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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Emerson Customer Service
- Thread starter Lou Castle
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2009
- Messages
- 1,262
While its very unfortunate incident let me ask you something...
What EXACTLY do you want of Mr. Emerson...TODAY?
Many times people feel abused and rightfully so but sometimes they expect the other party to KNOW what they expect to hear or have done. Heck, after paying you back(maybe not enough) I'm surprised Mr Emerson still replied to you at all.
Have you clearly stated what you want from him NOW?
-You cant change the past
-You cant expect people to inherently know what you need to hear
-You cant carry this on forever or YOU will suffer for it.
If you havent clearly stated what you expect to receive in compensation or what you expect to hear as far as an acceptable apology...you will most surely continue to be disappointed.
If you have...then its on Mr. Emerson...and you gotta just let it go.
If you haven't...then its on you...and you STILL need to let it go.
What EXACTLY do you want of Mr. Emerson...TODAY?
Many times people feel abused and rightfully so but sometimes they expect the other party to KNOW what they expect to hear or have done. Heck, after paying you back(maybe not enough) I'm surprised Mr Emerson still replied to you at all.
Have you clearly stated what you want from him NOW?
-You cant change the past
-You cant expect people to inherently know what you need to hear
-You cant carry this on forever or YOU will suffer for it.
If you havent clearly stated what you expect to receive in compensation or what you expect to hear as far as an acceptable apology...you will most surely continue to be disappointed.
If you have...then its on Mr. Emerson...and you gotta just let it go.
If you haven't...then its on you...and you STILL need to let it go.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
No I understand the import here and feel for Lou. Did Lou state that he wanted or expected interest on the money? I don't recall that being brought up but if not, by accepting the money when it was returned it seems to me the deal was ended at that time. Maybe he should have brought that up if thats what he wanted. Then he may or may not have received something more for his troubles but at least he would have made his wishes clear about it before the refund. Just goes to show you why you should not have to put money down on anything before its done and ready to ship. This is the first I've heard of anyone having to pay in advance for a custom from Ernie.
STR
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
A very reasonable question. I'd like to know why he accepted my money over the course of 18 months when he had no intention of ever building the knife. I'm willing to accept that perhaps, at one time he DID have the intention of building it, but at some point, he changed his mind. If that's the case, I'd like to know why.
I'd like for him to pay me the interest on the money that he had use of for many years while I was deprived of it.
I'd like an explanation for the run around I got from his employees. I'd like to know the reason that he lied to me when I asked him, in person, when I could expect the knife. I'd like to know what I did that gave him permission to treat me like this.
It's apparent from his reply that it allowed him ANOTHER opportunity to boast of the quality of his customer service and of his knives. Nearly 450 words on that topic and 34 words of apology that included a dismissal that since it was "in the past" it was "over."
I'm not suffering in the slightest now. What I hope to avoid is having anyone else suffer as I did when this was going on. Perhaps Mr. Emerson, now realizing that his misdeeds live on long after he thinks they've been forgotten and that they may pop up to haunt him, will not do something like this again to someone else.
I let it go quite some time ago. But I've never forgotten it, and I don't think that anyone else would or should. The "sleeping dog" was happy until I read Mr. Emerson's boasts of how good his customer service was. His customer service is uneven at best. If some are treated well (especially when it's for minor repairs) but others are treated poorly (when it requires more work than the minimum) that's BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE, quite the opposite of Mr. Emerson's claim.
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
The first time I let it be known that I wanted interest on the money that I'd paid was in my second certified letter to him. This was the first time that I demanded that my money be returned. Up until then I was asking when the knife was going to be completed. In my first certified letter I gave Mr. Emerson the history of the order, from placing it, through the contact with various employees and conversations with him, and then wrote this, "I would like to know if you ever plan to complete this order and if so, when I might expect the knife?"
He did not reply. About two months later I demanded the return of my money plus interest. Mr. Emerson returned the money that I'd paid but did not include any interest. About three weeks later I sent another certified letter telling him that the refund had been received and that now he owed me interest. It threatened legal action if he did no pay me the interest. He did not respond and I allowed the matter to drop.
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
It's how he did things with me. He told me that he wanted the knife paid for up front. I worked out a deal where, since he told me that it would be done in 18 months, I paid about $25 per month over that time so that I'd finish paying it off when it had been promised. A down payment of $25 at the time the order was placed and then $25 X 18 months = $450. Bringing the total to $475. At some point I paid an extra $10 to cover mailing, but I don't recall when that was.
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
Why is anyone questioning lou on this?....ernie lied to him, and he has a right to vent.....just because ernie admitted he was wrong doesn't make what he did right.....its just the forum its in i guess
Thanks for your comments Tricker, but when I contemplated coming on this forum with comments that were not supportive (to say the least) of Mr. Emerson, I expected this.
i am glad you did, i bought a emerson mini cqc 7 about a year ago......its the only knife i have ever bought where i felt duped.....i just kept my comments to my self because i knew how they would be recieved here, but always glad to see someone speak out with facts....its sad you still get questioned for no reason....i mean i am a fanboy when it comes to some manufacturers, but come on wrong is wrong
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2006
- Messages
- 7,132
The truth of the matter is that we have not seen any 'facts' per se, only allegations. I have no definitive answer as to whether the op's allegations are true or not. If they are true, then Emerson screwed up, if they are not, then Emerson has been libeled. Either way, the complaint is better served at the Better Business Bureau or an officer of the court, rather than an acrimonious outburst in a public forum, IMO
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
- Messages
- 849
I don't think anyone would take the time and effort to make this up.
And STR: custom knife makers usually don't take a payment in advance? Are you sure?
Agreed, in the end only the OP and Emerson know what really happened and we're just observers, not members of a jury.
given the great detail of the transaction, and emerson's email(which is such a run around/defensive that i believe it to be in fact real) i doubt anyone in good conscience can call this BS(if it is, what on earth could ernie to do this man to make him this delusional)......
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
I think that if there were any inaccuracies or (especially) untruths in my statements that Mr. Emerson would have pointed them out. He's had ample time to review my comments and if I had exaggerated or gotten any details wrong, we'd hear about it. Since he's not made any such corrections or disagreed with my comments in the slightest degree, it's reasonable to believe that there are none. As evidence of this, simply notice in the thread that this spun off from, how vehement he was in disagreeing with comments made about the high number of his broken/faulty knives. There was no such disagreement here.
He's welcome to sue me. He's not presented the slightest defense for his actions here.
I'll disagree. The BBB is an ineffective, just about useless organization. Neither Mr. Emerson nor any businesses that operate under his name are accredited with the BBB and the BBB has no powers of enforcement. All they do is keep a file of complaints made against businesses and the responses to those complaints and act as a mediator if both parties agree. Unless someone consults their list of complaints he'd have no idea they even existed.
I wrote this to get an explanation from Mr. Emerson (still waiting on that) and to warn others about his business practices and customer services. Far more people read this than would have consulted the BBB before purchasing from him. This is a far more effective venue for getting the information out.
As to your characterization of this as an "acrimonious outburst," again I'll disagree. This has been a calm and reasoned description of Mr. Emerson's treatment of one of his customers. At last count I have 5-6 of Mr. Emerson's knives. I'd bet that I have more of his knives than many who purport to be his "fans."
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
Read what I said again. I said, "Just goes to show you why you should not have to put money down on anything before its done and ready to ship. "
In truth most everyone pays in advance of getting the products they buy because its customary to pay before the item is shipped. If the item is a special order or they needed some special handle material when it comes to a hand made knife well, some do require a deposit. Each circumstance is different. It sounds to me like Lou and Ernie talked a while in person, Ernie decided based on what he picked up in the conversation that he should do things the way he did and proceeded in such a way that it was within the comfort zone of both. It should have worked. Perhaps it would have had Ernie had the knife ready when promised or shortly thereafter.
STR
- Joined
- May 9, 2001
- Messages
- 316
Wow STR it's almost as if you were there when Mr. Emerson and I were discussing the build! Lol. I ran into Mr. Emerson at his table at one of the west coast shows. It was probably a Blade Show in Anaheim. I liked his knives and I like to have both production knives and something with some customization, some personalization, that makes it mine and mine alone. I have such knives from a few makers, including Chris Reeve, Phill Hartsfield (and now his son, Phil), Matt Cuchiarra and more.
What I ordered was a standard CQC7 (except that it was left handed) that had some extra filework to provide some grip and decoration on the back of the blade. This filework was to be matched up with some filework on the grip.
When ordering left handed knives, especially folders, I've gotten mixed reactions from knife makers. Some regard it as a challenge, some really don't care about the changes and some think of it as a pain in the a$$ and don't want to be bothered. I'd guess that Mr. Emerson started out with the best of intentions but at some point fell into the latter group.
If he had simply answered a phone call, returned one or instructed his staff to tell me that he was opening a new company and his custom work was being placed on hold, I'd have told him to go ahead and get to my knife when he got to it. Instead I was lied to and given a run−around for years. It was especially disconcerting to see him raffling off custom knives that he'd freelanced (meaning building them without an order from a customer) at the various knife shows where he appeared, while my order was never completed.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
- Messages
- 849
L said:
I'm a fan of Emerson Knives, but my judgment is not clouded like some of the fanboys here.
Questioning whether Lou's account is true is just self-denial-- at the fact that their hero Mr. Emerson treats some of his customers like shit.
Like ~ said before. "WRONG IS WRONG."