions? yes, but uniform orders/contracts could be worth well over $100,000. once it is paid, most gyms do not have the financial ability to walk away and do business elsewhere with that much money on the line. sure, you could threaten to pull your business and hope they get their ish together and fix it, but what if they don't? then there are the gyms who have binding contracts with uniform companies. they'll certainly lose a lot if they choose to pull their business and walk away, too.

so what do you suggest some of these gyms do to demand better business from uniform companies?

 

[OneIntenseMama]

yes, I recall AZ Power's (i think it was them?) first fully lace uniform was outsourced to China because no one here would do it for them. i know there was a "hype" waiting for these new and original unis and if i remember correctly they came in much later than expected. and the sizes were very tiny.

Be very very careful when ordering anything custom made from China especially the first time. My CP was on Power Xtreme when Kelly did the first round of lace in 2010-2011 they came in a min. of 5 sizes to big. I had the honor of altering 24 of them 4 days before American Grand. It was just a little stressful. But it looks like Kelly has gotten in the swing of things and has had beautiful uniforms done since then. If you are looking for beautiful custom sublimated uniforms there are several companies that do it. Personally I found Cheerleading Shoes, Apparel, and Accessories for Team and School - Explosion Spiritwear to be the most affordable with a quick turn around.

 

[cheer25mom]

I wish this were true. Sadly I can't tell you the number of times in 14 years the same issues happened over and over and over. . .

ITA. Telling them there is a problem does nothing to keep it from happening again. We had the same sizing problem for 3 years with school cheer uniforms. The rep sized the girls and the sizes she recommended were ordered. The skirts came in too small,every time until the sponsor ordered everyone one size up. Our half season allstar unis were the same story. Most were too small. The only success I have had is to personally size my own child and insist that size be ordered. Between school and allstars we have had the wrong team name, wrong color u idiom. Appliqués applied upside down, and the sizing issues. Telling them doesn't help and it takes months to get anything fixed.


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[TheUltimateFan]

Someone should suggest to the Project Runway producers that they have cheerleading uniforms as one of their elimination projects. That would be a real challenge and it would be fun to see what kind of out-there designs they produce.

I got lost on the sublimation question. Can you buy fabric already sublimated? The challenge for the person sewing would be the placement, I'd guess.

 

[SharkDad]

@sharkdad I get what you're saying here (and in past other threads on the issue), really i do... but i feel like it's not as simple as you make it out to be.

so say you're the parent of a kid who got the wrong uniform or it has serious issues. you go to the gym owner say "get this fixed in a timely fashion, or i demand a refund." so they scramble to their varsity rep since they don't want to get you a refund but varsity says no, it won't be done on time. so, staying true to your word, you demand a refund and maybe you'll get one. but then your kid is uniform-less and can't go on the mat with her team if she isn't in full uniform. so does she quit? would you be willing to pull your kid from a gym because of a uniform issue?

yes, as a customer, you need to advocate and demand change or it will never happen but you'd essentially have to sacrifice your own child to get that change.

should gym owners be advocating for change and be willing to walk away from a company that makes poor business decisions? yes, but uniform orders/contracts could be worth well over $100,000. once it is paid, most gyms do not have the financial ability to walk away and do business elsewhere with that much money on the line. sure, you could threaten to pull your business and hope they get their ish together and fix it, but what if they don't? then there are the gyms who have binding contracts with uniform companies. they'll certainly lose a lot if they choose to pull their business and walk away, too.

so what do you suggest some of these gyms do to demand better business from uniform companies?

As a consumer I've watched many of those same kids with stress and anguish dealing with improperly sized uniform or going an entire season sharing someone else's. How many seasons should you put up with watching your child deal with that due to poor business choices by the gym owner or the uniform company?

I'm not saying that the right answer answer Is always to walk away from the gym or for a business owner to cut business ties immediately when there is a uniform issue. At some point, though, the consumer needs to decide they don't want to stand for poor service from the gym or the gym owner stand for poor service from the uniform company. If the gym is in a binding contract with a terrible company that provides bad service to their customers every year, they should consider changing that decision if they care more about the athlete than the uniform contract.

 

[njallday]

As a consumer I've watched many of those same kids with stress and anguish dealing with improperly sized uniform or going an entire season sharing someone else's. How many seasons should you put up with watching your child deal with that due to poor business choices by the gym owner or the uniform company?

I'm not saying that the right answer answer Is always to walk away from the gym or for a business owner to cut business ties immediately when there is a uniform issue. At some point, though, the consumer needs to decide they don't want to stand for poor service from the gym or the gym owner stand for poor service from the uniform company. If the gym is in a binding contract with a terrible company that provides bad service to their customers every year, they should consider changing that decision if they care more about the athlete than the uniform contract.

oh, i completely agree with you, but there's just no easy fix.

i really hate that everyone is at the mercy of the uniform companies. if the gym owners choose this battle, they screw themselves, the families, and kids.. but yet the company is sitting pretty with their profit regardless of what they deliver. if you're a uniform company and you're confident in your product, you don't need to make people sign into binding contracts to use your services. just saying.