Need a recommendation from Dan!

DavidZ

DavidZ

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
4,226
Dan - Need a recommendation. I love your knives and as you know, have bought a lot of them. Many on the secondary market as well. You just shipped me my Bushmaster! What a beauty!
Here is where I need your recommendation -

Over 14 month ago I sent you my broken Monster Nessie, which on 11-08-2008 you emailed me:

Send it back to me and I will replace it free of charge. I am gluing up a few more next week.

Dan

On 11-10-2008 I emailed you:

Hi Dan - I sent it out today, USPS priority. I also included the offending piece of the tree branch and trunk that did it. You can see the piece of blade still in it. Let me know when you get it, and what your thoughts are.
Thanks,
Dave.

On 11-22-2008 after not hearing from you, I emailed:

Hi Dan - Just wanted to drop you a line and check to make sure that you got my package, with the damaged monster nessie, and the pine tree trunk and branch that took a bite out of it. Have you had a chance to check it out at all? It was the best branch trimmer that I had. My take on it is that due to the thin grind, it was a great slicer, but it was too thin for the weight behind it for chopping. After checking all of the other choppers that I have, including one of the other 2 Monster Nessies of yours that I have, with micrometers, they seem to have a blade thickness of about .040" to .050" behind the sharpened edge. This one, and another one of yours that I have is almost zero ground. Just my thoughts on a snowy Saturday afternoon. I hope all is going well for you.
Thanks,

Dave.
- Show quoted text -


Finally on 12-04-2008 you emailed me:


Yes - I did get it - and plan on replacing it.

Dan

It has now been 14 months, and no knife! and, you won't even answer my emails. Is this what we can expect for customer service? Your last responce to me was on 7/28/2009 and you emailed me:

I realized I had enough orders to make a short run of them and then got backlogged with other projects. These take a ton of work and effort and are in no way easy. You are one of about 20-30 people waiting on them. The good news is that I finally got the blades in today and will be moving these forward starting next week. They get done when they get done. I can't make a promise about because things always change. I can promise, however, that I will do my best and get it right.

Thanks!

Dan

Also, In between this time, you sold some "extra" Monster Nessies, without regard to my replacement. You reviewed my returned blade, and agreed that the blade was ground too thin, and that this was cause for the failure. I do not want this thread to turn into a urinary Olympic contest, but..........

What would you do if you were me?
 
Dan needs to fix this ASAP. You are not a customer waiting for an order. You are a customer that has already PAID and received the knife and it proved to be defective. You have lost over a year's worth of use on this knife and should be given PRIORITY consideration.
 
easy, tiger.

David will be taken care of. I have posted updates on the Monster Nessie and will be doing more next week. I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer.

Dan
 
Daniel Koster said:
easy, tiger.

David will be taken care of. I have posted updates on the Monster Nessie and will be doing more next week. I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer.

Dan
Click to expand...

That isn't right Dan!

You make the knives, and are responsible for a quality product, and communication with your customers about them, including repairs.

I know that you are a good and righteous person from my personal dealings with you, but I must say.....this is a terrible way to handle customer service, and it demands improvement, unless there is something that we don't know about.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Originally posted by Kohai999:

I know that you are a good and righteous person from my personal dealings with you, but I must say.....this is a terrible way to handle customer service, and it demands improvement, unless there is something that we don't know about.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% waiting 14 weeks for replacement of a defective knife is no way to treat a paid customer.
 
We aren't talking about a small knife that I build every day, guys.

Also, I do things in batches, not one at a time.

Further, I don't know many custom knifemakers that guarantee knives acquired secondhand. (I sure won't anymore!)

I made an exception because David has many of my other knives and has been a good customer.

When I made that Monster Nessie, I made it for Kitchen Duty.

But David used it for chopping, despite knowing that it was ground thinner.


I'm not making excuses. I didn't turn David away. I told him I would replace it, and I still will.


If any of you would like to check this thread for updates, please feel free:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=637558


I started grinding more of these this week - and hope to heat treat about 2-dozen of these on Saturday.

It's just how things worked out. I have to juggle projects here so that I can keep things evenly balanced. I have posted my reasoning in many other places - read around if you want to see it all.

There are folks that have waited longer than David - and very patiently.

I have never reneged on an order.

Let's agree to get all the facts straight before jumping on the bandwagon.


Dan
 
Daniel Koster said:
We aren't talking about a small knife that I build every day, guys.

Also, I do things in batches, not one at a time.

Further, I don't know many custom knifemakers that guarantee knives acquired secondhand. (I sure won't anymore!)

I made an exception because David has many of my other knives and has been a good customer.

When I made that Monster Nessie, I made it for Kitchen Duty.

But David used it for chopping, despite knowing that it was ground thinner.


I'm not making excuses. I didn't turn David away. I told him I would replace it, and I still will.


If any of you would like to check this thread for updates, please feel free:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=637558


I started grinding more of these this week - and hope to heat treat about 2-dozen of these on Saturday.

It's just how things worked out. I have to juggle projects here so that I can keep things evenly balanced. I have posted my reasoning in many other places - read around if you want to see it all.

There are folks that have waited longer than David - and very patiently.

I have never reneged on an order.

Let's agree to get all the facts straight before jumping on the bandwagon.


Dan
Click to expand...

I am going to remain calm, but why would you lie on a public forum, and try to mitigate the truth - this is a pitiful - and I am going to call you out on the lies in this post. I have an errand to do right now, but I will be back to set the record straight!
 
Daniel Koster said:
easy, tiger.

David will be taken care of. I have posted updates on the Monster Nessie and will be doing more next week. I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer.

Dan
Click to expand...

:jerkit: This is an answer? :confused: You were addressing tedwca - and not the original post. You started your Monster nessie sticky on 4-13-2009 over 6 months after my problem - How does that take care of my problem. When will you have an answer? Isn't 14 months enough time to figure it out? It certainly should be!
 
Daniel Koster said:
Also, I do things in batches, not one at a time.

Further, I don't know many custom knifemakers that guarantee knives acquired secondhand. (I sure won't anymore!)

When I made that Monster Nessie, I made it for Kitchen Duty.

But David used it for chopping, despite knowing that it was ground thinner.

I'm not making excuses. I didn't turn David away. I told him I would replace it, and I still will.

It's just how things worked out. I have to juggle projects here so that I can keep things evenly balanced. I have posted my reasoning in many other places - read around if you want to see it all.

There are folks that have waited longer than David - and very patiently.

I have never reneged on an order.

Let's agree to get all the facts straight before jumping on the bandwagon.

Dan
Click to expand...

Dan, there are LOTS of ways to make things straight, and putting someone on the back burner for 14 months is not one of them.

If you had treated me that way....you would have very serious problems....time is money, and you are WASTING David Z's time...that is what I am seeing, and from your response, that is what the truth is.

s**t or get off the pot....your name is on the knife....make it right, and git 'er done ASAFP!!!!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I am with you Dan - Let's get the facts straight - as you put it, and your post here is a pack of lies and distortions - and you know it!


Daniel Koster said:
We aren't talking about a small knife that I build every day, guys.

Also, I do things in batches, not one at a time.

Further, I don't know many custom knifemakers that guarantee knives acquired secondhand. (I sure won't anymore!)

I made an exception because David has many of my other knives and has been a good customer.

When I made that Monster Nessie, I made it for Kitchen Duty.

:jerkit: Maybe when you grind one too thin at the edge, you should etch on the Blade for Kitchen use only! And make no guarantee for that extra hard carrot! You have no clue what you made or when. Nice lie though

But David used it for chopping, despite knowing that it was ground thinner.

This lie is a real whopper! But as the habitual pathological liar you are, I am not surprised.

The only way you knew that this knife was ground thin, was because after it broke, I got out my calipers to try and help you determined why it failed, and I could compare it with other Monster Nessie's that I had. Otherwise, you would still be clueless about your poor workmanship and inconsistent product! You never once made mention about it being for kitchen use only. Nice ploy though to cover your a**. You lied here, and you know it!


I'm not making excuses. I didn't turn David away. I told him I would replace it, and I still will.

Yes you are making excuses! Your whole post is one big excuse, mixed in with lies! I have been hearing this for 14 months. Should I put it in my will for my grand kids to get? More BS!


If any of you would like to check this thread for updates, please feel free:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=637558


I started grinding more of these this week - and hope to heat treat about 2-dozen of these on Saturday.

It's just how things worked out. I have to juggle projects here so that I can keep things evenly balanced. I have posted my reasoning in many other places - read around if you want to see it all.

There are folks that have waited longer than David - and very patiently.

I have never reneged on an order.

Let's agree to get all the facts straight before jumping on the bandwagon.


Dan
Click to expand...

Now that I have this off of my chest, I still do not feel any better! My goal is to get the knives that you owe me, so I can sell them on the exchange, because just looking at your knives just reminds me of how poorly you treat your customers, and if any of your customers expect a timely replacement, they better be young, because it will take forever. I will post all of our correspondence in the GB&U, so others may beware
 
Do whatever makes you happy, David.

I have your knife on my list of things to be worked on this week. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. Again, I apologize for the delay.

Dan
 
Yours is the next knife I finish, David.

I am sorry this has been dragged on so long, I will remedy this immediately.

Dan
 
I had looked at some Koster knives and considered buying one. Wont be doing that now!--KV
 
Daniel Koster said:
Further, I don't know many custom knifemakers that guarantee knives acquired secondhand. (I sure won't anymore!)
Dan
Click to expand...

This has the appearance of a veiled attempt to force buyers to purchase your knives only directly from you. I fear the result may be that they choose to not purchase at all.
 
Many knife companies and many semi-custom/production companies have the same policy (you can't compare me to other knifemakers that do knives one-at-a-time....2 or 3 a month).

That said, this is the first time it has come up for me. Usually if someone beats up their knife, they ask for a repair or regrind. I should have stuck to my guns...but oh well...live and learn.



theamazingdrew - I'm sorry you see it that way, Bro. I believe I already posted that I have started all the Monster Nessies this week..and that was the plan for a week now (I had to get all my bushcraft knives glued up first...stick around, do some reading, you'll see). Many folks' knives are in progress today...I am just moving David to the front of the line - in an effort to make things right...and see this settled amicably.

Email has been sent to David.

Unless you are personally involved in this matter, I ask you to please refrain from fanning the flames.

Dan

Dan
 
Well, it is good to see that I'm not the only one who has complained about Dan's customer service. I have been reluctant to comment publicly. I have complained directly to Dan via PM.

Now granted, Dan has always been pretty friendly in his communications. I appreciate that. And I don't think he has ever ripped anyone off.

But, you promised that the Bushmasters would be shipped the year before last. All the time sitting on $15,000 or whatever of down payments. You wait days or weeks before responding to PMs, or in threads. You say that you shipped me a Bushmaster, but surprise, it never shows up and you ignore my request for the tracking number. I ask about it and you don't respond for weeks. I know you say that "another one" has been shipped.

Yeah, you are busy. So are the rest of us, but we still manage to take care of our affairs in a timely manner.

This is not the end of the world, and if this is the best thing I have to whine about today, I'm doing pretty good. But I really urge you to consider changing your business practices. Things like spending a few minutes each day answering PMs and threads. Things like moving your product out the door when promised. Providing tracking numbers when paying customers ask for them. You can do it.
 
I'm doing better now, guys....much better. Doesn't mean I have all the bugs worked out yet...but I have figured out a solution that seems to be working. I am still behind on my orders, but you gotta admit...I am doing a dang good job catching up.

Dan
 
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