A men's clothing startup once favored by Wall Streeters was accused of failing to deliver on its promises - and now everything is out of stock
- Combatant Gentlemen is a men's clothing startup that was founded on selling stylish clothing at accessible prices.
- Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that customers were not getting their orders in a timely manner.
- Now, the company's website seems completely devoid of product as the CEO says that the company is focused on filling existing orders.
Men's clothing startup Combatant Gentlemen was built on delivering stylish garments at accessible prices.
The company - founded in 2012 by Vishaal Melwani, a former tailor who's now the CEO; Mohit Melwani, his cousin; and Scott Raio - quickly grew a following, and at one time, it was one of the preeminent brands at Goldman Sachs' headquarters. It even landed a spot on Forbes' list of America's most-promising companies in 2015.
But earlier this year, some customers told Business Insider that their orders were not arriving in a timely manner - and sometimes, they weren't arriving at all.
At the time, CEO Vishaal Melwani said that the troubles were due to supply issues at factories in China, and that he was working on fixing it.
"It literally sent shockwaves down us," Melwani said in July. "When you scale fast, you have to be ready for the repercussions, and that's what we're learning."
He added that it had been a "slow process getting it back up to 100%."
Several customers have recently reached out to Business Insider saying that they are still waiting for orders or refunds from earlier this year. One email from a customer, received on November 2, said that both suits and refunds were outstanding from an order that had been placed in March.
The customers also said that they were having a difficult time getting in contact with the company, as its phone no longer seems to work. The phone number no longer appears on the company's website.
Every product on the company's website is currently listed as out of stock. That's prompted some customers - many still experiencing issues with getting product from the company - to speculate that it could be going out of business.
In an email to Business Insider, Melwani said that's not the case.
"We have decided to make sure that all of our wedding orders were taken care of to launch more product on the site. Our number one goal is to take care of our clients that were affected by the product delay and then return to business as usual," he said.
Melwani said fresh inventory will come in early to mid-November.
