Bark River has taken $16,000 of My Money

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SnarlSlayer

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May, 2007: I start selling Bark River Knives with the permission and endorsement of Mike Stewart, President of Bark River Knife and Tool. He posts on KnifeForums.com that I am an authorized Bark River Dealer.

November 2007: I decide that I will contract with Bark River Knife & Tool to manufacture a full-tang Kephart. Mike Stewart and I have several conversations over the phone and decide on the specifications. We agree that these knives will be exclusive to me.

December 2007: The handle materials and quantities are chosen. Mike Stewart sends me a signed confirmation that states the knives will be delivered 90 days from the date of payment. The total is $16,286.90 plus shipping. I send him a certified check for $16,000.00. Mike and I agree over the phone that the balance of $286.90 will be paid with the as of yet undetermined shipping charges.

January 2008: I contact Mike Stewart and ask for a progress report. He says the materials have been ordered. I also ask him for a CAD Drawing with the specifications on it. He says he’ll get one to me soon.

February 2008: No drawing or anything else from Mr. Stewart. I contact him through KnifeForum.com but cannot get any definite answers from him. He does tell me, however, that I need to have a presence on the forum because that’s how the knives sell. I explain my own marketing plan to him.

March 2008: Mike Stewart confirms in writing that the knives will ship on May 15th.

April 2008: I contact Mike Stewart and tell him I’m a bit nervous because May 15th is getting close and I still haven’t received a CAD Drawing, specifications or ANYTHING. He tells me that I will in a few days, but he’s still worried about my presence on KnifeForum.com. I try to explain that I have a marketing plan, but he doesn’t seem to hear me. He also confirms in writing that the knives will be delivered in May.

April 23rd, 2008: I get a UPS 2 Day Express Envelope from Mike Stewart that has a single sheet of paper with a simple line drawing of the knife. No specifications and I’m not even sure it’s a CAD drawing. Please note that this is MONTHS after the delivery date specified in the contract that Mr. Stewart signed.

May 15th, 2008: No knives. Mike and I have an argument over this and he tells me that he thought it was clear that he gets to decide when the knives will be put on the market. This seems to be contrary to the contract that gave a delivery date of 90 days from the date of payment. Additionally, there were no stipulations (written or verbal) as to how the knives would be marketed. And he tells me yet again that he doesn’t think I have a large enough presence on the forum.

June 2008: I give up. I decide that I’ll just wait a few months. At this point, I still have faith in Mike Stewart’s character so I figure that he’ll ship the knives when he’s ready.

September 2008: I go onto KnifeForums.com and find out that Mike Stewart has announced that Bark River is producing full-tang Kepharts and he’d like some feedback from his customers. I contact him questioning this and he writes:

“The project has lost steam and I have to rejuvenate it. This will go distributor wide. You will get you money back. I can't have my product solely in Your hands at this point. I'm sorry for all the trouble you have had but it would have been much better if You had at least stayed in touch with me. You are going to have to step into my shoes and look at this from where I stand. This has been very distressing to me. I cannot hand the reins on this back to you at this point. All I see is the real potential for a bunch of my product sitting out there unsold.”

So I write back that I expect a check in the amount of $16,000.00 on my desk by the end of the week. Mr. Stewart writes:

“You can expect it all You want. You will be paid from the proceeds of the Sale of those knives. That is the way it will happen. That is where the money is and that is how it will come back to You.”

September 25th, 2008: Made contact with Terry Burkhart of Butch, Quinn & Rosmurgy (A Law Firm in Escanaba). He left a voice mail stating that he had sued Bark River before and in his opinion they were “slippery” and that it would be “hard to collect any judgement from.”

Summary: These are the undisputed facts that I can prove through documentation:

1) I paid Mike Stewart $16,000 to manufacture a product that would be available to the public only through me.

2) He sent me a signed confirmation with a delivery date of 90 days. No other conditions or stipulations were given either in writing or verbally.

3) Mike Stewart took my money and did not manufacture the product for almost nine months. He did not deliver the knives at the promised delivery date of 90 days after payment. He then gave me another delivery date of May 15th. He did not deliver the knives at that time either.

On or around August 23rd, Mike Stewart decided that I would no longer be involved in “the project” and asked the KnifeForum.com members for feedback into the design of the knife. This is indisputable proof that after nine months, he still had not manufactured the product. I have not yet been able to get a refund or even a date as to when I would receive a refund.

If ANYONE-- even Mike Stewart-- can provide evidence that any of the four facts above are not absolutely true, I will modify and/or retract them. I have complete confidence that they cannot be disproved because I have copies of the Confirmation (Contract) signed by Mike Stewart, Certified Check and other communications that were quoted here. I am willing to e-mail this documentation to anyone who requests it.

I’m sure once this starts circulating, I’ll be kicked off of KnifeForums.com (even though I’m a paid sponsor), so you can e-mail me at the address below.

Steven Youell -- SnarlSlayer
syouell@cox.net
 
Welcome to Bladeforums. I have moved this thread from Community Center to FEEDBACK. We aren't interested in Knifeforums business but you are welcome to continue discussing the problem here.
 
This is not my war but if a party is actually interested in seeing the progress of what is presented, please feel free to visit where BOTH SIDES are presented so you can form an opinion after looking at both sides, not just one judgement.

To the moderators of this forum, please understand the knife community in a web based environment is small. This was bound to make it's way over here and I am going to post a link if it is ok to the "other forum" solely to educate people regardless of what they think of either party.

If my post is deemed unwarranted, I ask that you please remove it.

Link...

(( It is not OK to initiate a cross-forum discussion as I stated in the previous post. ))
 
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Yes. I agree with what TwinBlade said. Look at both sides. Consider the evidence.
In particular, consider the evidence I offer:

I have PDF's of all the PM's that took place between me and Mike Stewart, a PDF of the contract he signed, an audio file from an attorney that has sued Mike Stewart in the past (and apparently won) and a copy of the certified check I sent Mike Stewart on December 3, 2007. I would be willing to e-mail these to anyone who cares to make a judgement based on SIGNED DOCUMENTS rather than emotion and hearsay.

Steven Youell
 
I feel for you. The cutlery industry has been plagued with these kinds of disputes for years and probably will be for years to come. Some are genuine misunderstandings, some are due to unavoidable manufacturing setbacks, and some are unfortunately due to doing business with people who have no morals or values. I won`t speculate on which one this is, I just hope you work it out.
Good luck getting your money back. I don`t know anyone at Bark River, but I know that if half of the judgements and liens that people won suing each other in the knife industry ever got paid, we could all retire.
 
Chosen-frozen said:
Good luck getting your money back.
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No luck needed my friend. The web is a very small place and information is easily found, especially in an open environment where Google reigns. I am positive, in the short future, the issue will be resolved satisfactorily and this will fall behind in the archives on a hard drive only to be found by someone with a bit too much time on their hands. Sometimes, there is a vested interest on how a party handles a situation that we can all look at to aspire to reach that level. Remember, a story ALWAYS ALWAYS has 2 sides. Some will jump fast to look at what one side presents, others will wait to see the resolve. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I find it decidedly convenient that a man comes in here and does this on a FIRST post. Flaming abounds on web based forums daily. Much of it is done by brand new members and this is very historically accurate on any forum. :D

Jeff
 
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He had a contract with Stewart for 175 knives to be delivered 90 days after payment. Stewart, for whatever reason, decided not to honor the contract. The problem is, Stewart is telling him that he will refund the $16K only after other distributors have taken the knives. Those other deals have absolutely nothing to do with the initial one. Mike Stewart does not have the right to withhold money after failing to execute his part of the contract. He has no justification to make Slayer wait. All the talk on the forums say Stewart is a good guy, and I don't doubt it. But it doesn't change the fact that he has another man's money yet has absolutely no right to it at this point in time. I say go ahead with your legal action.
 
What is said may be true were the fault Mike's alone. SS debunked on a website to PROMOTE the knives with Bark Rivers name on it, he failed on the banner ad that ALL distributors buy, and failed in a MOST IMPRESSIVE time frame on a knife sharpening competition that he JUST MADE GOOD ON AFTER 7 MONTHS a couple days back to which he just CONVENIENTLY handed out the winnings after being gravely sick for 6 of those months only to come back miraculously with a vengeance to start a flame war on a man who has knives ON MY FRIENDS flak vests that are at war, has GIVEN COMPANIES of Force Recon knives on his own free will, has GIVEN a SILVER STAR recipient a Bravo-1 on his own free will and there are THOUSANDS others in his 30+ years of knife making...you are hearing a whining and complaining side to this that never would have come about from Bark River.

I am also new here, but i am a smart and well educated man, capable of making up my own mind. It sickens me to see topics like this and it does NOTHING to help promote what we as Americans fight for in freedoms. There is a reason PM's and lawyers exist. I am sickened by this to no end.

Jeff

I think this retraction also lends testimony to what he wants to do and where he intends to go with this apparent flame war...

SnarlSlayer said:
Heck-- make the commitment to December 31st, 2008 and I'll even go on every forum on which this issue has been posted and say you and I have come to an agreement and that I will not post any further on the issue until January 2009!

How's that?

Steven Youell
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SnarlSlayer said:
My offer in my last post is withdrawn because I will not be checking or posting to this thread again. I will, however, continue to post in other places until I receive a full refund.
Click to expand...

Inconsistencies and lack of ability to make up a mind make me raise an eyebrow on occasion. Tough to argue with fact.
 
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Those are not material to the deal. It was up to the parties to consider these things before inking the deal, and to make specific stipulations to address concerns. If Mike changed his mind after, fine. All he has to do is immediately restore both parties to their state before the contract. That means returning the $16K, I don't think there's any additional damages to be pursued from the failure to deliver from what has been stated so far.

Again, I don't question Stewart's character, but he is making a mistake in his statements and actions. He does not get to say when and where for the refund, a judge can do that just fine. I say take it to the proper channels for a definite and enforceable resolution and to avoid additional drama.
 
I'd like to add here that TwinBlade has not looked at a single piece of documentation that I have offered. hardhart has.

I do not understand what patriotism has to do with this. I do not understand why Mike giving knives to the military has any bearing on the issue.

I would prefer, like hardheart, to stick to the relevant facts.

And I would encourage anyone interested to go read the thread on knifeforum.com to get the full picture of Mr. Stewart's refusal to even commit to a date of December 31st 2008 for the refund. I don't understand why he won't commit to a refund date MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER HE TOOK MY MONEY!?!?

Steven Youell
 
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Please leave other forums out of this. We do not encourage cross-forum dialogue when there is any chance it will turn into a cross-forum flame war.
 
hardheart said:
I say take it to the proper channels for a definite and enforceable resolution and to avoid additional drama.
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Sure sounds like the best option to me. If there's a case, pursue it. "The Court of Public Opinion" is unreliable and has little or no backbone when it comes to enforcement. I think Mike Stewart made it pretty clear that he's not going to be shamed into action, so legal pressure is the only viable avenue.
 
Sue him. Sounds like this is a terrible business deal gone wrong, and that this isn't the first time things like this have happened.

Twinblade do us all a favor and stop being a fanboy.............. And the paragraph long rant about how many knives BRK&T gave away to enlists, give us a break. Many knife companies donate many knives to GIs for publicity. Just because he gave away some steel doesn't mean we should look the other way. Bottom line is he thinks it's ok to police this persons $16k, and give it back whenever he wants. There was a contract, he should honor it. Honor & integrity, wasn't that what that long paragraph was supposed to make us believe Mike had????

PS.
I have dealt with BRK&T and talked to Mike personally. As a customer I have absolutely no problems of any kind with any BRK&T product I own, or how BRK&T including Mike has taken care of me. Great knives, great customer service........

That being said I know who I would never go into business with..............
 
You should question his character, look what he did when he owned Blackjack. Ask some of his past employees how they got screwed. :jerkit:
 
Mike Stewart is well-practiced at avoiding accountability. He knows the legal system all to well because he has been sued many, many times. What is impressive though, is how one of the lowest characters in the knife biz can con the small-minded into thinking that he walks on water. :jerkit:
 
TwinBlade said:
What is said may be true were the fault Mike's alone. SS debunked on a website to PROMOTE the knives with Bark Rivers name on it, he failed on the banner ad that ALL distributors buy, and failed in a MOST IMPRESSIVE time frame on a knife sharpening competition that he JUST MADE GOOD ON AFTER 7 MONTHS a couple days back to which he just CONVENIENTLY handed out the winnings after being gravely sick for 6 of those months only to come back miraculously with a vengeance to start a flame war on a man who has knives ON MY FRIENDS flak vests that are at war, has GIVEN COMPANIES of Force Recon knives on his own free will, has GIVEN a SILVER STAR recipient a Bravo-1 on his own free will and there are THOUSANDS others in his 30+ years of knife making...you are hearing a whining and complaining side to this that never would have come about from Bark River.

I am also new here, but i am a smart and well educated man, capable of making up my own mind. It sickens me to see topics like this and it does NOTHING to help promote what we as Americans fight for in freedoms. There is a reason PM's and lawyers exist. I am sickened by this to no end.

Jeff

I think this retraction also lends testimony to what he wants to do and where he intends to go with this apparent flame war...





Inconsistencies and lack of ability to make up a mind make me raise an eyebrow on occasion. Tough to argue with fact.
Click to expand...



It seems real simple . The man is out $16000.00 and your making excuses for the man who has his 16000.00. Larry
 
I read a lot on this forum, but don't post much.

Here is the bulk of what I said on KF, and I think it applies here just as much:
Anything happening between Mike/BRKT and Steve(SnarlSlayer) is their business and I truly believe no one else needs to get involved on this or any public venue. There is nothing that anyone but Mike or Steve can do to resolve this.

After receiving a PT from Steve last night, I was only going to inform Mike that I had gotten information I had not asked for, and I was staying the heck out of anything that happened between them.

Attacking people in public is no way to get things resolved, especially from people who are not directly involved with the business proceedings. I ask that everyone please keep this in mind.
 
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