Matt Lamey????????

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Big Tex

BANNED
Feedback: +0 / =0 / -0
Joined
Dec 6, 1999
Messages
617
I've been waiting 19 months for a Lamey bowie. Can anyone top that? It's been promised numerous of times. The initial delivery was to be at the Spirit of Steel in 2000. Promised again for Spirit of Steel this year but no cigar.

I know for a fact that several people (unnamed at this time) have received their bowies in a whole lot less time than I've waited.

Now, I'm gonna give you my opinion on why I haven't received my knife. I ordered a 9" Combat Bowie, D-2 steel, green micarta scales, and a Kenny Rowe mulitposition kydex lined sheath. The price I negotiated for all this was $260. Pretty good price, right? Too good a price! I'm not out any money but it's just the principle of the thing.

If anyone else has waited this long for one of Matt's knives, I'd like to hear about it or if you have had any other issues with him, just chime in.
 
Ferret, agreed. Nice knives and competitive pricing.

Tex, I can't say that I can top 19 months. I ordered mine just about exactly 1 year ago. Was given a wait of 2-4 months. Problem is that I paid for mine approx. 4 months ago and still have not received it. I was told that it is forged, ground and heat treated and is just waiting to be handled. The thought of people ordering knives at a later date and receiving them earlier is more than a little disheartening to me. I remain waiting with fingers crossed :(
 
Big Tex:
Don't sweat it you will get your knife.At a great price too.The wait will be well worth it.
P.S. I've had knives on order for years from makers.Some day they will catch up and I will get my knives.
 
Another reason your order may be late Jim is that Matt has been activated by the US Coast Guard after the September 11th attack. He is a Coast Guard reservist serving his country--he has been activated for up to 2 years. I too have a Lamey bowie on order that is late but at this time I have to respect the fact that this maker is serving his country and away from his family (and new baby).

I have known Matt a long time and own about 8 of his knives. Sure I have waited but it is worth the wait. I think Matt is good to his word but just runs a one man shop, has a young family, runs a family business and is helping to protect the country.

I guarantee he will honor your order and price. You both a very upstanding men in the knife world and I have a lot of repect for both of you. Good things come to those who wait. :)

God Bless America!
 
I would agree with Nifrand if you were being kept informed on the reasons that your knife was taking longer than promised. Also, just how long do you wait? It seems this knife's delivery date has been put off quite a few times. Has Matt told you why this is the case? I can see his being called to active service making a difference since Sept. 11th, but this knife was promised over a year ago.

My guess would be that he has run in to the problem that many makers have encountered. They promise delivery times that they know they can not meet. I think that this is done with the mistaken thought that if the customer is told that it will take a year or more to get his knife that he will not order it. I also think that they want to tell the customer what the customer wants to hear. As more orders are taken the maker gets further and further behind. This can get to be a terrible problem, look what happened to Allen Blade.

Blademan13, it looks like the reason that you have not gotten your knife may just be that Matt is not around to send it to you. He also probably has more urgent things to do than to email people as to why their knives are late. I hope that when he gets home he will be able to get things caught up quickly. Many orders can be lost because of delays in delivery, especially if the maker is not very good at updating the customer. That may well be a lose to the customer, but it can be disastrous for the maker.
 
Hello all, been a while since i posted. Wouldnt even be here now but since this post is on me, i figured i need to respond.

Tex and Blademan are correct, they both have been waiting far too long...so have others. Blademan even paid me (along with 4 other folks) months ago. As i emailed you last week your knife is forged and ready to grind, you can have a refund or the knife when its done. A mistake i will never make again is taking pre payment (listen up any other new makers!!). Tex, my apologies to you again, no excuses ive just not gotten to finish it yet. I emailed you and others a while back on a bad batch of heat treated D2. There were approx 10 blades i had done locally and had to destroy, as you know your first blade was one of them. Your second blade has been profiled for a long time, ive just been forging about everything and the D2 and 3V have taken a back seat becuase of this.

Guys i went from 0 to about 60+ orders within 3 months, the list has grown since then (be carefull what you wish for). I did qoute guys quick times and they are still waiting WAY after my qouted delivery date. I no longer give delivery times at all, for the above reason. I think thats the biggest problem, i qouted 3+/- months and for some its taken over a year... A simple logistical error on my part.

My intentions were good, i honestly thought i could get the knives churned out, it just hasnt happened that way. Ive also missed 3 shows and several hammer ins i planned on attending, just a case of priorities... family first, knives second.

I know im not in the same leage but here are some lists that im happily on, just for reference:

Rob Hudson, 3+ years
Jerry Fisk, 4+ years
Jim Crowell, 2+ years
Bailey Bradshaw, 3+ years
Roger Massey, 2+ years
Jim Walker, 2+ years
Mike Connor, 3+ years
Walter Brend, 2+ years

I dont call or email these guys, as i know the knife will be done when its finished.

Thats about all i have, my apologies for any hardship that waiting on a knife has cuased any of you.

...and Big Tex, thanks for spelling my name right.
 
I have been on Matt's waiting list for longer than your 19 months, waiting for a 3V bowie. I'm a patient man. I just received a bowie from Jim Crowell after waiting for over 4 years. I am supposed to get a damascus pearl Texas Toothpick from Don Hanson III next month. This one has been on order for 5 years. I understand how these makers can get way behind, since I am a beginner knifemaker myself. I even have about a dozen people wanting me to make knives for them! Hard to believe that, but it's true. Dont give up on Matt. Your wait is not as long as a lot of people's, and the wait will be worth it. Matt's integrity and honesty is without question, and if he quoted you a certain low price, he will honor it. Be patient, Grasshopper.
 
Let's not bring Sept 11 into the equation. There's already too many problems being blamed on that. I could have just as easily posted this thread on Sept 10. I think my last communication on this issue was back in August/prior to Spirit of Steel.

I still don't have a reasonable answer to my gripe. Some people have gotten identical knives to the one I ordered and they didn't have to wait 19 months. When this happens, it makes me think something else is causing the problem.

I knew I'd catch some flak for posting this issue but imho, Matt's business practices suck. Also, after posting this, I figured I'd never get the knife and the bottom line is-I don't want it now. Case closed.

Blademan 13-I hope your deal works out for the good.
 
Matt,
Keep making THAT knife. I will wait for it and gladly buy it!!!!!!
wolf
 
Cripes!, cut the guy some slack, be patient, and be happy with the great price. I have a bowie on order as well and from the looks of his other knives it's well worth the wait.
 
Yeah, I hope everyone gets a bowie like the one I ordered at that price. But I doubt that you will ever see it. If you do, you got a bargain. I never said Matt didn't make a quality blade. I was one of his early customers. He just doesn't adhere to good business practices/his word.

I'm still waiting on the answer to my question.

You guys can post this and that but I'm still waiting-how about you guys that got bowies in a timely manner. I will never post your names cause it's not your fault you got a bowie. Course, I'll bet you gave $360 for the package. If you want, prove me wrong.
 
It seems that Matt is working on getting things going the best he can. It can be a real problem when you get to be a very popular maker. The orders come in in large quantities and it is hard to be prepared for something like that. It is great to see that he no longer tries to give a delivery date, that should solve some of the problems. Keeping the people that are waiting for knives updated is an even more important thing to do.

Tex, I totally understand where you are coming from. If you know for certain that people that ordered after you have gotten their knives already then you have a right to be pissed. There may be a reason for this having happened, but it doesn't seem that Matt has kept you up on what is going on. We can all sit back and say to Tex that he should cut Matt some slack and wait. He is after all getting a great price on this knife. There gets to be a point when the joy of getting something new is outweighed by the aggravation that you have gone through waiting for it to arrive. At that point you will no longer enjoy what it is that you once wanted very much. I think that Tex has reached that breaking point. That's too bad, but it happens sometimes.
 
It appears that everyones's opinion about what's right or wrong differs greatly. I tried to say that this "case was closed" but it looks like it will keep on. Let's keep it going, so I can say what I really think about this crap.
 
I agree with Keith. There comes a point where no matter how good a deal you're getting, the frustration does not outweigh the joy of owning the knife.

For me knife collecting is about experiences not just about pieces of metal. If Jim has had a frustrating experience, the knife will just remind him of that frustration. I think Jim is totally inline with what he's saying.


~Mitch
 
It would seem that Tex "cut Matt some slack"....more than I would have. He waited and waited and waited some more. He could not get a response and was basically ignored.

I really despise when somebody says "hey, cut the guy some slack. You are getting a great price for a killer knife." That is pure BS. The fact is that Matt probably does make a fine knife, but when you treat your customers like dirt then the joy of even owning the knife would be zip.

Tex, the fact is you ordered a knife, were given a date and it wasnt delivered. The bad part is being ignored and treated as though your order was less important than others who ordered later. But on the bright side, you now can use that money to order someting from a maker who will appreciate your order and treat you the way a good customer deserves. Dont worry about having started this thread, you had a valed complaint and you used this forum for its intended purpose.

BTW, I once had a custom knife on order. It was going to be late, however the maker made every effort to keep me informed and never ignored me. A little communication from the maker is all it takes and I would be more than happy to have another one of that makers knives. He does what is promised, and when its going to be a bit late, he let me know right away...good stuff.
 
To add to Matt's posting (I don't have anything ordered with him), I have been waiting over SIX YEARS with another maker for a fixed blade with a small deposit. This other maker has lied to my face several times about delivery & never returned my several calls early this year regarding my order. From some of the posting(s) on the NYC show, this other maker had time to make fixed blades available for the show. I do not think that I will every see the knife that I ordered in my life time. I'm not frustrated with this situation because I do not need that knife that badly. In addition, there are other makers that can & have provided knives that I like or want. If that knife ever gets made, great for me. If not, no big deal with me. For me, no knife is worth getting bent out of shape over. The events on September 11 have reinforced my priorities.
 
At least a few folks see the problem here. I could care less whether I ever get a Lamey bowie. I did order one tho and the price was set. Seems like some of you guys don't understand the term "contract". You contract with someone for a product at a given price and they deliver and you pay the price. The problem here was that I negotiated "too good" a contract and Matt would prefer to sell to other folks at $100 over the contract price. I can't prove this or I would do something about it. It just shows that all folks in the knife business don't play by the same rules. Now I would prefer not to have to post again about this bum deal but if it keeps up, I'll keep giving my opinion. I'm sure Matt would prefer for this to end. There's plenty of good bowie knifemakers out there.
 
BTW, I'm glad Richard came back and brought his tactful observations about all bf issues. :D

I doubt that most will understand my dry humor.;)
 
Tex,

I have had similar problems with knife makers, but I didn't come here and blast them.

You should have just cancelled the order and forgot about it; if you didn't want the knife any more.

Your not helping anybody here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top