Mr. Sastre, where is my knife?

To reiterate, I won't make ony judgement as to how Mike does business....I too, wish he could supply sheathes faster for all here. The work is top notch.

However, what he does is not the simple process that some think it is....I really just want to state that.

And no....I dont think that Mike is capable of ripping anyone off....if he has your knife you will get it back.
 
Mr. Moran and Mr. Loveless can make a knife in less time than Mike can make a sheath.

There is something wrong when that happens......................................
 
Just to give an example of how posts like this affect potential customers, Mike will never receive an order for a sheath from me, and I have a lot of candidates for his work. :( I'm afraid the disease he suffers from is shared by many custom pistol builders. It's called greed. They can't handle the work load, but won't turn down any work for fear of losing it. Truth is, there's more than enough work to go around and they'll never go without, unless they drive it away with poor business practices, as is apparent here.
 
Good news! The work is done, Mr. Sastre has complete an extra sheath for me free of charge, and everything should be in the mail soon.

The problem here is definately not a moral one, but simply a communication problem.
 
wolfmann601 said:
Mr. Moran and Mr. Loveless can make a knife in less time than Mike can make a sheath.

There is something wrong when that happens......................................
Click to expand...

Right. :rolleyes:

Why don't you call either of those makers and ask them what the wait time is for a custom order. If they will take a custom order. In this field, demand can easily outstrip number of hours in a day, week, year, etc. Many top end makers have wait times that are measured in years. The amount of time to make an individual piece is short, but that assumes the maker is sitting around waiting for the one order they wlil get that week.

Mike may have made a mistake by quoting an inaccurate time, and he apparently had organizational problems with Will P's order, but it sounds like he has tried to make ammends. Will P. has a right to gripe here. What is your stake Wolfmann? You really overstepped from opinion to slander when you implied that Mike steals people's knives.

Here's the deal, if you want a River City sheath you will probably have to wait. If you don't want to wait, look elsewhere. I can promise you this, this thread will not hurt Mike's business.

I also know that Mike gives all LEOs and deploying or deployed troops a hop to the front of the list. You may have heard about some bang-bang, boom-boom going on around the world and our involvement. What do you think this does to a quoted wait time?

If you saw a Bagwell (or Covington ;) ) bowie appear from nowhere (also known as a Southern Comfort sheath system) you might not have any problem with the wait. I have yet to see any other maker duplicate it.

Yeah, I know Mike. Not extremely well, but I do know him and have done business with him. I have never had any indication that he is not honorable, and apparently no one in this thread has either.

Will P., why don't you let everyone know how the quality is when you get your sheaths.
 
Mike does this often, quote times that turn out to be "wrong".

If this was the first time I could buy it but this is his "norm" and it is not acceptable.

And Mike was almost done with this sheath several times during the eight months. When Loveless and Moran start a knife, regardless of their wait time, it takes less time than sastre.

Frankly, I would wait for a Moran or Loveless but not a Sastre. There are several folks here on BFC that make sheaths just as nice. I have a sheath from Mike, it's nice but certyainly not worth almost a year's wait.

Now stop defending sastre, he is wrong...................AGAIN [do a search you are a gold member]

Edited to add: Slander, yeah right:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Just thought I would chime in my .02 here.

I'll wait for a knife, from a maker I order from. I know the deal, I speak the language. 6 months delivery date means 9 months, if all runs according to plan. :D

No way I wait for a sheath. I was dealing with a top-quality, highly respected leatherworker who was running over 2 months behind on his his quoted delivery times, consistently. I don't work with him anymore. I had at that point purchased over 15 sheaths from him in a two year period. Maybe not making him rich, but not chump change, either.

I deal with Chris Kravitt from Treestump Leather now. He gives me a quote date, if he is off on quote, it's by two weeks, not two months. As a result of this, I have gotten 9 sheaths from him in the last 9 months. The work is beyond reproach.

Hey, I understand stuff happens, and while I admire and respect Mr. Sastre's bumping the uniformed Servicemen of this country up the ladder, if he had my money and my knife while making that decision, I might make him eat both, or take the trip out to his shop to retrieve my stuff.

I can understand knifemaker's running behind due to the many reasons that they run behind for, but there are FAR too many qualified sheathmakers around to be playing that game.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
sak_collector said:
If he never takes a day off (works the entire 30 days a month) while making a sheath over 2 days, he can make 15 sheaths a month. Lets say he could get 50 dollars for each one, thats 750 a month. Hope he has a second job.
Click to expand...

I think I was misunderstood here.....he doesn't start a sheath for one knife at a time. He might have a dozen going at any one time.

It is a multi-tasked, multi-step process, that Mike will extend over 2 days. After the intial "pouch" is pressed....he lets it "cure" for about a day. I hope that I didn't give away one of his trade secrets here but I have seen Kydex sheathes fit fine one day after manufacture, then a day later be so tight that the knife had to be pulled out with the sheath in a vise! No kidding!

I was lucky enough to glean some knowledge from Mike for making a standard sheath for my Combat Specials....so I spent a day watching every process. One thing that shocked me was how long it took to prepare the blade even before it touches the kydex.....a critical step that most makers miss.

I realize people's frustration here but I think that the process for making a "simple" piece of plastic is misunderstood, at least one of Mike's sheathes.

I also might add that in the last 4 months or so Mike has been dealing with more than a few personal tragedies that he won't come on here and whine about.
 
i dont think anyone is questioning his ability to do the work, or that making kydex sheaths cant get a little complicated, or that mike is making money (he is i would bet.....) or that he is a dishonest person, or thief. what is being brought up (and it has been brought up several times before by several different people) is that he quotes times to finish the sheath in a few weeks/months and it actually takes closer to a year, which is i am sure due to the fact that he overbooks himself, probably with the best intentions. i can see were folks get mad when they send a individual there new custom knife for a sheath expecting the wait to be 2 or 3 weeks and it then takes 9 months or more to get your stuff back, that sucks imho and i can understand. the man should simply tell folks its gonna be a while (ie 6 months/etc) so they know what to expect, simple enough, then they can make the decision to go elsewhere/or wait. imho this would solve all of his problems with this. why doesnt he do this?? i dont know, most people do that because they are paranoid about losing business/too nice for there own good and just cant say no, in which case refer to above and give them a more accurate time frame. just a suggestion......

also people complain he is hard to get ahold of, which honest intentions or not makes people nervous about the items the other person has ie the knife, if ya are quoted a time frame and then the time expires and ya dont have your sheath/ya cant get ahold of the man its just human nature to start expecting the worst, he could save himself some grief imho by simply returning phone calls/emails, maybe hire someone to do this, let folks know WTF is up/etc, why hasnt he done this? probably doesnt have the time/doesnt wanna listen to folks complain about how long its taking, again just a suggestion.........

kudos to him for putting servicemen first but life is a balancing act and he needs to balance all of his other customers needs also, or at least let them know WTF (ie all the guys from the recon platoon of the 101st Abn are deploying 3 days from now/need sheaths/please understand), a little explaining/communication gos a long way imho.

greg
 
Now as a new member, and never having dealt with Mr. Sastre directly, some of the other members may feel that I have no business in this thread. However, even if I am blasted for it, I wish to make my opinion known.

If anyone has read my other thread regarding the Oso Grande Knive and Tool Company, then they were probably quick to realize that I hold the business process and customer service in the highest of regards. To me, customer service superceedes quality of product in grand scheme of things. I'm sure many others feel the same way.

I manage a Geek Squad Precint here in Iowa ( www.geeksquad.com ). When we work on a customer's computer, we abide by a very strict under-promise and over-deliver policy. If I take a look at our work log and I see that we are two days out, I tell people three. If we are low on work and are turning computers out same day, I will still tell people two days.

Why?

Even if there is an initial shock to the turn time (and trust me, there always is), the sheer gratification they display when you have completed work AHEAD of schedule is absolutely worth it. If for whatever reason we hit a snag, and work on a computer is delayed, then at least we still have that buffer to work with.

As a person who prides themselves in their treatment of customers, I understand the urge to initially make people happy by giving them what they want to hear. Unfortunately giving in to that urge will ultimately provide for a very disappointing and often times stressful aftermath.

To provide an unrealistic and overly optimistic ETA is unacceptable and no one should have to put up with such rubbish. I can tell you that such behaviour would not be tolerated in other industries, so why should it be tolerated here? It cannot possibly be that hard to give realistic or over-estimated turn times.

Once again, I realize there are some people who will disagree with my sentiment and that is fine by me. However as a potential customer, and as a fellow businessman, I strongly urge knifemakers and sheathmakers to follow a similar policy of under-promising and over-delivering.

Do not, under any circumstances, promise what you cannot guarantee. After all, in this world, you are only as good as your word.

Omikron
 
I'll post some pictures in about a month. I can't pick up the sheaths until I go on pass.
 
wolfmann601 said:
Makes me wonder just how Mike amassed the collection of "in stock" knives he has from which to make sheaths.

Whose orders are delayed for so long they give up allowing Mike to claim another "in stock" knife!!

Looks like he now has another Greco..........................
Click to expand...

Wolmann,
You obviously didn't read what I posted. I did not defend Mike for giving incorrect wait times. Just saying, that that is the way it is. Also trying to say that you obviously have not ordered anything from a really sought after maker. I have a friend who buys almost nothing but customs, and he frequently has to wait many years.

If you don't like the way Mike does business, then don't do business with him. I don't care and I can promise you he doesn't care.

NONE of this makes Mike a thief. I would like to hear from one freaking person that has PROOF of what you claimed in your post above. You accused him of being a thief with absolutely no proof in a public forum. That is slander and not at all what the G,B, & U forum is here for. If you have a legitimate complaint like Will P. then that is what this forum is for.

I don't need to do a search. You might notice I have been a member here for a long time (and lurked for months, from the very beginning) and have followed most of the flame wars, dog piles, controversies, etc. I know what has been said.

It is very simple. If you don't want to wait, don't wait. Period. As I said nobody cares but you.

Now to paraphrase you, stop accusing people of crap you have no proof of (i.e. stealing knives from customers)...it is WRONG.
 
Paul,

"Nobody cares but you".

WRONG! I care. The inertia of Mr. Sastre's overbooking may not last forever. While we will be occupying Iraq for some time to come, the orders will wane. He might need more customers.

This post should serve as a warning to those astute enough to read the GB&U that if they are expecting a knife delivered from Mr. Sastre in a timely manner, then they will be upset.

This is from the FAQ portion of his website, when asked how long a sheath will take:

"This will vary according to the number and sizes of the orders already in, degree of difficulty, and show or seminar schedule. Usually we can get them out within three weeks, sometimes less, sometimes more, it all depends. Only one person works in the shop. Let us know of any time constraints you have and we will try to accommodate you."

This attitude kills it for me and I will make sure that every knife person I talk to knows about this thread. You get enough of that going on, and you have a serious crimp in your business.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Paul:
if the shoe fits Mike can wear it. The fact remains that there is no excuse to not deliver for eight months for a sheath. I also buy custom knives and if the maker says one year and I agree I wait the one year. After the year is up if there is no knife, I cancel the order.

It is simple, there are a many excellent sheath makers who can and do deliver. It is these guys that I do business with. And if Mike is delaying orders to provide to LEO's and soldiers I am all for it. he needs to TELL this to all his customers.

In the future Paul if I do call Mike a Thief I WILL JUST CALL HIM ONE. Stop reading drama into my posts, I know how to spell T-H-I-E-F and theft is the act of taking or keeping property with a purpose to deprive the owner therein. My opinion remains how Mike amasses knives to fit sheaths, sue me............
 
If you want to talk smack about someone, back it up!
Mr. Sastre is pretty clearly not a thief. Communications problems? You bet. Is this a bad business practice? You bet. Is it ethically wrong? Maybe... but go to the knifemakers forum to discuss it.
 
kinda hypocritical, doncha think?

You use the GB & U to try to get some leverage to get your sheath, and hey, it works!

Then, when others chime in that they don't like the business practice of Mr Sastre LYING to his customers, but you have gotten what you want, you suggest that it gets moved to a completely inappropriate forum.

THIS is the place, THIS is the time, you started it, glad you are getting your stuff, but you don't dictate who says what, where, you are a member like the rest of us, entitled to your opinion, and that is about it. If a moderator wants to lock this thread, so be it, but until that time, it is open season.

Let us all know how you like your new sheath.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
No, I don't like the fact that he lies to customers about the time frame of his sheathmaking. I wouldn't buy another sheath from him, mostly because I don't like waiting at all. I think his problems in managing his trade are a definate no go.
The Knife Maker's forum is a good place to discuss business practice in general, and has been using for that purpose before.
This ceases to be a useful thread when it becomes a personal argument between Mike's friends and people who are unhappy about his apparent inability to handle the business side of his business.
If you do a search, all this dirty linen has been aired out before.
 
and thank you for your reasoned and moderated response.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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