Full Belts discussion

I’m frustrated … and not in the “good” way. Here’s my story/rant: About this time last year, my KH decided to get a full belt for me since I was having some issues with my CB-6000. I looked around and after a bit, we decided to go with Locked in Steel. They are in the US, and with the dollar plummeting like it was, it made LIS a better bargain than the European competitors, despite their relative newness to the scene. After waiting for several months, it finally arrived in March. It was nice, the finish was well done. The only problem was that we didn’t measure well, so the belt didn’t fit — too big. I was able to fix one part, the front shield was about 2” too long, and unless you look real close, you would be hard pressed to tell it from the original cut. It was pretty good, but the belt was too loose. I could almost slip it off and step out of it (with lube). Since the belt was a slight curve, there was nothing I could do about it being too big which was compounded by the fact that I also lost some weight, meaning it needed to be now 4-5” smaller. I finally got off my duff contacted them in early July and sent it in towards the end of July to have a new belt put on. So, that was nearly 8 weeks ago. My original communication with Jillian suggested that they had the right belt in stock and were putting aside for me. Since they had it in stock, it was also suggested that it would only be a week turnaround. Now, nearly 8 weeks later, I can’t get them to answer a ^@&#$ing email to at least give me the time of day.:anim_43: I’ve sent them an email a week (9/6, 9/13, 9/19) for the past 2.5 weeks from an account that had proved reliable to communicate with them. The web-based order status page hasn’t been updated since the order for the refit was originally created, but I have an email from one of their people saying that he was going to work on it that night (8/13 — they should have received it 8/1) — the last email I received Ok, yes.. I could call them, maybe I will tomorrow, but when I tried to call to arrange payment before shipping the belt, I never could get ahold of them — it always went to the machine. I’m not ticked off that it’s taking so long.. I’m ticked off that in the course of approaching three weeks, they haven’t responded to a single email, even if to say that they had some production delays and it should be done by 10/1. Ok.. I’m done now.. Thanks for letting me vent.

:anim_43: The world of chastity makers are a law unto themselves! Here's hoping it gets sorted soon.:love0071:

Thanks. Part of me knew this was typical, but it's no less frustrating. I like the new avatar -- very flirty and mischevious. I meant to say something in the topic where you introduced it, but got distracted by something shiny.

Hi stealth, I think we're held prisoners in more ways than one. I have extensive posts on my Locked in Steel Adventure. Thanks goodness I measured perfectly. After 6 1/2 months if it didn't fit I would have snapped. As I have posted there's not much we can do. Chastity belt makers are not on every corner. I have had mine for 2 weeks and have been in it all the time (except for work). I miss it if I don't have it on. Now; about that next orgasm-:kissass:

I think you nailed it, except that I don't really think that this lack of communication is limited to just CB manufacturers. The problem has become pervasive in many lines of work unless it's always been there and maybe I've just been *really* slow to notice it. For example, we're having some work done on our house and the builder communicates about the same way -- they don't, unless they need something or I initiate it. For someone who's very detail oriented, ALWAYS meets deadlines, and attempts to provide people the information they need, this kind of thing drives me absolutely bonkers. On the other hand, I explicitly try not micromanage things and I'm not that demanding as long as you keep me informed what's going on.

Yes, I have experienced the same thing with other businesses. It's amazing with all the modern communication devices we have they still don't get used. When I find someone who uses them they get my repeat business more often.

Update: I decided to send another email on Friday from the original account that I was using ages ago when I ordered the belt. I had stopped using that account to email them due to a similar lack of response during and after the original order when I was trying to diagnose exactly what was wrong with the belt. Despite my frustration, I kept it as pleasant as possible, simply stating that I'm just trying to figure out what the status is, since the order status on the web had hadn't been updated (and still isn't). There was no comment from them on the lack of response to the previous emails, so I still have no idea whether they were getting lost, ignored or whatever. Being no stranger to running email systems, I've offered in the past to help them identify the problem of the lost mail. They never took me up on it, which unfortunately makes me suspect that they don't care enough to investigate or worse, are ignoring their email. Not liking to jump to conclusions, I'd really like to come up with some more benign explanation, but I'm having a hard time of it. They did respond that they were working on it Tuesday, but that the coated split cables were backordered so they'll be attaching the comfort chains temporarily. Reading between the lines, it suggests that I'll have it back soon but will have to part with it again to get the cables attached once they're complete. So, some good news, some not so good news.

Hi Stealth, When you finally get the belt and get addicted to it as I, you may find the comfort chains work fine. It might not be worth the trouble to send it back for the coated cables. The main thing is to get that tight fit so it's part of your body and escape is impossible. It will become a part of you. Wahoo!!

That was pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking. I'm willing to give the chains a try, although there's about a $50 difference between the split cables and the comfort chains when it's first purchased. That would be the main reason why I might consider sending it back. My CS-500 works pretty well, so I do have something to fall back to in the event I do decide to send my LIS belt back to get the cables attached. There are a few minor issues with it, but it's quite serviceable. If I'm guessing correctly, I should have it by Tuesday or Monday. I'll post an update once I get it. In the meantime, I may post a review of my CS-500, since I don't think I've seen one covering it.

Yes, a review of your CS-500 would be good. I believe in posting reviews as that's where I got a lot of my information before I made purchases. The power of the Net is information. I personally don't think I'll be buying another metal belt as the one I have is working perfectly.........:gen085::smilies_xxx02::sex023:,:sex021:

Still no belt. The day after the email I mentioned above, they sent an email asking me what I had originally sent to them to make sure everything made it back to me. I sent an email back the same evening (last Wednesday). I emailed them again today because I was worried they didn't get the previous one, and they emailed back:happy0158: within an hour:sign0011: to say simply it's "packed and ready to go" (tomorrow?). Hmm.. Interesting, I just checked my old email and noticed that I originally placed the order for my belt back on 10/24/07 and I should get it back by the anniversary date. In that time, I think I had it for around 4 months and probably wore it for a total of 36-48 hours. So, there's light at the end of the tunnel and it doesn't appear to be an oncoming train.

**It's an oncoming train.** I thought I'd post an update here. The belt shipped and was received as expected. When I went to try it on, it was *WAY* too small. I was disgusted at the thought of yet ANOTHER measurement error (at my cost, since it was my measurements, not theirs).:mad0235: I left it sitting on a shelf for a month, and in the meantime, tried to lose more weight with some success. Sometime in the middle of November, I took it back off the shelf and took a serious look at both what was wrong as well as how much more weight I thought I'd need to lose in order to fit into it. I discovered that it looks like they sent me a 32" belt instead of the agreed upon 36" belt. On Nov 17, I emailed them to let them know of my discovery and ask them what could be done about it. No response. So much for them responding to emails on a weekly basis (read that somewhere, maybe a different forum). I emailed them AGAIN on Dec 8. No response to that one so far either. I realize it's just a part-time business and it's just two of them, but I paid good money over a year ago, and I still don't have a usable belt. I guess I'll just start back up with emailing them weekly from my two different accounts to see if I can get their attention.

Bummer. I have seen Jillian posting fairly regularly at Perhaps you could post a (polite) message there, inviting her to let you know where things stand?

I've seen posts from Jillian over there, and that's very likely where I read that they respond to emails on a weekly basis. I'll consider posting something there if this goes on too much longer without a response. I just sent an email from my gmail account (not the account I'd used for the previous two emails), so I need to give them an opportunity to respond to that first. Thanks for the idea.

**Be Polite** No matter what you do, be respectful and polite. I learned the hard way. I have an LIS belt that is useless and Julian has refused to do any further business with me. My belt was about 8 months in the making and I was extremely frustrated with the lack of communication. It only took one email and I was on the "do not do business with" list. BE VERY POLITE or kiss your investment good-bye.

Believe me, I **try** to be as polite as possible -- usually succeeding, I hope. I'm definitely not one of those pushy, demanding sorts that you see screaming at the sales people in Best Buy. I've been approaching them more with a, "can you help me figure out what went wrong and how to fix it?" type of attitude instead of, "fix this dammit!" The unfortunate bit about what you're saying is that email (and forums, for that matter) isn't a good medium to do business in if you don't have a thick skin. Without body language and vocal inflections, too many things can be taken completely the wrong way. It can also be extremely difficult to put your thoughts into words sometimes. I used to run a BBS years ago, and the big joke was that the first requirement for doing so was owning a Nomex suit.

> dickorydoc said: > No matter what you do, be respectful and polite. I learned the hard way. I have an LIS belt that is useless and Julian has refused to do any further business with me. My belt was about 8 months in the making and I was extremely frustrated with the lack of communication. It only took one email and I was on the "do not do business with" list. > BE VERY POLITE or kiss your investment good-bye. > Click to expand... The only consolation of this is that eventually the bad name that LIS already have will get worse and they'll go out of business.... Thats the upside of forums, you can at least get some satisfaction by posting a true review... I do think on the face of it that the LIS:confused0068::confused0068:belt (not the whole thing just the belt itself) looks to be the best and most inovative on the market but I went with Neosteel because of LIS's bad reputation, the more I read the more glad I am that I did.... Sorry you got such poor service both of you

LIS wrote me back earlier this week. I exchanged another email or two with them, and now my belt should be on the way to them Friday. :jumping0045: If it weren't for this mix up with the belt size, I think it would have been just right. We'll see when it comes back.

> dickorydoc said: > No matter what you do, be respectful and polite. I learned the hard way. I have an LIS belt that is useless and Julian has refused to do any further business with me. My belt was about 8 months in the making and I was extremely frustrated with the lack of communication. It only took one email and I was on the "do not do business with" list. > BE VERY POLITE or kiss your investment good-bye. > Click to expand... I'd be really interested to hear what happened.... or didn't happen. I'm needing repairs on mine, and I have the distinct feeling I'm being ignored.

We received the belt back on 1/23/09. I worked that day and we left for a week-long vacation that night, so I was unable to even so much as open the box before we left. Once we got back, and after everything was unpacked, I tried it on. Sure enough, it fits just about perfectly, possibly a tiny bit too tight in the waist at the moment. I enjoyed the food a little too much while on vacation, but once that's worked off, it should be just right. Now, because Murphy isn't done throwing curve-balls at me, my wife/KH doesn't seem interested in anything other than vanilla sex at the moment. <sigh>