Fandorin/Alex Cherpel - Very Bad

J

jbravo

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Alex (Fandorin) posted an expensive custom knife for sale here, I made an offer, he accepted, I sent the money order, he got it and shipped the knife. I received the knife, a fixed blade, on Friday the 15th. The blade was wrapped with a piece of cardboard, then the entire knife was in bubble wrap, then the box was fully stuffed with crumpled newspaper, sheaths wrapped separately, and the box was undamaged or broken in any way. When I opened the wrapped knife, it was mint except that the very end of the tip, about 1/32nd inch, was bent at a 90 degree angle.

I immediately emailed Alex about this. We exchanged several emails, mine stating that the knife's condition on arrival was unacceptable, his insinuating that the damage was the result of me testing the knife. He also suggested that I might try to seek damages from the post office. In the end, he has refused to accept responsibility for not delivering a mint knife to me, and he has refused to refund my purchase price upon the return of the knife.

I have bought/sold/traded many knives here, and this is only my second "Bad" post since Sept. 1999, the first being the (in)famous Docbart. I now add fandorin to the same heap as ol' Doc, and caution all here to avoid dealing with him at all costs, as he does not know what honor, integrity, or fair dealing means.
 
so you inspected the box and didn`t find any small puncture marks where the knife could have pierced through and got damaged?
Truly sucks man.If he claims no responsiblity and it is insured you better get your butt straight to the P.O. tommoro morning.Hopefully all good will turn out for ya...Good luck
 
This really sucks! If you know jbravo, you know his word is good as gold. He goes out of his way to help people and always go the extra mile for the other guy.
 
Fandorin,

We all know JBravo is a man of his word. I hope you make good on this. This is not the way to deal with a fellow forumite.


Liong
 
I find several things truly amazing.
First of all jbravo is being very dicreet about the type of the knife calling it "expensive custom" but feels free to post my name in full here. It is fine with me though.The knife is Mad Dog Voo Doo Child by the way. Second thing that I find amusing is that he is posting a negative feedback on me while we are still negotiating the condition of refund. Nevertheless here is my side of the story:
I have shipped to jbravo MD knife in absolutely mint condition. This knife was as virgin as newborn baby. Why would I wrap the blade with the cardboard and then bubble wrap only to send damaged blade. Besides if I had the knife with a bent tip, would not it be much easier for me to straighten it before sending to avoid all this harassment. Since I do not know now what degree of damage was done to the tip during its trip or by some other party I offered to jbravo refund if the knife is in repairable condition. He replied that it would only cost $8 to be fixed by Kevin McClung. I offered to send him $8 to cover the cost of repair. He refused and started threatening me. I told him that if he sends the knife back to me I would have to pay 15% of its cost to customs and gave him an option to send the knife to my friend in San Francisco. Upon inspection of the knife by my friend I would refund his money if the knife was in repairable condition. Instead of reply I am reading this post on Bladeforums.
I have had dealings with several Bladeforums members and never had any problems. Two of them, Will Kwan and HJK were at my appartment and saw the condition I am keeping my knives in. They are on display wich is covered by soft velour and MD actually spent most of it time in zippered case. I have had few trades with Jaxurman and they were all great. He can prove it. Although according to jbravo: "Jack is a lousy refference to use. His word is worthless in the circles I travel in." Whatever it is supposed to mean.
In conclusion, I have nothing against refunding, even though we have not discussed this possibility prior to transaction. But to send someone a mint knife and then to issue a refund for a damaged item would be pretty stupid. Everyone is entitled to form an opinion about me or jbravo from this transaction. I hope that people that know me and dealt with me will continue to do so. As to jbravo both options that I have mentioned above are still open to him, although I must admit that I am pretty pissed of by his conduct.
Signed Alex Cherpel, since it was already announced previously.
 
jbravo should not have to be forced to deal with this problem. He paid for a knife that was supposed to be in a certain condition. He did not get a knife in that condition. He should be given a refund and Fandorin is the one that should be dealing with the Postal Service. That is unless is saying that the only way this could have happened was if jbravo did the damage. That means that he does not believe what he haas been told and thinks that jbravo is a lier. From all I know of jbravo this is not the case. He would not lie about something like this.

It sounds like Fandorin figures that he is not responsible for giving a refund, even if it was damaged in shipping. Why else would he tell jbravo to take it up with the USPS himself.

Fandorin, the right thing to do here is to give jbravo a refund, get the knife back and then you see if you can get USPS to pay for the damages. It sucks that you might end up with no money, a damaged knife and USPS not willing to accept responsibility for the damage, but that is the way it goes sometimes.
 
...While this is truly an unfortunate incident for all those involved, including the 'friends of a friend' contingent...your previous posts on 'How to package a knife for shipment' were very helpful to me...

To that end, I'd like to suggest something else that works well for me.

Being that the 'tip' of the blade is a critical part of the knife, I've taken to cutting a wine bottle cork in half, and pressing down a piece over the tip of the knife that I'm shipping.

(This won't work if you drink 'Boone's Farm', or MD 20/20...) ;)

Yes, while unfortunate at best, it sounds like this is a case for the Postal Service to resolve, and yes, it is the seller's responsibility to ensure (and insure) that said knife reaches it's destination unharmed.

That being said, regardless of who's feathers are ruffled here, and regardless of who should've/should not have, posted what they posted, when they posted...I know this much.

Shipping insured goods to Canada has resulted in 'damaged goods' twice...crystal and glass to my wife's family up there, and oh yeah, the car speakers too...

Each time, we got screwed outta the insurance payment because USPS said their responsibility 'ended at the border'... :mad:

So, I'd suggest that you two otherwise 'swell fellows' make nice to each other, jbravo you send the knife back to Kevin for repair, and fandorin you pay for the repair...and half the shipping costs to and from Arizona.

Sh*t happens guys, but you two are some of the 'creme de creme' around here, so I don't see why ya can't work it out amongst yourselves. ;)

Mel
 
Like I have said before I gave jbravo two options: I will pay $8 for repair or refund the money if he sends the knife to my friend in San Francisco to inspect how much damage is done to the tip and whether it is repairable. He has not replied to me yet, and instead posted insulting remarks about me. By the way when I packaged the knife I left the cardboard longer than a blade so that tip was left hanging in the air and did not have the chance of bumping into something during the shipment. Alex.
 
...if this was a 'perfect world', but it's not.

There is this very major hang up called 'Canadian Customs', and the resultant taxes that go with them.

There is no guarantee that fandorin will get his knife back, (a very real concern for him), he'll then need to send it to Kevin for repair, and hopefully, it won't get seized the second time back up...

This is potentially a major problem due to the Canadian Customs inspection/taxation situation...

Also, fandorin is going to have a real bitch of a time with USPS being that the 'country of origin' for the shipment was outside the U.S. borders...

Ergo, it's better that the two people involved 'work it out' amongst themselves, unless of course they've already pissed each other off to the point that that's impossible...that being the case, fandorin just took it in the shorts.

Note to self: *Reason #207 why I don't ship knives out of the U.S.

p.s. Keith, I still feel guilty about that book deal we did...thanks for being a rightous guy, paying for the books, 'and' the shipping!

I hope I can make it to you someday...by sending you something 'light'...lol ;)
 
I am sure you did everything you could to make sure the knife got where it was going in perfect condition. The problem is that it didn't. That happens. jbravo might not want a repaired knife and he should not have to accept one. If it is repairable you have said that you will give him his money back. If the knife is unrepairable, what do you plan on doing, making him keep it.


Edited because I had not fully read Fandorin's first post and something I posted had already been answered.
 
Actually, he will not have to pay any tax to get back something that was his. It was damaged and is being returned to the original owner. No duties or taxes will be charged, just make sure the proper paperwork accompanies the knife. As far as insurance goes USPS will not pay since the insurance was taken out with Canada Post. It is Canada post that will have to be dealt with and only Fandorin can do that. The knife will not be seized unless it is an illegal knife to own in Canada.
 
So, duties, and taxes aside, contingent on a double-edged MDK 'Voodoo Child' being legal 'up there', do you really think fandorin will have better luck with Canada Post then I did with USPS?

You know Keith, that's not even a valid question is it?

I think I'm stepping on my dick here guys, so I'm going to 'bow out' at this point.

Sorry for the intrusion, I thought I had something to add...but it just occurred to me, I don't.

I hope you both work hard at 'working it out'...

BOL

Mel
 
The seller needs to refund the full amount to Jbravo. An agreement for a mint blade was made and the buyer didn't recieve what was promised to him.

Mr. Cherpel be a man of honor and keep your good standing in BF by doing the right thing. Give Jbravo the refund.

Ross T.
 
A question comes to mind. Why wasn't the knife packed in the sheath? That would be the best way to protect the blade.
:confused:
 
No real opinion on the right or wrong of the thing but just a question... What's the possibility of a third party interference with the knife? With the bad rap knives are getting and that being a pretty mean assed looking knife not to mention what sheeple would think when seeing it, what is the chance during inspection that someone damaged it intentionally? 1/32 bent to 90 degrees sounds like a signficant amount of force was used. Is it possible for that damage to occur from a fall of 3 feet or so (someone dropping it) or from a shift and fall to the floor of a truck? But the box was in perfect condition. Man, what a tough deal.
What I'm wondering is if there were some way to deal with this possibility in the future. Perhaps running a piece of ribbon of a pre-determined color under the seam of the box so that if the box was opened it would cut the ribbon and therefore one would know someone else had opened it. Might be enough of an argument along with emails describing the packaging process to sway those at USPS.

I don't envy either of you but hope this works out for both parties.

Shawn
 
Im sure Alex and Seth will work this out.

A couple of shipping notes here. If you receive an item from Canada, you can return it (as Keith pointed out) with no taxes involved.

The phrase that pays is: "Canadian product...Return for Repair". This gets it through customs without the GST being added to the receipient.

Lifter brought up a good point about shipping knives in the sheath. Although some people never want their knives in a sheath. As we all know, kydex has a way of marking the sheath.

The other option I use is putting a oversized cork on the end of the knife. Sounds like a simple solution, and it is.

Remember, no matter who you ship with, your packages get no "love" from the handlers.
 
JBravo is one of the most honest people I have ever dealt with. I sure hope Fandorin does the right thing and gives him a full refund. JBravo certainly doesn't deserve this!
michael
 
The insurer is the one responsible to deal with USPS/Canadian Post etc. for refund.He also should be the one to realize the potential pitfalls to dealing with shipping internationally.Maybe you packed the knife great,but these things can still get damaged even in the best packing job.I do agree with lifter though,some of the best protection is going to be from the sheath.I don't really understand your position that if the knife is repairable is contingent on making good on the knife.First off,unless you negotiate another solution,you the seller are the one that deals with insurance,repair,Kevin Mcklung etc.Second,You can't prove the buyer damaged the knife like you are insinuating because of your flawless packing job:rolleyes: If the knife isn't repairable it still is your problem.If I buy an expensive knife like a MD you can just forget me taking back a repaired knife after paying good money.So if I was the buyer and you could get it repaired,I would still tell you to give me a refund instead of a repaired knife thats value now is in the Sh*tter.AS much as it sucks bigtime and hurts,you were paid money for a knife in a certain condition and failed to deliver,now it is on you to deal with all the hassles.Ya it sucks,but sometimes it hurts to do the right thing.
 
There certainly is no question as to JBravo's character and to the fact that he received a knife that was damaged.

It is impossible for the rest of us to determine if the knife was damaged during shipping or prior to being packed. It does strike me odd that the knife was not shipped in the sheath unless the tip was damaged and wouldn't fit into the sheath. - Unless it was discussed between the seller and the purchaser about not putting the knife back in the sheath, which has not been brought out here in the discussion. Certainly the knife came originally from Mad Dog in the sheath!

Irregardless of how the damage occurred, Jbravo purchased and paid for a mint knife and it is the sellers responsibility to get it to him in that condition. Unfortunately, it didn't arrive in the condition as specified and Fandorin should own up to that fact and refund Seth the purchase price.
 
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