It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Or in this case: it was the best of holster purchasing experiences and it was the worst of holster purchasing experiences and I'm here to report on it to you and maybe save you from having a similarly bad experience that I had.
Ok... What are you talking about? Is this just a complaint?
Well, Sort of. This all started because I wanted to change my EDC (every day carry) gun. I normally carry a Glock 43, which is a perfect little carry gun. It's single-stack 9mm and I extended it with a +2 magazine to fit my large hands to make it a bit more feasible as an EDC for me. Please see my previous post on that G43, for more on that particular gun and that magazine extension, as well as the importance of testing what you carry every day.
I was looking to carry something with a bit more stopping power, and was switching to my Sig P220 Carry SAO Legion .45ACP as my new EDC (be on the lookout for a blog entry for this bad-boy later). But in order to switch to that as my EDC, I needed a very good holster.
Now I am admittedly a bit of a Holster Junkie. Here is a sneak-peak at an upcoming blog on holsters:
I have a lot of holsters... And that is only a small portion of my collection :) I may have a bit of a problem, but hey! Admitting it is the first step to recovery, right? Well, not in my case, because I bought TWO MORE, which is what this blog is about!
My absolute favorite EDC holster for my G43 is from AlienGear Holsters. However, I didn't just go buy another one for the Sig, I decided to try a new holster from WeThePeople Holsters, because they sponsor Dan Bongino's show and I have a terrific gun belt from them. I really like American made brands and especially veteran owned businesses if I can. If they are involved with organizations or they sponsor shows that I support - then I also like to support the business to keep the pro-2nd Amendment ecosystem going.
So I ordered an in the waistband (IWB) holster with a thin blue line print. It's really a nice looking holster, and I like the price to be honest.
While the look and price is nice; it's not all that comfortable for an every-day carry. I can see it working just fine for the range, like many of my other holsters, but if I am going to wear it all day every day, I must compare it to the neoprene style of the AlienGear that I was using with my G43.
Also, I ran into a a big issue. The sucker didn't fit! No, seriously, it didn't fit the gun I ordered it for. It's as if it was designed to fit a gun that is much thinner than the P220, and here is a video showing this.
So, I emailed them to find out if this is expected, and got an auto-response from their customer service.
With 2-6 days to get a response, I decided to just go ahead and order the AlienGear holster. When I purchased it, there was a year-old cookie left over in my iPhone and I accidently purchased 2 holsters and something else, causing me to reach out to AlienGear's customer service to ask for a correction / cancellation in the order. Check this out:
So, within less than hour AlienGear's customer service corrected the mistaken order and adjusted the order to be just the one holster, and got it shipped out. I actually received the AlienGear holster 1 day before I heard back from WeThePeople, which I did not hold against them because we are in the middle of a pandemic, after all.
When I did hear back from WeThePeople, here was their response, asking me to take a bunch of pictures - which is not unreasonable - they just want to gauge why it's not fitting.
However, I feel like they were asking a fair amount for something that should be fairly easy to fit / show for a mass-produced gun; especially since the AlienGear fit's like a glove! So I decided to make it easy for them and create a video for them to show all the angles / and explain exactly what isn't fitting right.
Yet, they could not follow the link to the video and required just pictures instead??
So I had to send them a series of high-quality pictures to show what I was already showing in the video. However, I guess it wasn't quite good enough for them. As they responded yet again requesting even more pictures; to which I decided I have invested enough time and energy and just want my money back. They should just send me a shipping label for a free return at this point if their customer service is worth a darn and be done with it, right?
Wrong! After all that, they expect me to pay for the return shipping, too. So, I will pay to ship it back, because it is of absolutely no use to me. It doesn't fit my gun. However, I let them know that I will be writing about this poor experience and how disappointed I am in their company; and that I will not be purchasing any further products from them in the future.
With all that said... Do yourself a favor and buy an AlienGear holster for your every day carry if you want one that is comfortable and that will actually fit your gun; AND is from an American company who has good customer service. If you're looking for a Kydex holster - like the WeThePeople style, another brand who has never steered me wrong and I have purchased a LOT of holsters from is MIE Productions Holsters. You will read all about that company in my upcoming blog post that is all about holsters and my straight up addiction to them :)
Here is a picture of the super comfortable AlienGear holster that I am using now for my EDC. It has a neoprene cushioned backing that goes up against your skin, so it actually feels very soft and comfortable as compared to the WTP holster that is a harder Kydex material. While the Kydex is cool because you can get neat patterns printed on it, like the thin blue line or a flag; the AlienGear is much more comfortable and has a leather (brown or black) mold that still somehow manages to snap the gun into place and give it a strong hold.
Well, I hope this post was both entertaining and educational. That it helps you avoid a mistake and make a good choice on spending your hard earned money - but also (more important to me) your TIME! My time is my most valuable asset and I refuse to support any business that does not value my time!
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