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Bvo85 I'm happy that you are going to receive your knife and that you're happy with your outcome. I wish that I could say the same.


Dear Forum Members,


I have seen this thread up for some time and thought I might clear up a few misconceptions, misperceptions and inaccuracies. I will just respond in random order. Yes, there are old custom orders out there but rest assured they will be attended to. However…


Sorry Mr. Emerson, but my experience is quite similar to the OP's in this thread. Only difference is that after I got the runaround from you, your wife and your staff, I demanded a refund from you. It took the threat of a lawsuit before you returned it.


My experience was detailed in a previous thread here. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/786444-Emerson-Customer-Service I'd not commented on it until, in another thread, you had bragged about how great your customer service was. My experience was quite the opposite. Now you make several statements about your custom knife builds that are contrary to my experience with you. And so again, I'll describe my previous experience with a custom knife order from you.


When I wrote that previous thread on this general topic, I sent Mr. Emerson a message telling him that I'd written and posted it, and asked him to please respond in the thread. He did not. Perhaps this time he will?


1. We’ve never lost a custom order – not one. Every single order has been logged and tracked since the beginning on a separate custom order computer program. If someone claims we lost an order, please produce the paperwork or proof as we have all of the orders in numerical order placed by date of order. Verbal orders without proper paperwork were never taken – ever.


2. Most people, just like the original poster were never charged any money or down payment in advance. I stopped doing that early on when the orders started to increase. So, a majority of people that may still be waiting are not out of any money and have none invested in their order.


3. No one was ever asked to pay for an order in advance of delivery. Payment was due only when I notified them of completion.


Not only did you ask for a deposit from me, but I made payments over the next 18 months or so and my custom knife was paid in full. You promised me that my knife would be done in about 18 months and by the end of that time I had completely paid for the knife.


4. I have been filling custom backorders regularly over the years. You are just not aware of them as most are not members of any forum. Bladeforums did not even exist then I was taking the majority of my custom orders.


That certainly wasn't my experience. You promised my knife in 18 months. I made my first inquiry THREE YEARS after the order was placed. Over the NEXT THREE YEARS I spoke to you in person, to your wife in person and to various people on your staff over the phone. Each time I was promised that delivery was 'just around the corner' but that corner never was turned.


5. There is no need to “STEP UP” as I have been steadily filling custom orders all along and will continue to do so. No other knife maker in history ever had the volume of orders that I received and that is why I stopped taking orders in the first place when I realized it would take years to fill them all.


I could have lived with that. What was unconscionable was the many lies that I got from you directly, from your wife and from your staff, that I was going to receive my knife (as was variously promised) "in the next five months," 'at any moment' since you personally told me that you were "working on that model." Your wife told me 11 months later that you "were on them." Three times your staff took my information and told me that they'd call me back the next day. NONE of them did. Once one of your staff told me that he had spoken to you and that you'd said, "You'll try & get something done on it." The fact that it's left handed is part of the reason that it's taken so long. He does not have any idea when it will be done. He says that "I'm welcome to call anytime for an update."


6. When I “closed my books” I never stopped producing the custom orders that were on the books. I merely stopped taking any more new orders.


7. I would also note that all of the prices for custom orders are delivered at the price agreed to at the time of the order. This includes knives that are being delivered at prices in the $300 - $500 price range that are now valued at over $10,000.00 in the aftermarket. Not quite Amazon but not too bad. Some of the knives are now valued at over 20 times the price that the customer will pay for them.


I ordered my knife from you in October of 1996. It was completely paid for by March of 1998. Finally after getting the run–around from you and your staff FOR SIX YEARS, I sent you an email expressing my disappointment over the treatment I had received at your hands. You did not respond. About a month later I resent that email. AGAIN, you did not respond. About a month later I sent you a letter via certified mail asking when my knife would be completed. You did not respond. About two months later I sent you a letter via certified mail canceling my order and demanding the return of the money that I'd paid you as well as the interest that money would have brought me had I simply placed it into a bank. You did not respond and you did not refund the money that you had been paid. About a month later I sent ANOTHER letter via certified mail, this time demanding the return of my funds and threatening legal action if you failed to send the refund. You refunded the money that I'd paid, but did not pay any interest that was owed me.


I know that there are a lot of people on the Bladeforums who just love to bang on me and wait with baited breath for any chance, perceived or real to come forth. That’s ok, there’s still a lot of good people on the forum and I’ve been hit by much harder men in my day.


Ernest Emerson


I sat on the original incident for years, telling only a few close friends who asked about your knives. But then I saw your brag about the "high quality" of your customer service and I decided to detail my experience. Now, I just saw another of your brags on this very similar topic, and decided to once more let the forum members know the truth.
 
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