The latest chapter in the ongoing saga involving Combatant Gentlemen is a hopeful one. The Black Tux, a premium suit and tuxedo and rental company, issued a statement this week extending a helping hand to frustrated grooms in need of suiting for their weddings.
“If you have a wedding between now and the end of the year and the suit you ordered from Combatant Gentlemen never showed up,” the statement reads, “forward your receipt and event date to social@theblacktux.com.” Affected clients will then receive a free rental code, and the company ensures that there are “no strings attached.”
The Black Tux’s generous offer comes after recent controversy surrounding Combatant Gentlemen and its failure to deliver tuxedos and suits for weddings on time—or at all.
Combatant Gentlemen, which launched in 2012 with the promise to bring affordable suits to stylish grooms-to-be and their groomsmen, was originally hailed as a brilliant enterprise bound for success. It made Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies in 2015 and was featured in Inc. magazine. Now, however, the company has been saddled with a poor reputation and an F from the Better Business Bureau, with customers complaining on Yelp and on Reddit about their bad experiences.
In a Medium post this past July, founder and CEO Vishaal Melwani attributed the problems to “scaling issues.”
A rep for Combatant Gentlemen did not respond to requests for comment.
“The purpose of The Black Tux is to give people confidence in life’s biggest moments, and for most people, their wedding day is among the most important of those moments,” Andrew Blackmon, co-founder of The Black Tux, tells The Knot in a statement. “When we saw Combatant Gentlemen struggling to fulfill wedding orders, we saw an opportunity to live our values and further our mission.”
“We never want to see a business fail, even a competitor, if their goal is to help guys look great on the days that matter most,” Blackmon adds. “But we also know from experience that wedding customers are demanding: you only get one chance to do it right. If something went wrong with your Combatant Tux order and you’re a groom with a wedding date between now and the end of the year, we want to help you out.”
This past July, brides faced a similar conundrum when popular bridal retailer Alfred Angelo closed its U.S. stores and filed for bankruptcy. Luckily, national retailers like David’s Bridal and BHLDN stepped in and helped brides in need by offering discounts on their own wedding dresses, with rush alterations fees and expedited shipping fees largely waived.