Cancelling membership with Knives Emporium

Fort Henry Custom Knives said:
I notice they don't mention plagiarizing my website! When a company starts out in that manner they are already swirling the toilet bowl ready to be flushed.
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Well they haven't made their 'statement' yet. When they do, rest assured it won't mention your site or anything else of substance. It'll all be weak stuff, guessing they might focus on the facebook advertising when they said it was BF only... stupid stuff that won't matter, and they'll infer that it clears them from all wrongdoing or something.
 
I know a little about Web Marketing. Not an expert but I have a friend that makes a very healthy living at it. Its profits are based in something called SEO, Search Engine Optimization.

A very clever art. 90 percent of which is perfectly legal and provides viewers with valuable info or entertainment,(I.E. all those ads you suffer thru on youtube).

Then there is the black art of web marketing. Lots of dirty tricks of which I can see they used two to an obscene amount. Demanding registration and using multiple accounts here to boost their rating.

So they started last year. They do a couple legit giveaways. Then they mix in this nonsense. No one would be the wiser right? Heh. A website that has countless LEO's and their ilk hangin around? They should have just stuck to porn.
 
I changed my information on their site.I'm glad I never gave them any of my business.

Thanks to all those involved with exposing this scammer.
 
Ripping off the website of a respected and stand up dealer with a hard earned solid reputation and dangling an expensive giveaway in front of the knife community with zero intent to follow through. Seems hard work, good knives at good prices, and great customer service was all too much for them to manage.

What's a knife dealer that pisses off the knife community left to do?

Aside from greasy that was all just downright stupid.
 
moshow9 said:
Just saw the pictures Rusty Shackleford posted and am disgusted to learn I share the same city with this person. :mad:
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If you look again at what Rusty posted you will also see that the winner and the Knife Emporium owner had the same email.

knifemachine(the winner), and ragazzoxp are duplicate accounts for "I have this itch". They were banned for having duplicate accounts.

The post Rusty made...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...rer-giveaway-disaster?p=12123265#post12123265

I wonder how he is going to explain that one on Facebook ? He won't.
 
We did receive an "explanation" through email but it was nothing more than a soggy eggroll filled with weak sauce.
 
Pitiful. Its sad someone would take advantage and try to use such a great community for selfish reasons. Glad they got busted.
 
They keep making statements promising a "statement"?!?!? It seems to me their stalling to come up with something. A Twix moment.
 
Knife Emporium on Facebook said:
It is more than evident at this moment that we are under fire of running a giveaway under false pretenses, most specifically, the Bladeforums exclusive XM-24 giveaway.

Now I'm not here to whine or pout or to try to give excuses. Many accusations have been made, some of them justly so, many, not. If anything we are to blame as the many concerns that were brought up on the forum were NOT promptly addressed and was neglected by us. That said, I'm asking the community to give us a chance--not to "redeem" ourselves as in the minds of many, we're already considered trash, but to explain the entirety of this giveaway situation. As I feel, though you may not agree, that one should always give the benefit of the doubt.

This situation, even a "scandal" as one could put it, grew quickly through the course of a few days and we had not the patience nor the time to address all the different accusations. Regardless, we are not excused nor exempt from neglecting them. Yet as as much fault we may be, the community is NOT aware of the entirety of the situation and many claims, remain false or unsupported.

At the moment, as you can imagine, this whole ordeal has taken a toll or 2 on my current state of mind whilst adding to my stress. It's getting late and I'll be needing some rest. But I just like to make it known that in the next few days, we will post up a detailed response, attempting to address most if not all of the concerns and accusations using concrete evidence if possible for those, and rightfully so who doubt our word.

Now what do we hope to get out of this? Redemption??--yeah right......like that's going to happen. Looking at things from a broader perspective our reputation is likely never to be completely restored. But at the very least the truth, or a larger scope of this situation, will be brought to light and open to the discerning eyes of the knife community. Until then--continue as you please.

Respectfully,
The Knives Emporium Team
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As I don't visit Facebook, I will address this here.


While it is admirable that you acknowledge some responsibility in this, it is small consolation that you only do so after you've been caught red-handed in the cookie jar.
Bladeforums, as a discussion site, exists for the sole benefit of it's membership, as a way for buyers and sellers to meet in an atmosphere of mutual respect and integrity.....and honesty. All that is asked of our membership is to follow the posted rules and treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself.
This site is built on the integrity of it's membership. As such it was your responsibility to organize and run your giveaways/promotions in an up front and honest manner with not only this site, but with it's membership....your customers. You were given every opportunity to do so. In the end of it all, the responsibility for any wrongdoings or even any misperceptions is upon you. You were also given opportunity to address our members/your customers concerns in an honest manner. You failed to do so. You were given opportunity to explain your actions here, not only in public...but privately. An opportunity you yourself squandered in favor of obfuscation and double talk in order for you to feel justified in explaining yourself as a victim of a "witch hunt" on your site and facebook page. If you are a victim of anything, you are a victim of your own dishonesty. After all, you are responsible for your actions....no one else is.
I'm sure your customers would very much like to hear a good explanation for your dishonesty. So far all that has been noted is your evasion of direct questions and your obfuscation of facts. Bear in mind from here on out, if you are going to offer a rebuttal to all that has happened, you will need to do so in an upfront and honest manner.
 
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If you're also a member of any other knife forum, you may want to let others know. :cool:
 
Jaiofspam said:
im late to the party and im not sure what the hell happened but i can say i did win one of his giveaways (spyderco tuff) not sure if any other legit winners have come forward. i have no affiliation with the guy other than signing up for his mailing list when he first started doing the giveaways *shrug*
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Not defending the guy (Roland/George) and unless Jaiofspam is his brothers cousin, maybe he started out somewhat legit? I personally thought it was BS from day one with the pyramid scheme feel of his business and he did get greedy, but obviously he started out kinda honest.

Now back to the draggin.
 
At this point if he'd just flat out admit to lying and trying to drum us business while never having the intention on giving away an XM-24, and just tell us his motivations behind it, I would accept that, and might consider doing business in the future. Anything short of that will not do it for me.


I just can't wait till he releases his 'statement' explaining everything. As morrow so eloquently put it, I imagine it will be only weaksauce.
 
I just noticed in Tech Support that Karda had found more accounts for Knife Emporium.

john mccomic, Khane, scottiesgal- Accounts registered to banned member- Knives Emporium


And these three are the ones that had the same email as him...knifemachine(the winner), ragazzoxp, and I have this itch.
 
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I noticed that they removed the "witch hunt" talk from their website and are now simply calling it a "problem with a promotion."

Also, if you look up "Sunbelt Microsystems" on Google, you'll find a wide variety of addresses listed for it in El Paso. If you look at the street view of them on google maps, some are residential houses, and others look like commercial plazas. Very strange.
 
It doesn't take a few days to come up with the truth. The truth is immutable and easy to remember. When telling the truth, it’s easy to keep the facts straight without any contradictions.

Although the reputation of KE is irreparably damaged, the only honorable action would be a complete mea culpa combined with the delivery of the Hinderer XM-24 to BladeForums for use in a legitimate giveaway of whatever nature they see fit.

Donate the knife to Wounded Warriors or have a raffle with the proceeds going to a worthwhile charity. Or have a drawing where the winner gets to choose the charity from several that have already been vetted. Or name a charity with your entry. I’m just spitballin here as it ain’t up to me, and I’m about 99.999999% certain that KE will not be doing anything other than trying to play the victim.

One of the more galling, of many, statements made by “George” was that members of this forum were simply motivated by greed and it was all just a matter of sour grapes. First, this is one of the most generous and giving group of people I’ve ever encountered in an online forum. Second, I’m familiar with some of the members who voiced concern, and they are serious contributors to BladeForums.

Last, with the number of entrants there had to be, who really thought that they were going to win. But just because the odds of winning are slim, it in no way minimizes the demand that a giveaway be on the level. I don’t expect to win the lottery when I purchase a ticket, but I would still be irate if it were found to be rigged.
 
They could have garnered much attention by giving away a plain-jane Delica or something, but they had to hype the contest by using one of the most coveted and hyped production folders on the forum. They knew exactly what they were doing and by doing so showed a lack of integrity, tact, trust, honesty and any other trait that honorable folks have. Now (to me) they are dumped into the same pit as businesses like the Blade Shop and they'll be lucky if anyone throws a bone down the hole anytime soon.
 
Let It Bleed said:
It doesn't take a few days to come up with the truth. The truth is immutable and easy to remember. When telling the truth, it’s easy to keep the facts straight without any contradictions.

Although the reputation of KE is irreparably damaged, the only honorable action would be a complete mea culpa combined with the delivery of the Hinderer XM-24 to BladeForums for use in a legitimate giveaway of whatever nature they see fit.

Donate the knife to Wounded Warriors or have a raffle with the proceeds going to a worthwhile charity. Or have a drawing where the winner gets to choose the charity from several that have already been vetted. Or name a charity with your entry. I’m just spitballin here as it ain’t up to me, and I’m about 99.999999% certain that KE will not be doing anything other than trying to play the victim.

One of the more galling, of many, statements made by “George” was that members of this forum were simply motivated by greed and it was all just a matter of sour grapes. First, this is one of the most generous and giving group of people I’ve ever encountered in an online forum. Second, I’m familiar with some of the members who voiced concern, and they are serious contributors to BladeForums.

Last, with the number of entrants there had to be, who really thought that they were going to win. But just because the odds of winning are slim, it in no way minimizes the demand that a giveaway be on the level. I don’t expect to win the lottery when I purchase a ticket, but I would still be irate if it were found to be rigged.
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Giving away after the fact would be nice, but I would not encourage support of their business. And you did see how members too lazy to read jumped on the jealous bandwagon immediately. That is part of what is wrong with the world. We fight our peers because it makes us feel stronger. We tend to give governments and corporations a pass because they are too large and complicated to understand. Easier to kick your neighbor in the nuts than to educate oneself on the truth of what is happening.
 
Tixx said:
We tend to give governments and corporations a pass because they are too large and complicated to understand. Easier to kick your neighbor in the nuts than to educate oneself on the truth of what is happening.
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At least the real truth came out in this case, unlike with government, the banks and big corps. The majority of people who were involved know, unlike with out larger social problems.
 
A while back I considered entering one of their give-aways. I also noticed the "cave-hunt(sp?)" flashlight bundle that was valued at about $150 extra. The same light was identical to some $12 light shipped direct from China. I never bothered to register.
 
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