dispute with maker

shigawire4sure

shigawire4sure

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Hello all. I have been having an issue with a custom maker. About 8 months ago I commisioned a blade from this maker, paid half up front, and recieved my blade about two months later and was very happy. The design was his, i just picked the finish and handle material. All very nice and everyone was happy.

So I decided to place another order. This time the design was mine. We exchanged some ideas on the design and and came to an agreement. I once again paid half up front and the wait begain. At this point I hadnt asked when to expect the blade, as I am pretty patient and the first one came relatively quick, so my bad perhaps, but a delivery date was not disgussed. Now mind you this maker is pretty new, hardly what one whould think of as in demand. Yes he has a presence(knifemaker) on here as well as the other forums, but he isnt very active on this one(but he was on another). He has put up for sale a couple of knives since i placed my order, but not in some time. He hasnt posted at all here since maybe feb, but was logged in a few days ago.

During the design process he was very responsive and quick to answer any of my questions. As soon as I paid the deposit though, that stopped. From there on out i never got any communication from him unless I prompted it. He always promised pictures but only once provided them, and then only after 6 months had passed(and I had begun to express my anger with threats of going public with it). In that time he appeared to have cut the rough blank out, but that was it.

So about five weeks ago he promised the blade would be done"by the end of the month if not sooner". Obviously that month has passed and we are now half way threw another. So I contacted him again, once agin asking for a refund of the deposit, as I didnt really think at this point he was going to deliver at all. I also told him I would be going to the forums to bring this dispute out and warn any others who might be thinking of dealing with him.
Now in his defense he has always been very amicable. He did communicate some personal problem that prevented him doing work on the blade a couple of months ago, but honesty how long should I wait? When mention of the deposit came up today he said it was non-refundable and it was used to buy supplies. I responed that I was under the impression a deposit was simply to secure my commitment to the process. I was also never told that it was non-refundable, though I didnt ask.

So what Im asking is how long do I wait? Where do I really go from here if he simply refuses to deliver? I filed a dispute with paypal, but they informed me it has been too long. Any advise you folks could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx
RO
 
I think it has been said in nearly every thread about buyer/maker disputes that you should never pay anything up front. There are exceptions made when you place an order that requires very expensive materials that the maker might not have on hand or easy access to. However, nearly all of these disputes could have been avoided if you just simply work with makers who know that standard practice is that they receive payment once the knife is completed and ready to ship. That way if they flake out, or god forbid something happens to them, your money is not tied up at all.

That being said, it seems as though this maker has communication problems. When he takes a deposit from a customer he should really be showing much more concern and keeping you updated. It seems like you have little choice but to wait it out. You can expose him on here in this thread too, that usually lights a fire under people to make things right or they know that they won't be welcome around here anymore. Good luck.
 
RO: Unless the maker has a written policy on his website or in an email about non-refundable deposits, then he only has an impression of what his policy is.

What you both have is a gentleman's agreement, rather than a business transaction. I wish you had a business transactioin, because that would define more closely a timeframe and exact policy measures.

As it stands a a knifemaker's agreement through emails and phone conversations is loosely based.

This said, his lack of exacting responses falls well-short of what a GOOD gentleman's agreement supports, and it's up to him to state clearly what his follow-up terms for completion are, and for you to let the buying public know of how to consider their buying choices in the future, by stating his name.

All this said, makers are human, too. I would point him to this thread and allow he needs to give you an exact short-term timeline, or a refund. In lieu of a no-refund policy statement he's simply 'operating a business without a license'.

Why should I care? I take GREAT care in how I treat my customers, and I'm the busiest mostly one-person business that I know of. You deserve better.

Coop
 
I think the first 6 months could be written off as "you didn't ask, and he didn't offer", but after that a promise of less than a month was given (and that was exceeded by double it sounds like), combined with refusing to refund your deposit for failure to deliver as promised, I think this post was reasonable.

Make him aware of this thread, and give him a date to either produce the knife or the refund or you will add his identity to the thread.
 
Well at this point Im going to give him time to respond to my last email. Perhaps he will come up with a date and Ill move from there. as for paypal Ill check again and see if anything can be done, but they seemed adamant last time.
 
shigawire4sure said:
Well at this point Im going to give him time to respond to my last email. Perhaps he will come up with a date and Ill move from there. as for paypal Ill check again and see if anything can be done, but they seemed adamant last time.
Click to expand...

Thomas doesn't mean contact paypal again. He means pursue it thru your credit card/banking system.
 
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