MLD order filling timeline

I would suggest you email Ron and express your concern and trip schedule (include order number and date in your email). I trust Ron will make every effort to accomadate your situation and schedule.

+1 to what Thom said. Ron will at least let you know if, with his current log of orders, he thinks he can accommodate your request.

I ordered my Duomid innernet on April 12th and have not received it yet. It has been 8 weeks and 4 days at this point. I just emailed Ron before writing this because it didn't come today in the mail and I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt. Sucks when you're told 6-8 weeks, giving a 2 week cushion of time, and still don't receive your order on time.

I know that some people get their orders early, others right on time, and others late. I wish I was in the early category! He must be busy making a bunch of Burn packs or something.

I would write him to see if he can do anything. I hope that I'm not an indication of the likelihood of you getting your shelter any earlier.

As others have said give Ron a call. I was in similar situation last year and he was able to ship a quilt to me within one day after I called and explained that I needed it for a trip.

So I shot Ron an email and will likely try to give him a call on Monday.

On the plus side another member here was generous to offer me to have their brand new duomid inner net in exchange for me sending mine to him when I get mine in if it looks like mine won't make it in time for the trip. If I haven't heard from or get news that Ron won't be able to fill the order in time I will be taking him up on that for sure.

Your suggestions on what to do and offers such as this member are what make this site so great!!

Disregard

"My last 6 months expenditures at MLD – $1256.00"

yikes.

I've waited as little as 5 weeks and as long as 10+ weeks, it is, what it is.
I feel that orders should be filled as they are recieved and none should be pushed ahead of others, just because they have a "special" trip.
I'm not saying that this is what your asking, but I'm sure that there has been many customers that have tried this tactic. Would'nt be fair for Ron to do as such, in my book. No one should need to wait longer for their orders, because of late or poor planning of others.

Not what I was asking for Mike, merely trying to see what the average wait time on MLD orders and if I need to plan on buying another inner mesh tent and cancel my order in the mean time. I agree that my order shouldn't be placed ahead of others due to my poor planning and that is what I was trying to convey. When I wrote Ron last night I stated that if my order for the duomid inner net was not being sent because of the trailstar I also had on the order. I stated that I would be willing to pay separate shipping if my inner net was done and could be sent out ASAP as I don't really need my trailstar until August.

Ron wrote me back last night and stated he was going to check on the status of my order and get back to me on Monday. From there I will know if I need to take the member up on his very generous offer in letting me use/have his duomid inner net in exchange for me sending him my duomid inner tent when it comes in the mail as he doesn't need his for another few weeks.

I've found that the stated order wait times 7-8 weeks are only a general guide-line and have had orders take 2 weeks longer than what is actually stated at the website. Not knocking Ron, and MLD, its just what it is. I've ordered a lot of gear from Ron, and have learned to just wait, and not worry about having the gear, in time for any trips.

My first order arrived almost exactly 8 weeks after I ordered it. In fact, it arrived the day after I sent Ron e-mail asking about the status of the order, so accounting for the Memorial Day weekend shipping delay, it was right on time.

My other order (Spirit quilt) is still outstanding, but I ordered it a month later. I'm hoping it will arrive on time also, so that I can use it on the Sierra Club camping trip at the end of June, and the Cutthroat Pass backpacking trip I'm doing on July 4th weekend. :)

I called Ron this morning and asked him about my order status. My trailstar has been done for about a week and the duomid bug inner net is supposed to be done here in the next couple days and sent out pronto in order to make it to AK before the 23rd.

Great outfit and very professional for sure!!! Always glad to support the small shop when given the chance.

I had also sent an email to Ron enquiring about an order I placed on May 3. I've got a hike coming up over 4th of July, and I simply needed to know if I'd get my Trailstar by then or not. I really was not trying to push my order either–I just needed to know for planning purposes. Ron got back to me and said that it'd be no problem to get it. He told me he's around the 7 week timeframe, but don't quote me on that, and don't hold MLD to that. They're a good enough company that won't jerk you around.

I don't know whether or not this helps, but I received the Spirit quilt that I ordered early May. It arrived last night. And as usual, since MLD didn't tell me that it was on the way, it was a bit of a surprise (a pleasant one, of course).

Well, I'm not surprised that MLD delivered it, just that you tend to find out that they've shipped your stuff to you when you find it on your doorstep or whatever when you get home from work ;)

Luke, I wouldn't call it "poor planning" when you order a product 2 months out. Personally, I think you should give him a call and see if he works this out with you.

My opinion is you guys are always WAAAAY too nice and loyal to the cottage industry and they should take care of you guys more for it.

In a business age where you can get products online cheaper and faster than ever before the typical consumer will not wait for 8 weeks.

"My opinion is you guys are always WAAAAY too nice and loyal to the cottage industry and they should take care of you guys more for it."

It's a bit fuzzier when you're dealing with a company like MLD, because the reason for the delay isn't that they don't care, it's due to the fact that they're building their shelters, tarps, quilts, and that sort of thing to order. AFAIK they're building most of those largely by hand, also. The upside to all of this is that they will give you what you want, the down side is that it costs, and takes time to build.

I also suspect that part of the reason that they take so long is that so many people want their gear ;)

Ehhh? The cottage industry owes no one anything and they do plenty for this community by making excellent, affordable, customizable gear here in the USA. Do they need to do more for us? No, I don't think so, why should they? For crying out loud they get on BPL and browse through the mire to clarify and gain feedback from users. At what point does a particular order warrant expediency and priority? If someone pays $165 for an MLD Burn order the last week in May and doesn't receive it until June because two other individuals went out of their way to call Ron seeking to have their gear rushed ahead for some epic trip isn't quite kosher in my opinion. When you start catering to individuals it becomes a slippery slope. Now, if you're an outdoor gear ambassador like Andrew Skurka undertaking a monumental goal, then yeah, I can understand putting a Duomid aside in production, but if you're joe blow amateur looking to do a "bigger" than the next guys weekend adventure with the kids then I think getting in line and waiting the 8 weeks just like everyone else is appropriate. Such practice is obviously at the leisure of the business owner, but needing a specialized item of gear within an order filling timeline and hoping a business owner will cater is slightly poor planning.

The gear manufactured and sold by all of the cottage companies isn't "typical or cheap", which is why the 6-8 week turnaround is acceptable and appropriate. There is a reason why you can rush deliver a cheap North Face pack for $100 overnight… it's typical and cheap. Quality takes time and is worth waiting for.

* Luke, I'm not suggesting you planned poorly, you obviously had a backup plan in place and clarified in your posts. But I've seen past posts where people are searching for gear because a trip hinges on this one item and expect miracles to be done.

Let me just say it this way. I'm a small business and if one of my clients calls me with a similar story I have no problem staying up late and working on their project to make sure their deadline is met.

All I'm saying is call and ask I'm sure they'll work with you the best they can.

Some of you guys need to stop getting your panties in a bunch everytime someone says something about a small business. – seriously its sounding annoying. Like none of you "small business defenders" ever bought a Nike product, Crest toothpaste or drank a Bud.

I am ok with the wait time. Just wish they would have posted it a little more obvious. I know I know read the fine print at the time of order. What I fear sometimes take place is these small shops worry about filling orders as the lead time gets so great so they hire more folks or change their business culture to the point were to don't get as high of a quality product.

As far as my order I asked Ron not to make any exceptions for me as I had a backup plan, but he stated that my order was coming together right around the 6-7 week mark which he said isn't all that uncommon I guess. It does seem to be a great company and time will tell what I think of the products after personally using them, but I doubt I will be let down. Looking forward to putting it to use for sure.

I can certainly see where Alex is coming from. I have now been waiting 9 weeks and 3 days for my order. I may have go on a trip without my order because of this delay. Is that okay? I don't think so.

People should not expect their order to be rushed for them, but when given a time frame of 6-8 weeks, they should rightly expect to get their order on time.

There were probably a number of reason why my order is still not here. Trail Days popped up and I'm sure that is a major factor. I imagine that Ron and crew are probably doing what it takes to get caught up now and my order just happened to fall in the middle of this. That doesn't mean it's okay to be over a week late for delivery though.

What would make it better is if Ron notified me before leaving for Trail Days that I should expect my order later. Communication is key in business and thinking that you can just do what you want and that customers are going to be okay with it is a bad attitude. I love MLD and I am willing to give them leeway that another company would not receive. I don't like getting the feeling that MLD thinks being a week late is not a big deal though. In my emails with Ron he never said "Sorry your order is late man. I got caught up at trail days and etc.. etc…" Feeling like he cares that my order is a week late would be nice, ya know?

I like having friendly relationships with the companies I buy from. It's cool that you're late Ron, but let me know so I can get my life rescheduled. Make an effort to make it seem like you care. Rushed shipping? Refunded shipping? A note as soon as you know you're behind? An apology? I dunno, but anything is better than nothing.

But yeah, I carry an Exodus, Grace tarp, superlight bivy, Duomid, and soon to be an innernet. Ron makes amazing gear and he is a true craftsmen. I will still recommend MLD to my friends or anyone whom I discuss backpacking with and I will still buy gear from MLD. I just want to feel special and like MLD cares about me :-(

That I have to admit that I agree with. The built quality of his gear is great, and shows a lot of attention to detail, and since it's made to order, the lead time is, in general, bearable.

I just wish that MLD had a better process for informing the customers of the status of their orders… even though it is kind of cool to receive an order from MLD that you didn't even know had shipped, it would be nice if I could go to the web site and see my order status. "in queue" "in production" "shipped" that sort of thing… not much else, I don't need to know that they finished building it and are now packaging it, that's more detail than I care about.

The impression I get isn't that MLD doesn't care, it's just that they're not very good at telling us that they do. When I sent Ron e-mail inquiring about the status of my tarp order a few days after the 8-week mark, he missed the message and the next day I found a package from MLD on my doorstep, so I e-mailed him letting him know that my order had arrived. In his reply, he apologized for not replying to my inquiry.

So yeah, I'm willing to cut them some slack, because in my admittedly brief exchanges with Ron Bell, he's been courteous and answered my questions.

Hi Everyone.

Thanks for all the good feedback and info. It all works to help us get better.

The economy is tricky to predict and since we keep all our production in house (and our very little band of skilled craftspersons stably employed) the order/production estimate is a moving target.

The crew and I have been working extra shop hours to get the order time down. By the end of next week we should be at about 5 weeks for almost all items.

We do have most all of the smaller items (gaiters, mitts, etc.) on hand and ready to ship.

One big upside to the UL community in the production-wait tradeoff at MLD is a vast range of choices, cutting edge materials and new designs.

Just counting all the tarps and shelters that are listed on the site, plus factor in all the listed options, including fabric, size and color choices and there are over really over 250 different shelter items! Same with the Bivys. I think we may be up to total of about 600 listed products or product option permutations – And that's before all the custom tweaks. (Our Custom Gear Charge is our most popular item.)

We appreciate your patronage and it's you who make it possible to keep pushing the sport forward though better and better gear choices. If we did not offer the broad range of gear- we would not be quite large enough in sales (a relative term! – we are quite small as is the whole UL cottage industry) to be able to source the best materials and continually develop a wide range new gear.

We have some new ideas in the works (inspired by your feedback) and really exciting new materials coming along. Thanks for your support.

Many Thanks,
Ron

"I just want to feel special and like MLD cares about me :-("

The fact that Ron reads these forums and replies ought to help :)

My Grace + Serenity + Spirit combination knocks around 3 pounds from my base weight, which will enable me to carry an extra pound of food + extra film + a film changing bag without an additional penalty. :D

Got my Trailstar over the weekend! It took just over 6 weeks to get. I haven't been able to set it up yet, but the quality looks very excellent.