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anthrax_thy

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This would be a long thread but I really have no other alternatives so if you have time, please.......

As I've been looking for a tactical / survival knife with serration at the back for a long time. After I watch his show I've found the knife maker, which is a custom knife maker named [Griffin Tactical Knives] and ordered one myself. Before I order I contacted the maker and ask for the production period, he said it would take 3 months. Well that's reasonable, when I order the Small Sebenza with wooden inlay it took 3 months as well. I made the order in August 2014. After 3 months I ask him for the tracking number. And he said the knife is being heat treated.

As I lived outsides of US and the shipping cost a lot. So when I ask him he generously helped me out on that by having a joint shipment, Which I'm really appreciated. So along with the [Damascus version of Specials Ops Multipurpose Knife] I've also ordered some Bear Grylls Paracord knives, cause it just cost $20 each.

After further delays on November and December 2014 he finally ship out the knife on January 2015, but that's only the begin of this story.

According the knife magazine "Knife Illustrated", “I BURIED THE TIP TO SEE IF IT WOULD BREAK. NO SUCH LUCK. IT WAS JUST AS DURABLE AS TETI SAID IT WOULD BE.” In my case it's totally a different case.

In my case I buried the tip in a 2 by 4 and pry, the tip blended... What came to my mind is "that doesn't make sense. This knife, according to the reason of delay, had been heat treated for more than a month. Maybe the 2 by 4 is too hard."
So I tried with my $20 Bear Grylls Paracord knives. The wood came off easily and didn't damage the tip at all. WTF!?

As a host of a survival show I believe he can survives anything with a blended tip knife but sadly I am not, I really don't think I can survive anything with a [banana tip]. So I contact him again He said that is impossible and he didn't have this problem before. He asked me to send it back for another heat treated which required 3 weeks. Last time I heard from him is on 19/4/15 and said his wife is sick and he need to consider his family first, and as knife making is not his full time job so this knife company come last. I told him if I'm not going to received it on 8/5/15 I would like to have a refund. And for sure, I don't received the blade on that day and didn't even have a reply since then.

I've tried to call (which always lead to his mailbox) but this time the mailbox is full. I've send emails and leave message in his page and personal facebook, no reply. I even leave some message in Mr. Teti's email and facebook pages and no reply at all (tho it's not his business).

I've also tried to request refund in paypal but it said I'm not purchasing in ebay so they just don't care.

I've already done all I can so could anybody here can suggest me what can I do?

I have the photos of the banana tip and all the message and emails.
 
Also, maybe his wife is sick, and maybe it is all he does right now is tend to her needs and go work his full time job (since knife making apparently as stated is not it), which would explain a full voicemail box and no time for frivolous things such as time on Facebook.
I for one would never fault a man for putting family before business, because that's what a real man does... He has to go to work, and if his wife is in need, maybe his knife making took a back seat...
 
Moved to FEEDBACK.

https://www.facebook.com/griffintacticalknives

It is hard to see this being resolved quickly. PayPal can't get involve because you received the knife and it was damaged in use. If GTI is willing to work with you on what happened, you need to be patient, and try to stay in touch with him.
 
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strategy9 said:
Also, maybe his wife is sick, and maybe it is all he does right now is tend to her needs and go work his full time job (since knife making apparently as stated is not it), which would explain a full voicemail box and no time for frivolous things such as time on Facebook.
I for one would never fault a man for putting family before business, because that's what a real man does... He has to go to work, and if his wife is in need, maybe his knife making took a back seat...
Click to expand...

A real man also stands by his work, and if be sold him a lemon, he should refund him the money.
 
Wife > Work all day every day...
(If I felt any differently she wouldn't be my wife, but just another notch among many on the old bed post, at which point softball games would come first).

Considering in my experiences, the phrase "my {loved one} is sick" unless it's in regards to an infant, it typically doesn't refer to a common cold or a stomach bug, but unfortunately it is usually something far more serious such as cancer or worse, which if that's the case, AND knife making was only a part time gig, personally, I wouldn't care who thought what about me or my work, I'd be at my "real" job to pay the bills, and by my wife's side every other waking moment I could be (if in fact they very well may be the last moments we have)... And I'd deal with (disgruntled) customers at a later date when the situation calmed with refunds and apologies and whatever seemed right AFTER I took care of my family...
But hey, that's just me... If you think work and reputations are more important then family, more power to you. We will just have to agree to disagree then.
 
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And I'm not saying he shouldn't refund the money, or make it right, that's not at all what i'm saying, but God forbid his wife is "really sick", in a serious way, then between a full time regular job and hospital trips, maybe even sleeping there, who knows, he very well may have just not checked any messages for a while... And hopefully he very well refunds the money when he gets back into his shop...
 
I have had sick family members that require longer term care. That does not mean one cannot take a couple minutes and respond to customer inquiries. Family issues do not give you the right to ignore your responsibilities. He sold a knife that appears to be improperly heat treated. He did not argue the fact. He agreed to make it right. If that was your money tied up you would be upset too. He should at least take care of a refund of he can no longer take the time to correct it.
 
One does not stop paying mortgage, utility, and other bills. People make time to take care of responsibility even when loved ones are sick. We are not talking about a few day's at someone's bedside at their last moments and taking away from that. Weeks and months people still have to function with certain responsabilities that you have to attend too. Takes a couple minutes to send PayPal to a customer.
 
One thing I noticed on this forum people are quick to jump down the throat of people writing feedback. A lot are playing devils advocate.

I have had sick family members with 24 hour care. Didn't stop me from sending a quick email or taking care of my daily business. This is plain poor communication. If he has no time to fix it he should refund.
 
plue said:
A real man also stands by his work, and if be sold him a lemon, he should refund him the money.
Click to expand...

Ordinarily yes, however since we are missing an entire half of the story who is to say exactly what is happening or why things have taken a turn for the silent. If the man was sold a knife and he broke it by being careless with it, the maker doesn't owe the customer anything but a possible repair if that was agreed upon at the beginning. You don't buy a steak, eat the whole thing then claim it wasn't up to your expectations and expect to get your money back. As far as the heat treat statement is concerned, heat treating a knife for a month? That is a new one on me.
 
The story is at the Facebook link.

The knife did not take a month to heat treat. It took a month to get around to it.
 
In fairness to the OP, regarding the damage to the blade: I read the magazine feature story in question. The SOMK was based on a sketch by spec-ops super-duper-operator Joseph Teti, who is now a super-duper-survivalist know-it-all TV-star on 'Dual Survivor'. It was a huge publicity puff-piece for a relatively unknown maker. Over and over, Teti talked about his insistence on getting the knife 'right', and he was obsessed with tip strength (even though all he did was Yay or Nay prototypes). He made specific claims about a virtually indestructible tip, and provided photos and details about the field tests he subjected it to. If a maker doesn't want customers breaking/damaging knives, DO NOT make claims the knife can't back up. Tell Joseph Teti to STFU. But he wanted the boost in sales and exposure that an article and a famous spokesman might bring in. He should absolutely fix or exchange that knife, and should respond to emails.

In fairness to Griffin Tactical: Even though I don't think 'abusing' a knife usually merits a return, it was entirely justified in this case. However... the SOMK has options: a 300$ 440C blade, a 400$ CPM S30V blade, and a 550-650$ Chad Nichols San Mai CTS-XHP-core Damascus blade. The OP has a 600$ semi-custom knife from GTK. I have a feeling that the testing was done on the prototypes, and prototypes would likely be S30V or 440C. It might be the tips on those were fine, while the Damascus wasn't tested at all, and would require a more complicated HT. Just a guess.
 
If the guys said his knife is made to blended like this. I wouldn't purchase at the first time.

In this case, for me, would be more likely to be:

You ordered your steak in a restaurant, medium well. After 3 hrs you asked what is happening, why took so long? The owner said: We are grilling it right now. After 1 more hour the restaurant owner bring you a raw meat. So you try to see if your eyes cheats you or what by stabbing a fork in the meat. Found out it was totally raw. And ask him either cook it or do to refund. He replied "ok I can either cook it or refund." And you said "If you cannot cook it within 1 hour I will ask for the refund". But then you never heard from him anymore.

In my case he had admitted his product got problems and willing to either redo / refund. But out of contact since April.......
 
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Sikael said:
In fairness to the OP, regarding the damage to the blade: I read the magazine feature story in question. The SOMK was based on a sketch by spec-ops super-duper-operator Joseph Teti, who is now a super-duper-survivalist know-it-all TV-star on 'Dual Survivor'. It was a huge publicity puff-piece for a relatively unknown maker. Over and over, Teti talked about his insistence on getting the knife 'right', and he was obsessed with tip strength (even though all he did was Yay or Nay prototypes). He made specific claims about a virtually indestructible tip, and provided photos and details about the field tests he subjected it to. If a maker doesn't want customers breaking/damaging knives, DO NOT make claims the knife can't back up. Tell Joseph Teti to STFU. But he wanted the boost in sales and exposure that an article and a famous spokesman might bring in. He should absolutely fix or exchange that knife, and should respond to emails.

In fairness to Griffin Tactical: Even though I don't think 'abusing' a knife usually merits a return, it was entirely justified in this case. However... the SOMK has options: a 300$ 440C blade, a 400$ CPM S30V blade, and a 550-650$ Chad Nichols San Mai CTS-XHP-core Damascus blade. The OP has a 600$ semi-custom knife from GTK. I have a feeling that the testing was done on the prototypes, and prototypes would likely be S30V or 440C. It might be the tips on those were fine, while the Damascus wasn't tested at all, and would require a more complicated HT. Just a guess.
Click to expand...

Before doing my purchase I've asked the owner several time are there any different between the S30V and Damascus. He reply me and said it had no difference in performance. (I got facebook message to proof that) The only different is the looks. So I trusted his professional.

And in my point of view, as a company. At lease you need to check the emails once a month??

I've also leaving message in Mr. Teti's Email and facebook. Surely with no reply whatsoever.

So are there anything else I can do??
 
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anthrax_thy said:
Before doing my purchase I've asked the owner several time are there any different between the S30V and Damascus. He reply me and said it had no difference in performance. (I got facebook message to proof that) The only different is the looks. So I trusted his professional.

And in my point of view, as a company. At lease you need to check the emails once a month??

I've also leaving message in Mr. Teti's Email and facebook. Surely with no reply whatsoever.

So are there anything else I can do??
Click to expand...

Do some homework and don't believe everything you read. As far as marketing it's out there. Lots of brands claim to be the strongest, sharpest, toughest, most tacticool, favorite choice of special ops groups, etc.; so who is right? In terms of cutting things, there is a performance difference between S30V and Damascus.
 
RevDevil said:
Ordinarily yes, however since we are missing an entire half of the story who is to say exactly what is happening or why things have taken a turn for the silent. If the man was sold a knife and he broke it by being careless with it, the maker doesn't owe the customer anything but a possible repair if that was agreed upon at the beginning. You don't buy a steak, eat the whole thing then claim it wasn't up to your expectations and expect to get your money back. As far as the heat treat statement is concerned, heat treating a knife for a month? That is a new one on me.
Click to expand...

The heat treat may be outsourced thus done in batches. What was probably meant is that it would be a total of a months time because the knife needs to wait for the next batch of knives to be sent to heat treat. Most makers who outsource that work dont ship out one knife at a time and do them in lots. If you figure in shipping times and time frame cushion I think its reasonable. Now if the guy is doing his own heat treat then no, I dont think any alloy needs to actually be in heat treat for a month.

EDITED TO ADD: It appears this was a case of lazy. Sad.
 
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