My wife bought a I guess what would be termed straw Panama hat for Christmas 2011 because we were planning on taking a 4 week vacation in Phoenix at the May 2012. Therefore I put the hat on a closet self and only removed the store tags and only started to wear the hat the morning we left for Phoenix. I first noticed that the peak of the hat was starting to unravel before we reached Idaho Falls that evening. I immediately showed this problem to my wife. This started on the left hand side and within the next week the right hand side of the peak unravelled. On our return to Calgary I went to Chapel Hats to request a reimbursement for shoddy merchandise as we paid $ 75.00 for the hat. I knew I was in trouble when the manager started to blame the customer for the problem with the hat. He offered about 5 to 6 different reasons, as to why it was my fault. I pressed the issue and he said he would contact the owners for a resolution. He phoned me back and said the owners could only offer me a 40% on the purchase of another hat. I stated this was totally unsatisfactory as they had sold me shoddy merchandise and said would be filing a report with the Better Bushiness Bureau, the manager’s reply was«fine». Conclusion: When dealing with a small business such as Chapel Hats customer satisfaction does not seem to be high on their list of priorities. I sent the above letter to Chapel corporate headquarters and within an hour I received a telephone call from the company. The person explained the company return policy, and I explained my complaint. This person agreed to issue a full value in store gift certificate but took great pains to explain to me that this was against company policy and was only a «one-off» situation.
Wendy P.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Calgary, Canada
Do you remember the show Harriet’s Magic Hats? It’s about this girl who’s aunt had a trunk full of magic hats in her attic that when this girl put one on, she’d be transported to the place it was from. Well, Chapel’s hats may not be in trunks, or in my attic, but I’d like to think they’re magic anyway. There are a total of 6 Chapel locations. One in Edmonton, one in Calgary and the other four are in the US. So what makes us so special that we get a cool hat store? Dunno, but it’s kind of fun that it’s here. Actually, what makes it fun is trying on all of the different styles and checking myself out in the nearest mirror. I’m a hat person. Hats for me are like shoes for a lot of girls. Except I’ve made it my businesses to not have a closet full of them… yet. They should have a proper closet for that after all. Anyone know a good carpenter? April Underdog Challenge: 14⁄30
Peter A.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Calgary, Canada
I am admittedly, and often mocked(stay strong, Peter) as a dandy, so of course, I do have a closet filled with the necessary fedoras and caps. There are two reasons for this: 1) hats are just cool and 2) I need a chapeau to cover up my male-pattern baldness. The problem is that the hat trend hasn’t made it out to Alberta as of yet, so I am forced to either pick hats up in other cities or order online. Also, I have a huge head, so it’s nice to be able to TRY on the hat before purchasing. So I was excited to read the first review and find out that Calgary has a hat store not dedicated to baseball caps. I packed up the old station wagon and headed down to Chinook. I was only modestly impressed. Lots of hats, yes, but most are of the dreaded bar star style and similar cheese. White fedoras and the like. Nothing fine like a Borsalino or Stetson. Maybe I’m just upset that they didn’t see to have many styles in my size, 75⁄8 or 62 cm. Yes, my head is two feet around, probably filled with mostly water.
Brad G.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Calgary, Canada
Just what Calgary needed! A quality hat shop that carries hats for guys and gals of all shapes and styles. These guys are clearly passionate about hats – so swing by and have some fun with the most low impact type of dress-up there is: hat sampling. It’s like having your own Tickle Trunk.