Need advice from knifemakers!

James Falor said:
Hey Dan, I found his paper catalog today. What got me was his statement listed as #1 under his 8-part "info" on his neck knives. Quote: "Mammoth for a handle on my hand forged neck knives takes second place to none. No one regrets such a decision if they can afford it." (except in my case) I thought this was interesting too, under "customer service" "While I'm glad to hear you received the knives in good shape, I am truly sorry to hear that your friend is not satisfied with his knife. Let me offer to replace it for him with a drop-point, and additionally I will pay for the shipping both ways."......As each blade is handmade, there can be quite a variety even within the similar models. Making these choices in the absence of the customer is a daunting task, one that I don't treat lightly. I guess I have been lucky so far in that 99% of my customers have been satisfied with my judgment, and believe that I always try to send only the knives which exemplify my best efforts. Again, after waiting so patiently, I am sorry that the knives were not to your satisfaction." I have sent every payment (3) to this guy Priority mail within 24 hours of his notifying me. I even included 10 dollars extra to help with the shipping costs! I have now returned the above knife insured, USPS Priority. I have been nothing but courteous and respectful in my communications with him. When, after he made it clear that he wasn't interested in OFFERING any kind of compromise, I suggest one: maybe we can split the cost of the ivory 85 apiece? For this I am told that I am going to be "removed from my customer list." and that "I assumed you knew what you were doing when you asked me to purchase the ivory for you." I only can hope he will actually SEND me the cheaper knife so I am not left holding air for 590.00. The saga cotinues...Jim SEMPER FI
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the guy says he has made 12000 knives in the last 20 years I can't see that he'd want this one to go unsatisfied.. it can't be the money if he is true to his word on his site.. 12,000 knives personally made by him in 20 years??
if this the case time wise it should only take him a very short time to fix it..

I'd just take it back an make you a new one and sell that one or fix it..with-out hesitating I see no need to go through messing up customer relation like that.. what bugs me is, can't he make another one just the same as yours ? or why not just fix it ?
 
I'm not any where close to being a master smith, but I will say... If those scales looked like that when I cut into them, they would never make it to a knife looking like that. I would have kept the scales and utilized them on a smaller knife, or as inlays, etc. where the delamination would have been cut out.

It takes alot or hard work and dedication to make a good name for yourself in the blade world, and quite easy to ruin it by putting out second rate (my opinion) work. I don't think the money invested in the scales is worth the damage to reputation that bad looking work can cause. If the defect had happened after the knife was in the new owners hand, then I would tell him thats the nature of the material and offer to try to repair it.

In my opinion this maker made 2 bad decisions, one was to put the scales on there in the first place, and the second was to deal with it the way he did.

My admiration goes out to James Falor for not posting the makers name.
 
Teknition said:
I'm not any where close to being a master smith, but I will say... If those scales looked like that when I cut into them, they would never make it to a knife looking like that. I would have kept the scales and utilized them on a smaller knife, or as inlays, etc. where the delamination would have been cut out.

It takes alot or hard work and dedication to make a good name for yourself in the blade world, and quite easy to ruin it by putting out second rate (my opinion) work. I don't think the money invested in the scales is worth the damage to reputation that bad looking work can cause. If the defect had happened after the knife was in the new owners hand, then I would tell him thats the nature of the material and offer to try to repair it.

In my opinion this maker made 2 bad decisions, one was to put the scales on there in the first place, and the second was to deal with it the way he did.

My admiration goes out to James Falor for not posting the makers name.
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Technition, You just said what I tried to say but a lot better!! I agree 100 percent

Ken
 
Teknition said:
I'm not any where close to being a master smith, but I will say... If those scales looked like that when I cut into them, they would never make it to a knife looking like that. I would have kept the scales and utilized them on a smaller knife, or as inlays, etc. where the delamination would have been cut out.

It takes alot or hard work and dedication to make a good name for yourself in the blade world, and quite easy to ruin it by putting out second rate (my opinion) work. I don't think the money invested in the scales is worth the damage to reputation that bad looking work can cause. If the defect had happened after the knife was in the new owners hand, then I would tell him thats the nature of the material and offer to try to repair it.

In my opinion this maker made 2 bad decisions, one was to put the scales on there in the first place, and the second was to deal with it the way he did.

My admiration goes out to James Falor for not posting the makers name.
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1000 satisfied customers you will never hear a peep out if until the next order (I still worry when I ship something and never hear anything then I run into the customer a year or two later and they loved it and want to order more)
screw one person over and the word knows!

I do not understand why this maker would ruin his reputation like that, Mr Falor has much more restraint than most folks I know. By now most people would have applied mud in a vigorous manner to the smith's name.

I hope the final result is that the knife gets remade properly with quality material and craftsmanship, or that Mr. Falor gets his refund and an apology

-Page
 
There are always two sided to a story and although you sound absolutely convincing, I wish the maker could offer his two cents. (even if it werte under another name) There may be circumstances we are unaware of.

I am in no way suggesting that you are not telling the truth or are at fault, I want to make this clear under no uncertain terms.

If this knife maker has a solid reputation he must be doing something right and therefore leads me to believe that there may be more at play here. Perhaps even unbeknownst to you Jim. I have often found that when dealing with others it is difficult to understand what is going through their mind and what seems so obvious to me may not be to them. I think an open dialog with the maker would be nice. If it could be done here with moderators to listen to both sides it would help.

The last thing either of you want are hard feeling I am sure. Jim, you sound like a reasonable guy so as long as he is too there should be no issues with communication.

I know you came to an arrangement but it seems as if you are not completely satisfied and this should not be the case, do not settle. Good luck.
 
I don't think posting here benefits the maker at all, especially since he's not having his name mentioned (at least not directly). The moderators aren't here to sort out these issues between members... I don't see much point.

There is a difference of opinion, the maker clearly doesn't want to work (or deal) with the customer any further.

You should keep us informed about whether or not you get your replacement. I'm pretty sure you will, but if you don't then you should let everyone know the full details of the transaction. No sense in protecting someone if they screw you over that badly.
 
You may be right AcridSaint... Sometimes it helps to have someone who is not involved to moderate. It does not have to bet on the boards at all. Just a thought.

The end result is, I hope you both are happy in the end.
 
Sorry to dredge this up from the depths but I wanted you all to know that Murray Carter has up and done the right thing. He has told me he will refund the money for the mammoth (actually the difference between what I paid for the custom and the White Crane he sent me) 110.00. I thanked him, told him I had never had a deal go so bad and certainly didn't intend for this one to. I know he's still upset with me but I wished him happiness and success in his future endeavors anyway. I'm sticking with wood and stag from now on! Thanks again for all your help. I have a feeling he may have read some of your thoughts here and that may have guided his decision in some form. I truly appreciate it. Best Regards--Jim SEMPER FI
 
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