Fans focus group with Castore

Big Joe Canoe said:
So can you say for sure that the material for the home top made in Turkey is much higher quality than the fake home shirts the Turkish are selling for about £40 cheaper than what we have paid?
Because this seems to be the problem that the fans feel they are being ripped off with an inferior material.
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I don’t. Said numerous times I was happy when I got the kit and I’m still happy now so not all fans feel the way you do. They have admitted mistakes in quality, and if this repeats next season I’ll be as angry as you are.
 
GazzaG said:
I have no idea of the stock levels, I passed the shop in Aberdeen and was just really surprised that they had a poster at the front advertising Rangers kit for sale given where the shop is.
My point is that they clearly have kit to sell while people who signed up to Rangers membership scheme are still waiting.
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MyGers was not giving access to any kind of presale event.
 
Greg Marshall said:
its definitely a narrative but I don’t agree with it - had lots of messages from fans at launch about how good the design of style of the kit.

admittedly these things are subjective so people are entitled to their opinions but I for one have the home, away and third shirts and like the cut of the home shirt the best.
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It’s not a narrative.

The home is of a completely different quality, cut and fit compared to the away and third, not to mention manufactured in a different country/factory.

There are clear quality issues here.

It’s frankly embarrassing that you are on here peddling this nonsense.
 
RFC_Champions said:
Myself included..... my son is jumping around with the “poorer” version of the home top. He’s also got the away and third kit which is of far superior quality.

His pals have the “better” version of the home kit which is night and day to the “poorer” version.
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I feel sorry for your kid, his mates will start ripping into him for having a Turkish snider when it inevitably starts falling apart.
 
Tommac said:
It’s not popular because it isn’t true. The excuse given for the clear difference between the third and away replica kits and some versions of the home kit (ladies and some kids), when compared to the adult male home tops was that pro tops were sent out by mistake. That was in the statement you helped circulated on behalf of Castore and it wasn’t true.

The adult male home top from Turkey is still 100% polyester but is different to the 100% polyester third and away strips. It is also different to the 100% polyester female and kids home tops which happened to be manufactured in China. There is no reasonable excuse for that so someone cane up with the lie that pro tops, which are a different material, were sent out by mistake.

There is no point complaining about a “narrative” when it was a lie about pro tops which caused the confusion in the first place.
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the statement from Castore didn’t reference the away or third kits at all so your point isn’t correct on them saying anything on their quality vs the home top.

there were certainly some pro kids tops sent out in error @Empire said not long ago he’d seen them.

the home replica adult male top is the way it’s supposed to look - it’s the designs used in all promotional material etc.

the away and third replicas also look how they were supposed to look. I appreciate that the confusion has included the differences there.

there have been some errors but with the turnaround time that is so short there was always likely to be something.
 
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Midfield General said:
Haven't read the whole thread but was anyone invited from Club 1872?I know there was talk from beforehand that there wouldn't be any one.I find that strange considering they represent a large part of the fan base and are supposed to be a conduit between the fans and the Club.
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I asked same this morning to BS,that was the reply from him, the board & Club 1872 mustve been in contact with each other after they released the statement on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoon before the focus group.

Budd Sidewinder said:
James was asked by someone about Club1972 not being there and he advised discussions are being held with them from the board directly.
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MCMLXXXI said:
I bet @Budd Sidewinder wishes he'd not bothered to update some of the folk on here. The grief he's getting is embarrassing.

FWIW the jury is still out with Castore for me. They are good at talking a good game, they now need to get on the ball & deliver.
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I don't feel I'm getting grief apart from one person who believed my summary was scripted. I understand people's desire for an update from the meeting and I'm happy to provide it. Water off a ducks back. It is clear having been there compared to assumptions people make including who from Castore was there and the fact they weren't in the room a little disheartening and shows people are responding without really thinking about what really matters.
 
Paulski54 said:
The best way to deal with that is ignorance I suppose. The folk who will be throwing that type of “insult”, if you could call it that, are the mentally challengeds who, lets face it, in the main would struggle to purchase anything from their site normally, as their giro wouldn’t stretch that far.

or fight insult with insult like “here’s a bar of soap” or something a bit stronger than that of course.
:)) :)) :))
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Carbaulic?
 
Barbarossa said:
It’s not a narrative.

The home is of a completely different quality, cut and fit compared to the away and third, not to mention manufactured in a different country/factory.

There are clear quality issues here.

It’s frankly embarrassing that you are on here peddling this nonsense.
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yes they are made in a different country. They were always planned to be (getting manufacturing time in such a short period was an achievement in itself)

i disagree the home is less quality than the away and third. it’s just slightly different (which looking at all our kits over the years, the home, away and third are always a bit different cut/styled).

the issues I’ve seen on quality have been on quality assurance not from a macro design point of view.

thats my take. Big picture those issues are being addressed and this partnership has massive potential for the club.
 
Laudrup1 said:
Gotcha, Cheers.

Right, that takes me back to the question as to why they told us the Pro kits were to be made at their Portuguese factory at their flag ship store on their elite equipment?

That's a lie I can't get over just now until they answer it more than "we accidentally had released some of them in China" which doesn't pass decent levels of reasoning.
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Would have been useful if someone attending last night had taken them to task over this and the pathetic iphone statement that was issued on it.
 
Barbarossa said:
It’s not a narrative.

The home is of a completely different quality, cut and fit compared to the away and third, not to mention manufactured in a different country/factory.

There are clear quality issues here.

It’s frankly embarrassing that you are on here peddling this nonsense.
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To be fair mate, the amount of time you have spent on here moaning every effin day about a football strip is fairly embarrassing as well.
 
I’m still awaiting a response from Castore on issues with my home to from nearly 4 weeks ago. Their treatment of supporters and “customer service” is appalling.

What was said about selling school jumpers?
 
Greg Marshall said:
the statement from Castore didn’t reference the away or third kits at all so your point isn’t correct on them saying anything on their quality vs the home top.

there were certainly some pro kids tops sent out in error @Empire said not long ago he’d seen them.

the home replica adult male top is the way it’s supposed to look - it’s the designs used in all promotional material etc.

the away and third replicas also look how they were supposed to look. I appreciate that the confusion has included the differences there.

there have been some errors but with the turnaround time that is so short there was always likely to be something.
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So if you have the top with the inferior red stripe will it be swapped at the shop?
 
I didn’t say they mentioned it. It was the excuse provided for the differences in the home replica tops but it also applies to third and away as their quality matches some of the women’s and kids home strips made in China.

There are differences between different versions of the replica home top depending on whether it’s men’s, women’s, kids and location it was made. That is undeniable and unacceptable. The statement you circulated claimed this was due to pro tops being sent out which wasn’t true as the pro tops are not 100% polyester and the difference apply to 100% polyester tops.

Rather than just admitting that there are differences in quality between the home tops due to having to use different factories for production there is a stupid persistence from Castore, and judging by your posts Rangers, that it’s to do with pro tops.

Greg Marshall said:
the statement from Castore didn’t reference the away or third kits at all so your point isn’t correct on them saying anything on their quality vs the home top.

there were certainly some pro kids tops sent out in error @Empire said not long ago he’d seen them.

the home replica adult male top is the way it’s supposed to look - it’s the designs used in all promotional material etc.

the away and third replicas also look how they were supposed to look. I appreciate that the confusion has included the differences there.

there have been some errors but with the turnaround time that is so short there was always likely to be something.
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Tommac said:
I didn’t say they mentioned it. It was the excuse provided for the differences in the home replica tops but it also applies to third and away as their quality matches some of the women’s and kids home strips made in China.

There are differences between different versions of the replica home top depending on whether it’s men’s, women’s, kids and location it was made. That is undeniable and unacceptable. The statement you circulated claimed this was due to pro tops being sent out which wasn’t true as the pro tops are not 100% polyester and the difference apply to 100% polyester tops.

Rather than just admitting that there are differences in quality between the home tops due to having to use different factories for production there is a stupid persistence from Castore, and judging by your posts Rangers, that it’s to do with pro tops.
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As far as I can understand in respect of the Home replica tops the Adult mens is made in Turkey, as are some of the kids tops (seems to be age specific). The Women’s tops and some of the kids tops (age specific) are made in China. That’s where the discrepancies arise, nothing to do with the Pro tops (which are also made in China). There is no Men’s Home replica kit made in China.

Away/Third are made in China.
 
I’ve been very much in the negative camp with regards to Castore since the pre-order debacle. The summary of last night’s focus group gives me renewed hope that we may see the problems fixed especially with Bisgrove saying they’ll be held to task on all issues raised. It’s amazing what a bit of honest communication does and if only Rangers and Castore had both realised this earlier. I’d like to think we’ll hear something a bit more official from the club on it all in the near future so the whole fan base can hear what was covered.
 
Agreed. I think if Castore and Rangers had been honest about that rather than coming up with the clearly false, pro top excuse then there would be a lot less confusion. To now be doubling down on the original statement, which wasn’t true, is very disappointing and makes it much more difficult to believe anything else they are saying about efforts to improve things and also the number of fans who have been affected by quality issues.

That’s before even addressing that there are definite quality issues across the range, although these might be within normal levels. The real issue is how badly Castore and Rangers have dealt with all of this publicly. It’s been a complete mess.

Valley Bluenose said:
As far as I can understand in respect of the Home replica tops the Adult mens is made in Turkey, as are some of the kids tops (seems to be age specific). The Women’s tops and some of the kids tops (age specific) are made in China. That’s where the discrepancies arise, nothing to do with the Pro tops (which are also made in China). There is no Men’s Home replica kit made in China.

Away/Third are made in China.
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Tommac said:
Agreed. I think if Castore and Rangers had been honest about that rather than coming up with the clearly false, pro top excuse then there would be a lot less confusion. To now be doubling down on the original statement, which wasn’t true, is very disappointing and makes it much more difficult to believe anything else they are saying about efforts to improve things and also the number of fans who have been affected by quality issues.

That’s before even addressing that there are definite quality issues across the range, although these might be within normal levels. The real issue is how badly Castore and Rangers have dealt with all of this publicly. It’s been a complete mess.
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I‘m slightly baffled by that Pro thing. I’m not convinced any Pro tops were ever distributed. I think the whole furore kicked off with someone comparing a Men’s Home top (Turkey) to either a Women’s or Juniors top from China. All Hell broke loose based on that misunderstanding and that statement appeared.
 
Read through all the threads on the differing qualities of the merchandise and it is obvious that there are a lot of problems with the quality and the customer service towards customers who have inferior products. It will not do for Castore and Rangers to just have a focus group of 10 people. Castore and Rangers should front up with a joint statement admitting the faults and setting out their plans to rectify these matters. If they do that promptly then they may save both their reputations but I wonder how many people will have confidence in buying anything going forward.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
No, and you wouldn't think so if you took the time to read my posts. I am railing against those suggesting - some openly and some less so - that the guys going along tonight have been hand-picked by the Club to be stooges. That's a nonsense. Confirmed by a poster on here who is one of the 'lucky' ten.

Are you seriously suggesting that the Club know who has had a good experience and who has had a bad experience and has ensured the entire group comes from the former?
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No idea what SouthLDN is getting at in response to your posts. Saying that 10% of people that we know for sure had no issues isn't a cross section of the support. It literally is the definition of a cross section as some people are happy with what they received. Don't get it.
 
Saying that 95% of supporters are happy is being very economical with the figures.

That figure will not include the thousands of fans (myself included) who emailed them and still haven’t received a reply. And people who didn’t bother returning, or simply weren’t able to arrange one.
 
MusicMan Majesty said:
Read through all the threads on the differing qualities of the merchandise and it is obvious that there are a lot of problems with the quality and the customer service towards customers who have inferior products. It will not do for Castore and Rangers to just have a focus group of 10 people. Castore and Rangers should front up with a joint statement admitting the faults and setting out their plans to rectify these matters. If they do that promptly then they may save both their reputations but I wonder how many people will have confidence in buying anything going forward.
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This 100% . Not interested in we will get it right next time . Fix this mess
 
MusicMan Majesty said:
Read through all the threads on the differing qualities of the merchandise and it is obvious that there are a lot of problems with the quality and the customer service towards customers who have inferior products. It will not do for Castore and Rangers to just have a focus group of 10 people. Castore and Rangers should front up with a joint statement admitting the faults and setting out their plans to rectify these matters. If they do that promptly then they may save both their reputations but I wonder how many people will have confidence in buying anything going forward.
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According to the castore website it seems fans are still very happy to buy stock going forward. Home strip now sold out except the 4XL and that's just in 2 days.

You not think there's a chance all this rage at the mistakes made has been very much an online thing rather than in the general support overall? Sales seem to suggest it very much is.
 
UlsterBear91 said:
Saying that 95% of supporters are happy is being very economical with the figures.

That figure will not include the thousands of fans (myself included) who emailed them and still haven’t received a reply. And people who didn’t bother returning, or simply weren’t able to arrange one.
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To be fair, have you spoken to every Rangers fan?

We've sold 100,000 shirts, I think it was?

If 5000 have complaints, that's 95% happy.

They have a database of customers and a database of complaints, very easy to compare the two.
 
a_weir said:
To be fair, have you spoken to every Rangers fan?

We've sold 100,000 shirts, I think it was?

If 5000 have complaints, that's 95% happy.

They have a database of customers and a database of complaints, very easy to compare the two.
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I think Castore have said circa 3% returns. Seemingly close to the industry average. Personally I still think that’s too high but reading on here and on social media you‘d think it was the other way about and 97% were unhappy.

As far as I can tell a misleading comparison on social media between a Men’s (Turkey) top and a Women’s or Junior (China) top kicked all this off. We still have folk thinking they can swap a Men’s Home made in Turkey for one made in China. They can’t. There isn’t a Men’s Home made in China except the Pro version - which isn’t released yet and is made from different material.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
I think Castore have said circa 3% returns. Seemingly close to the industry average. Personally I still think that’s too high but reading on here and on social media you‘d think it was the other way about and 97% were unhappy.

As far as I can tell a misleading comparison on social media between a Men’s (Turkey) top and a Women’s or Junior (China) top kicked all this off. We still have folk thinking they can swap a Men’s Home made in Turkey for one made in China. They can’t. There isn’t a Men’s Home made in China except the Pro version - which isn’t released yet and is made from different material.
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Yeah I agree. Had there not been a thread, I wouldn't have even know there was potential issues with my strip. Seems perfectly fine to me. Been washed a few times and no issues at all.

Obviously others have had issues but I suspect Castore know, as you said above, that it is a small minority.
 
JW1988 said:
Yes, because the home shirt is only made in Turkey for men. Poorer quality than away and third IMO.
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Cheers. If that's the case, I'll probably not bother changing it then (given I wear it so infrequently) and it'll end up in a bag with all my other old tops sooner than normal.

On top of that, because they've still not given a reason that I can swallow, I'll remain pissed off about the lesser quality material used on the men's home kit compared to the away, 3rd and Chinese made women and junior strips.

It's gonna remain soured for a period until they've got 99.9% of things fixed which, by all reasonable accounts is gonna be the start of next season.

The next thing I'd have been buying would have been a 5-7 year old top for my boy but that's been a failure too that I cant see being addressed given they've botched it so I'll sit on my cash until next summer.
 
Greg Marshall said:
the statement from Castore didn’t reference the away or third kits at all so your point isn’t correct on them saying anything on their quality vs the home top.

there were certainly some pro kids tops sent out in error @Empire said not long ago he’d seen them.

the home replica adult male top is the way it’s supposed to look - it’s the designs used in all promotional material etc.

the away and third replicas also look how they were supposed to look. I appreciate that the confusion has included the differences there.

there have been some errors but with the turnaround time that is so short there was always likely to be something.
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What about kids home strips mate? Thats my query.

I know Castore have went into writing regarding the adult strips as you state above. It’s a wishy washy excuse / “get-out of jail card” imo but i do acknowledge that it is factual.

However, it seems a bit radio silence in the kids home strips which it really is pot luck what you get in terms of the variation in quality. It’s certainly not the “pro” tops as these come branded as such (black logo badge, and material inclusive of spandex)
 
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