Darrel Ralph customer service

Just got off the phone with Darrel. Mr. Bell's knife will be repaired by next week and shipped out. I'm gonna keep track of this myself to make sure it gets shipped back.
 
I do have to admit one thing, I appreciate the fact that Darrel took care of you when it was brought to his attention, and even came through with a apology blade for the delay no matter its value, shows initiative on his part.

To the advertisement of his new knife, I like the blade, but it seems a little out there and inappropriate to be posting an advertisement in a negative review thread.

Also, I have to say that my attempts to open up communication to get some work done on a custom DDR custom I have, went unanswered!! Which I suppose is normal as he must be busy, but to be honest, I will not be picking up any DDRs in the future, due to the lack of communication. While I appreciate someone being busy, other custom makers, Les George for example respond in a matter of hours to my contacting them.

Either way, I am glad to hear you got your problem solved and hope it all turns out well. Thanks "harkamus"!! I appreciate that the mods help out us forum members!!
 
Lately I haven't been able to contact Darrel. Whenever I have questions about his products, I go straight to Harkamus with a personal message and he gets back to me very quickly. I just recently learned that DDR's website messaging system has an automatic spam filter that doesn't work. Darrel himself provided everyone in a recent post with his own personal email which to this day is still unresponsive. I don't usually complain but DDR is a huge name. I kinda expect more out of him.

Thank you Harkamus for making things right.



Darrel Ralph said:
bomber258 said:
I am very interested in seing that custom too.

I still have not heard back about my inquest into a custom bowie AXD.
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Hi 258,
We have some RICH spam filters in place here.
Did you inquire about your /a knife sir?
Please let us know at dralph@earthlink.net
We will take care of it for you.
DDR
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harkamus said:
Time to consolidate the emails. No wonder I can't reach you sometimes, Darrel. You use 3 or 4 different kinds. Haha. I just told him to give you a ring.
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opgenorf said:
I do have to admit one thing, I appreciate the fact that Darrel took care of you when it was brought to his attention, and even came through with a apology blade for the delay no matter its value, shows initiative on his part.
Either way, I am glad to hear you got your problem solved and hope it all turns out well. Thanks "harkamus"!! I appreciate that the mods help out us forum members!!
Click to expand...

Hi all,
As for communication: HERE IS THE PHONE NUMBER TO THE SHOP. 740 965 9970. If you cannot afford the call, call collect with MY permission if your email is not answered. ASK FOR DARREL RALPH. If you do not have a phone..... send a western union LOL!
We cannot control the spam filters that are in place.
We get thousands of emails a day because we have web sites in place that ROGUE spiders cultivate emails address's from and spam us. Unfortunately, some emails get put into the spam box. We check them but some might get lost......apparently.

We do what we can to make sure that every customer is taken care of.
We dropped the ball on this one. We apologized and are making attempts at doing the next right thing.
We will put more safe guards in place to offset these situations in the future.

We appreciate everyone here and all of our customers.

DDR
 
you might want to change the link in your signature Darrel. it leads to Darrelralph.net not .com. It keep spam down to a minimal level, I don't put our contact email on our site. Instead I use a contact form with a verification code which requires a human enter it. That keeps spiders from finding and exploiting it. I do have alternate email addresses on the site for things like site issues but for customer contact I like to keep my inbox clean.

It is good to see you are taking care of this issue here. I agree with those who say under promise and over deliver. My experience is customers are happy to wait as long as they get a realistic idea when something will be fixed. If I am 3 days out on orders I tell customers a week, that way if there is an issue I don't have to come back and say oops I was wrong. Instead I get to say hey I got you your stuff early and look like a hero.

Anyway enough babbling, it seems you are very successful without my input. Best wishes for continued success in the future!
 
Darrel Ralph said:
Hi all,
As for communication: HERE IS THE PHONE NUMBER TO THE SHOP. 740 965 9970. If you cannot afford the call, call collect with MY permission if your email is not answered. ASK FOR DARREL RALPH. If you do not have a phone..... send a western union LOL!
We cannot control the spam filters that are in place.
We get thousands of emails a day because we have web sites in place that ROGUE spiders cultivate emails address's from and spam us. Unfortunately, some emails get put into the spam box. We check them but some might get lost......apparently.

We do what we can to make sure that every customer is taken care of.
We dropped the ball on this one. We apologized and are making attempts at doing the next right thing.
We will put more safe guards in place to offset these situations in the future.

We appreciate everyone here and all of our customers.

DDR
Click to expand...

Thank you for the number; this is much easier.
 
The repair was shipped out today, and Mr. Bell was emailed with a tracking number. Here are some pics of the repair.

2eape2f.jpg


1t7edd.jpg
 
EDIT - Nevermind. Can't wait to get it! Thank you for taking the extra time and care to take care of my repair.

Kent
 
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I received my knife today. And par for the course, things just keep getting stranger.

1) As I suspected from the pictures harkamus posted, the knife has been altered from its original configuration. It originally had a false edge (all the way to the tip) along the outer edge of the blade. This is the portion that sticks outside the handle in the closed position. This portion has now been sharpened, which means that it can cut my pants or even my hand while closed and being carried.

I know most Madd Maxx folders are sharpened in this way, but I specifically sought out this particular knife for the false edge feature. Sad to see it gone.

2) enclosed in the box was a bill for $21.35. $20.00 for the repair and an additional $1.35 listed as "tax". It is true that I offered to pay for the repair when I sent the knife in. But considering all that went on in getting this knife back, I found the charge a little odd. Frankly, you could have just kept the necker and waived the fee and ended up on top.

Also, since this transaction occurred over across state lines, I'm not sure if the tax is appropriate. But then again, maybe there is a tax on repair services in Ohio that I'm not aware of.

As it is, my first post will have to stay public.

I will mail you a check for $21.35 next week.
 
I don't like to post here, but I just want to understand something.

You had a knife that was broken, so you sent it in. After someone interceded on your behalf they fixed it and sent it to you with some 'modifications'. Now you have a knife that works, but you can't carry because it's just plain dangerous.


Some great customer service.
 
... and a bill to boot...at the end of the day, money talks.

Curious how this would've been handled for Steven Tyler...
 
Let me make clear that I'm just the online presence here. Darrel doesn't hire me. I just do this. I was not aware about the the details of the repair. I just checked the status of it. The false edge being sharpened is news to me, enough that I'm going to inquire about it further.
 
This knife sounds like quite the burden! Send it to me right away and be rid of it, wont even charge you. :D Really though, that sucks man. At least its not hard to turn it back into a false edge, although you shouldn't have to.
 
Los Angeles said:
I will mail you a check for $21.35 next week.
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Before cutting the check, I'd ask them how much they'll give you for the neck knife; it would be interesting to see how much the actual knife is worth *to them.*

Very strange, their PR missteps, wholly apart (if inseparable) from their lack of attention -- in communication, in time, and now in false-edge detail-- to you and your knife.

I'm sorry that your strange saga continues to be so.


~ P.
 
I would send the knife back and ask them to reinstall the false edge they way you want it.
 
FYI: Darrel's father passed away just this week. In your wish for resolve, PLEASE bear this in mind. It may have affected the shop in the past week or so, so just be patient.

I expect things to turn out OK, although I understand your frustrations. Now is not the time for rants.

Coop
 
It baffles the mind that anyone would sharpen the exposed false edge on a folder unless the false edge is 100% covered by the handle. Otherwise it is an accident waiting to happen and the kind of product laibility lawsuit that lawyers look for. I don't even know how they would sharpen a false edge on a customer knife without first getting consent from the customer. I would be picking up the phone and speaking to Darrell Ralph himself. I am sure he will make it right eventually but man, what a cluster ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Edit: Based on Coop's post above I would wait at least a week or so out of respect for Darrell. My condolences to Darrell Ralph and his family.
 
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Los Angeles said:
1)...the knife has been altered from its original configuration. It originally had a false edge (all the way to the tip) along the outer edge of the blade. This is the portion that sticks outside the handle in the closed position. This portion has now been sharpened, which means that it can cut my pants or even my hand while closed and being carried.

I know most Madd Maxx folders are sharpened in this way, but I specifically sought out this particular knife for the false edge feature.
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In Colorado, this would have rendered the knife illegal to carry too. ETA - nevermind...a 4" blade is illegal to conceal in Colorado anyway. My point was moot.
awc said:
...After someone interceded on your behalf they fixed it and sent it to you with some 'modifications'. Now you have a knife that works, but you can't carry because it's just plain dangerous.
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Any modifications to a knife (dangerous, illegal, or otherwise) should be cleared with the customer PRIOR to the modification being completed.

SharpByCoop said:
FYI: Darrel's father passed away just this week. In your wish for resolve, PLEASE bear this in mind. It may have affected the shop in the past week or so, so just be patient.

I expect things to turn out OK, although I understand your frustrations. Now is not the time for rants.

Coop
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^This is sad. My condolences to the Ralph family. I agree with you as well, I believe this will ultimately be taken care of. DDR/HTM is a reputable company. Maybe they need to reevaulate their customer services guidelines, but I'm confident this will be resolved to the OP's satisfaction.
 
SharpByCoop said:
FYI: Darrel's father passed away just this week. In your wish for resolve, PLEASE bear this in mind. It may have affected the shop in the past week or so, so just be patient.

I expect things to turn out OK, although I understand your frustrations. Now is not the time for rants.

Coop
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Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Ralph family during this difficult time.

I hope that none of my posts are considered rants or seen as impatient. I've tried to remain as level headed as possible.

I am sorry for the bad timing.
 
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