Well
I have to say that my recent experiences with Smoky Mountain Knifeworks have been extremely ugly.
I tried ordering some knives three weeks ago. As usual, the site was outrageously slow. I got as far as the submit order button, but it timed out continuously. I naturally gave up and tried again the next night. The site was still slow, but the order went through, and I received a confirmation email. I then received my attempted order, as well as the confirmed order, a few days later. Smoky really needs to address their web site problems. Its getting almost completely unusable, and very annoying.
Now heres the big one. I also placed an order last week. Smokys web site showed a gorgeous Camillus Cartridge Series barlow pattern slipjoint, complete with single bolster and lanyard hole, for $39.99. I showed the picture to my father, and he wanted one also. So I ordered two of them and waited impatiently for the knives to arrive. The knives arrived a couple days later, but they were not the knives pictured on the web site. They were dual bolster equal ends, not even remotely resembling the knife pictured on the web site. I called customer service at 3:00 EST to straighten the problem out. The service rep said that she had no idea what the web site looked like, and told me that she could not help me. She told me Id need to talk to the web site guy named John. So I told her to put him on the phone. She then told me that he, the only person who could help me, was gone for the day, but would be answering email on Saturday. She told me to send him an email, and then talk to him in person on Monday.
So I send the email. I get no response. So I call on Monday. John still isnt in. So I call on Tuesday. John still isnt in. But this time I get another gal who says that she can help me. I tell her the story from the beginning, and Im not exactly a happy camper at this point. She has a web browser and confirms that the knives I received are not the ones advertised. She does some stock checking and tells me that the advertised knife is from a different series costing $135.00, and that shes be happy to charge me the full $135.00 per knife. The whole thing stunk like bait and switch at this point. I told her that they were advertising the barlow pattern knife for $30.00, and that I paid the $39.99 for each of the two knives I purchased. I wanted an even exchange, so I received the knives they were advertising for $39.99. Im not a hard a$$ or anything, but this had been drawn out for a very long time with little help from Smoky. Anyways, she told me that she couldnt authorize an even swap of knives, and Id have to call back the next day. Yes, you read that correctly; yet another day.
So I call back yesterday. She tells me that Im bumming and Ill have to pay $270.00 if I want the knives they were advertising for $39.99 each. She said that they had a policy clause on their web site, which states that no matter how bad they screw up and misrepresent their advertised products, that its the customers problem and not theirs. They are in no way liable for anything they advertise which is not true. This is the kind of company that Smoky Mountain Knifeworks is. They basically believe that they can write a few words on a web site that legally allows them to bait and switch people.
Well . You guessed it. I did not jump on the $270.00 offer. I demanded that they refund my order and pay for the shipping back to them. She agreed and told me to have a lovely day. I said that I would when I placed an order with an honest knife company.
Ill be contacting the Attorney Generals Office tomorrow. This is lies and deception on the part of Smoky Mountain, using their customer support to squeeze more money from their customers.
Shame on Smoky Mountain. Stay clear of them; or at least don't believe what they advertise.
I tried ordering some knives three weeks ago. As usual, the site was outrageously slow. I got as far as the submit order button, but it timed out continuously. I naturally gave up and tried again the next night. The site was still slow, but the order went through, and I received a confirmation email. I then received my attempted order, as well as the confirmed order, a few days later. Smoky really needs to address their web site problems. Its getting almost completely unusable, and very annoying.
Now heres the big one. I also placed an order last week. Smokys web site showed a gorgeous Camillus Cartridge Series barlow pattern slipjoint, complete with single bolster and lanyard hole, for $39.99. I showed the picture to my father, and he wanted one also. So I ordered two of them and waited impatiently for the knives to arrive. The knives arrived a couple days later, but they were not the knives pictured on the web site. They were dual bolster equal ends, not even remotely resembling the knife pictured on the web site. I called customer service at 3:00 EST to straighten the problem out. The service rep said that she had no idea what the web site looked like, and told me that she could not help me. She told me Id need to talk to the web site guy named John. So I told her to put him on the phone. She then told me that he, the only person who could help me, was gone for the day, but would be answering email on Saturday. She told me to send him an email, and then talk to him in person on Monday.
So I send the email. I get no response. So I call on Monday. John still isnt in. So I call on Tuesday. John still isnt in. But this time I get another gal who says that she can help me. I tell her the story from the beginning, and Im not exactly a happy camper at this point. She has a web browser and confirms that the knives I received are not the ones advertised. She does some stock checking and tells me that the advertised knife is from a different series costing $135.00, and that shes be happy to charge me the full $135.00 per knife. The whole thing stunk like bait and switch at this point. I told her that they were advertising the barlow pattern knife for $30.00, and that I paid the $39.99 for each of the two knives I purchased. I wanted an even exchange, so I received the knives they were advertising for $39.99. Im not a hard a$$ or anything, but this had been drawn out for a very long time with little help from Smoky. Anyways, she told me that she couldnt authorize an even swap of knives, and Id have to call back the next day. Yes, you read that correctly; yet another day.
So I call back yesterday. She tells me that Im bumming and Ill have to pay $270.00 if I want the knives they were advertising for $39.99 each. She said that they had a policy clause on their web site, which states that no matter how bad they screw up and misrepresent their advertised products, that its the customers problem and not theirs. They are in no way liable for anything they advertise which is not true. This is the kind of company that Smoky Mountain Knifeworks is. They basically believe that they can write a few words on a web site that legally allows them to bait and switch people.
Well . You guessed it. I did not jump on the $270.00 offer. I demanded that they refund my order and pay for the shipping back to them. She agreed and told me to have a lovely day. I said that I would when I placed an order with an honest knife company.
Ill be contacting the Attorney Generals Office tomorrow. This is lies and deception on the part of Smoky Mountain, using their customer support to squeeze more money from their customers.
Shame on Smoky Mountain. Stay clear of them; or at least don't believe what they advertise.
