hey guys, buyers and Makers input please

Dan Gray

Dan Gray

Joined
Jun 25, 2001
Messages
8,474
I have a little problem here that I haven't had to deal with before.
I made a sheath for a customer in the tune of ~ $200.00 shipped with insurance and this was for his Knife that he sent to me..
The sheath was not what I conciter a $200.00 sheath but it was his offer to get it done sooner than I normaly could do it , that meant overtime..
he did want some extra tooling on the back side also so that was done and bumping up the value.. this was ordered after the deal was made but I was ok with it.. to start
he picked the style of sheath he wanted from my web site, that was ok and the problem may have started at this time..
the sheath he picked from the web site was for a different knife than his of course because the pictured one was made for a knife I had made,, the size and shape of his knife
was different and that dictates a lot of the shapes with these I'm sure we all understand that.. but the profile shape wasn't a main concern to him,
BTW this was a pouch type sheath..

1st thing he said on his phone call to me was, the one I made was too
molded to the knife, in his words, it looked vacuum packed to shape
.. this is the way I do them, custom fit to the knife, like a glove..
2nd thing was the color wasn't what he expected, after talking about this with him some
it sounds like his monitor color makes the sheaths on my site look a lot darker to him..
I was willing at first to just make another one in trade of the first one,
at this time we didn't talk about pricing because I had it in my mind to just make another for him..

and I assumed he would send the sheath back to me with the knife for the remake.. and where I just assumed he'd send the sheath back to me,,
I called him back to make sure he was sending it back ,
I was thinking some time down the road I could make a knife to fit that sheath where I had so much time in it I don't want to waste it....

when I asked him to make sure he'd send the sheath back,,, he didn't want to send it.. :eek: two for the price of one now?? Hmmm :o

I told him if I was going to make another sheath for him he wasn't going to keep the one he didn't want and was complaining about..

come to find out after discussing this more with him during the phone call he has altered the sheath I made, he said to make the sheath so it would have less handle coverage.. he is now sending it back.. BUT :eek:

Now I'm not sure without seeing the sheath how bad he messed it up,
he did say I'm not going to like what he has done to it. so I told him I would look at it when I get it back.. :o

what I made for him was in the most part what he wanted and could have been be changed.. but he didn't really want anything to do with that
( this before finding out he altered it)
I could have taken the ( white) stitching out and re dyed the leather, where the molding he says is too finished,
I could have taking some of that out also.. he wants the sheath to be more, lets say, primitive now..

I didn't mind at first offering to remaking the sheath but now finding out after the fact he altered it makes me a bit more unhappy with this deal,

but the main thing is after all is said and done
should I suffer any loss here where he altered it ? I can't imagine buying something, making changes to it, then wanting to return it,,
I'm not a K Mart and I do want to be fairly treated here as well as treating him fairly also. this is the first time anyone has complained about my sheaths..:o so I'm taken back a little with the way this is going down...
let me have your thoughts on this please..
 
Try to make this simple...If he saw it, didn't like it for whatever reason, you agreed to make another and was ok with it, then fine, return undamaged item for an exchange, If he altered it, then plain and simple he bought it.
 
It sounds like he doesn't know handmade work and its process well, maybe he will never be happy with a sheath.
 
Your offers were more then fair! if it was altered i would ship it back and say,sorry.you simply cant do that (imho).
 
if he altered the sheath from what you sent him its a no brainer to me. he mde what you sent him, "Not New".....just like if he played with a basket ball and scuffed it enough so that the store couldnt sell it again as new. He can pay for a new sheath or be happy with his now altered sheath. Either way............he dont sound like he will really be happy.

I would say that he really has one option.
Either pay for a new sheath, or keep the unsellable one...that he made "Not New".
 
I am sorry but not even K-Mart will take a shirt back after you cut the sleeves off to see if you look like Larry the cable guy, then decide when you don't that you want a different shirt. He bouhgt it and alter it it is his for the keeping.
 
As a buyer , advice to a maker , I would not feel the least bit bad about expecting the original sheath back in the condition you sent it to him in before making him a new one , out of the kindness of your heart. I say that because you are not obligated to hook him up moreso than you already did.

The other guys are right , no store on earth is going to take back something that has been altered because the buyer didnt like the way it was and then decided they wanted to exchange it for a new one.

Seems to me you are already going out of your way here in even offering to make him a new one prior to knowing he hosed the one you already made.

I do not think he has anything to bitch about although , I have a feeling he will. :(

:)

Update us on the outcome if you would , I'm curious.
 
I think that the moment he went to work on it he bought it. I am sorry because I know this will cause hard feelings with him. But, if I buy anything I know if I start modifying it I lose all right to return it. No one let you do that. He should have conveyed his problems witth the product before going to work on it.
 
Dan,
I'm going to echo everyone else, once he's started cutting the sheath he ownes it! He wants another one a little different? Tell him to send payment and when the check clears, you'll get to work. Better yet,tell him to keep it now that he's fucked it up and send him on his way, you don't need this kind of aggravation.

Rick
 
if he altered the sheath it IS his....plain and simple.....i just recently orderd a custom sheath for a knife of mine.....i was astonished at what the sheath maker said to me.....he said if you really don't like it ....we'll just start over.....i think that is is well above normal customer service....and it sounds like you offered a similar offer........i think it would have been a slightly different case if he returned the sheah and knife to u in good condition.....why should you take a hit because some idiot thinks he is a sheathmaker and altered your work......ryan
 
Dan, the only thing I can add to this thread is WHO THE HELL IS THIS RETARD?Please inform us so we can avoid him in the future!!!
 
I had a business for 25 yr.you run into people like this once in a bluemoon,you can't win on this one:(.Take the sheath back and refund his money count yourself lucky.What if doesn't like the next one,what then,lifes too short for this crap!!My 2 cents ---Butch--You know you did your best!
 
He thought he had made it better. Well then why not keep it? Everyone knows returns are for merchandise in original condition . Frank
 
I liked the K-mart shirt analogy best. Sounds like someone maybe botched a mod-job and is trying to cut his losses. Tell him to kiss your a$$.

That said, Butch probably has the wisest advice. Give him most of his money back (less materials), suck up the loss, and move on.
 
Dan print this thread and send it back with his self altered sheath if you do that, in reality it will go down like this he will show people the sheath and comment on the crappy work you did pinning the altered part on you? So really you can lose no matter what route you take. I would take the sheath back refund his money and chalk it up to another lesson learned, who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Like mentioned already this type of person will not behappy no matter how well you make it, the hard part is spoting these rare types.

Cut and run Dan just my 2 cents
 
Would you take a knife back if I ground 1/2" off the blade so it fit in MY sheath?? Not hardly & nobody would expect you to. I'd say he owns it now!

Only problem with this is he's going to shoot his mouth off with HIS version of the story & of course,he didn't do anything wrong :eek: Tough one indeed!!

Maybe see how bad he butchered it & make a decision then. Just make it VERY CLEAR to him that you need to see it before you can decide! Don't leave anything unsaid so there is no misunderstanding.
 
I would take the sheath back and return his money also. You cant please this guy. Youve already gave it your best shot.
 
I agree with the rest that have posted. You're between a rock and a hard place, you want the customer to be happy but he screwed up the way it should have been done. When he got the sheath and wasn't happy with it, he should have contacted you and discussed how it could be modified to better suit his taste or seen if you would make him a new one. The last thing he should have done was try to modify it himself unless he was willing to accept the end result.

Like the others, I have a feeling he's not going to like having to keep the sheath. They say "the customer is always right"... but sometimes the customer is dead wrong and leaves you shaking your head wondering what the hell they were thinking.

If you are feeling generous, you have a couple of options. 1) you could have him pay you enough to cover your materials and you just eat the labor time involved and he keeps the sheath the way it is. OR 2) ask him if is any way to make him happy by modifying the present sheath at the original price. Depending on the hack job thats been done to it maybe it is still salvagable.

Good luck and I hope it turns out satisfactory to both of you.

Brad
 
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