HTM Knives....the ugly

After seeing another member here wanting an AXD I attempted to send my assisted to make a decision whether to spend the money on one or not.
Haven't heard back yet.
I can't even give this f*****g thing away. :(
Hilarious. I'm just going to beat the piss out of it then strip it for parts. It's mocked me long enough.
 
My experience with HTM has been OK. I picked up two assisted Gunhammers about a year apart. The first was and continues to remain flawless. The second not so much. Once the knife locked up, it was practically impossible to unlock. I sent it in to HTM and . . . and here's where the magic began . . . I wrote an e-mail to DR about the problem I was having. Darrell responded IMMEDIATELY and said he'd personally see to it that my knife was made right. I sent it in for a "two week" turnaround which, naturally, took six weeks to complete. But when the knife came back, it was perfect and the blade had been hand rubbed to boot.

If you've got an issue with a DR-designed HTM knife, don't take it to HTM. Take it to Darrell. His reputation is on the line, not just HTM's, and he knows it. If my experience is any indication, he WILL take care of you.
 
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I'll be honest. I don't care if they fix it now. It wouldn't mean anything. Clearly there is a pattern of boning customers out of their hard earned money. Potential future customers should know who they're dealing with. The fact they they occasionally make a knife that works is even more indicative of bad management. It means they are capable of getting it right but they don't with an unreasonably high frequency.
 
No doubt Darrell Ralph knows how to make a knife, or fix one up. Thing is he obviously is not doing it to all the the problem knives his HTM company puts out and he's not even checking to make sure they are right, or even get fixed when returned. So it doesn't matter that he did bother with one.
 
jill jackson said:
No doubt Darrell Ralph knows how to make a knife, or fix one up. Thing is he obviously is not doing it to all the the problem knives his HTM company puts out and he's not even checking to make sure they are right, or even get fixed when returned. So it doesn't matter that he did bother with one.
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Wait a minute Darrel Ralph owns HTM? I thought he was just working in collaboration by designing some knives for them.

I am truly disappointed with Darrel. I know he can create some magnificent knives (to say the very least) but what's up with this? He should be working hard to not allow these types of QC issues to exist.
 
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Metal Made Fox said:
Wait a minute Darrel Ralph owns HTM?
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If he does, that's news to me. All I said is that, based on my experience, Darrell has an interest in seeing to it that people who buy DDR-designed knives from HTM are treated properly.
 
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So....playing around with this it looks like all they did to fix the stiff gritty action was loosen the pivot.

If you tighten the pivot......which by the way you have to remove the clip to do this....if you tighten it enough to keep the flats of the blade from slapping the frame when closing, you are right back to the stiff gritty action they supposedly fixed on their first service.

Like I said....criminal theft to take this much money for such a piece of crap.
 
Also.....the pivot hole is as out of round as the thong hole. Which speaks to a serious lack of precision in a crucial area.

The fact is if they ignore this type of detail they clearly do not care. This knife will never be right. The foundation is bad.

Looks like they drilled the holes with a hand drill.
 
PRECISION!


I guess they have a triangle drill bit.....if the hole is not round it is probably not perpendicular to the flats.....sort of a required feature of a high tech, precision, folder....


maddlame.jpg



This junk will never have a smooth action......
 
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Guys (and gals), I've called Darrel's attention to this thread, so hopefully he'll chime in. I've also sent the OP Darrel's personal contact info, since going through the usual customer service/repair folks didn't resolve the issue.

As some of you know, while I'm nominally one of the mods on the DDR/HTM forum, I've haven't been around much for the past year or more due to real-life obligations (doctoral thesis) that have put my knife collecting and forum-ing almost completely on hold. I just happened to check in today and see this thread linked to from the HTM forum. Also, and again as many of you know, I'm just a knife nut who became friends with Darrel when I met him at a show; I don't (and never have) worked for HTM in any capacity, so unfortunately I can't provide any insight into what's going on on the production and customer service/repair side of things.

Speaking as a knife guy rather than a mod, it's really sad to see that despite numerous promises HTM's QC and repair issues continue. As a few of you mentioned above, something has obviously been lost as Darrel has expanded from a very successful custom-only operation where he's directly involved in every part of the process to production knives where he doesn't have that sort of direct oversight. Hopefully the fact that threads like this continue popping up will provide the long-overdue impetus for the changes at the company that will get them back on track. Darrel makes a hell of a custom knife and has some of the best designs in the business, but until these issues are genuinely resolved even I wouldn't be comfortable buying a HTM knife sight unseen, and I certainly don't blame the others in the thread who have expressed a similar sentiment.
 
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Forgot to mention in the reply just posted: yes, Darrel is the principal owner of HTM, not just a collaborator/designer like some of the other guys involved (Lambert, Lightfoot, etc.).
 
Thanks for that info, neuron. As the principal owner of a midtech company that produces knives branded with his logo, there's no doubt Darrell's concern about the issues surrounding HTM knives as evidenced by the interaction I had with him is genuine. What I don't know is the degree to which he's involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. Clearly, however, he needs to get more involved. And I, for one, appreciate your willingness to bring this thread to his attention.

PS: It's good to see you back. I hope your thesis is going well. :)
 
bld522 said:
What I don't know is the degree to which he's involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. Clearly, however, he needs to get more involved. And I, for one, appreciate your willingness to bring this thread to his attention.
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+1

If HTM isn't providing the service their customers deserve and is just blowing this off, I strongly believe it is because Darrel is not properly involved with his company. I know for a fact that Darrel is a stand up guy who does care about his customers. So, I just can't see him being as involved with HTM as he should be if this is the way his company is treating their customers.

He needs to fire the incompetent staff at HTM and also make sure that the quality control of the knives is up to par. HTM seems to have become a lost cause for the time being.
 
Neuron, thanks for jumping in. I second everything bld522 just wrote.

I remember when Camillus came out with the CUDA Maxx 5.5 folders that we were amazed at how well a production company stepped up to custom quality. I've still got one of each, a DDR and a Camillus from that era. If Darrell can get the cooperation out of his own production line, these problems won't happen. It really hurts that so many buyers got burned. How do you go back in time and turn that around?
 
Neuron can jump in all he wants. I would take everything he says with a grain of salt.

I think I should be the poster child for HTM customer service. I went from one of their BIGGEST promoters (so much so that I was given the #1 forum gunhammer) to a slightly disgruntled customer (you can read all the drama in other threads, I'm over it) to a huge detractor after Darrel and Neuron worked to get me banned from all of Bladeforums for voicing (very gently mind you) my displease with the way the forum knife and my knife was handled.

After 1 year of waiting for the HTM forum knife and paying a $180 deposit, I was delivered a substandard knife that didn't even have an edge on it (I dragged it across my palm to prove it to Mrs. Scurvy). After being banned from BFC and then rightfully unbanned, I agreed to stay off the subforum. HTM attempted to get the knife back one more time and basically change it to a completely different knife to correct the issues. I attempted several times to get a refund on my $360 POS and was declined every time. I wound up selling it for $175 here on the forums (I think it turned up recently for $250).

I could type a book about the HTM Forum knife with objective facts and then I could probably type another book of my subjective feelings on how my specific knife was finished and then 'corrected'.
 
Scurvy092 said:
Neuron can jump in all he wants. I would take everything he says with a grain of salt.

I think I should be the poster child for HTM customer service. I went from one of their BIGGEST promoters (so much so that I was given the #1 forum gunhammer) to a slightly disgruntled customer (you can read all the drama in other threads, I'm over it) to a huge detractor after Darrel and Neuron worked to get me banned from all of Bladeforums for voicing (very gently mind you) my displease with the way the forum knife and my knife was handled.

After 1 year of waiting for the HTM forum knife and paying a $180 deposit, I was delivered a substandard knife that didn't even have an edge on it (I dragged it across my palm to prove it to Mrs. Scurvy). After being banned from BFC and then rightfully unbanned, I agreed to stay off the subforum. HTM attempted to get the knife back one more time and basically change it to a completely different knife to correct the issues. I attempted several times to get a refund on my $360 POS and was declined every time. I wound up selling it for $175 here on the forums (I think it turned up recently for $250).

I could type a book about the HTM Forum knife with objective facts and then I could probably type another book of my subjective feelings on how my specific knife was finished and then 'corrected'.
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Watching you get banned and Darrel go nuts that day turned my off towards that company far more than getting screwed on the forum knife. That was a disgrace and I completely expected him to banned for that crap.... But he is still lingering.
 
I sent the 190.00 (charged 180.00 for the knife deposit, 10.00 for the shipping) for the for a forum knife... Never heard from again them after receiving my original invoice. I've sent a couple of follow up emails asking where my forum knife was and never even got a reply... I will never do anything with HTM ever again, apparently they could care less about customers once they have your money.

My sales order was dated 8-15-2012 and the SO Number from Stephanie Williams @ HTM was 177JL (cc'ed to dralph2@earthlink.net), I was slated to get serial #16 of the forum knife.... they took my deposit money and then NOTHING... Darrel Ralph is nothing less than a thief. Don't waste your money on an HTM knife, even if they actually send you something it won't be worth any more than the cardboard box it is shipped with.

Scurvy, at least you got something for your money... albeit a substandard knife, I got NOTHING.


/dusty
 
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dustyzz said:
I sent the 180.00 for the deposit for a forum knife... Never heard from them. I've sent a couple of follow up emails asking where my forum knife was and never even got a reply... I will never do anything with HTM ever again, apparently they could care less about customers once they have your money.

My sales order was dated 8-15-2012 and the SO Number was 177L, I was slated to get serial #16 of the forum knife.... they took my deposit money and then NOTHING... Darrel Ralph is nothing less than a thief. Don't waste your money on an HTM knife, even if they actual send you something it won't be worth any more than the cardboard box it is shipped with.

/dusty
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Did you try reaching them via phone? Say what you will about the quality issues -- and goodness knows I'm sympathetic on that front as I said above -- but this seems like a situation where, for whatever reason, they simply weren't receiving your emails.

I've sent you a PM with contact info for Darrel. You can also reply back to me with your contact info if you want, and I'll pass it along to Darrel and have him give you a call instead (on Monday, most likely).
 
dustyzz said:
Don't waste your money on an HTM knife, even if they actually send you something it won't be worth any more than the cardboard box it is shipped with.
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Well there's the rub, Dusty. Not everyone who has received an HTM knife agrees that they're substandard. In my case, for instance, the first Gunhammer I received was perfect and the second one . . . while admittedly imperfect when I received it . . . was repaired and returned to me in perfect condition. Based on my experience and the way I was treated by Darrell and the folks at HTM, I don't have anything to complain about. But I can certainly sympathize with those that do.

PS: It's been quite awhile since I bought an HTM knife. So I decided to check around and see if any of the major Internet retailers were still selling HTM knives. Sure enough, both Knifecenter and BladeHQ sell them. Now if HTM quality was really that terrible and retailers like Knifecenter and BladeHQ were having to deal with a lot of returns as a result, wouldn't you think they'd have dropped the HTM line long ago? :confused:
 
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