Bark River has taken $16,000 of My Money

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What is missing in this thread is the fact that SS did disappear as a dealer during a period of time when he was supposedly upgrading his site and forum presents.

Many of us who tried to get knives that he had advertised where left hanging.

Not to mention the people who worked to produce entries for his convex sharpening contest.

Bark River has been down this road before, with dealers/distributors holding products that latter get dumped on the market.

The bottom line is that SS just showed back up yesterday, and is pissed that MS feels he’s not up to handling the sale of this product.

MS has promised to return his investment.

What we do not know is the nature of the promises that where made that made MS consider giving SS and exclusive deal in the first place.

There is obviously more here then meets the eye.

If not, then why has SS waited so long to bring this matter up.

It looks to me like SS was looking to cash in on Bark River’s popularity without making the investments he promised.
 
Big Mike said:
There is obviously more here then meets the eye.

If not, then why has SS waited so long to bring this matter up.

It looks to me like SS was looking to cash in on Bark River’s popularity without making the investments he promised.
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Read slowly.....

SO WHAT?

Mike...it is about the money.....THAT is the reality.....

Mike Stewart owes the OP $16,000.....give the guy back his money, and let him go about his business, AND SCREW the rest of it...it is irrelevant.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Let me be clear Mike may have had good reason not to follow through on the deal for all the reasons you suggest. I don't know Steve, or how honorable or dishonorable he may be but the fact is Mike has $16,000 of his and is refusing to deliver the product he was paid for or refund the money in a timely manner.
In my opinion saying I will give you your money back when I sell the product you contracted for to other people is not good business.If you don't want to sell him the product return his money in a timely manner I think two weeks is a reasonable time.
 
When you make an agreement everything else is irrelevant. If I signed a contract that said I'd have my product in 90 days I'd sure as hell want my money back if I didn't.

When you accept someones money you make a promise. Either deliver the goods as promise or refund the money. You can't just make up the rules as you go along.
 
I need to ask a short and stupid question.


Edited: sorry, I was confused.
 
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ilbruche said:
When you accept someones money you make a promise. Either deliver the goods as promise or refund the money. You can't just make up the rules as you go along.
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Well said.

It's beginning to be a little curious why so many of these kinds of business problems, seem to follow this person around.

If the terms of a written contract were not fulfilled, I'd have a hard time taking verbal promises from the same person also.
 
"Instead he is saying you have to wait until I sell my product.To me that is not right."

The product had already been sold..for $16,000.
 
This whole situation sucks! I love BRK&T knives...alot! I really think that this is a huge mess that should and could be resolved by returning the money...all ego's and details aside.
I think we should ask ourselves as a knife community, what we would do or think if this was an individual, and not Mike Stewart, the face of BRK&T...
On the other hand..if I was the OP..a lawyer and not BF would have been my route...if this thread does any damage to BRK&T's bottom line...then getting a refund is farther away than it was yesterday. JMHO.
I hope this all goes away...for both parties. Gene
 
This will be my last post in this thread until my money is refunded or January 1st, 2009. So if you quote it, please do so with the knowledge that I cannot and will not respond.

Mike Stewart has agreed in public to refund my money by December 31st. Although he did not state so explicitly, he did agree. Unfortunately Mike and I cross posted and it looks like i withdrew my offer after he agreed. That was my fault for not refreshing the page and I apologize to those I confused.

Some people have asked me why I did this in public and have said that I should just have handled it through an attorney. Here's why I chose this course of action:

Handling this through the legal system would have cost me more than 30% of the $16,000 and after doing my homework I've seen how difficult it is to enforce a legal judgement against Bark River Knife & Tool. Therefore, by getting Mike Stewart to admit in public that he owes me the money and by getting him to commit to a particular date, I have now put him in a position where he either has to pay me the money he owes me or lose his flock of sycophants and his credibility on his forum. That to me gives me much better odds of recovering my money. I have not, however, ruled out legal action.

Other people have suggested that I should have tried to handle this privately. The simple answer to that is this: I did. I waited through two different delivery dates and practically begged Mike Stewart to ship the knives. This went on for months. The fact that the knives STILL have not been manufactured speaks for itself.

Finally, some people have stated that Mike Stewart had the right to do what he did because he did not feel I was an effective dealer. The answer to that is that when I became a dealer, there was no written guidelines to sign, no contract and no agreement. All I had to do to become a Bark River Dealer is to ask Mike Stewart and he said yes. He didn't outline specific behavior or marketing techniques that were required of dealers, he didn't ask me to agree to anything. It is therefore hard for me to comprehend how he justifies his actions by saying that I did not meet some sort of criteria that was never explained to me before I became a dealer and wasn't at anytime specified through a written agreement. In short, the person on this thread who said Mike Stewart makes up the rules as he goes is absolutely correct. Now it is possible that Mike Stewart had written guidelines for other dealers, however he did not ask me to sign or agree to anything when I became a dealer.

I'm pretty confident that I handled myself well on the KnifeForums thread. I really tried not to make any personal attacks although as the hour got late I may have danced on the line a bit. I think that if the entire thread was left up (without editing) then any reasonable person who reads it will come to the conclusion that both Mike and Reid used ridicule and derision in attempts to dissuade me. It didn't work. I seriously doubt that I will go there again for any reason.

Having said all of that, the documents are still available to anyone who would like to see them. Or I will be glad to answer any questions in private. I repeat-- this is my last post on this subject until the dates mentioned above.

Steven Youell
syouell@cox.net
 
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My advice would be to get legal help. This is a clear cut case of breach of contract and slippery or not what Bark River did was both illegal and unethical.
 
The way I see it BRKT has a problem with the buyer not being able to properly distribute the product. The question is if this is a valid claim for not sending the knives or refunding the money.

It appears that the knives will be going to the distributors BRKT chooses. Mr. Stewart has said "Keep in mind that I am the one who determines who my products go to." and "Those knives have MY name on them--not his."

I always thought that once you accepted payment for a product it was no longer your property....but that of the buyer. But maybe I am wrong. I guess ultimately it would depend on what agreements can be considered binding and which cannot.
 
ilbruche said:
When you make an agreement everything else is irrelevant. If I signed a contract that said I'd have my product in 90 days I'd sure as hell want my money back if I didn't.

When you accept someones money you make a promise. Either deliver the goods as promise or refund the money. You can't just make up the rules as you go along.
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+1:thumbup: I don't know the whole story,but I am in full agreement of this statement,regarding ANY business.
 
You also have to ask when did Stewart evaluate this person as a dealer. Was it before he accepted the $16K, before he missed the 90 day deadline, before he promised the second delivery date, before he polled the KF audience on the knives he has yet to make? We can't tell because Mike didn't post it. Common sense and the law would suggest that you decide whether or not you want to do business with someone before you actually do business with someone.
 
I would google Mike Stewart+Blackjack knives and do a search for his legal issues before sending him 5 cents. He has been ripping people off in the Knife business for over 20 years but like a cat keeps landing on his feet as he really knows how to make a nice knife at a nice price. Don't get confused that he is a nice guy because of that fact- he isn't.
 
All I can say is that I hope this can be resolved with humbleness and integrity still left intact - the true knifenut way.
 
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