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garyz: not so good?

Joined
Jan 7, 2001
Messages
341
I will let you guys be the judge of this, maybe I am just overly critical.

A few days ago I ordered a Simonich Mini Cetan from garyz (Blackstocks, Inc.) He had one other Simonich knife that I was not interested in and he told me by email that "Both knives came from Mr. Simonich at the blade show 2 weeks
ago."

I received the knife quickly and it was securely packaged, however, there were some problems with the sheath.

Here the email I sent him to inform him of the problems:

Gary,

I was on vacation for a week and just got back to find that the Simonich Mini
Cetan arrived. Thanks for shipping it so fast. The knife itself is wonderful but
there are some problems with the sheath. First it is missing the neck cord that
Rob Simonich supplies with his knifes. Second, and more worriesome, it looks
like someone other than Rob put an aftermarket belt loop onto the concealex
sheath. It looks very corsely cut, the material is different, and the screws are
simple aluminum (instead of blackened) and scratched up. I recently bought a
fullsize Cetan from Les Robertson that he got from Rob at the Blade show, so I
have some comparison. On that knife the sheath and the belt loop are perfect
like I would expect from a maker with the reputation of Rob Simonich.

Please advise how to handle this situation. If you just got the knife with the
sheath in this condition directly from Rob at the Blade show, I will contact him
and see if he is willing to re-make the sheath for me.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Torsten

This was his entire response:
"That's the way I got the knife."

I contacted Rob Simonich who confirmed that he did not put the belt loop on this sheath and generously offered to make a new sheath without charge.

I am happy that I was able to pick up this knife but the interaction with garyz left me a bit dissatisfied.

Any opinions?

protodoc
 
Protodoc. I put that belt loop on the sheath.



I put the loop on there for personal use rather hurriedly one day, then I traded the knife to Gary, thinking it was for his personal use. I did not know he was going to resale it.Although this was certainly his choice..

He mentioned the other day that you were not satisfied. I told him I would make you another sheath, to your specs. He has been very busy with his business. He probably just has not been able to email you. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

Gary is a good guy and did not deserve this.
Again, my apologies.
 
Protodoc as I said this was the way I received the knife, never having seen the knife before the alteration I did not know. I did e-mail you and you could have e-mailed me back. Return the knife for a refund and please air my lack of knowledge to me privately in the future. garyz
P.S I knew Russ had put a belt loop on the sheath but I did not know that it would be a problem. I think it is a great belt knife and Russ did a good job.
 
Just to throw in my two cents. I have done business with Gary on several occassions and with great success.

My recommendation is that you use this forum as a last resort only. I am sure that Gary will do whatever he can to make you happy.

Regards,

Bob Glassman
 
i have never bought a knife from garyz via the internet but have hung out with him at several knife shows and he has bent over backwards to make sure his customers were happy....i have been to his shop in jackson, ms and picked up a rob criswell wakizashi with a custom sheath that another customer was selling on consignment and garyz did everything he could do to make sure both of us were happy...my experiences with garyz have only been positive....feverdoc
 
Thanks for everyones feedback.

Bladezealot:
Thanks for clearing up the history of this knife. The discreptancy between the sheath and belt loop make sense in light of the quick add-on for personal use.

feverdoc and bladezealot:
From the number of my posts you can see that I have not been persuing knives for all that long. This was only my second purchase from a dealer and this one did not go that smoothly. I do not understand this forum to be a last resort but to be a place to share information with other members after having made a good effort to resolve the situation. If this forum is generally understood to serves a different purpose, I would like to apologize.

garyz:
You did email me and I did quote your email in my original post. Let me summarize:

...garyz: "Both knives came from Mr. Simonich at the blade show 2 weeks ago."

...protodoc: "If you just got the knife with the sheath in this condition directly from Rob at the Blade show, I will contact him and see if he is willing to re-make the sheath for me.

...garyz: "That's the way I got the knife."

I did not see any room left for discussion after this exchange and contacted Rob.

Having said this to explain my actions, I do see things differently now. Based on several accounts of positive feedback from senior members in this thread and the comments that garyz gave both here and in a private email, I have learned that garyz indeed is one of the good guys and that this deal is not indicative of his business practice.

protodoc
 
This is for good bad and ugly reports......however, before anyone posts ANYTHING negative...they should get all the facts..... maybe twice....and be sure the situation is at a standstill.... I think everyone learned something here...but MOST of the players around here stand behind what they sell 100% and I can see this is the case in gary's situation....the matter should have been carried a little farther before a negative post. :)
 
This forum is for a last resort on the negative side. One or two emails is not really time to post here yet.

Edited after talking to Gary.

Dave
 
It was a mistake made give the guy a break. I would be worried to. I don't think anyone is going to read just the first comment and make a judgement. He has helped clear up the forum for everyone.
 
Originally posted by S Knight
It was a mistake made give the guy a break. I would be worried to. I don't think anyone is going to read just the first comment and make a judgement. He has helped clear up the forum for everyone.

Yes and the negative post turned into a positive one :)

David
 
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