BAD & UGLY: Britt Gudowski / Black Starr Knives

T

Tdawg21

Feedback: +0 / =0 / -0
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
40
I post this here solely for the purpose to inform and protect others about/from this hack and con man. I tried to give the man the benefit of the doubt by buying from him when I knew of his sketchy rep. Anybody thinking of sending this fool money, DO NOT DO IT! Heed the warnings, regardless of ANYTHING he tells you, emails you, or anything you hear from one of his supporters vouching for him. JUST SAY NO!!

My deal with Britt was to buy 2 knives for $875 total, one of which would ship immediately and the other would have to be made and would ship in 30 days. The speedy "promised" manufacture and shipping of the second knife was due to prepaying for both knives. I sent a USPS M/O for $875 via Registered Mail to the Oregon address he provided and then I rec'd the first knife in just a few days, as promised. All good so far. The delivery/ship date for the second knife was to be 4/10/14. I'd rec'd nothing by 4/15 so I called and emailed him on 4/15 with no answer or reply. Finally got a reply a few days later, just BS excuses. Nothing more. Tried to call a few days later, no answer. Basically I just let it go for a while to give the crook the benefit of the doubt and a little extra time. I then sent him an email on 6/10/14 telling him he was now 60 days past the promised delivery date and I no longer wanted the knife and if I didn't receive a complete $500 refund (the agreed upon price of the second knife) within 2 weeks that I'd proceed with legal action. I rec'd an email from him saying that since my knife was now "finished", he'd be shipping it out the following day and would also send a trk no. the next day. Then came another email a day or two later saying the place he does his sandblasting at was closed so he couldn't get in to blast it that day (but it was "finished" a day or two earlier, remember?) and it'd be blasted and shipped on 6/16/14 and he'd forward the trk no. that day.Well SHOCKER!! On 6/16, I rec'd no trk no., no knife, and no refund. And have rec'd nothing up to now. I just returned from vacation a few days ago and now with the 4th holiday upon us, it'll be next week before I actually get all my info to the attorney who's going to handle everything.

(Continued below)
 
(Contiued from above)

So far, I've got info from 4 other guys who've been ripped by Britt who've contacted me that I'll be passing along to the attorney along with my info. The attorneys I work with have working relationships with other atty's in OR and CA and anywhere else the thief is likely to run.

He's shut down the BSK Facebook page in the last week or so. I'm sure he's thinking that'll help him hide. The good news is, as everyone knows, he's been in trouble with the law in the past so this stuff will follow him wherever he goes. He won't be able to hide.

If you've been ripped by him as well, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to add you to our action. Just shoot me a PM.

T. Lawson
 
Last edited:
Yep, we are well aware of this person's tactics. He might be one of the most talked about person in this section:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...s-with-Britt-Gudowski-and-Black-Starr-Knives?
Threads get closed because there is already the beacon thread in the Hall of Shame, rehashing the same things doesn't really do much if folks aren't even willing to read what is already there. So, you might want to explain how you can actually assist people that have been taken by him for money. Being intentionally vague about what you can potentially do may not be such a good idea.
 
Last edited:
RevDevil said:
Yep, we are well aware of this person's tactics. He might be one of the most talked about person in this section:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...s-with-Britt-Gudowski-and-Black-Starr-Knives?
Threads get closed because there is already the beacon thread in the Hall of Shame, rehashing the same things doesn't really do much if folks aren't even willing to read what is already there. So, you might want to explain how you can actually assist people that have been taken by him for money. Being intentionally vague about what you can potentially do may not be such a good idea.
Click to expand...

Beyond that, I am wondering why you thought an individual of whose poor reputation you were already aware would somehow treat you properly.
 
RevDevil said:
Yep, we are well aware of this person's tactics. He might be one of the most talked about person in this section:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...s-with-Britt-Gudowski-and-Black-Starr-Knives?
Threads get closed because there is already the beacon thread in the Hall of Shame, rehashing the same things doesn't really do much if folks aren't even willing to read what is already there. So, you might want to explain how you can actually assist people that have been taken by him for money. Being intentionally vague about what you can potentially do may not be such a good idea.
Click to expand...

As I said in the first sentence of my OP, I only want to warn others from going forward with dealings with Britt. I personally feel that the more individuals and evidence that comes out telling of Britt's thievery, the more seriously people will heed the warnings in the future. If that's a problem and it's not what this particular sub forum is meant to do, I suppose I'm not not smart enough to understand that based off what my understanding is of the purpose of this forum. And of course, the mods can obviously feel free to close this thread if they feel it's not relevant to protecting other BF members or is inappropriate for this area of BF's.

As far as being "intentionally vague" about what I can do to help others who've been stolen from, I'm not sure what you mean. I plainly stated that I'll be sending the details of our failed transactions to an attorney who'll be handling things moving forward. I told Britt a couple of weeks ago that he'd receive no further "personal" communication of any kind from me. Any and all future contact will be through an attorney. In a case like this, the more complainants, the better. It establishes the fact that his criminal actions are a common occurrence and not simply a misunderstanding as he so often claims to his victims. Typically in this type of situation, the attorney will compile and review all the information against the subject and send a correspondence to them explaining what the escalation of action will be if they do not satisfy their legal obligations to their customers in a timely manner. Britt is most likely not smart enough to comply so it will likely go further. I personally paid him with a USPS M/O and sent it via registered mail so the mail fraud angle can also be pursued. In some cases like this, you need to network with attorneys in the state where the offense took place. I have all the capabilities for this as well. I won't get into what my profession is but I have access to substantial resources in this type of situation. Truthfully, it's way too much trouble to go to over just $500 (and that's EXACTLY what Britt is betting on) but someone has to make this guy understand he can't keep stealing from people with no legal repercussions. I'll gladly be that guy. And on top of the money, he lied to me. Repeatedly.

Again, if I've inappropriately used the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" sub forum by trying to warn his potential future victims, please take whatever action is appropriate with regards to this thread.

T. Lawson
 
91a2jettavr6 said:
Beyond that, I am wondering why you thought an individual of whose poor reputation you were already aware would somehow treat you properly.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you're 100% correct. I was an idiot and don't want others to make the same mistake I did. As I said in my OP, I figured I'd roll the dice and give the guy a chance. Pretty stupid in retrospect. I'm not wealthy by any means but a few hundred dollars is not gonna put me into bankruptcy either. For me, it's now a principle thing. And he doesn't have any!!!

T. Lawson
 
Did you see Black Starrs comments page? They are basically insulting every other tribute maker in business ; even.the respected Vaugn Neeley. They even seem to ignore the fact that he is the current maker of the Lile survival knives ( next generation.)
 
Tdawg21 said:
Unfortunately, you're 100% correct. I was an idiot and don't want others to make the same mistake I did. As I said in my OP, I figured I'd roll the dice and give the guy a chance. Pretty stupid in retrospect. I'm not wealthy by any means but a few hundred dollars is not gonna put me into bankruptcy either. For me, it's now a principle thing. And he doesn't have any!!!

T. Lawson
Click to expand...
Oh ; by the way ; you once told me that you wanted a Jack Crain MCS. I found one yesterday in Arizona custom.knives website. $950 . By the way ; you once told me that you owned a Jack Crain Life Support 1 . Could you please tell me whether or not that Knife has a compass in the butt cap ?
 
carbonsteelfan said:
Oh ; by the way ; you once told me that you wanted a Jack Crain MCS. I found one yesterday in Arizona custom.knives website. $950 . By the way ; you once told me that you owned a Jack Crain Life Support 1 . Could you please tell me whether or not that Knife has a compass in the butt cap ?
Click to expand...

Sent ya a PM. Thx.

T. Lawson
 
We do appreciate the warning here on this matter and it is exactly what the TGB&U is for.
We also appreciate you helping others by their joining your case, as it could be mutually beneficial for all of you to achieve a resolution.

I guess some of us, though, are scratching our heads as to why you went ahead with the transaction in the first place, considering that there are 5 threads detailing the exact same thing you are going thru now. If everyone heeded the warnings given in this forum and stopped giving these type of people business, they would sooner or later not exist.
 
Karda said:
We do appreciate the warning here on this matter and it is exactly what the TGB&U is for.
We also appreciate you helping others by their joining your case, as it could be mutually beneficial for all of you to achieve a resolution.

I guess some of us, though, are scratching our heads as to why you went ahead with the transaction in the first place, considering that there are 5 threads detailing the exact same thing you are going thru now. If everyone heeded the warnings given in this forum and stopped giving these type of people business, they would sooner or later not exist.
Click to expand...

Brotha, I don't know how to say it any clearer: I was just an IDIOT for taking a chance with this loser to begin with. I was fully aware of all the bad press floating around about him and did it anyway. I guess I was one of those people who think it won't happen to them. Pretty stupid, I know. At this point, I just want to do all I can to expose him for the crook that he is and prevent anyone from ever being as dumb as me and sending him as much as a dime. Be well.

T. Lawson
 
There are two people we need to avoid in this industry who pretend they are knife makers and they manufacture First Blood tribute knives, one is in the U.S and the other in the UK. These two individuals to the best of my understanding are not makers rather parts assemblers and to the best of my knowledge they have yet to start grinding a single blade or learn to.
When a person gets an outside CNC shop to manufacture the blade, the guard, the handle and buttcap and all the other internal parts and just assembles them, can they be referred to as a knife maker at all ?
There is a reason why ‘some’ tribute FB knives are very costly, the blade is hand ground, the guard is handmade, the handle turned from solid bars of material, buttcap screw cut on the lathe, sheath handmade, need I go on ?
If you bought FB knives from these two individuals you are getting a machine made knife and if they were in the first place honest enough to tell the buyers that piece of info maybe the buyers/collector would think twice about buying their knives.

I can only say if there is no honesty and integrity there should be no transaction.
 
Tdawg21 said:
(Contiued from above)

So far, I've got info from 4 other guys who've been ripped by Britt who've contacted me that I'll be passing along to the attorney along with my info. The attorneys I work with have working relationships with other atty's in OR and CA and anywhere else the thief is likely to run.

He's shut down the BSK Facebook page in the last week or so. I'm sure he's thinking that'll help him hide. The good news is, as everyone knows, he's been in trouble with the law in the past so this stuff will follow him wherever he goes. He won't be able to hide.

If you've been ripped by him as well, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to add you to our action. Just shoot me a PM.

T. Lawson
Click to expand...

WOW!! That makes alot of us then! How can this be going on for so long and hes still in business?? Hes been giving me the runaround for 2 years now and keeps sying hes not trying to scam me. At this point i dont even care for the knives anymore and i know i wont be getting my money, so anything i can do to help get this parasite off the market im all in.
 
Last edited:
I shouldve known better when he took my paypal payment in advance and said knives would be done in about 2 months, knowing very well that you cant file a claim past 45 days. He got me and i congratulate him.
“Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”
-Arthur Conan Doyle
 
Tdawg21 said:
Brotha, I don't know how to say it any clearer: I was just an IDIOT for taking a chance with this loser to begin with. I was fully aware of all the bad press floating around about him and did it anyway. I guess I was one of those people who think it won't happen to them. Pretty stupid, I know. At this point, I just want to do all I can to expose him for the crook that he is and prevent anyone from ever being as dumb as me and sending him as much as a dime. Be well.

T. Lawson
Click to expand...

You aren't the first and won't be the last. Some folks refuse to read and take proven information for what is might be worth. You cannot prevent people from screwing themselves, really. If someone is intent on throwing money away and getting burned, we cannot stop them no matter how many threads we start, or highlight, or consolidate. Good luck.

Unfortunately, scam artists are always going to come back in some form or another. There are dozens and dozens of people in this industry alone that should not be working, yet there they are.
 
I actually received my fb knife from black starr knifes this weekend. Iv had to wait a long time like every body else on here is having to, but in the end I am actually pleased with it and it was worth the wait. Hope everybody else receives there knives aswell Adam ,
 
ANOTHER BRITT WARNING!! BUYER BEWARE!!

I was just informed that our boy Britt has recently posted up some pieced-together hackjob off-spec FB knives for sale on his blog for $200. I just looked and it's true. BE SMART. Don't be stupid like myself and some others here have been. Send this guy NO MONEY. Just friendly advice. Take it or leave it.

Here's the link:

http://myramboknives.blogspot.com

T. Lawson
 
UPDATE:

Hi guys. Been super busy with a couple of projects and just haven't had the free time to give our boy Britt the attention he deserves but I wanted to give you the latest as of today.

It's been over 2 months since I demanded my refund (and over 4 months since my "guaranteed" delivery date for my MCS) and, as you'd expect, I've rec'd nothing from the scammer. I dropped all my info off at the attorney a good while ago but just haven't had a chance to follow up with him until last week (my fault). He spoke with our sheriffs office and had me to get all the emails and paperwork to the LT. that's in charge charge of the investigation division there and I rec'd a call from the LT. earlier this week to go over all the info he'd received. His plan of action is to try to contact Britt and give him a short deadline to return the entire $500 he rec'd from me before the next session of the grand jury convenes here locally and if he hasn't returned the money in full by then, he will be indicted. He told me he tried to call him several times today with no answer. Imagine that!! Doesn't matter though. The LT. left him a v/m explaining that he'll still be indicted whether he calls the LT back or not. I've let the other guys that Britt's ripped off know to approach their local L.E. agencies to get charges against him going too. It's a really simple process that your local L.E. agency should be happy to help you with. I also have a point of contact in the Roseburg PD and they are also aware of our boys illicit activities. If he owes you money, DONT GIVE UP!! That's exactly what he wants you to do. Contact your local L.E. agency and get a case going on this loser. And PM me if you need the contact at Roseburg PD but you need to start locally. Good luck!

T. Lawson
 
I would like to tack myself onto this thread and on the list of people scammed by Britt Gudowski and Black Starr Knives. I have been in the hole for $615 from Britt since August of 2013. 1 year of excuses and lies for what was suppose to be 4 weeks and my knife would be in my hands. It has been said before many times but I would like to reinforce the well know fact that Britt is a scam artist and you should never send that man anything. I am currently in the process with my local Law Enforcement agency to get my money back or the knife I was promised. If you're in the same situation as many of us listen to Tdawg and put the pressure on.

Britt you know who I am. CPM 154 First Blood, EBay+Paypal. You have been ignoring my emails this far. Not anymore.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top