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stay away from this product! Kore Essentials Belts

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  • dwsintxs

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    Nov 8, 2013
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    Addison, TX
    I recently ordered a belt from Kore Essentials. This belt has a simple but ingenious design in that it allows an almost infinite number of adjustments for size. I like the idea that I could buy a belt that wasn't too long, that could be adjusted to my exact size even if that size was not a size that most belts are made in. In the past I've had belts that were too short and I found myself drilling a new hole towards the end rather than buying a next size up which would prove to be too long and then when cinched up would be either too loose or too tight.

    The Kore Essentials belt takes that frustration and guess work out of the whole belt experience.
    This belt allows you to pull the end to adjust to your waist size.

    You buy the belt, attach the buckle at the correct end, and then try the belt on, and trim the end so that it's not sticking out six or eight inches too far and you're done. When wearing it, you simply pull the end and cinch it until it feels perfect for you, but you're not bound by where the manufacturer decided to place the holes for the buckle mechanism.

    So, I got the belt, and it was perfect for about a week, and then I began noticing that it was hard to push the end through the buckle. I only wore it with the gun (tucked into my waistband, and NOT on a holster) for four days.

    I finally looked at the end of the belt to try and determine why the end of the belt wasn't going through the buckle, and I noticed that the end of the belt was peeling apart. The outside leather type material had come unglued from the inner layer, and when the end was pushed through the buckle, the loose end was not allowing it to fit through the buckle.

    So, I contacted the company, through email, and told them about the problem, and figured they'd just send me a new belt (there's nothing wrong with the buckle) and that would be the end of it. I even made a point of telling them in the email how much I loved the product and that I've been telling several friends about them.

    The company responded back that I had bought the wrong belt, and that I had bought a non-gun type belt, what I had was a dress belt and that the 'weight' of the gun was what caused the problem.

    I explained that the tip end of the belt had nothing to do with the fact that I was carrying a gun, and that the end shouldn't peel back like that regardless. In fact, I wore the belt 8 days (without carrying) and 4 days while carrying, and as I mentioned, I carried using an IWB that wasn't even attached to the belt at all.

    I offered to send pics, (which I did) and was told that they could NOT help me because I was using a 'dress' belt instead of a 'gun' belt and that they would NOT off a replacement or a refund.

    Finally, after several emails back and forth, he responded with this:

    * * *
    Over the past year we've had several people mistakenly purchase fashion belts and use them to carry, despite the fact that our fashion belts are not designed for that. MOST OF THEN CAME APART AT THE TRIMMED END. Trimming the end has nothing to do with it. The fashion belts can't handle the extra weight and pull out of the buckle. It doesn't take much to do this to a soft leather fashion belt. So I'm not buying your rationale. We know belts...

    If you use the new fashion belt for carrying - IT WILL COME APART

    We will ship one out monday, then please never contact us again.

    * * * *

    By the way, I added those caps for emphasis. . . just to illustrate that the company is blatantly admitting that their belts will fall apart.

    Also, their web site is somewhat confusing as to which belts are fashion and gun belts, and if they've had so many complaints about them falling apart because customers are buying the wrong ones, you'd think they'd put some warnings on their web site.

    Final analysis: it seemed like a GREAT product. . .I still wish it was. . .but I cannot and will not waste my money on a company that has such poor customer service and knowingly puts out inferior products, especially after hearing many complaints (according to them) about the problems.

    I finally told the guy to keep his belt and NOT send me a replacement. . .because why would I want something that HE says will fall apart?

    Then I told him to go ahead and keep my money (even though he NEVER offered a refund) because if he needs money so badly as to rip people off, then he needs that $60 bucks (or whatever it was) more than I do.

    Lastly . . I have been wearing belts all my life (as we all have) and gun belt or not, I have NEVER in my life, EVER had a belt come apart like that, even after wearing some of them for six, eight, even ten years!

    Right now, I am back to wearing a 'dress' belt that is about six years old, from Target, and it cost about $20 and I am carrying. . .and it is holding up fine. . . the tip is NOT peeling apart. . . but I still want a decent gun belt for when I do wear a holster. Apparently, Kore Essentials, while they had a good idea to begin with, has poor quality products and sucky (at best) customer service.

    Avoid them.
     

    Younggun

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    So, are there any complaints of the gun belts coming apart on the trimmed in while carrying gangsta style?


    If not, maybe they are right and you just ordered the wrong belt.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    dwsintxs

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    Nov 8, 2013
    112
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    Addison, TX

    My point being, in case anyone missed it, is that the gun was being carried in a way that could not have possibly affected the belt. For all the belt knew, lol, it could have just been more fat around my mid-section.

    But yes, I know that carrying tucked in is NOT the best way to carry.
     

    robgmn

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    The other option is to buy one of their gunbelts and NOT a fashion belt that is meant to hold up pants. They sell "gunbelts" for a reason.

    On another forum, the email trail was posted.
    Kore offered to replace the belt even though this customer was totally in the wrong. He refused, insisting that their product was junk.

    This same type of person would probably complain that 9mm ammo jams in his Glock42, or his Armani slacks don't hold up well for bushcrafting.

    Take his complaint with a big grain of salt.
    Or ask for all the facts before you believe it.
     
    Last edited:

    Blind Sniper

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    The other option is to buy one of their gunbelts and NOT a fashion belt that is meant to hold up pants. They sell "gunbelts" for a reason.

    On another forum, the email trail was posted.
    Kore offered to replace the belt even though this customer was totally in the wrong. He refused, insisting that their product was junk.

    This same type of person would probably complain that 9mm ammo jams in his Glock42, or his Armani slacks don't hold up well for bushcrafting.

    Take his complaint with a big grain of salt.
    Or ask for all the facts before you believe it.

    Got links to that other thread?
     

    TX69

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    I have never understood the allure for these "newly designed" "revolutionary" "game changer" gun belts. I've seen countless number of these Chinese made crappy belts all over the place. Why not stick with a good old fashioned thick leather gun belt that stand up for decades of use? I am on my second belt after it took some 15 years to wear out the first. I but them from just some guy that has a small business in Tennessee who puts quality into his work. He charges around $45 with some cheap shipping. They come with some heavy duty hardware in the standard flavors we all know and like.

    I wait for the deals they had for members but I do not go to that website anymore for years so not sure what I would get now. I should ask them if they would want to advertise here at TGT? Nice holsters tool but I have not bought nor used any its just what I have heard from others.

    http://shop.captain-itch.com/Belts_c22.htm

    This is the one I order and use http://shop.captain-itch.com/Heavy-Leather-Belt-Heavy-Leather-Belt.htm

    They have a "Gun Belt" that is more expensive since it has a stiffner sewn in but I have not bought nor used this product either. I found the Heavy Duty belts can stand up to a G21 and a G30 with other things hanging on it all day and riding in a car all day as well.

    http://shop.captain-itch.com/Gun-Belt-Gun-Belt.htm

    Great small company that takes pride in their work and customer service. They've always treated me right and with wonderful service and I highly recommend them.

    Their belts are custom made so you call in and talk with his German wife with a heavy accent. She is super nice and very helpful as they want to make sure you are very happy.
     

    bones_708

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    I don't mind the "Careful I had a bad experience" posts but I personally give a lot less credence to the "Don't buy from this guy" posts. One would seem to impart info the other is posted to try to achieve a goal. No insult to the OP intended.
     

    dwsintxs

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    Nov 8, 2013
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    Addison, TX
    I don't mind the "Careful I had a bad experience" posts but I personally give a lot less credence to the "Don't buy from this guy" posts. One would seem to impart info the other is posted to try to achieve a goal. No insult to the OP intended.

    I'm not saying don't buy from them, just that if you do, and have a complaint, you're highly unlikely to get any help.

    For the record, they only offered to give me a discount if I bought another belt. Why would I send them more money if the last belt fell apart?

    also, I have since emailed them and offered to send back the belt AND the buckle (which they can re-sell) if they would just send me a label for shipping. They declined. MY offer to do that was NOT contingent upon them giving me a refund or a replacement. It was a sincere offer. Their reply that they would not do that simply proved to me how intractable they are in their stance at not offering even a modicum of customer service.

    They also told me to 'never contact them again'. How's that for customer service?

    So,yeah, go ahead and buy their belts. I hope you get one that works, I think they're a good idea. I WANTED to tell a lot of other people what a great belt it is. But, mine fell apart. I WANT to be a good customer for them, unfortunately, they want nothing to do with customer service aspects of running a business.
    I wish mine had held up to the stress of the 10 days I wore it.

    I would like to see another belt company out there come up with a similar design with a sturdier belt. If they do, I will buy one.
     

    Younggun

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    I'm not saying don't buy from them, just that if you do, and have a complaint, you're highly unlikely to get any help.

    For the record, they only offered to give me a discount if I bought another belt. Why would I send them more money if the last belt fell apart?

    also, I have since emailed them and offered to send back the belt AND the buckle (which they can re-sell) if they would just send me a label for shipping. They declined. MY offer to do that was NOT contingent upon them giving me a refund or a replacement. It was a sincere offer. Their reply that they would not do that simply proved to me how intractable they are in their stance at not offering even a modicum of customer service.

    They also told me to 'never contact them again'. How's that for customer service?

    So,yeah, go ahead and buy their belts. I hope you get one that works, I think they're a good idea. I WANTED to tell a lot of other people what a great belt it is. But, mine fell apart. I WANT to be a good customer for them, unfortunately, they want nothing to do with customer service aspects of running a business.
    I wish mine had held up to the stress of the 10 days I wore it.

    I would like to see another belt company out there come up with a similar design with a sturdier belt. If they do, I will buy one.


    They couldn't resell a used product as new, and doubtful they would even want to bother with selling as used, so why would they want to spend the money to have it shipped back to them? It wouldn't make any sense.

    Also, the thread title pretty much says don't buy from them.
     

    Blind Sniper

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    After reading the other thread (including a response allegedly from the Kore Essentials CS guy that OP dealt with), I've come to two conclusions.

    First, OP is either a moron or an asshole - possibly both. From the sound of it he either received the wrong product (e.g he paid for an X1/X2 gun belt, but received a fashion belt instead), but used it anyway instead of contacting them about it, or he used the belt he ordered for something it wasn't designed for, then threw a fit when it failed due to his deliberate misuse.

    Second, Kore Essentials looks like a good company. Decent CS even when dealing with irate customers (I probably would've told OP to piss off a lot sooner) - and for $60, their gun belts actually look rather appealing to me, especially since I've got a weird waist size and normal belts usually don't have the right hole spacing for me to get a good, snug fit.
     

    bones_708

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    I'm not saying don't buy from them,..........


    To me yes you did. Stay away means don't do business with. And I'll be honest with you. The link to the other forum where you posted the exact same thing as here but had the person from Kore respond. It didn't make you look good. In the end I find them more believable and while I may have been warned nothing I've heard would keep me from buying their product.
     

    winchster

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    It's only right, to allow the accused to have their say.
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