This is not pleasant to write. I thought I had a great relationship with this person, an old Cantina friend who has gone out of his way to help out HI in the past. If I didn't I never would have sent the money I did. I've never posted negatively about any member of this forum, and have bought from or sold knives to at least 120 folks here since late '03 and I don't think anyone has ever had grounds for complaint.
I've tried for weeks to resolve this and avoid a GBU post. Maybe this last drastic step will break something loose. Bottom line, is that I paid him to make a knife, he didn't make it, and I can't get my $ back.
I paid for a WSK/K4 combo in September 2006. 50% down. His estimate to me was 2-4 weeks, but I did say he didn't have to rush for me. 7 months later Blade '07 came and went and he made 50 knives for that. No communication to me regarding my order. He later came up with a new copper coating which he said would be on all WSK's going forward, so I went for that change. In addition I went from cocobolo to koa at his suggestion, so took the total deposit up to 63% of the final total of $700, more than he asked for.
The quoted price of the Kenny Rowe pin-lock sheath went from $110 when ordered, to $170 and then to $190 for one reason and another. S%^t happens, I understand. I wasn't thrilled, but I authorized the extra charges.
Meanwhile new runs of Nessies, Bushcrafts, Survivors, custom sheaths, a collaboration with K9, not to mention all the K4's, K5's, K6's, Dhankuras, K-Tusks, HI kerambit sheaths and others made in late '07, and the Ulu and Santoku kitchen knives in late '06, all made ahead of my order. No status given on my order.
He got in 180 treated blades from Paul Bos and worked on those for Blade '08, which came and went. No status on my order.
Finally on September 9 this year at exactly 2 years I pulled the plug and asked for my deposit $ back. $440 flat, no interest or PayPal fees asked for (most of the $ was in check form, and the PP fee was just a few bucks, and the interest would buy a decent Denny's breakfast, maybe. No big.)
Dan apologized fror not getting it done in the past 24 months, and asked when he could pay it back.
I wrote back and said look, here's an option: keep it all, but make a much cheaper combo. Kydex, no Kenny Rowe tooled leather, no Koa, no mosaic pins, no copper coating, and he could keep the whole deposit and we'd call it even. I said only condition was I needed it in 5 weeks by October 15. I had a trip I could use it on, plus felt it was important (this time) to set a deadline. He agreed and said he was laying out the materials and would get started that day.
6 weeks later, Oct. 24, no knife. I didn't have it for my 10/15 trip. I pulled the plug permanently, documented it via email and on his Order Tracker page. The knife is canceled, which should be easy as it was never started.
5 days later on Oct. 29, 7 weeks after he committed to the new build, he wrote and said he was sorry that he "didn't get to it" but would refund my $ when he could.
On Oct. 31 he posted pics of almost 80 Survivors he was making and taking deposits on. I wrote to him pretty PO'd, as he was working on all these knives, but had never got to mine, and where was my money? He said he would send a refund as soon as he could.
On November 14 I asked again for my refund and got no response.
On November 19 he had another sale: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=598467 so I wrote again asking for my refund. He responded: "I have the funds now to send (you) a refund."
More Koster Nessies were sold via email on 11/26.
On December 5 I wrote a strong email asking again for my $ back in full, this time also asking for the paypal fees AND 3% interest on the balance because of all the delay. This was 27 months since the order was placed, almost 12 weeks since he had known he wasn't going to do it on 9/9, and 3 weeks since he stated he had the refund to send. Most importantly, it was 6 full weeks since he had known he had to refund my deposit for sure, and he had sold a bunch of knives online in that time.
He wrote back on 12/5 and asked to pay over several payments as it would be easier for him, but no payment schedule was mentioned. Based on the bolded statements above, I said NO, I wanted it now. I've waited long enough. This isn't layaway, sorry, and I can't leave it open ended. $5 a month? $20 a week? No. He had the $ on 11/19 after his sale and didn't send it. Based on that 11/19 promise to me I made a committment for the first week of December that I couldn't keep.
I emailed back on 12/5 and said I wanted a resolution by Friday 12/12 or I was going to bring it here. Again no response all week. I chickened out last night and wrote him again, asking him to let me know by 4 pm. today what he planned to do or I really would post. I heard nothing. I waited until well after midnight, it's now Sunday morning, to write this, reluctantly.
I know it's long, but please don't comment on this unless you plowed through the whole thing. And I don't want my HI brothers telling me what an a-hole I am for putting it to an old compatriot. I've bent over backwards to avoid this.
I told Dan I would also post on Knifeforums Feedback, Rammy and the Tactical Forum, but I'll hold right here for now and hopefully I'll get this resolved. I don't want to escalate it just because I can.
So finally, here's my recommendation: If you have a chance to buy a Koster Nessie, or Bushcraft, or Survivor, or anything he comes up with, via a sale here on BF or via his email list, snap it up. As far as I'm concerned his (posted here and via email list) work is great, has improved dramatically over the past 4 years, is priced very fairly and is a great bargain for the quality you get, is described and sold honestly, and mailed immediately.
But avoid anything at all to do with a special order, or anything that has to do with his Order Tracker page. It's an old story that's happened to others: It will languish forever with no communication to you as he shoves it to the back burner again and again to complete his bread and butter knives, and he doesn't have the cash flow to both support his family and business and also refund your deposit.
Thanks.
Norm
I've tried for weeks to resolve this and avoid a GBU post. Maybe this last drastic step will break something loose. Bottom line, is that I paid him to make a knife, he didn't make it, and I can't get my $ back.
I paid for a WSK/K4 combo in September 2006. 50% down. His estimate to me was 2-4 weeks, but I did say he didn't have to rush for me. 7 months later Blade '07 came and went and he made 50 knives for that. No communication to me regarding my order. He later came up with a new copper coating which he said would be on all WSK's going forward, so I went for that change. In addition I went from cocobolo to koa at his suggestion, so took the total deposit up to 63% of the final total of $700, more than he asked for.
The quoted price of the Kenny Rowe pin-lock sheath went from $110 when ordered, to $170 and then to $190 for one reason and another. S%^t happens, I understand. I wasn't thrilled, but I authorized the extra charges.
Meanwhile new runs of Nessies, Bushcrafts, Survivors, custom sheaths, a collaboration with K9, not to mention all the K4's, K5's, K6's, Dhankuras, K-Tusks, HI kerambit sheaths and others made in late '07, and the Ulu and Santoku kitchen knives in late '06, all made ahead of my order. No status given on my order.
He got in 180 treated blades from Paul Bos and worked on those for Blade '08, which came and went. No status on my order.
Finally on September 9 this year at exactly 2 years I pulled the plug and asked for my deposit $ back. $440 flat, no interest or PayPal fees asked for (most of the $ was in check form, and the PP fee was just a few bucks, and the interest would buy a decent Denny's breakfast, maybe. No big.)
Dan apologized fror not getting it done in the past 24 months, and asked when he could pay it back.
I wrote back and said look, here's an option: keep it all, but make a much cheaper combo. Kydex, no Kenny Rowe tooled leather, no Koa, no mosaic pins, no copper coating, and he could keep the whole deposit and we'd call it even. I said only condition was I needed it in 5 weeks by October 15. I had a trip I could use it on, plus felt it was important (this time) to set a deadline. He agreed and said he was laying out the materials and would get started that day.
6 weeks later, Oct. 24, no knife. I didn't have it for my 10/15 trip. I pulled the plug permanently, documented it via email and on his Order Tracker page. The knife is canceled, which should be easy as it was never started.
5 days later on Oct. 29, 7 weeks after he committed to the new build, he wrote and said he was sorry that he "didn't get to it" but would refund my $ when he could.
On Oct. 31 he posted pics of almost 80 Survivors he was making and taking deposits on. I wrote to him pretty PO'd, as he was working on all these knives, but had never got to mine, and where was my money? He said he would send a refund as soon as he could.
On November 14 I asked again for my refund and got no response.
On November 19 he had another sale: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=598467 so I wrote again asking for my refund. He responded: "I have the funds now to send (you) a refund."
More Koster Nessies were sold via email on 11/26.
On December 5 I wrote a strong email asking again for my $ back in full, this time also asking for the paypal fees AND 3% interest on the balance because of all the delay. This was 27 months since the order was placed, almost 12 weeks since he had known he wasn't going to do it on 9/9, and 3 weeks since he stated he had the refund to send. Most importantly, it was 6 full weeks since he had known he had to refund my deposit for sure, and he had sold a bunch of knives online in that time.
He wrote back on 12/5 and asked to pay over several payments as it would be easier for him, but no payment schedule was mentioned. Based on the bolded statements above, I said NO, I wanted it now. I've waited long enough. This isn't layaway, sorry, and I can't leave it open ended. $5 a month? $20 a week? No. He had the $ on 11/19 after his sale and didn't send it. Based on that 11/19 promise to me I made a committment for the first week of December that I couldn't keep.
I emailed back on 12/5 and said I wanted a resolution by Friday 12/12 or I was going to bring it here. Again no response all week. I chickened out last night and wrote him again, asking him to let me know by 4 pm. today what he planned to do or I really would post. I heard nothing. I waited until well after midnight, it's now Sunday morning, to write this, reluctantly.
I know it's long, but please don't comment on this unless you plowed through the whole thing. And I don't want my HI brothers telling me what an a-hole I am for putting it to an old compatriot. I've bent over backwards to avoid this.
I told Dan I would also post on Knifeforums Feedback, Rammy and the Tactical Forum, but I'll hold right here for now and hopefully I'll get this resolved. I don't want to escalate it just because I can.
So finally, here's my recommendation: If you have a chance to buy a Koster Nessie, or Bushcraft, or Survivor, or anything he comes up with, via a sale here on BF or via his email list, snap it up. As far as I'm concerned his (posted here and via email list) work is great, has improved dramatically over the past 4 years, is priced very fairly and is a great bargain for the quality you get, is described and sold honestly, and mailed immediately.
But avoid anything at all to do with a special order, or anything that has to do with his Order Tracker page. It's an old story that's happened to others: It will languish forever with no communication to you as he shoves it to the back burner again and again to complete his bread and butter knives, and he doesn't have the cash flow to both support his family and business and also refund your deposit.
Thanks.
Norm
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