I need help!! imediately....PLEASE!!

T

TheMartialWay

Joined
Jul 2, 1999
Messages
1,347
Hey guys,

I ordered a Speed stick tanto from Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works on the 21st. It arrived today with a slit in the tape and the contents MISSING! The post office was closed and the phone number on the MMHW site is NOT in service!! To make things worse, the package was NOT insured by MMHW! How do I handle this. Any help would be greately appreciated. Thanks.

------------------

Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"
 
Chill out. Wait until Monday. And then raise hell with the post office (I think you are SOL there) and MMHW. Hopefully they will absorb the cost of the loss and sent you another knife. Meanwhile, go cut something with you other knives...

Paracelsus
 
Definitely talk to the post office. You would be amazed at some of what postal inspectors can track down. Just putting in a report on this may be the key they need to figure out where your package and others were rifled.

I had a customer call me panicked one day because someone had taken letters from his (locked) mailbox. I called the inspectors and they told me they had his letters already -- they had been tracking a ring of thieves, had just arrested them, and recovered a whole lot of stuff they were about to contact the owners the next day.
 
This is bad news...but not your fault at all. I would report this to the post office but I would raise stink with this company right away. Tell them you are disappointed that they did not insure this and you want this problem rectified. Tell them that you are a knife collector, well known in the community and references to your character can be made immediately available. If they give you BS I would politely inform them that you are a member of this newsgroup, in good standing and you would be forced to warn other potential customers of this company. Of course, this is a last resort.

This is such a frustrating part of mail order.....Louis, I feel your pain. I really hope this gets resolved.

Regards,

------------------
~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
JKM-Chai
 
I would also bring a copy of this thread as a "proof" of sorts... it is time stamped and shows your concern about not being able to reach them today,and you were/are trying.... might help
God Bless-paul
 
I had a package that I KNOW was delivered (Delivery Confirmation "tracking", and the mailman who delivered it told me he delivered it), stole out of MY mailbox on the 3rd of November. I reported it to my local Post Office. They told me to contact the local police dept.. I did. An officer came to "investigate". End of story.
frown.gif
.
mad.gif
.

(Anyone have a Cold Steel Gunsite II for sale?).
smile.gif
.

Good luck.

------------------
Dann Fassnacht
Aberdeen, WA
glockman99@hotmail.com
ICQ# 53675663
 
MMHW can not be expected to answer you "imediately" (sic). It's after normal business hours. Perhaps you should double-check the phone number you called. Try checking with information. Maybe their number has been changed. Maybe there's a type-o on their site.

Next, look at the package. Was the "slit" cut from inside or outside? It's not unheard of for knives to cut themselves out of packages. This means that the knife was not properly packed. That's clearly MMHW's fault. The post office will take a dim view of this too as a package with a sharp blade hanging out of it would be very dangerous in automatic package handling and sorting facilities or to workings handling it.

Employee theft from postal mail is actually pretty rare. It's a federal crime to open somebody else's mail much less to steal from it. Postal jobs are really good jobs, good job security, good retirement, etc. But the Post Office not only fires employees caught stealing from packages (something UPS does not usually do), but actually arrests and prosecutes them. So, your tanto was probably not stolen by a postal employee.

What would I do? Relax until monday. Don't mess with package at all. Monday morning, take it to the post office and ask their opinion. They'll probably tell you that your knife cut itself out from the inside and probably fell on the floor in some postal facility. Without insurance, there's not much they can do. They'll probably want MMHW's address so that they can contact them and remind them about the need to carefully pack knives so that they don't get lost and so that they don't become a hazard to postal workers.

Next, contact MMHW and tell them that due to what the Post Office determined was bad packing, the knife was lost. That's their fault and they need to replace it for you.



------------------
Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Did you pay with a credit card? You could argue that you never received the product and let the credit card compnay fight who you purchased it from. I would definitely dispute the charge if you used a CC.

Good Luck

JJ
 
I have bought a few neck knives from Mineral Mountain, and the owner seems to be very friendly, and quick with email... They also sell on ebay, from time to time, with a good feedback rating...I think if you contacted them about this, it would be taken care of, since the package was not insured. The P.O. isn't going to be able to do anything about a package that was not insured....Wish you luck !!!
Vern
 
It was probably your postman that did it otherwise he probably would have noticed it was open. I've had problems like this with the PO before. Just a couple of weeks ago I traded a knife for a Swisstech tool with another forumite (Intruder
smile.gif
) and it never came fortunately he sent me a similar sebertech tool to another addy but I've been thinking of ways to kill my mailman ever since.

------------------
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.
 
Louis,

This is most unfortunate. I recommend that you email MMHW. I have had good luck with them thus far and would be surprised if they didn't resolve this issue to your satisfaction. In fact, I would be interested to know if they don't, because I was considering another order.

Good luck - Eric.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. There is no way the knife could have fallen out. The knife in question had an overall length of 29" and with it's kydex sheath it was at least 3 to 4" wide. The slit was not very big and looked like it was covered back up with postal tape. I thought the package felt light so I opened it and it was empty. The box was full with packing paper from top to bottom. This thing had to be removed at the post office. In no way am I thinking that MMHW is trying to pull one over on me. That is highly unlikely. The knife was paid for with a CC. I spoke to the CC company and they said that payment was already made and the only thing they could do is to call MMHW and start a court claim. I don't want it to go to that. I will wait until monday and try to get in touch with MMHW again. Hopefuly they will email me back. I need to get in contact with them. If anyone knows of another # or method of contacting them I would be greateful. Thanks for your support guys. This is a sad day
frown.gif


------------------

Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"

[This message has been edited by TheMartialWay (edited 12-02-2000).]
 
To TheMartialWay: Sorry guy. I got some good advice from Josh. With his company and with my spending habits, I get 'frequent slicer miles.' He has asked me not to use the word 'knives' on the label, but rather to mark packages 'PVK&T' or simply 'Pioneer Valley.' The UPS guy knows the address, the company name and the type of business, but it keeps material handlers and passers-by in the dark about the contents. However, he too reports slit deliveries.--OKG
 
Also Louis, I have not seen you it chat recently. Did you ever make it?

If you Really want to blow off some steam tonight, get your butt in there around 10 PM and I'll show you the power of a cathartic group Rant! We can even practice some evil voodoo spells designed to make the knife turn on it's new 'owner'
wink.gif


Paracelsus
 
Originally posted by Mykl Clark:
It was probably your postman that did it otherwise he probably would have noticed it was open. I've had problems like this with the PO before. [clipped] I've been thinking of ways to kill my mailman ever since.
Click to expand...

It takes a remarkably stupid mailman to steal from the mail, considering the kind of security the PO has available and the penalties he faces, but it takes an incredibly stupid mailman to steal from his own route and then deliver the empty box ... !

If the mailman had noticed the slit himself, he should have brought it to his supervisor and had it marked up as "Damaged in handling in the Postal Service" or whatever the current bureaucratic blurb is, and the supervisor would have started the paperwork for the Inspectors himself.

I hope you called the PO on whatever incident set you off because "going postal" is not a real good idea ... do you have any idea how many employees handle your mail between the time it's mailed and the time you get it?

 
You are S.O.L. The same thing happened to me approx. two months ago. Their going to give you a form (PS Form 1510,April 1992) and tell you they will "investigate it". My package was handed to me at the window already opened,I opened it the rest of the way in front of the clerk and found NO knife.The clerk tells me there is no way to prove the item was not in the box when I recieved it!!!(????)No amount of reminding her I had just opened it in front of her could get an intellegent response from her. I filled out the form turned it in the same day and am still waiting for an answer.Hope you get better results than I did. But, GOOD LUCK!!
 
Gentlemen, PLEASE!! As a former letter carrier, I resent the charge that your letter carrier stole something from a package to be delivered on his own route. This would be the utmost folly, and I have never heard of it happening.

Regarding what to do, I would contact the shipper on Monday as you planned. Should any difficulty arise, you simply contact your credit card company and request a charge back, as the merchandise was never delivered. The credit card company gets both sides, then decides who is right. I have done this in the past with great success. You DID use a credit card, right?

Further, I agree wholeheartedly with reporting what happened to the USPO. The Postal Inspectors are very good at what they do, and they need to know of this problem.

Good luck. Walt
 
Update,

I spoke to Ted Frizzell and he said that it will be taken care of. We are going to talk to our post offices tomorrow first, and see if they know anything. Ted and his wife(I think)were extremely concerned and very nice. when something like this goes wrong, it is good to know that you are dealing with good people. Thanks for all of your help in this matter, guys. I really appreciate it. I will let you know how it turns out.

------------------

Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"
 
UPDATE#2

Well,

I just returned from the post office to file a complaint. To make a long story short, after all of the accusations were finished , it turns out there is nothing they can do about it. They gave me a form to fill out and if it ever turns up they will contact me. I just got off of the phone with Ted Frizzell the owner/cutler of MMHW and he is making me a new one right now. Again, he was extremely nice and very helpful. A great company run by great people. Thanks again guys. This is a good ending to a bad situation.

------------------

Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"
 
Glad to hear it Louis. I had a feeling it would turn out like this. Ted is a good man. It is unfortunate that he has to absorb the cost of someone elses greed and immorality.

I'm sure he will think twice about Not insuring packages in the future.
smile.gif


Paracelsus
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top