Hey gang,
I'm a new member here and I wanted to tell you about my experience of customer service from Andy Roy at Fiddleback Forge. I checked to make sure it was okay with Andy before posting. It's a long post, sorry about that...I have fast-moving fingers.
I am a fairly experienced knife collecter, but I wanted to purchase my first Fiddleback. Like all of you know, that means an early morning and fast refresh finger on Friday morning. A few weeks went by and then: bingo! An ivory with blue pinstripe bushfinger, 3/16ths, tapered tang. Paypal sent.
Okay, first thing is that paypal took a week to clear. I have no idea why -- it was linked to bank account and credit card but whatever, Andy was gracious and patient.
I had sent instructions for the knife to be shipped to my wife's best friend, who lives in Arizona. My wife and I live in Canada, but she was heading to Arizona for a visit and could pick up the knife and bring it home duty-free. Once paypal cleared, Andy mailed the knife to Arizona.
Here's where it gets interesting. The knife was one of four packages I ordered from various vendors to take maximum advantage of my wife's travels -- all the packages were shipped to the same address in Arizona. Two of the packages arrived; two didn't. Ironically, I now had the Rick Lowe sheath, but not the Bushfinger to go in it. The United States Postal Service showed all four packages had been delivered within a few days of each other. Hmmm. I sent an email to Andy as a "head's up" and to the vendor of the other missing package, just as a courtesy because I thought they should know.
I called the USPS and they started an investigation. A few days later they called me back and told me they were going to ask the specific carrier if he or she remembered the packages. A week went by and I called them to ask if they'd spoken to the carrier. They said they hadn't actually done anything and that I should call Arizona Consumer Affairs and report them. In other words, they wanted me to report their lack of effort in order to light a fire under themselves...interesting. I guess they collectively suffer from a need for external stimuli. I again advised Andy and the other vendor of my progress. ConsumerAffairs was duly called, and they spoke to the local mail office in Arizona that handled the packages. Mention is made of a mysterious locked box that the carrier now remembers he put two of the four packages in. USPS and the carrier can't find a key for the box, but they expedite the getting of the key. Um...okay. I don't usually deliver two of four packages to a mysterious locked box that I can't open, but hey, I'm an open-minded polite Canadian, so I just say "gee, sure am hoping my stuff is in the crazy locked box."
To keep a long story long, the knife and other package are recovered from the locked box, sent to Arizona (my wife is long since home, but honestly, I am happy to pay shipping and duty to get my stuff!).
Here is the remarkable part of this long story:
When I first contacted Andy, the first thing he said was "I'll make you a new knife, no charge." He said this to a first-time customer who could have been cheating him. He said this to a customer who admitted that the USPS showed that the knife had been properly delivered.
When I contacted him again about Consumer Affairs and the unopened mysterious locked box, he again offered to make me a new knife. He said if the old knife was found, we'd deal with it then, but that I had waited long enough.
Quick comparison: the other vendor with the missing package was polite but obviously thought I was scamming him. He certainly didn't offer a replacement package. Andy may have thought the same thing, but his desire for customer service made it damn sure I felt respected and valued. He was going to do what he felt was the right thing, without me even asking for a replacement knife.
I want to formally thank Andy Roy and Fiddleback Forge for the best customer service I have had in years.
Merry Christmas everybody, and best of the holiday season to you and your precious ones.
Rhiney
I'm a new member here and I wanted to tell you about my experience of customer service from Andy Roy at Fiddleback Forge. I checked to make sure it was okay with Andy before posting. It's a long post, sorry about that...I have fast-moving fingers.
I am a fairly experienced knife collecter, but I wanted to purchase my first Fiddleback. Like all of you know, that means an early morning and fast refresh finger on Friday morning. A few weeks went by and then: bingo! An ivory with blue pinstripe bushfinger, 3/16ths, tapered tang. Paypal sent.
Okay, first thing is that paypal took a week to clear. I have no idea why -- it was linked to bank account and credit card but whatever, Andy was gracious and patient.
I had sent instructions for the knife to be shipped to my wife's best friend, who lives in Arizona. My wife and I live in Canada, but she was heading to Arizona for a visit and could pick up the knife and bring it home duty-free. Once paypal cleared, Andy mailed the knife to Arizona.
Here's where it gets interesting. The knife was one of four packages I ordered from various vendors to take maximum advantage of my wife's travels -- all the packages were shipped to the same address in Arizona. Two of the packages arrived; two didn't. Ironically, I now had the Rick Lowe sheath, but not the Bushfinger to go in it. The United States Postal Service showed all four packages had been delivered within a few days of each other. Hmmm. I sent an email to Andy as a "head's up" and to the vendor of the other missing package, just as a courtesy because I thought they should know.
I called the USPS and they started an investigation. A few days later they called me back and told me they were going to ask the specific carrier if he or she remembered the packages. A week went by and I called them to ask if they'd spoken to the carrier. They said they hadn't actually done anything and that I should call Arizona Consumer Affairs and report them. In other words, they wanted me to report their lack of effort in order to light a fire under themselves...interesting. I guess they collectively suffer from a need for external stimuli. I again advised Andy and the other vendor of my progress. ConsumerAffairs was duly called, and they spoke to the local mail office in Arizona that handled the packages. Mention is made of a mysterious locked box that the carrier now remembers he put two of the four packages in. USPS and the carrier can't find a key for the box, but they expedite the getting of the key. Um...okay. I don't usually deliver two of four packages to a mysterious locked box that I can't open, but hey, I'm an open-minded polite Canadian, so I just say "gee, sure am hoping my stuff is in the crazy locked box."
To keep a long story long, the knife and other package are recovered from the locked box, sent to Arizona (my wife is long since home, but honestly, I am happy to pay shipping and duty to get my stuff!).
Here is the remarkable part of this long story:
When I first contacted Andy, the first thing he said was "I'll make you a new knife, no charge." He said this to a first-time customer who could have been cheating him. He said this to a customer who admitted that the USPS showed that the knife had been properly delivered.
When I contacted him again about Consumer Affairs and the unopened mysterious locked box, he again offered to make me a new knife. He said if the old knife was found, we'd deal with it then, but that I had waited long enough.
Quick comparison: the other vendor with the missing package was polite but obviously thought I was scamming him. He certainly didn't offer a replacement package. Andy may have thought the same thing, but his desire for customer service made it damn sure I felt respected and valued. He was going to do what he felt was the right thing, without me even asking for a replacement knife.
I want to formally thank Andy Roy and Fiddleback Forge for the best customer service I have had in years.
Merry Christmas everybody, and best of the holiday season to you and your precious ones.
Rhiney
