The Prots Cap Order Instructions Thread

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Hey everyone Pappagallo is dead until Saturday so he's asked me to provide a status report on his behalf.

He mentioned previously that the expected shipping date from the US was October 2 a.k.a. today so he's chased up Top It Off to see if this reality transpired. They've responded with an "unsure but will check with NewEra for youse." As soon as he knows more he'll pass it on.

So fingers crossed they're on the boat by now.

Not that I care, I'm just a poo.

#scatsb4hats
 

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Which will come first?

Rockliff commencing pre-season at Port?
Jimmy Toumpas finishing his time trial?
Ports hat arrives via slow boat from China?
 
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It seems that bad things really do happen in threes.

First we got eliminated from the finals with a kick after the siren in extra time. Then we lost the SANFL Grand Final by a solitary point. And now the Ports Cap has been sunk at the eleventh hour.


The Bad News

NewEra has cancelled our order. Top It Off informed me of the decision on Tuesday after I asked them to follow up on the shipping date. The explanation I received for the about face is that NewEra has changed Top It Off’s licence and become more hardline about what they can and cannot take orders for. Since we’re just a fan group, and not an amateur sports team, our order is now apparently considered to be part of the latter. As you all know I specifically delayed taking orders to clarify this very issue and prevent a situation like this from happening, but they insist this is a recent change to their agreement that could not be foreseen.

Something about their explanation doesn’t sit right with me, especially since this went all the way to signing off on the final proofs. Why would NewEra even bother working on our order if they had no intention of filling it? It makes no sense. I have nothing to back this up yet but I think Top It Off has been caught trying to bullshit them, as in they knew about what types of orders they were allowed to take but tried to push ours through regardless to make the sale. Their minimum order for custom caps is 18 and we asked for 63, so maybe they saw dollar signs and thought they’d pull a swift one, only for NewEra to use that new Internet machine to eventually unravel their lie.

That’s all just speculation at this point and hopefully I can get more information out of them over the coming days, but either way the end result is the same.
It’s game over man, game over.


The Neutral Response News

Before you put Frank Pangallo on the overnight Firefly to Melbourne I just want you all to know that I’ve already secured our money back from Top It Off, well most of it anyway. We did make a small loss exchanging our coin from AUD to USD and back again, but it’s not significant and I’m happy to wear it.

Everyone will receive a full refund.

Just PM me your banking details using the template below and I’ll process the refund as soon as I can. If at this point you’re convinced that I’m Nigerian royalty and don’t feel comfortable giving me this information let me know and we’ll try to work something else out.

****************************************

Account Name:
BSB:
Account Number:

****************************************


Final Thoughts

I’m pretty pissed off about it all to be honest. I know you’ll all be disappointed to read this news too and I’m sorry that ultimately I couldn’t deliver. It’s especially frustrating since I feel like I did everything possible to avoid this exact situation from taking place, but it happened anyway, and now I have to spend time sending refunds instead of caps. It’s taken hours of work to get to this point and unfortunately it’s all been for nothing apart from some redundant artwork and manufacturing specs, so yeah I’m feeling pretty flat about the whole thing. But sometimes the cookie crumbles into your coffee and you just have to drink the motherf@#ker.

Also thanks to bomberclifford and Peck for their contributions.

That’s pretty much it but if there are any other questions please post them ITT or send me a PM.


P.S. Hail Mary

Before falling down the Top It Off rabbit hole I contacted the club to see if they would be interested in making the Ports Cap themselves. I spoke with Ben Hurst (Head of Retail and Licensing) over the phone and although he wouldn’t commit to producing any merchandise he seemed to really like the concept. I figured it was worth a shot to present it again so I’ve sent him an email complete with the proofs and sales figures. At the time he told me that his minimum order from NewEra was 144 units, so if one anonymous dickhead on an underwater Japanese basket-weaving forum can sell 63 caps at $70 a pop then it stands to reason that the Port Store could easily sell a full batch, especially since they’d be selling them at almost half the price.

Anyway don’t get your hopes up here, it’s an extreme long shot, but it’s worth a try nonetheless. I’d encourage others to express their interest as well by sending an email to bhurst@pafc.com.au. Who knows, maybe weight of numbers will have an influence. For anyone who’s interested I’ve included the proofs below, it might be a good idea to attach them to your email so he knows what you’re talking about.



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