Fanatics wants to 'make it right' with Eagles fans who received crooked merchandise

CEO Michael Rubin says they've reached out to every affected customer to issue a new item.

6abc Digital Staff Image
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Fanatics in touch with Eagles fans who received crooked merchandise
Fanatics wants to 'make it right' with Eagles fans who received crooked merchandise

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Crooked numbers and bad stitching.

That's what some very disappointed Eagles fans got when they ordered the new Kelly green merchandise from the NFL Shop.

"I looked at the shirt and I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" recalled Shealyn Kilroy of Northern Liberties.

Kilroy ordered a Jalen Hurts shirt for her boyfriend, Josh. She was excited for him to rock his new fit for the start of the season.

But when he put it on, it was all off.

"He showed me the front of it and I was like, 'Oh my God.' The front is bad, but then he turned around and the back was so much worse," said Kilroy

She took to Twitter to see if others experienced the same mishap. The response she got was overwhelming.

The tweet went viral with others posting pictures of their lopsided jerseys too.

"I see why there are so many bootlegs out here because that's what it looks like. It looked like somebody bootlegged that jersey and sent it out," said Andre Mitchell of Northeast Philly.

Action News reached out to Fanatics, the company that makes the merchandise for NFL Shop and Nike. They agreed to mail out new merchandise to the customers affected by this.

"Mistakes happen, especially manufacturing. They're making thousands of them and things happen so as long as they're making it right I think they're doing the right thing," said Joe Leinhauser, of Narberth.

Michael Rubin, Fanatics CEO and former part-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, responded on social media Tuesday afternoon.

"If there's one thing I've learned in business - own your mistakes. Anytime we let any fan down, it's a failure on our part and that's on me," said Rubin in a post on the platform X.

Rubin also says they've reached out to every customer to issue a new item and they've been overnighting them shipments to get it to them fast.

SEE ALSO: Philadelphia Eagles 2023 schedule: Game days, times & locations for every Birds game this season

You can read Michael Rubin's full statement on the issue below:

"If there's one thing I've learned in business - own your mistakes.

Anytime we let any fan down, it's a failure on our part and that's on me.

Last year we sold nearly four million units of Eagles merchandise. That's just Eagles products, which shows Philly fans truly are the greatest! That said, I let some of you down and I apologize. Even though this specific issue only affected a few dozen customers, it is still completely unacceptable that this mistake happened. One bad product and one unhappy customer is one too many.

I promise you that me and everyone at Fanatics cares deeply. We've attempted to reach out to every fan who purchased this product to ensure they received it as expected and make it great if not. If you need help with this or any other issue, please contact our customer service team at CustomerExperience@fanatics.com. And we'll work fast to make it right.

Nothing I love and appreciate more than passionate fans - you make us better and we'd be NOTHING without you!"