A formal apology from Jared West of Mantis Knives

[made4blade]

i'm curious to know why he posted but didnt stick around?

Probably cause he is a busy guy. He'll be back to resopnd to your questions.

 

[SPXTrader]

...and should any of you feel the need to comment on what you've read here, please call me directly at Mantis (714) 701-9136.

Thank you for your time,

Jared West

It doesn't appear he plans on coming back...

 

[made4blade]

For me, I appreciate the gesture of an apology (if this indeed is really you,) but just saying "I'm sorry" isn't enough.

How about sending another notice to your militia--admitting to, canceling, and apologizing for the spam campaign?

How about dropping the 12 stepper rhetoric and discussing things like CoO, or the way you advertise the same knife with different steels?

How about joining this forum as a manufacturer and establishing a stand-up presence ala Spyderco, Busse, Buck, etc, rather than only issuing an apology when you get caught?

Sorry, but after the games you've pulled, I'll need more than just some-----statement, before I'd consider buying your products.

The so-called spam campaign has been over since July 4th.

 

[bdws1975]

Probably cause he is a busy guy. He'll be back to resopnd to your questions.

why don't you let him speak for himself? You're desire to stick up for him is overshadowing your ability to see that the folks on here don't care what you have to say.

Brett

 

[darthsoaker]

Made4blade is a friend of mine as well. I dont think he was doing anything other than speaking his mind on the topic of a product that he believes in (as do I). But you made it clear that his opinion didnt count. He is American, and last I checked, there is still freedom of speech here. As for who won the knife...I am sure that some one will share the email that announced the winners.

OK, when somebody from a previously almost unknown company sends a message telling people to post messages on various forums to win a free knife, and a bunch of people do so. You can't really expect that people will believe that it was "just a coincidence".

BTW, this is a private forum, so waving the freedom of speech flag doesn't work to well.

 

[Tony_A]

Made4blade is a friend of mine as well. I dont think he was doing anything other than speaking his mind on the topic of a product that he believes in (as do I). But you made it clear that his opinion didnt count. He is American, and last I checked, there is still freedom of speech here. As for who won the knife...I am sure that some one will share the email that announced the winners.

Yes, Made4blade seems to "speak his mind" quite a lot regarding mantis knives. So much, he seems to have little time to discuss anything else on Bladeforums.

I'm also an American and believe in freedom of speech as well---not sure how that's at all relevant, but you brought it up.

Heck, on this particular board, anyone from a critical user to the most biased sycophant can discuss knives. That's why I paid for a membership. Of course, I don't appreciate paying for spam, but the mods here are pretty good at eliminating that particular flavor of bottom feeder.......

All that said, perhaps we should move any further off-topic discussion of this nature to whine + cheese?

 

[Kiah]

BTW, this is a private forum, so waving the freedom of speech flag doesn't work to well.

Really. It's odd to me when people cry "freedom of speech" on a privately owned forum. It's like camping in someone's yard and yelling about how you have the right to camp on public land.

This forum is not a democracy. It's ruled by King Spark and flies this flag.

 

[bdws1975]

LOL!!!! very well put....and with graphics too!

Really. It's odd to me when people cry "freedom of speech" on a privately owned forum. It's like camping in someone's yard and yelling about how you have the right to camp on public land.

This forum is not a democracy. It's ruled by King Spark and flies this flag.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

1. Calling the company collectors' club the Mantis Militia is no stranger than joking about Bladeforums pirates. It's easy to get carried away with the club atmosphere and forget the world outside may be very different. Whoever the Mantis Militia enlists, we here are not generally young enthusiasts.

2. It's a big step up for Jared West to come here on his own to explain what happened from his point of view. It's not a real apology, but it is open communication. And of course, it's the internet, not a phone call, so we can wait for him to get back to us, and not expect an immediate reply to each post.

3. The whole argument seems to have begun when diamdave reported being insulted on a refund for an unsatisfactory buying experience. Not cool, and if that's the post that upset Mr. West, I'd like to know why he characterizes it as a lie. I know Dave personally. He's not a liar.

I'd also like to know why he couldn't simply have responded to that post, instead of trying to drown it out in the spam campaign.

 

[jim preston]

He is American, and last I checked, there is still freedom of speech here

Not on this forum- it is privately owned. If, for example, you called Spark a *************, you would probably get yourself banned.

As to Mantis- I don't really care if you had the best intentions in mind when you launced Bravo 1, or whatever it was. Being angry is not an excuse for things like that. In fact, you should have registered and talked to whoever insulted, instead of employing subterfuge to spam our site.

I would say I appreciate your apology, but it sounds more like a suck-up to me, replacing the words "spam" with "over-zealous marketing techniques." If you had just said- "Look, I was an idiot, I spammed your site, and I'm sorry, then I would appreciate your apology. But it strikes me as insincere, and statements like:

I've loved knives ever since I was a little kid...not unlike most of you.

are insincere flattery trying to appeal to our better sides.

Now, I would have probably never bought a Mantis knife before Bravo 1 (taste) but I certainly won't buy one now. Ever. Even if it screamed to me. Of the three companies I currently won't buy from (Ontario and Strider are the other two) the Mantis boycott is the only one that is absolute. I have bought from a subsidy of Ontario, and knives like the Old Hickory line are callin for me, and if I had the money and I really wanted a tough-as-nails folder and I like Strider's design, I would buy one.

But when someone spams our site, then sends an insincere apology while and doesn't reply to it, they totally loose my respect. Yes, I think that trying to force a small knife company out of business, or lying about military service, is ignoble, but Strider and Ontario didn't make this personal. I'm boycotting them on behalf of other people. I boycotting you on behalf of myself.

So, Jared West, goodbye, from someone whose forum experience was lessened by your spam.

 

[jim preston]

The so-called spam campaign has been over since July 4th.

So-called? You call it so-called?! Telling members of the "Mantis Militia" isn't spam?!

Listen, I disagree with some things that get called spam around here, but this is undeniably a spam campaign. And it hit other sites- I believe JerzeeDevil was mentioned by Mr. West himself, and we even got a hit over on THR.

 

[JohnnyMayhem]

Hey at least there was a posted apology (remember the fallout with BF and Mad Dog Knives when the online mag was still going?)


I was never offended in the least, confused yes, but that's standard operating procedure for me.

I'm totally happy with the kerambit that I bought, and it made me happy, because it's a good cable ripper, better than some of the others like the one made by Klien tools. Plus it's always great finding something that doesn't cost much that out performs stuff you pay more for.

I don't like the way that some things look all mall ninja esque, but the red and black on some of the things looks really good though for some reason.

 

[hardheart]

I don't appreciate paying for spam

me either

which is why I don't click on it

 

[Kiah]

1. Calling the company collectors' club the Mantis Militia is no stranger than joking about Bladeforums pirates. It's easy to get carried away with the club atmosphere and forget the world outside may be very different. Whoever the Mantis Militia enlists, we here are not generally young enthusiasts.

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2. It's a big step up for Jared West to come here on his own to explain what happened from his point of view. It's not a real apology, but it is open communication. And of course, it's the internet, not a phone call, so we can wait for him to get back to us, and not expect an immediate reply to each post.

Agreed. I emailed him when his company first started with the CoO question, which he didn't answer. I know a lot of people have asked this. Hopefully he'll come back and answer.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

CoO = Country of Origin, not Chief operations Officer.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Oh, by the way, since so many others have ocmmented on it, I might as well ... freedom * of * speech.

We do have freedom of speech around here because Spark likes it that way. There are some limits, but not many, and they are reasonable.

But no one's right to free speech is violated by someone else exercizing their own freedom of speech and contradicting them!

 

[mhawg]

The man stepped up and said it plain, the only thing left for us to do is pick up one of his knives and GO CUT SUMPTHIN'!!!

Who believed all the hype Jerry Busse put out before you went out and beat the crap out of one of his knives and everything he said was not only true but in some cases a modest understatement. Let's see somebody stick 1-1/2" of the tip of one of these Mantis knives in the top of a door jamb and have a 180 lb. man do one hand pull-ups on it. Hallelujah!!!

 

[g.vantilburg]

He'll be back to resopnd to your questions.

Will you please stop responding to questions that are NOT directed at you? You said that you are not an employee. Therefore you can't answer these questions! Let the man speak for himself. If I were Mr. West, I would find it quite annoying if one of my "MILITIA" members were answering a bunch of questions that they aren't "qualified" to answer. Just my $.02.

 

[nathan310]

I didn't know about the spam...

That's kind of shitty.

Especially because he didn't really admit to it.

When he said overzealous marketing I thought he meant the kind of stuff dark ops says about their knives like that they're the finest fighting knives in history.

I didn't know he meant initiating a spam attack on forums.

I think he should list the countries of origin and a list of what knives use what steel so this whole thing can be some what resolved...

Also that would show he's not just giving lip service and he has a true desire to make things right.

But then again I'm not God and he will have to determine what he will do to make up for it.

Even if that means it's just dropping some insincere apology for damage control purposes and then splitting so his employees can try to get rid of the bag of crap.

But then again I can't read minds LOL,it's all just my opinion and I could be wrong about this whole thing.

 

[Teague]

Hell, you guys are tough! When a guy says he's sorry and really means it, I forgive him. Especially when he didn't do anything to me personally. I'm going to look into getting one of his knives just because of the attitude of some of you snobs here (Ya, you know who you are!).