The Pit Special

Name: The Pit Special
Brand: tony suit
Rating: 3 (10 reviews)

belfurd · August 5, 2013

The initial problem: they completely blew both forearms circumference measurements (the non-stretchable nylon part connecting to the forearm material) on my Pit Special suit. And it was not a small mistake: 1.75in for the left arm, 2.25in for the right arm. No way my arms could fit in there.

Then the fun started. When I called them, they said “No problem we will fix it for free!”, as if I was getting some sort of a deal. I politely said that I wanted my rush order fee back ($40) since the mistake was blatant and clearly their own, and would delay my ability to jump the suit for longer than a non-rush order anyway. They would hear nothing of it.

At some point in some phone call I told them I would be shipping the suit back with the shipping bill in the package. They made up some story saying that a shipping refund would be most unlikely. They of course never refunded it. No matter how many emails and phone calls I would make they would always avoid the main topics and make excuses. One of their go-to excuse was “it doesn’t matter if it’s your fault or our fault... we repair for free anyway! No need to blame anyone!” or “we have a no-blame policy”. Retarded.

Then... as if anything ever happened, they sent me an email asking to pay for a 3rd shipping leg after the suit was eventually fixed. So in resumé here... I spend $510 on a suit, they screw up the measurements, I have to waste hours in frustration on the phone with their incompetent customer service rep and managers listening to nonsensical excuses, they refuse to refund the rush-order fee and make me pay for 2 more shipping legs (or they wouldn’t ship the suit again). The fixed suit was ready for final shipment after 8 weeks (rush was 2-4 weeks!).

I cannot think of a worse company I’ve had to deal with in the event of a problem. Complete disregard of customer satisfaction. A shame to the skydiving community. Never again

Tuatara · August 29, 2012

I ordered my Pitt Special suit on the 17th of July, stating I needed it by the 1st of September - ie. within 6 weeks (the Tony Suits website quoting a production times of 4 weeks).

Receiving little in the way of confirmation of my order, over the ensuing 6 weeks I emailed Tony Suits no less than 6 times, on 5 of those occasions either re-requesting an approximate delivery time and/or restating my need to have the suit within 6 weeks. Every time I received either no response or something vague and unrelated.

Now, due to depart on my skydiving holiday in 3 days time I call Tony Suits today, after 6 weeks waiting, to be told my suit is "waiting to be cut". That is, I am unlikely to receive it any time soon, nor was I ever going to at any point in the process. In the time I could have arranged a suit from another supplier TS have been sitting on my order in full knowledge it would not be manufactured, let alone shipped in time for me. They seemed entirely dissinterested when I explained this to them.

I have cancelled my order, to say I'm pi$$ed off is an understatement. I had hoped the other reviews complaining of poor customer service were isolated cases, I guess I am another example of this or their service really is as bad as made out.

Buyer beware - they don't appear to give a toss about the customer.

mix · February 28, 2011

I relied on getting a replacement for my old suit in time for the nationals within six weeks of placing the order. The old Bev suit served me well over the years but me loosing weight meant it was getting too baggy and I lost one booty every now and then on exit. Not having the luxury of time to muck around I wanted to order from a reliable source that offered rush jobs, went through these reviews and ordered a Pit-Special.

Initial customer service over the phone was pretty good - I got advised of what to get and how to order, I ordered, got invoiced and received a follow up e-mail the next day to which I replied. Four weeks after the last e-mail contact I rang them up to make sure everything was on track, giving that I needed the suit next week.

Imagine my shock when they told me that they lost my last reply to their e-mail due to a problem with their e-mail system and instead of following up with me they just put my order on hold.
Here I am, Nationals on our door steps without a jumpsuit for which I received an invoice five weeks ago - Thanks Tony Suit.

Get a Bev or Rainbow - all people around me did and they never got disappointed.

chrizbreck · February 2, 2011

The suit itself is a fantastic product but more than anything their customer service at tonysuits made it worth every penny.

FedEx delivery had my package down as delivered while I was home... needless to say I was not a happy camper when I found out the box was not there. I quickly called FedEx and tonysuits. The office manager went guns out after FedEx to make sure the issue was fixed. 4 hours later my box showed up =D

Once I got it I put on the suit and jumped it a few times but my measurements in a few areas were a a bit off so it fit kinda tight in some body positions. Called up and asked about alterations and was told I would only need to pay for shipping. Sweet deal! The new measurements made alterations not possible but instead a new suit is being built from scratch.

I would HIGHLY recommend this company and suit for the reasons of you WILL get a fantastic product and if not they WILL make sure to do everything possible.

FlyinRyan86 · November 30, 2009

With about 80 jumps I decided to purchase a Tonysuits Pit Special. I received it exactly when they said I should.

It flies like a dream. With this suit I can fly consistently and control my fall rate. I can make smooth turns, or snappy ones with the powerful booties and slick surface. I caused a small hole in the front of the suit (purely my fault), and when i stopped in at Tonysuits while jumping at Zhills, they fixed it for free, no questions asked!

I've made hundreds of jumps with my Pit Special, and I am very happy. It fits nicely, stands up to rough landings and hard tugs while in tubes, shredders, etc. I am very happy to have chosen it!

I asked them to rebuild the booties after slightly off measurements, and they had them rebuilt from the knees down, brand new and in the mail in literally THREE DAYS! EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE, rugged workmanship and Tony himself is more than happy to help!!!

nwguinn · August 15, 2008

I have never written a review before but once I got my new Tony Suit I had to write about it. I was astonished on how much I liked it. I had heard horror stories from posts on Dropsone.com but I had none of them. My suit arrived in perfect condition just as I had designed. The suit dimensions fit my weird body in a way that no other suit has. It was a bit snug around the mid section but I will attribute that to my own girth not the fault of the suit. It did take forever to get the thing, but with the quality that the suit provides it is worth the wait. I would recommend this suit to anyone who is looking for a quality suit with any options you want.

fireballgrl · August 1, 2008

I have had my suit for two months and put approximately 20+ jumps on it. My dealer measured me wrong (never measures women for a tight suit) and the upper body, shoulder and bust area were loose. I specifically ordered this to help my fall rate without needing a weightbelt. I was not wild about sending it in and waiting a few more weeks for it to be right. I was headed up to Summerfest last week and Tony said to bring it and hopefully he could address the issues and fix it there. Needless to say a little nip and a tuck and my suit is tight as it should be, and fits much better! I know of at least 8 jumpers from my dz who have ordered custom suits and they have held up well through the years and crash landings...lol I am very happy with my suit and their personal customer service

aatomik · July 8, 2006

You might or might not get what you pay for.

Last year two of my friends ordered suits with exactly the same options. They were charged exactly the same. One of the suits had leg zips, one of them did not.

This year one of my friends ordered a suit with back of arm grips. He paid for them. He did not get them.

I ordered a suit online in the end of February. I got an automatic order confirmation, then an e-mail that leg zips are not available with that kind of bootie. OK about that.
Then later I noticed that 50$ more is taken from my credit card. I contacted Tonysuit and they said that I used old order form. Well, I used online order form and they sent me the order confirmation earlier. They said they are sorry but I had to pay 50$ more.
Finally I got the suit. Back of arm gips were missing. Sent them an e-mail, got an answer a week later. Sent the suit back on my own expense.
Got the suit back from warranty repair. Jumped it once. The suit broke under the arm. Contacted Tonysuit again and sent it back again for warranty repair. This time they paid for the delivery.
I got the suit back today. The have patched it, not replaced the arm part.

So I ordered suit in the end of February and finally got it in beginning of July. Paid 50$ more to Tonysuit and 100$ extra for transportation and customs broker.

But the damn thing fits and flies good. I hope that it will not break again.

tanya · April 16, 2005

Love my Pit Special. Will order it without leg zips. The pulls always come off and then the zippers blow open in freefall. So take your shoes off to put your jumpsuit on, or jump barefoot, I guess!

January 10, 2005

Update: I have about 150 jumps on the Pitt special and two of the three zippers have come apart, the bootie soles are pretty trashed (and I dont walk on pavement in them) and the elastic wrist cuffs are frayed. The colors have run even in a cold water wash and the runs look really bad. My Michigan suit has more jumps and everything is still intact. No color runs when I wash it either.

So I email Tony Suits to get a repair estimate. I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply. No worries, I went to a local Vietnamese alterations shop and got new zippers (YKK brand and higher quality than Tony's) and some bootie repairs using high stregth nylon thread all for $50. I REALLY like the way the Pit Special suit flys but the Michigan suit has held up far better. Tony really neeeds to get his company a new attitude on customer service. Read all the reviews, you will see I am not the only person who thinks this. Still, it is a great flying suit and I do have to give him credit for a good design. Tony should copy the Laarsen and Broussard sp? (L&B, make audibles etc) customer service model. Madd and his partner treat their customers right even decades after a sale was made.
*****************************************
These suits are very good in their design, but there are a few things that could be better in their construction. The zippers are not the very best, have had a few pulls break off the zipper slider. The fabric dyes have obviously not all been wash tested. I had some serious color bleeding when I first washed mine in cold water. They are really comfortable suits and fly well, at least for me. They look great and hold up well with the exception of the bootie soles (no soles really, just exposed fabric). They suggest putting shoe goop on them which is ridiculous. They should have made abrasion resistant thin elastomeric soles for them out of KRATON (like the old O'Neill wetsuit kneepads, indestructible and flexy and stretchy as well). When I brought my Tony suit with a broken zipper pull to their booth at WFFC they quoted me a pretty high price to replace the zipper. DUMB from a customer satisfaction standpoint, they should learn from Alti 2 or Larsen and Brusgaard... fix it free if it broke without abuse. I am happy with my Tony suit, but I am also happy with my Michigan suit and even my old suits from the 70s. Tony needs a little bit better customer service (its not that bad) and more attention to wear testing zippers and wash testing fabrics. It could take them from good to great.

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