Mailing Knives

Not long ago I asked you guys for your take on a situation: I’d bought two knives from a company. There was an error in shipping so I got one of the knives I ordered but the wrong knife in the 2nd package (I initially thought I’d gotten two of the same knife, but I actually got a mini and regular version). The guy asked me to mail the 2nd knife to a different customer—as you guys advised I did not agree to do that.

Since I last posted, I’ve exchanged a few emails with the company. I asked for a postage-paid label to return the 2nd knife. At first, they sent replies that basically said, “help us out here.” I kept insisting, and the answer I finally got is that because they chose a third-party logistics company to send the knife they can’t generate a return label, but if I pay for the postage, they will “return the shipping fee to your account in the shopify background,” and then they will send me the 2nd knife that I actually ordered.

A) How does the fact that they sent the package through a 3rd party logistics company make it impossible to make a return label for me? B) What the heck is a “Shopify background” and how does a refund like that work if I don’t have an account with Shopify? C) I don’t even have an account with this company. I bought the knife as a guest using Paypal. And D) The 2nd knife I ordered is shown as “out of stock“ on their website now. I’ve asked a couple times whether they even have that knife to send me and I never get a direct answer. To be fair, it may be that they ARE trying to answer my questions; there’s enough unusual syntax in the emails they’ve sent that I’ve wondered if there’s a language barrier at play.

Before I make up my mind what to do, I wanted to ask people who’ve been doing this awhile: Has anyone else had a situation like this? If so, did you actually get a refund? Can anybody explain this “Shopify background” stuff? Is that legit, or am I getting the runaround?

I worry that if I pay the postage to ship this knife back, I’m going to be out the money for the knife I DID order, plus the postage. So at this point I’m wondering if I should just keep the knife I didn’t order and don’t especially want. Unfortunately, it’s less expensive than the knife I ordered by about $15. If I decide to do this I’ll send another email just telling them that I’m keeping it and they can refund the difference. I have my doubts that’ll work, but I can at least try—and I’ll take it as far as the BBB if I have to.

What do you think?

Oh, and by the way, I really DO like the first knife. It’s well made and very snappy. It’s become my fidget knife of choice when I’m sitting in front of the TV. So they make good knives (and based on what I’m seeing the EDC products their parent company sells are great as well). It’s just that their customer service is awful.
 
Not long ago I asked you guys for your take on a situation: I’d bought two knives from a company. There was an error in shipping so I got one of the knives I ordered but the wrong knife in the 2nd package (I initially thought I’d gotten two of the same knife, but I actually got a mini and regular version). The guy asked me to mail the 2nd knife to a different customer—as you guys advised I did not agree to do that.

Since I last posted, I’ve exchanged a few emails with the company. I asked for a postage-paid label to return the 2nd knife. At first, they sent replies that basically said, “help us out here.” I kept insisting, and the answer I finally got is that because they chose a third-party logistics company to send the knife they can’t generate a return label, but if I pay for the postage, they will “return the shipping fee to your account in the shopify background,” and then they will send me the 2nd knife that I actually ordered.

A) How does the fact that they sent the package through a 3rd party logistics company make it impossible to make a return label for me? B) What the heck is a “Shopify background” and how does a refund like that work if I don’t have an account with Shopify? C) I don’t even have an account with this company. I bought the knife as a guest using Paypal. And D) The 2nd knife I ordered is shown as “out of stock“ on their website now. I’ve asked a couple times whether they even have that knife to send me and I never get a direct answer. To be fair, it may be that they ARE trying to answer my questions; there’s enough unusual syntax in the emails they’ve sent that I’ve wondered if there’s a language barrier at play.

Before I make up my mind what to do, I wanted to ask people who’ve been doing this awhile: Has anyone else had a situation like this? If so, did you actually get a refund? Can anybody explain this “Shopify background” stuff? Is that legit, or am I getting the runaround?

I worry that if I pay the postage to ship this knife back, I’m going to be out the money for the knife I DID order, plus the postage. So at this point I’m wondering if I should just keep the knife I didn’t order and don’t especially want. Unfortunately, it’s less expensive than the knife I ordered by about $15. If I decide to do this I’ll send another email just telling them that I’m keeping it and they can refund the difference. I have my doubts that’ll work, but I can at least try—and I’ll take it as far as the BBB if I have to.

What do you think?

Oh, and by the way, I really DO like the first knife. It’s well made and very snappy. It’s become my fidget knife of choice when I’m sitting in front of the TV. So they make good knives (and based on what I’m seeing the EDC products their parent company sells are great as well). It’s just that their customer service is awful.
No more games with these people. Contact paypal.
 
That still sounds really sketchy. Is this a dealer, or did you order directly from the knife company? It sounds like you ordered directly from the knife company, but I don't know why they would be using a third party logistics company, in addition to Shopify. Also, if they're using Shopify, it should be very simple for them to create a shipping label for you to use. You don't need an account with Shopify, Shopify is the base software that many online shops use for payment, order tracking, and shipping, not something a customer needs an account for.

At this point you should contact PayPal, get your money back, and start a thread naming this company in the GB&U.
 
No more games with these people. Contact paypal.
Ooops. I forgot to mention—I did send a message to PayPal. I didn’t go through their “process” with all the ready-made choices of answers, because none of them quite fit. Anyway, they haven’t replied.
 
Ooops. I forgot to mention—I did send a message to PayPal. I didn’t go through their “process” with all the ready-made choices of answers, because none of them quite fit. Anyway, they haven’t replied.
Do it again. Better yet, call them. You did not get what you ordered. File a claim. The business will be forced to deal with this the right way or paypal will refund you and go after them. Don't do anything until paypal tells you what to do.
 
Yeah, check in with Paypal. I had a known athletic brand refuse a refund for sending me product not described on the listing. By the end of the back and forth conversation with that company, a day past their return policy. Filed a claim with paypal to resolve issue. Paypal able to get my refund but not shipping. Paypal has it's own return shipping where Paypal will reimburse you the cost of return shipping. Forgot the name of the Paypal program, just call them to ask. All I had to do is upload the receipt to Paypal and was reimbursed in 3 days.

My thoughts, their mess up. You shouldn't have to deal with it nor front money to return it.
 
Thanks, guys! I really appreciate all the replies. I’ll consider naming them on the GBU thread. I’m always reluctant to do things to hurt a business, but in this case it might prevent others from dealing with similar hassles.
 
Thanks, guys! I really appreciate all the replies. I’ll consider naming them on the GBU thread. I’m always reluctant to do things to hurt a business, but in this case it might prevent others from dealing with similar hassles.
It is time. This community has given you spot on advice. Time to give back. Name them so we all know who not to deal with. You owe them nothing. You owe it to fellow knife enthusiasts, some of which have taken their time to help you here, to help avoid a bad company.

Then....take the advice you have been given here. No more games with these jokers. File a claim through paypal. Follow their instructions exactly. Return what you have to, get your money back, and be done with this.
 
Thanks, guys! I really appreciate all the replies. I’ll consider naming them on the GBU thread. I’m always reluctant to do things to hurt a business, but in this case it might prevent others from dealing with similar hassles.

What craytab said above.

Just wanted to add that I understand your reluctance, but you naming them is not you hurting their business. They are hurting their own business through crappy practices.


Ps. A mod has combined your follow up thread with the original and it's currently right here in the GBU. Name away!
 
OK, then, I’ll take your wise advice. I’m guessing some folks have figured it out already anyway. The company is Oknives.

I do have a bit of news to add. I got an email the other night saying that they were going to merge back into their parent company, Olight. Since I see lots of people on social media talking about how much they like Olight products, maybe dealing with them isn’t as difficult (though they do have a rather dismal BBB rating).

And by the way, the two knives I got were the Chital and Mini Chital—ordered them after seeing a positive review on Beez Blades Youtube channel (they both sold out pretty quickly). I actually like smaller knives so my original order was for the Mini Chital and Mini Drever. For the knife I did receive, the materials are nothing spectacular (what do you expect for under $50), but it’s a very solid, nice-looking knife and the action is great.

So to be fair, the products are apparently pretty good. It’s just the customer service that is problematic.
 
Back
Top