Linville Knife & Tool Hi-tech folder false advertising

It seems like these questions may never be answered WValtakis. It's a shame that in his mind, he can write you off as a "whacko" or a "wormy piece of shit" and be allright with himself, after he so obviously got caught trying to rip you off. I"m glad that I didn't run out and buy one of these. It looks good on paper/print, but the reality of it from your pictures and testimony didn't hold up. I'm really interested to see if he'll answer about the "Linville" scripting on the blade that I noticed. Seems a bit fishy that it's not the same used in advertisements and promotions.

(I'm talking about the first pic of the attachments that WValtakis posted. You can see the Linville on the blade pretty clearly. Compare that to your copy of Blade, or the pics on Linville Tool and Knife, And....surprisingly...THEY DON'T MATCH!)

Interesting to say the least. And I get where you are coming from with the last post WValtakis. Many seem to think that you got your refund, leave it be. But the bigger issue here is the fraud. How many others got 'frauded' out of their money. How many got their knife, put it in the display case and may never find out about the "magnetic titanium" or the different script on the blade, or any of the discrepancies between the written advertisement and the actual product that Tim Britton and his company are touting as " finest knife ever offered by our company". And as I just went to check the site for an actual quote for that, it's interesting that he's informed us that the knives are sold out, but he's still taking orders on the site for it.

Something is rotten in Denmark guys.
 
Wow! And I was planning on buying a Viper Dagger @$225 from Tim!Of course; I was also looking at a Eickhorn Combat 2000 and a combat knife from DU**STAR.

MPE
 
Hmmm....ask Tim some straight questions and I get no answers...par for the course I guess.
 
Mr. Coop, I am sure that Britton is a nice guy to you since he wants good pictures from you. I am sure he's really nice to those with the big bucks that buy his custom work.

Per the rest of you that somehow think the buyer was wrong, sure he got a little sarcastic, but then he got ripped off not once but twice. Then he finds out the guy has perpetrated fraud on the whole "knife community" through his advertisements and Blade article. His slight bit of sarcasm certainly does not justify Britton's response. What half-wit knifemaker sends out a knife with the tip proud? It's dangerous and something that shouldn't happen if the parts are poperly made. A friend has made 2 of the Darrel Ralph kits with perfect liner lock fit. One of these kits costs about 60 dollars with micarta handles and steel liners.

Concerning the titanium fraud, Britton has not once defended himself for shipping "pot metal" when it should have been titanium. He's lying about it being a supplier mix-up, unless he's just plain ignorant. There's no way he can sell a titanimum linered and bolstered knife for $60 unless the titanium is stolen.
 
maybe i am missing the point here. if the knife is a kit and it has some scratches on it can as you assemble it polish off the scratches?

i also have been around a machine shop that has done some sub-contracting. when the workers have to make 100 pieces from XX amount of stock and they make a mistake or ran out of stock i have saw guys pick up anything to finish his quota. maybe 99% are titanium and that one was made from stainless steel just because the machine ship dude ran out and did not want his boss to know so he grabbed the first piece of material on hand.

also i know from places like Wal-Mart's some customers can not be pleased for any reason. there is just a % of people that will not accept anything even if its prefect. this is just human nature.

also this company had its product put on the cover of Blade Mag. they were most likely over whelmed with orders and not able to get it out as fast as normal. so that could be the reason for short answers. but he said he will replace and refund. what else you want? eggs in your beer too

that one man complained he had to pay shipping to and from so in his mind he lost 10 bucks in shipping. if he returned the same to Wal-Mart's will they pay for his gas in his car to return the product?

just something to think about
 
That's all fine and dandy except:

1. I've spent a lot of time in machine shops, it was my first career before I got into power plant operations, and if anyone in the shops I worked in had substituted inferior metal they would have been fired.

2. When I first tried to bring this to Tim's attention he ignored me, then called me names and then blamed it on subcontractors. Never once did he express surprise or remorse.

3. He's admitted to knowing the bolsters have never been titanium and yet he's still advertising them as such on his site. How honest is that?

4. Still haven't gotten any answer about the different script on the blade.

5. This is supposed to be a limited edition right (even though it's not numbered at all)? He's given me a few different #'s for how many are left and in the last emails he said there were only two, yet the site still has them for sale?

So here's my take on it, the knife pictured on the website and the cover of Blade, and the ones on display anywhere else are probably prototypes and as such would be all the right materials and whatnot. On the other hand, I believe that ALL of the production knives are made from inferior metals, and he was hoping that no one would notice. After all who pays that much attention to a $60 knife, right?

The bottom line is, I bought a knife and noticed, and when I tried to get straight answers to all of these discrepancies I got the run around. These are definetely not the responses I would expect from a maker that IS trying to conduct fair and honest business, rather I would expect them from someone who is trying to pull a fast one and got caught.

I really don't see why everybody keeps coming back to me getting my money back, this is about trying to stop a FRAUD being committed on the entire knife community. So what if I got my money back, according to Tim there's still 599 other people out there who haven't realized what's going on. I realize that this is just a $60 knife, and as such doesn't even constitute a small fraction of what I spend on knives in a year, but does that make it ok?

If there's anybody else out there that bought one of these, please chime in with your thought on this matter. Let me know if a magnet sticks to your liners as well;)
 
<quote> what else you want? eggs in your beer too <unquote>

that was funny.

if tim b. is a member of the guild and knew it was not titanium he would not be stupid enough to say it was. i have a magnet in the shop for this purpose. i know some people that know tim b. all that i hear is good things about him. if the parts were not what he said it was then he was duped by the suppliers. regarding the prototype on the cover and the knife being sold. its all timing. the mag to go to print and the knife is being made they have to have a picture. do you wait for the production to be finished to get a sample of the knives? or do you do as all others do? plan it out so the knives arrive from the sub contractor the same time the mag hits the stands. this is smart business. maybe there was a disclaimer? on the blade mag photo saying this is the prototype and the product may vary from the actual picture. if not then maybe the mag publisher left it off by accident. these are production knives so they will vary from knife to knife. but that goes for handmades too no two are alike.

the internet allows people vent things that they would not say or do in person. that is the way it is. back in the 70's when CB radios were popular people use fake names and told strange stories. they were safe behind the radio. they were talking to a machine and radio not a person. so in these days its the same. we sit in front of the PC and dare to type things we would never say in real life. if this was a face to face deal then this would not have been a issue.

then some people just live for this chatter. nothing better to do that bitch about something and get lots of other people putting their 2 cents in.

we need to go wash the car. not sit around a pc bitching.

:)
 
Quoted from Tim's email

"Someone else contacted us re trying to
anodize bolster and it turned muddy. This is what you
get when you try to color T6 aircraft aluminum, which
is much easier to machine and can be molded."

And yet it STILL says titanium bolsters on the site?

As far as the pic goes, the same pic is on the website with no disclaimer.

Last, I would have no problem saying any of this to his face, if you read my emails I specefically asked him to call me when he had time so we could discuss this when I first noticed the "magnetic titanium". He never called of course.

What I really can't understand is you people taking this so lightly, it's a clear cut case of out and out fraud, regardless of the cost of the knife. Trust me, I'd rather not be in this discussion either, but I can't sit idly by and let others get ripped off without at least trying to get to the bottom this. Everything Tim's said so far has contradicted itself, let alone answered any questions.

Some more quotes from Tim's emails and postings:

"He even marked the blade "Chris" with an engraver and then polished it out
before refinishing the blade !" -ummm....yeah

"your credit card was credited for the value of the "unsafe knie that was returned". Have you tried plastic ?" -so he thinks an exposed point is safe?

"Thankfully, the knife is sold out and we have a 31 name waiting list in the event we make more." -yet the knife is still for sale on the website

"I find what is available from everybody but CRKT to be quite lifeless and boring." -LMAO
 
The knife still being for sale on the website probably means that if enough people put in orders there will be another run. If there is not another run, there will have to be many refunds given.

I personally think that it is a good thing that all this was brought to light. There are many that don't seem to think that it is a big deal that a customer received two substandard knives made from material that is different from what is advertised. I for one am happy that this warning has been given.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
I personally think that it is a good thing that all this was brought to light. There are many that don't seem to think that it is a big deal that a customer received two substandard knives made from material that is different from what is advertised. I for one am happy that this warning has been given.
Click to expand...

Thanks, seems like you and brownshoe are the only one's who get it:thumbup:
 
I got it about page one.
Titanium colored anodizing of aluminum does not make it a titanium alloy...
If the ad stated in it the true composition of components used in the knife, this thread would not be here, but the ad misrepresents the knife, and this thread has been informative.
Thanks, Wilfred.
 
I hate to heatr all of this. I've never herd anything but good about Tim B. I can tell you this. I've done buisness with Shefield Knive Makers Supply for a lot of years. Never once a wrong order. Miss Ann Sheffield is the Best. Mike http://www.lovettknives.com/
 
I am also glad to have seen this. After reading the review in Blade I had every intention of seeing what this company had to offer. I agree that the way the material discrepancy was handled it is very telling- I don't see any way to cast this in a good light. It is a shame for someone who has evidently built a good reputation to lose it this way, but I don't see where he has anyone but himself to blame.

All of this aside, after seeing the way Mr. Britton handled this, not only with his customer, but on the forum, he will not get my business- who would want to let themselves in for such treatment?

For a knifemaker, his disrespect toward this forum amazes me. This was an opportunity for him to turn a bad situation to his advantage if he had handled it properly, but insulting not only his customer, but the other members of the forum was not the way to do it.
 
WValtakis, I think people with a reasonable mind got the point well enough. There will be a few apologists out there who will never get the point.
 
I ran across the blade article again and it brought to mind that the reason he wants to instantly refund the money is to avoid being prosecuted for mail fraud. Without any disclaimers on his site (i.e. the old "materials and specifications may change) and if he at all uses the USPS, he may be doing something illegal. However, as long as he instantly refunds, he may be protecting himself from prosecution.

Either way, he has provided no information as to why this is not fraud.

Buy your kits from Koval, Darrell Ralf's site and Texas Knife Supply (?) all of which have good solid reputations for product and friendly customer service.
 
WValtakis said:
Thanks, seems like you and brownshoe are the only one's who get it:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Add me to the list of those who get it, and now know where NOT to look for a knife kit. Personally, I prefer to get what is promised and what I paid for - not just a refund when the discrepancy is pointed out.
 
There are too many good people out there to deal with, why give your money to someone with an attitude like this?
Deal with folks like 1SKS,EDC Knives,Bladeart,Terzuola,Carson,Hinderer,etc,
etc and you never have to worry about attitudes or ethics.
 
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