Beware of river city sheaths!!!!

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wolfmann601 said:
Because everyone says "Oh it's the way Mike does things. He is honest and does superb work and you'll get your knife but he is just a terrible communicator"


With all the RESPONSIBLE sheath makers why go thru this crap just to have a sheath made????

And this crap sure does seem to happen often...................................
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true, all very true.
 
Hopefully Shanesterr 66 has his knife back by now...

When someone has been commissioned to perform a service and they are taking too much time to do so, it fails to be an issue of whether or not that person is a bad or good businessperson and becomes a matter of personal integrity and responsibility. Plain and simple. When one fails to do what they said they would, they have compromised their integrity, whether the agreement is personal or business, ethics are ethics and integrity is integrity. There is no so-called separation of business ethics and ethics: they are one and the same.

I really feel for those that have been taken advantage of by those without integrity. I've been a victim of such into the 5 digit range and it sucks. Even a few bucks gets me bent out of shape over this because the principle is the same at pennies into dollars.
 
I read on "another" site that he will be at the Knob Creek Kentucky Machinegun show/shoot coming up, with tables full of knives and sheaths.
 
Mike Sastre has been in business a long time, as a matter of fact he was one of the first custom kydex makers. About five or six years ago I saw Mike at a knife show around the Chicago area and brought a knife that I wanted a sheath made for, he told me it would be about 6-9 weeks so I gave him my knife. Well 6 months later still no sheath and no knife, after one year and numerous correspondence to him I finally picked my knife up and the carbon fiber sheath. The work was flawless, but I was out of a brand new knife that I never had a chance to use for one year. In defense of Mike he does a lot of work for big businesses and the individual sheaths he makes are on the back burner. I think that is one of the things that happens when small businesses get big. Mike may need to re-think if he really can/wants to do one sheath jobs (in a timely fashion). Sorry to hear about your knife, by the way what knife was it? Mikes work is great if you can get it back in under a year.
 
You need not defend Mike

Mike should defend Mike, but
my guess is that Mike does not give a shiit...................
 
He's online right now on the Spyderco forum...

ETA: I PM'd him a link to this thread... so, lets see if he comes over to address this.
 
EMT_Lee said:
He's online right now on the Spyderco forum...

ETA: I PM'd him a link to this thread... so, lets see if he comes over to address this.
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Well, he was online for about an hour after I sent him the PM. So, I'm pretty sure he saw it. I don't know...
 
peterj said:
Might he be using your blade to fill other custom orders instead of buying one?
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If that were the case and it's going to take the fulfillment time past what has been agreed upon or what the maker states is their normal window, then the customer should be notified and asked for their okay to keep it. It's not cool to do something like that and not talk with the customer about it.

Whatever is happening, it all seems to come back to communication, or the lack thereof, with Mr. Sastre. Folks can be very understanding if you talk to them and are up front about things. It amazes me how many people who run a business forget that.
 
Well, after an unfortunate letter of threat to take my problem to the Attorney General, miraculously I get an email and a phone call that my knife will be done and mailed next day. Claiming that health issues hindered him from completing my sheath. Look, we all go through sh*t in our lives but communication is the key. Mr. Sastre obviously had better things to do over the last year then complete my sheath. Its all good....I got my sheath, Im happy with it but unfortunately he and I will not do business again. This gentleman obviously does not know the meaning of customer service. Being a business owner myself for many years, I know how important it is to treat every customer like its your only customer and service accordingly. Repeat business is the best business and if you treat customers right, you now have your own personal business promoter and it cost you nothing but good service. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
 
peterj said:
Might he be using your blade to fill other custom orders instead of buying one?
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jujigatame said:
If that were the case and it's going to take the fulfillment time past what has been agreed upon or what the maker states is their normal window, then the customer should be notified and asked for their okay to keep it. It's not cool to do something like that and not talk with the customer about it
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I'm sorta thread drifting here, but if I found out a sheath maker was using my knife as a free template I'd have someones hide tacked to a wall.

I don't pay for knives to have them sit around in somebody's shop being used for their equipment and profit on my dime or time.
 
In defense of Mike
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How can members continue to “defend” people / businesses like this?

It’s like they’re saying you should feel lucky he lowered himself to take your work so quit complaining.

It’s a sheath for crying out loud.

If after a year you finally get it delivered and had an issue with it would you “Take the Risk” and send it back to address that issue?


There’s no excuse and the members who continue to support these bad business practices are part of the problem.
 
Mike currently has three of my knives. Sent on Dec. '09, Jan. '10, and Mar. '10. He also has an uncashed check of mine from Dec. '09. I have two other sheaths from him and didn't previously have any problems. Early on, I managed to reach him and he kept promising the sheaths would be done soon. He also complained about his health. Recently he has not returned my calls, faxes, and never picked up a certified letter that I sent. I even had one of the knife's maker try to reach him without any luck.

I've already lined up another sheath maker to do the work, but I can't get Mike to send back the knives. Maybe I should threaten legal action, my wife is a lawyer. Although she probably won't be too happy when I tell her how much I paid for the knives.
 
Axel Yup said:
Although she probably won't be too happy when I tell her how much I paid for the knives.
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she probably will be even less happy if you tell her how much you "lost" on the knives if you can't get them back.

i've tried to contact river sheaths years ago to get a southern comfort made for my bagwell bowie, never could get a response. looks like I may have lucked out.
 
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