F-Stop Gear has been a respectable camera bag company for many years and they’ve created some highly-trusted packs for the adventure photographer. Several of them have been reviewed with praise on Fstoppers. However, recently their name has become more and more synonymous with frustration rather than respect as customers become more vocal about feeling cheated after a botched Kickstarter project and bag orders that never seem to ship.
In a piece published today on Resource Magazine Online, article author Jaron Schneider outlined several troubling concerns facing the F-Stop Gear company. It all began with an unanswered inquiry from Schneider to F-Stop about the KitSentry Kickstarter project created in February 2015 and successfully funded with $27,039. As of yet, nothing has been delivered to the 227 campaign backers.
With no answer, Schneider dug deeper and contacted an unnamed source that is close to the company. From there, the published story begins to quickly unravel when the contact speaks about the company owner’s lifestyle and the way in which the company’s projects are handled. “They are millions and millions in debt and as long as the CEO is in charge, the company will not last and will likely be bankrupt in the next year,” the contact revealed to Resource.
F-Stop Gear Tilopa promotional images. © F-Stop Gear
The article is a fascinating read that looks into a company that has chosen to remain silent on any real fruitful update details about order delays. And it’s not hard to find the angry customers seeking these answers. Checking any of F-Stop Gear’s social media accounts, such as Facebook or Instagram, you will find customers claiming lengthy delays on their orders in the comments.
Seeing what F-Stop Gear was once capable of, I truly wish to see some changes and that things will turn around for them. What has your experience been with F-Stop Gear?
[via Resource Magazine Online]
You may want (need) to add that Jaron is also a staffer here at fstoppers.
[edit] Previously was a staffer, excuse me!
He's been at Resource now for a year or so. I miss you, Jaron <3!
Jaron once was... one of the original starting 5. Jaron misses his friends at Fstoppers too <3
Resource has better snacks and pool parties :)
I have a Sukha bag, and its a great bag! I was lucky to get it only just 3 weeks after ordering it. But I know of other people that had to wait 7+ months to get theirs! totally unacceptable! as good as this bag is, nothing is that good! There needs to be a new adventure camera bag company come around, that is actually ethical!
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Not true, at least if your photography is mostly hiking oriented. Take a look at the Gregory Targhee line. With a few tweaks here and there you can attach a tripod cup for a central carry, it synches smaller than a Tilopa, can expand to hold more, carries weight FAR better, has more comfortable shoulder straps. As a general purpose photo pack it is not as good, but as a hiking backpack it is better. The 2016 models can currently be had for around $130-$140, the newest models are $210 but frankly I think that for photo use they are not better. Couple that with a medium and large pro-style ICUs from Hong Kong for $25 each and you have a full featured camera carry system for $180, delivered with courteous on-time customer service within a week.
I have been using the F-stop Loka since it first came out in 2010. It was expensive for what it is, even the bare shell, and don't get me started on the ICUs. It took forever to get it in 2010 but there were few alternatives at the time. In 2016 I ordered a Tilopa + Large Pro ICU in September with a promised delivery date in 4-6 weeks. Three months passed with not even an email from F-stop to let me know when the order will arrive. When I called to ask I was told that there is no estimated delivery date. Now their website shows a shipping estimate of "early spring" whatever that means. I was so disgusted with the complete lack of customer orientation that I canceled my order as soon as I identified the Targhee as a viable option. I have used it for one outing now, and love it. If interested look at the General Gear forum on Fred Miranda, I have posted some observations and pics of my (very secure) tripod carry setup.
As far as I am concerned, at this point F-stop does not deserve to exist as an ongoing business. They will not get a dollar of my money going forward, unless they get bought out by someone who knows something about logistics (or is capable of learning about it over a span of 6-7 years) and customer service. I can't think of any other company that operates with such complete disregard towards the customer.
Delays and F-STOP gear have been synonymous since the company's inception. I purchased the first generation of Tilopa bags in 2011/2012 (cant remember exactly) and they took 6 months to deliver (they did send me a lens pouch and another gift as a form of apology though). It's a shame considering they're probably the best built camera bags I've ever seen and owned
It's all true coming from a former employee. I'm not mad, I'm just trying to save and warn other customers and business from being screwed over in trying to make anything happen with them.
I, too, had the displeasure of working for f-stop out of the loft apartments it rented in downtown STL a few years ago. It should have been a red flag that neither of my banks would let me deposit my paychecks from them (which came from some OTHER company, not f-stop), arguing that the checks were fraudulent. I only got paid thanks to shady check cashing venues on the north side.
Fortunately, I only worked there a month. My final straw was when I was asked to join a cult--Landmark Education (cults and cult religions were my prominent area of study when I was in college, and I wrote several papers on these guys). They gave me 2 days to quit my job when they hired me, so I did exactly that for them--quit on the spot upon finding out I was hired in the job I've been in ever since. After it was all said and done, I made just over $4 an hour. Cheers to being a salaried independent contractor, though that was a huge step above the rooms full of unpaid interns they had (a few of which quit while I was there). I only met the CEO 2-3x (whom I'm pretty sure was using an alias and wouldn't even tell us his name, by the way), but his favorite line on those few days we did see each other was when he would rant about how lazy American employees are and how he couldn't wait to move all of his operations overseas.
This is why I don't understand why people continue to invest in kickstarter campaigns. Sure you might save a little from the RRP, and you might get it a couple of months earlier, but this happens often enough to make you think people would have learned by now.
That's a major bummer to hear. I've never owned their gear, but I've always wanted one as it's perfect for the work I do. The price tag was always stepper than I was looking for (also, I have too many bags already). I hope they can get their feet back under them.
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If someone wants to kickstart first product it make sense. But if established company is going for kickstarter funds, it is big red flag...
wonder how Peak Design's financials look. they keep going to Kickstarter as a financing option when they should have sold plenty of products by now to generate cash flow for investments
Hi Godric, Peter Dering here from Peak Design. I'm approached by investors almost every day of the year. Growth funds, venture funds, private equity, angels...you name it. People would love to invest in Peak Design. And we're a company that's growing rapidly, and consistently since year one. I'm proud to say that our financials are in excellent shape, largely because we run a very conservative business. Fiscally, at least. Probably not socially :)
The fact that we don't have to take on investment is a tremendous blessing. It means we get to keep the business for ourselves, with only our customers as our board of directors. I can't stress enough how important this is, and how much it informs our decision making. It means we get to focus on giving our customers what they want, instead of preparing reports for next quarters board meeting. This is a new way of doing business, and I tell you...it's phenomenal. I'm in the bay area, as you may know, and I have no shortage of friends who are at the beck and call of their investors. They would be beyond grateful to be in the position of Peak Design. We too are beyond grateful to be in the position we are in.
Note though...the success of this year's campaign, much like the success of last year's campaign, could not be financed without outside capital, or a cash injection such as that which kickstarter provides. With 2-3x annual growth come major costs in taxes and inventory. Even though we run a very low overhead business (we're stingy midwesterners at heart), cash flow is a balancing act that requires excellent planning.
We are a far different organization that F-Stop. And of course I'm sorry to see that things have turned out the way they did. But at the core of our success is the genuine love my teammates and I have for one another. We're like family. There are no secrets, and everyone's voice is heard. One of my primary roles is to make sure that my brilliant, talented team maintains respect for their leadership. They're a tough crew, and they keep me on my toes. I'm grateful for everyone of Peak Design's employees.
So far I only have one item from Peak Design, the Slide Summit Edition Padded strap. I have to say it is the best strap I've had over the years. I look forward in getting the Everyday Messenger bag. Cheers.
As a backer of many kickstarters, (both successful ones and failed ones), when I see something I want to back, from a company that I haven't backed previously, I prefer the ones that have had previous successes. It's easier to evaluate their stated risks if there's a history you can look at. As a backer of several kickstarters from the same company, it's nice getting notifications that a new campaign from a company I like is about to start and it's nice to have first dibs on getting in on the early bird tiers since I've been a backer previously. It's a win-win situation.
Kickstarter is a wonderful tool for essentially pre-selling items. Sometimes large funds aren't available to small companies and don't have the option to entirely bankroll a production run of a sufficient size, especially with no indicator of demand. Kickstarter solves all of those issues, the main downside being a massive lack of instant gratification (and, of course, production delays). To me, the red flag is less about the fact they're using crowdsourcing, and more about how they're handling the situation.
I have had my F-stop bag for a couple of months now - my plan was to bring it along on my trip to Africa but it has been impossible to get an ICU for the bag. So I'm really frustrated having a bag without being able to use it for camera equipment.
I bought the back from a Germen reseller, I live in Denmark. They had it shipped to me in less than 3 days.
I have been lucky to get an answer two times from F-stop via Facebook Messenger, latest was here during the weekend where I was told that they were currently handling back orders for Europe.
Well I'll be damned...
Gotta tell you - something is not adding up with at least parts of the story, as discouraging as it may be. Here's all I know as a long time F-Stop gear customer:
- I've been using their bags almost exclusively for about 5-6 years now. It all started with the ugly-ish, but practical Kenti. I come from a MTB (freeride/DH) background and was looking for a very durable pack that would hold two bodies+zooms with easy access on the trail to shoot my friends. Kenti was the best I found. No issues.
- Then I got the Tilopa followed by several ICUs, small bags, and Brooklyn Sling. Never an issue.
- More recently I started to shoot video... needed a larger bag - in come Sukha. After a few weeks of "backorder" I called to find out WTF and asked if it was possible to expedite the shipping before a trip. Guess what - someone made it happen and I got the bag in 2 days with time to spare before a trip.
- Then a month ago I decided to add another ICU to my new Sukha but the shipping was now listed last 4-6 weeks. OK - no problem, my expectations were properly set. Now, just YESTERDAY I chatted with someone online about a status and guess what - today the ICU got shipped.
That's when I found this : http://fstopgear.com/news/2016-06/recent-update#.V6GGamU2Lh8
So... who/what are we to believe?
Here's most of my F-Stop junk in all it's glory as I'm prepping for two weeks of hiking and shooting in Lake Tahoe starting this weekend, using Sukha + 2 ICUs + Navin as my go-to-bag.
Would be a damn shame if the company went under.
Well as someone who got screwed on their kickstarter I have a different point of view
Yeah, that Kickstarter is some inexcusable nonsense, agreed.
Though this post was written in June 2016, it explains what the company is going through currently and its efforts to turn things around. Might have been fruitful as a person making article to have the information from both side of the story vs only one side and it being the bashing or the negative side.
http://fstopgear.com/news/2016-06/recent-update#.V6HxGKIgh8o
I have had similar experiences. I bought the Tilopa a few years ago. When I bought it, it shipped within two days with the ICU. I liked it so much that when I decided to get a bit smaller of a pack to snowboard with, I went back to them. I decided on the Ajna but at the time they were out of stock/back ordered, as were basically all of the ICUs. I reached out to them multiple times over about 4 months (despite 2-4 week claims of availability) and almost went with something else (it was summer so I could wait a bit) but didn't order the bag until it said it was in stock. Shipped in a couple of days after I ordered it, but had to wait 4+ mos. to do so. With that said, I love the Ajna. On multiple occassions peaople have asked me about the bag and I give them a glowing review, then have to add "If they will ever have them/ship them to you" - it's just part of the story. If they are so poorly managed, hopefully someone picks them up or adopts their designs. These are by far the best adventure ready camera packs by way of features and design.
It might be great to clarify that F-stop Gear and F-stoppers is not the same! ;-)
I wanted a Tilopa. I still want a Tilopa. F-Stop gear is very very poorly managed. Even their social media team is pathetic.
I ordered an Ajna bag from them, along with a Small ICU back in June of 2015. My next trip wasn't until September, so I knew I would have plenty of time to order my bag, ensure it's what I needed, and ship it back if there was an issue. A few weeks away from my September trip, and my bag still hadn't arrived. Checking fstop's Facebook page, it was apparent there were delays with getting these bags out.
What was majorly frustrating was the fact that fstop hadn't communicated this to their customers, aside from one or two posts on Facebook - checking my order status on their website just said "In Progress", with no explanation of delays.
Knowing I needed a bag like an fstop bag, I was starting to panic as my trip was nearing closer. fstop mentioned that they can give out a loner bag, and I gladly took them up on that offer. I was shipped a brand new bag (with the tags still on it) that was the next size up from the bag I ordered, along with a small ICU. The loaner bag was shipped early, but I wa able to keep the loaner bag for as long as I needed.
A few days into October of 2015, my Ajna bag had finally arrived, but to my disappointment, there were no apologetic signs from fstop regarding their massive delays. After delaying the orders of thousands of customers, the least they could've done is thrown a free set of Gatekeepers (tension straps) or SOMETHING to show how sorry they were.
I ended up ordering the Brooklyn Sling in May of 2016, and received the bag after a few weeks of delays. While not nearly as long of a delay as my prior order, I found it a bit upsetting that the only two times I ever order from fstop, my items were delayed.
fstop makes some of the most rugged, reliable, versatile, and trustworthy gear that has paid for itself with every trek I have into the woods in the pouring rain or snow. Trusting thousands of dollars of camera gear to a bag can be daunting, but I never doubt the capabilities of my fstop bags. It truly is upsetting that the company seems to have taken the path it's currently on, and is consistently plagued by delays.
Hoping fstop can get this sorted out soon.
I wish this was a one off problem. This has been happening with a lot of the Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns, mainly because TOS do not make any of the people hosting the campaigns accountable if they don't deliver. Even if the project is funded, you are STILL not guaranteed a product. One that comes to mind is the Mokacam project (Also see Air Umbrella which pissed away all it's funds and delivered nothing to anyone).
The project was funded by 1900%, cameras were promised in February. Being an early backer, I just saw my camera 6 months later than expected, missing the remote, and the extra battery.
The whole thing has not worked properly since I got it, and the oversight of the company not letting people know you can't do certain VERY important actions of the camera without the LCD screen, and the ability to record 4k is STILL no available as the APP is worse than HTML.
It was a project with a lot of hype that was so underwhelming, and which under delivered for it's hype.
I digress, point is, I am always wary of campaigns these days.
I ordered my Loka-UL + shallow medium ICU on Aug 1, 2016. Their web page warned shipping will be 4 to 6 weeks. It was in my wish list for several months already, I just prepared to wait since I have other hiking backpack for now. Then 4 days later, I received their email informing me that my order was shipped. I couldn't believe it until I received UPS's notice that my pack will be delivered on august 10th. So I keep my fingers cross. When I check UPS status again on August 9th, it said it was out for delivery. By noon, my backpack was in my front door. Now I can sleep well tonight.
They make great bags but have always been rubbish at getting them to customers, I bought a Loka when they first appeared and it turned up 2 or 3 months late as has every every order since (did I mention the bags are great? Wouldn't still be a customer if they weren't). At least now retailers seem to be getting stock, for example an Ando ordered from Paramo in the UK and it came the next day, a Tilopa V3 ordered from Cameranu in the Netherlands ordered late last night shipped this morning.
Offering my recent experience as a suggestion for others:
Ordered a Sukha and Large Slope ICU about 8 weeks back with the website stating 4-6 weeks for shipping, and did not get any update, other than "order received" email. Several CS emails for updates were only replied to that the order would ship when the items were in stock. Finally called the US based customer service number and got some real answers. Turns out the bag I had ordered was actually in stock, but there was another 2-3 weeks on the ICU due to demand. However, since fstopgear sends everything in one shipment my bag wouldn't have gone out until the ICU arrived. The CS rep was able to arrange separate shipments, so that the in stock Sukha will head out now, and ICU will go out when it arrives.
I would urge others with multi item order to do the same, because there was a very real chance that the Sukha could have sold out while waiting for the ICU, and then would have to wait for the bag to be restocked before shipping the combined order. That scenario could have repeated itself multiple times, leading to it taking months to get the shipment, which is a story we have all heard before.