Has anyone ordered from Honig's lately?
 

First, I preface this post by saying I'm not trying to rip on Honig's here. I'm simply relaying information and making an inquiry.

Recently, I had to order a couple new shirts and a jacket (the one with the blue shoulder stripes) from Honig's for use in the Midwest Collegiate League. Most of us received our items last week. Well, one of my partners calls me and asks me if I tried on the shirts and jackets. He asked me because of what several of us have noticed:

• The shirts and jackets are now made in China
• The polo blue shirts are of a markedly different material and sized MUCH larger than the original polo blues (I have a few of those)
• The jackets are shorter in the sleeves and tend to run a bit smaller
• The jackets feel thinner and much flimsier; the collars are like paper

So, I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same thing lately.

I haven't purchased any baseball items from them lately but I had an issue with the dye running on their football pants and ruining the white stripe and they didn't really seem to care. I've written them off and only order from them if I absolutely have to.

I like the material on the newer shirts. The jackets not so much.


Now, if we could just find a way to get someone to stop carrying these awful Richardson hats and go back to NewEra, I'd be a customer of theirs for life.

I have not ordered any baseball stuff either. But I have ordered the football pants and I did not seem to have that problem. I know others that did have the problem with color ruining or bleeding into the stripe. But I wash everything in cold water and I am wondering is that the reason I have not had this problem. I know they did change who made those pants. Maybe this is the case with many of their items.

Peace

I have noticed over the last three years that as their prices have gone up, their quality has gone down. I no longer send them my money.

I stopped when they made deals with state HS associations to force officials to buy their crap. Thankfully, my state hasn't sold their souls. Yet.

I deal mainly with Jim Kirk and UmpAttire now.

My state has a deal with them, but we do not have to buy the stuff. It is just available to them. Actually this started with Gerry Davis Sports first in my state.

Peace

Deals and discounts are fine. But some states (Florida is one that comes to mind) has announced that without the little state logo, one that only Honig's is licensed to put on the uniform, officials cannot work the playoffs. In other words, Honig's has made a backroom deal with a state association to force all their officials to buy stuff from them -- and that I find distasteful.

That kind of deal will push me (whenever practical) to another vendor.

If I truly like Honig's stuff the best, I'll buy it. However, when there's a choice (for identical product like shoes and protective gear), I'll buy elsewhere.

And like others, I've found the quality of the goods to be lacking. Last season I worked a tournament where they provided us with pants -- the non-polywool charcoal variety. In my mind, these were the lowest quality umpire pants I'd ever dealt with.

We are not getting a deal or a discount. We just can buy a shirt for example with the state logo on them if we choose which can replace the state patch, but is not required. Actually there are three different vendors that we can use to buy shirts or other items like hats with the IHSA logo on them. It is actually more for each item with them putting the logo on them.

I cannot speak to the quality of baseball stuff because I have not purchased anything from them in baseball for a few years. The last time I got something from them it was a pair of pants which were OK. I did purchase many football things this past year because the NCAA changed their shirts and we had to purchase entirely different shirts and were required do go to a different pair of pants and those were just fine as well. I just have heard people complaining lately and I do think they have changed some manufacturers in the last few years. That is probably the problem. I know they had some problems with some back orders of items because who they were working with had changed. At least that is what I was told by one of the guys that comes to our camps.

Peace

Dry-lo bag
 

Has anyone noticed the poor design of the Honigs Dry-Lo ball bags. Velcro on the inside pockets (WHY???) and the pockets are ridiculously too deep Getting an indicator or plate brush out of the pocket is a two hand operation. The web site says "Manufactured to our specifications". That doesn't say much about their design team.

Brian Curtin and I worked a summer collegiate league game last night. Even he noticed the misplacement of the belt loops on my Honig's poly wool plate pants. This causes the ball bags to not be properly positioned. One's too far forward because of this. Honig's suggestion? Take it to a tailor and pay more money for these things, to get them fixed. Because they're hemmed, Honig's won't do anything with them. Like the misplaced belt loops are my fault! :mad:

Ump25.....sent the same jacket back for the same two reasons that you did earlier this spring. Got a Smitty from UA instead.
Needed extra embroidered association shirts for a tourney last season, figured I'd get pants (2 pair) from them to save on having to pay shipping charges to two suppliers.
Bad decision.....because that whole belt loop positioning thing with the ball bags stinks.
Like others, have shifted 100% to Ump Attire (including my basketball stuff) unless forced to go to Honigs as the official/exclusive supplier.

Well, one reason why I will NOT go with Ump Attire for now is because they refuse to affix uniform numbers on anything. When I placed an order some 6 weeks ago for a couple shirts, they replied, "We're sorry, but we only sell the numbers loose and unattached to the shirts. If you want them put on, we recommend having a tailor do it."

Tried that once; it was a disaster. What stinks is that most suppliers will not affix numbers to shirts/jackets that they did not sell you. So, this policy by Ump Attire is really stupid and not very customer friendly.

I have not had any of those issues with the Dry-Lo bags. In fact I find mine are well made and are well designed.

I found the same thing with the ball bags. Unless the Brush is brand new, it is too short to get out of the pocket. I like the depth of the bag, but everything else is a joke.