Pos
 

What's the general feeling out there on POS (+POS, Parson's Officials' Supplies) as an umpire equipment supplier? I am looking for comments on quality, price, reliability and customer service.

Thanks.

Strikes and outs!

The general feeling will be average to good product quality, average to horrible customer service. I had poor customer service the first couple of times I ever used them, didn't like the merchandise I bought all that much, and therefore switched to other suppliers. For several years now I've been probably 70% Honigs and 30% Gerry Davis.

Their quality is great. Their prices are competitive for the quality of equipment that they supply. However, their customer service just plain old sucks!!!

The only time I'll buy anything from +POS is if there is no other place to get it. For example. I need a new red shirt for a tournament in a week. Honigs is out of stock in my size for the rest of the season, so I ordered one from +POS two weeks ago. I called this morning and the shirt was just sent to the embroidery department today to be numbered. They said it might take three or four days before it's shipped. More than likely that means it will ship in about 7-10 days judging from my past experience with them. Now, had it been Hoings filling the order I would have received the damn thing, numbers and all on my doorstep within two or three business days. And that's only if I wanted it numbered. If I order an in stock item from Honigs, it's usually here the next day.


Tim.

Can't go wrong with Honigs...top shelf service...after all, I think we all know how hard it is to get good ol' customer service. +POS...like said in earlier posts, after many negative experiences, I only use them if I have to. If you choose to use +POS, I hope you have a better experiences than me.

I have used +POS only once & that won't change. Now I mainly use Honigs or sometimes Lester's Upstate Sports.

I'm glad to know it's not just me
 

I have a mish-mash of stuff- POS shinguards, GD plate shoes, Honig's shirts (which I don't like, by the way- topic for another post), Wilson/Joe West Mask (and the Carlucci chest protector :)- the best equipment purchase I have ever made) .

I had never had trouble with POS before this year. Then, they royally screwed up an order I placed two weeks before high school season (Feb. 10) and one item has still not arrived. Long story short- I won't be using them again, either.

Strikes and outs!

I used to love +POS and do all my business with them. I have always thought their product - except shirts - are top quality. I don't like the +POS shirts nearly as much as CK or Honigs.
Unfortunately, the last two things I've tried to order from them have been backordered, and when I decide to order something I want it soon!

Many things changed when Buck died.

Buck was a Schaumburg fireman who revolutionized the umpiring equipment market. He was able to bring some pretty nice products to the customer. His cost was reasonable and they took pride in backing up their gear. He and Sylvia ran that place like it was their home.

He really had a Mom & Pop shop - if you have ever been to his warehouse, you know it is not a SportsAuthority. He donated a ton of gear to everyone from the local LL to Minor League aspirants. He held an annual garage sale every year to unload returns, seconds and close out gear - but he also cut the prices on his first rate stuff. He always gave me boxes of gear to use as handouts at my umpire clinics.

+POS took their first hit when the IHSA switched shirt styles (the button down Elbeco to a pull over). They were left holding the bag witha ton of useless product. Then the wheel of approved shirts started spinning. After that we saw that pants were modified. Each time, they were left with product that was useless to the umpire customer. This and the increased competition took it's toll and we lost Buck a few years ago. His wife is trying to maintain the course, but it is really tragic. They used to be the pinnacle of quality - product and service.

I have bought gear from every one of those mentioned. I have never had a problem with any of them - mainly because I'm a persistent SOB. I don't share the same feelings about +POS as some of you because they have been so good to me for a very long time.

i love my BB2000 and my two +POS masks. ive thought about trying some of the wilson/WV products, but im sticking with +POS for those two pieces of equipment for now.

i just drive over and pick them up, so i am the only one that slows the process down. ill make a call in the morning, pick it up later in the day, and i have what i want. i did deal with shipping once when i was out in pennsylvania for school and needed a few things and they took about 2 weeks longer than expected.

Thumbs up for +POS
 

I'm a +POS brat.
As I've posted before, there aren't a lot of suppliers around where I live. Prior to the advent of the internet, your choices were limited to what few items they had at the 'mall', or whatever your association had to give you. At my first 'high-end' clinic, I remember the instructors coming in together decked out in full uniform, covered in +POS logos. I had never seen an umpire bramd before- this was revolutionary. Regardless of the quality, it was what you HAD to have- and my love affair was born!
True, the service may have gone downhill recently, but I have had no real problems with ordering.
I've tried everything they have to offer- including some of the horrible ideas like the plate jersey and the zipper shirt!- and have enjoyed it all.
I've never worn a better plate shoe (+POS high top), or a more protective chest protector (BB2000), or a more comfortable jacket (PLP1- with panels) in my career.
It may not be the cheapest gear, or the highest quality, but I think it's sturdy, well designed, and for my money, it's what I'll continue to wear- I still get the logo put on my pants pockets!


Bainer.

It became very clear that Sylvia was way over her head and very stressed out trying to keep things going. We can only hope that a manager or two that understands customer service and how to run a business are hired before they fold or someone buys the brand name.

POS is the worst supply company I have ever dealt with!!! They never have anything and if it is on backorder the season will be over before you get it.

I was able to overlook wrong merchandise being delivered.

I was able to overlook delay after delay.

I was able to overlook no reponse to my emails and phone calls.

I was not able to overlook being lied to.

The only equipment I have purchased from Plus POS in the last three years is a Zero Gravity mask which was sent to me, unsolicited, for a trial. I liked it and since it was in hand, I sent them a check. I will never order anything from them again.

That's a shame...they are the official supplier to Minor League Baseball. One would think that the AMLU members would be more than grateful. Oops, what did I just write? ;)

Interesting. Amongst the other things I ordered in February was a ZG mask with tan pads. The tan pads were backordered, so I told them to send me the frame.

In May (!) they sent me the frame- a steel single bar. I immediately recognized it and tested it with a magnet. Sure enough- steel. The ZG is $20 more than the steel. This was after three phone calls assuring me that the black ZG frame was in stock. I thought it was a simple error, but then I called and they said the black ZG was out of stock again. That means either (a) the CS rep lied to me when he/she told me my aluminum ZG was in stock or (b) they took my ZG and gave it to somebody else, then sent me a steel frame, hoping I wouldn't notice. In either event, it's "bad wrong" as we say here in the south.

Strikes and outs!

Good luck getting the pads this Summer. I talked to Jason in their customer service department about getting a spare set. He told me that not only were they back ordered, they were now in the wrong country. The back order had been filled by the manufacturer, but the pads were all sent to Europe. Now, instead of getting them sent back to the States via air, the pads are waiting on a dock to be shipped back on a damn boat.


Tim.

+Plus is the official supplier for one reason - price. The shirts and pants fall apart, the jacket zippers break. Most of the umpires end up buying pants from Honigs or Gerry Davis to get through the year.

This year +POS was unable to deliver enough pants to MiLB, forcing them to go to Honigs. At least one pair of pants will last the season.

My first choice is Gerry Davis Sports.

My Second choice is Honig's.

I have no third choice!

As you can see, +POS doesn't even enter my list! Past experiences proved to me that +POS is one of the worst business's to deal with. I have a couple of +POS lineup sheets left and when they are gone, I will be +POS FREE!

WWTB-
Its funny you mentioned that... In the middle of last season a MiLB Umpire I know was promoted mid-season to the MWL. He contact +POS to get 2 extra hats, and he recieved both in November. I have had very poor experiences with +POS service (delays, backorder, wrong merchandise) but I must admit, their pants are awesome! The athletic cut pants seem to fit my big a$$ better than any other.

That's because they (+POS) made a deal with MiLB/PBUC, and not the umpires. We (umpires) were never contacted about our preferences and/or desires. Most of my colleagues at the time were not happy to very displeased with +POS's products/service.

Of course, since I'm no longer a minor league umpire, I cannot speak for current minor league umpires. I can only say that when I was umpiring we felt no need to be "grateful" since we had nothing to do with them becoming the official supplier to MiLB, and most of us did not hide our dislike of their product as compared to other products.

I don't know, but I would have a hard time ordering anything from a company called POS.

WWTB, you were almost right
 

I think what you meant to say is that we lost Sylvia a few years ago, but from what I understand, Buck is still around. The thing I think killed POS was the emergence of GDS, and the top shelf customer service Scott Ehret showed us.

We have 300+ umpires and POS is in our backyard. I would love to tell our umpires to run over there and get what they need, but the warehouse is closed for lunch from 10-2, and everything gets back ordered. When Honigs can get me something tomorrow (with an ***'n discount), why would I pay pay full price for something I'll get in four weeks?

JMHO

Sounds like an old fashioned management problem, or lack of management and customer service. Closed for 4 hours for lunch? Sounds like they're not interested in selling anything. Maybe the umpire community should oblige them!

Too bad too, they had some nice stuff.

I've told this before but here it goes. In my first season back in 1991, I used borrowed gear (read: raft,catcher's mask, catcher's leg guards) during the spring season. I was asked to work an advanced fall league later that year and told to get my own gear. I had no idea where to look. The guy who was booking the umpires, who had originally asked me to join the league, gave me a +POS catalog and told me to give them a call. I picked out a starter set and gave them a call. It was around dinner time here in NC. I may have actually been talking to Buck without knowing it but the guy that helped me was outstanding. Anyway, this was on a Thursday and I needed the gear for a Saturday plate job. I had no concept of shipping times back then. When the assignor and I talked after I had ordered, he said he would call POS and tell them that I needed the gear ASAP or he was going to drop my schedule (a ploy and not true at all). POS overnighted the gear at no extra charge on the last flight out of Chicago. I had it the next evening. They had me as a customer for life or so I thought.

In 1998 when I moved up to the HS ranks, I bought some plate pants and their plate shoes. I still have the pants today and they are in good shape (I check them colorwise each season against some newer pants I have). The shoes are still being worn by a fellow umpire.

I never had any major customer service problems with them. I use Gerry Davis Sports as my number one option and Honigs if I get in a pinch (for everything except their shirts, I will never buy a shirt from them again). I left POS because after the early 90's they never seemed to offer anything innovative. I am always looking for the next best thing because anything that makes me more comfortable, lasts longer, or is safer is something I want to have. POS just never expanded and updated their product line.

Lawrence

Owww...brain fart! FVB9 is correct and I spaced out about Buck. You are correct, Sylvia passed away and Buck is left pretty much without a helmsman. It is sad to see so many bad stories about the problems they are having. Maybe they will see some of these and fix it before it's too late. +POS was a pretty good company for a long time. I started dealing with them in the early 80s and have not encountered the issues you seem to see here. Oh well, if you can find better gear and service - go get it, life is too short.

Truthfully, +POS went to pot when Sylvia died of cancer a couple years ago. When I worked in the northwest suburbs back in the early and mid-1990's, I used to stop by +POS for lunch a couple times a week and shoot the proverbial schit with Buck, Sylvia, and Joanie, the latter being one of the nicest workers in retail I have ever met. I still see Joanie today from time to time, since she works part-time at Portillo's in Naperville.

During lunch, Buck often ripped his customers. Seriously, you wouldn't believe the way he so condescendingly talked about his customers.

Except that the guys have the red/white +POS embroidered onto the pants, as their supervisors do not allow them to wear anything but +POS unies. In fact, one of our Association members who's an MiLB umpire explained that if you're seen with non+POS pants, you're downgraded in your evaluation.

Not this year!

I'll see him Friday night and ask. That has been the practice since the contract was signed a few years back.

I don't understand
 

If they have this much difficulty, why do they advertise? For example, the AUL300 mask- a basic business principle (it seems to me, anyway): if you sell out of it all the time, KEEP IT IN STOCK! Same thing with pads, etc.

Strikes and outs!

I've used Gerry Davis only for plate shoes and my baseball gear bag. Nothing against them, great stuff and service. I usually use Honig's for pants, shirts, etc. Lately, I've been giving Between The Lines my business. BTL is great! Rex has treated me great, answered all my questions and treated me the way I want to be treated! It's Honig's and BTL for me.

Dude, nine minutes after I posted my retraction, you added this. Then, edited it eight minutes later. Come on...

I'm not making an excuse for +POS, just informing the board about why things may have gone bad for them. My error was already accounted for, but that's what I get for typing when I should be sleeping. Mea culpa.

I patronize Honigs for some stuff, mostly pants and pull overs, but I find CK shirts to be far superior to Honigs. Lester's Upstate Sports has fair prices and fair shipping charges. His cutomer service ranks right up there with Honigs.

I love Cliff Keen shirts as well, and the best source I have found for those is Gerry Davis, as he does not charge extra for larger sizes, and he carries the MLB Polo Blue with Black Trim, which is one of my colors.

Lester's has great service, and Dave there told me exactly when my new V-Sport protector would arrive, and he was right!

BTL is very caring, and went out of their way to try to locate a backordered All-Star CPU28PRO protector I wanted, but were unable to find due to factory backorder.

I edited it to add information unrelated to your comments. Don't get your panties all in a twist over nothing.

My complaint about the Gerry Davis "polo blue" shirts is that they are a different shade of blue than the Honig's MLB Polo Blue replicas and that the trim is not, in fact, the same. I do find the CK shirts, BTW, to be thicker and heavier than the Honig's ones, even though I own both types in black.

Okay, I'm holding my Honig's catalog up next to my CK MLB Lt. Blue w/Black trim shirt. They appear to be identical in trim. Black, followed by White, Lt. Blue, White (as 3 in 1 striping), then Black again. This is exactly the same for sleeve and collar. What's the difference?

Anyway the CK is the shirt of choice around here, so the Lt. Blue, or Polo Blue, or whatever is just great. I have even had to work 3 man with one guy with Lt. Blue w/Navy and White trim, and one with Red/White/Blue so-called "collegiate" trim. I say "so-called" because I just saw the MLB Polo Blue in the Super Regionals.

I know the Official's Choice is bashed a lot over in the Basketball forum due to poor service and/or high shipping rates. I have had the high shipping rates and obviously didn't care for them.

I was wondering if anyone has tried their new baseball shirts. I believe they offer black, navy, powder w/ navy and white, and powder w/ black (MLB) made from their Micro-Softer material. I saw one of them being used at a Regional game I did this season, however forgot to ask for feedback. Is anyone using these shirts?

Please tell me you don't compare colors in a printed catalog! Egads!!! If you think I'm joking, take a look at the GD pants in the GD catalog. Do you really think they look that way, with that eerie sort of olive hue, in real life? They don't. Pictures on the Internet and on printed catalog stock don't always illustrate an accurate representation.

I based my statement above after seeing a guy with the GD polo blue and putting it next to one of my Honig's polo blues. There IS a difference.

Okay, there's a difference. So? I like the Cliff Keen and you like the Honig's. The Cliff Keen match up splendidly with the MLB umpires I see on HDTV, so what the hell is the problem? You make it sound like the difference is critical, and it is not. How else was I supposed to compare my paid for shirts to shirts neither I, nor anyone I know owns?

Methinks thou art using Old English. Art thou Cyrano DeBergerac? Perchance a musketeer? Gadzuks and zounds!:)

Methinks thou dost protest too much. I'm not saying the CK ones are terrible or unacceptable. If Davis had come out with these shirts the same time Honig's did, we might have gone with them, but because Honig's had them first--two years earlier--our association went with them and decided to stick with them. We didn't want to mix two different shirts, even if the difference was a slightly different shade of color and slightly different trim.

And comparing stuff to HDTV images now? Tsk, tsk. ;)

Black and the PoloBlue w/ balck trim are the two colors for NCAA post-season play.

It's in one of the "Instructions to Umpires" (or similar) manuals.

No doubt because of the NCAA's relationship with Honig's. Just a guess.

the other day i ordered poly-wool base pants and had them hem to my length as well (which is supposed to take a few extra days). they were fed ex'ed to my house 2 days later, AND i saved $8 on the association discount.

also, i ordered 2 CK shirts from Lester's Upstate Sports, which got here almost immediately. i should add that on both of those purchases, i selected the regular UPS ground shipping. right then and there i think those sealed the deal -- now i dont even have to drive anywhere to get quick service.

They were wearing cream for the Georgia Tech v. Clemson game yesterday at the CWS.

-pos
 

Hey all,

All I have to say about -POS is this....

2 requests and 4 months later, I finally received my CATALOG! By then, I already had my gear bought and paid for through elsewhere.

LomUmp:cool:

Then how come I see so many crews in the CWS wearing Cream?

Don't know.

This is from the NCAA 2006 Div. I Instructions to Umpires (it looks better in the proper format):

Then, there's this:

so maybe the other colors were provided.

<shrug>

Perhaps the ice cream vendors had extra cream shirts that they lent to the umpires. God, I really hate that color!

But as previously stated, they are just so comfortable and cool in the hot sun. Everyone I've asked about them in my group absolutely loves them.

The polo blues, or light blues--whatever one wants to call them--are just as comfortable and cool, and they look MUCH better.

I like those too. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.