Fiddleback Friday Troubles

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Friends make sticky business partners. I have heard of many friendships go south from such things and it's always sad.

I have no sage advice to give. Just remember that growing has pains with it.

Good luck to you and your friends. May you all find a way to win in the end.
 
I've shied away from the Friday threads, because I found it a little frustrating that I could not tell what was sold and what was not. Your dealer stocks are also getting pretty solid and I think that will help. (I also pick up mu daughter at school at 3:20 so I'm often out of pocket for the frenzy.)

I do like the cut and paste description requirement and don't know that CTRL-C and CTRL-V are that hard to master. But, as most have said, it's your model and the thing that makes FBF what it is, is the transparency into the whole process from scribing through shipping. You have created a community here and I suspect lots of us enjoy that as much, if not more, than the knives that that support it.

My only critique of the FBF, given what I now know, is that you guys probably need an HR department to help sort through these issues. Remember, HR is about more than just the employees, it's about keeping the internal and external relationships health and happy......
 
Bottom line, it's a good problem to have, being in demand. Means you're doing things right.

Go talk to Neil over at True North Knives. He upgraded to a nice first come first serve online pos sales system. Ask him his customer responses every time a batch of shirogorovs come in. He's living the same he'll except he's just the middleman. You're the artist.

Whatever you choose I'm with you, whatever that might be worth. My advice, sometimes you've got to cut off a limb to save the body.

Its your business, your dream. Run it your way. I'm happy to see where the journey goes. Let's ride.
 
I wouldn't worry what anyone else thinks about FBF. Keep doing what you're doing. All the knives sell and that's the goal.
 
Also, maybe the boycotters can help me with this one... I need help. I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it...
 
dhunley1 said:
As much as I love your knives, at the end of the day, they're just knives. Anyone who whines about not being able to get a knife they wanted needs to grow up and get over it.

I wanted the Camp knife from the last Friday thread in the worst way, but I would never even think to complain about anything like that.

The people who are complaining must have a serious sense of entitlement, and that's exactly whats wrong with society today. Giving in to them only makes things worse.

You're not going to be able to please everyone. Run your business as YOU see fit.
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My thoughts exactly. It's all about entitlement in society nowadays, and it's actually a little disturbing. From the "look at me!" attitude of social media, to the "I deserve a job right now in my chosen field, even though I chose a degree in something with more graduates per year than opening positions" whiners.

It would do people good to learn that life is not fair. And, sooner rather than later. Get over it.

Keep doing what you're doing.
 
Jesus. Let the man spend a weekend with his family without worrying about coming in to work Monday morning with a bunch of nonsense.

Blowing up his email and PM because you can't get exactly what you want is ridiculous. There are dealers, there are Friday sales and there are the Exchange and the Flea Market on Bladeforums. Someone shark your "Grail?" Send them a friendly note asking for dibs if they ever want to sell it. Otherwise, deal with it.

Sorry Andy and crew.
 
I don't own any of your knives, but your Friday thread is my favorite Bladeforums thread of every week (Well, unless something truly awesome and new gets posted by a maker in the custom forums).

I agree with your critics that this sale method has a lot of downfalls, but really... what else are you going to do? Sell only to dealers? Sell only on another web site? As long as there's more demand than supply, people will complain about not being able to get what they wanted, no matter what your method of sales is.
 
Bush.Hacker said:
Jesus. Let the man spend a weekend with his family without worrying about coming in to work Monday morning with a bunch of nonsense.

Blowing up his email and PM because you can't get exactly what you want is ridiculous. There are dealers, there are Friday sales and there are the Exchange and the Flea Market on Bladeforums. Someone shark your "Grail?" Send them a friendly note asking for dibs if they ever want to sell it. Otherwise, deal with it.

Sorry Andy and crew.
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+1!!!
 
Hi Andy, I worked in customer service for 16 years. You will always have a small percentage of customers that just like to complain. no matter what kind of changes you make they will still find something to complain about. Keep going with the Fiddleback Fridays. I love them and it looks like 99% of your customers love it too. I'm not that great with the computer and my hands shake from meds (liver and kidney transplant)but I still manage to get a few here and there on Fiddleback Friday. I also buy from the retailers. Anyways keep up the good work!!
 
This boycott thing is really bugging me.

You really want to negatively affect a small business, that employs 9 people (last I read), so drastically that they change their business model so you can get a knife you want?

Really? Affecting the livelihood of 9 people over a knife? Or even over a lot of knives?

The "entitled" word has been used a lot. I agree. There's another word that comes to mind:

Bullshark

Bullshark_Beqa_Fiji_2007.jpg
 
I'm curious if those individuals responsible for the nasty emails ever actually reached out to Andy and team, explained their situation and asked if there was anything he (Andy) could do to help them out. My guess is no.
 
Joe Duder said:
I'm curious if those individuals responsible for the nasty emails ever actually reached out to Andy and team, explained their situation and asked if there was anything he (Andy) could do to help them out. My guess is no.
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I've wondered about this today too, Duder.

My interactions with Andy and the crew have always been helpful and pleasant.

Like, right now, I'm interested in one of the knives that is going to a dealer. I told the Forge this, and they pointed me in the right direction.

Awesome. Helpful. And if I don't get the knife, I'll be a little bummed. But there won't be a tantrum.

EDIT: My suspicion is that the nasty emailers are the ones who email the Forge most frequently though. The guys who get off on their "valued customer" status and who don't care how many times the Forge has done right by them. If they feel slighted, they'll whine to high heaven. Because they're "worth it" - in their own estimations anyway. These are our bullsharks, if you ask me. If it weren't for customer service, these guys would never get serviced.
 
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I still feel the same way......

"If this was my business, I'd tell those few people to kiss my butt!"

Sorry, it just makes me feel good! :)
 
Sorry for joking about the boycott. I just think it's ridiculous. Nobody worth having as a customer would even consider it. Andy needs to keep rolling however the hell he wants to.
 
Frustrating, but part of the allure.

Sneak peeks ending might help, but I do like them. Rarely am I home to participate, but I am grateful for the fleamarket. Still trying to land my first.

I have been known to get emotional over a knife quickly, so I understand the frustration. Had to let that go once I saw Andy's knives and realized the likelihood of getting the exact one I wanted on a Friday was close to 0. Heck, even getting to some in the fleamarket is hard.

I wish you the best of luck in you decision Andy - either way I will own at least three with lime liners at some point.

p.s. Great reading and thoughts so far. Heck of a conversation going on.
 
Well written...

Bush.Hacker said:
Jesus. Let the man spend a weekend with his family without worrying about coming in to work Monday morning with a bunch of nonsense.

Blowing up his email and PM because you can't get exactly what you want is ridiculous. There are dealers, there are Friday sales and there are the Exchange and the Flea Market on Bladeforums. Someone shark your "Grail?" Send them a friendly note asking for dibs if they ever want to sell it. Otherwise, deal with it.

Sorry Andy and crew.
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xxkcxx said:
Sorry for joking about the boycott. I just think it's ridiculous. Nobody worth having as a customer would even consider it. Andy needs to keep rolling however the hell he wants to.
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The whole boycott thing is ridiculous. Who is the brain trust that thought this up?

What happens if you boycott a product for which there is a greater demand than there is supply?

Nothing.

Someone else buys the knives.
 
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