Opinions needed

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RGRAY

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I thought this was interesting and wanted your opinions.

I sold a knife to someone in December of 2004.

He was out of the states; so I mailed it to an address that he gave me in the states.

He just got back in the states 3 weeks ago.

He emailed me yesterday that the wood on the knife didn't look like what the card said the wood was.

He contacted the maker and the maker said from the picture the wood didn't look like the card said either.

He asked me if I could contact the person who sold it to me and see if he mixed up the cards.

I don't remember who I bought the knife from in April of 2004 and I don't remember what I sold the knife for.

I did send the buyer pictures of the knife before the sale.

Now the question.

A deal is not a deal until both parties are happy.

The buyer did not say that he was unhappy, but if he is; what should I do?

There is no problem yet, but I thought it was an interesting dilemma.
 
Tell him the same info that you posted and see what happens. Most people are reasonable if they know the whole story.
 
The deal is not over until both parties are happy within reason . I mean a 3 day inspection period to me is fair. The fact that the dude just got it now is his problem b/c you did not create his circumstances.

As long as its apparent you didn't take advantage of the situation by sending the wronge knife knowing that the buyer wouldn't see it for months, I would say your part in this transaction is done for some time/
 
I think it's unreasonable for the buyer to expect a refund after 7 plus months have passed. If you sent a picture to him and told him in good faith what you thought the wood was and he liked the picture then what you are basically discussing now is the name of the wood. If he had been on vacation for a few weeks then contacted you I would probably give him the benefit of a refund but not after this much time has passed.

Both parties should be able to reach agreement in most instances within 7 days max of receipt of the merchandise unless other arrangements are clearly made and agreed upon in writing by both. Everything has its limits.
 
Maybe you have guess, but the knife is a Chris Reeve knife and the birthday card is important.

I did send him the infomation that I posted.

I also told him that maybe the card was written wrong at CRK.

I have 2 Microtech knives that the serial number on the box doesn't match the number on the knife.
 
Are the woods in question similar?? I mean if we are talking Buckeye Burl and Snakewood, the differences are obvious, but some are VERY similar.
 
The buyer said "the inlays did not look like the two-tone Bocote wood I was accustomed to seeing, neither dark nor light. The inlays were as dark as the inlays on my African Blackwood inlay Mnandi although the wood grain patterns didn’t match. Before contacting you, I decided to write to Anne at CRK to get a second opinion. Based on my thoughts and her reply (below) I am confident that the inlays on the Mnandi you sold me in December are not those of Bocote wood."

Anne's reply; "... I showed your pictures to Lisa who is the person who works most with the inlay pieces and, while she said some of the bocote used in the past has been pretty dark, she thought that the inlay was more likely to be Macassar Ebony or (less likely, African Blackwood). Without actually seeing the knife, it is hard to be 100% sure. It is certainly possible that paperwork gets mixed during the life of a knife. While I hate to cast aspersions, it is usually in the hands of dealers that this happens but I know we are not infallible. Since it was quite a while ago, there is really no way of saying."

Like I said there is no problem yet.
 
let the buyer send it to CRK if theyre not sure?

id say best bet is to split the fees of shipping and insurance.

better safe than sorry.

unless he/she doesnt want it at all?
 
It's unfortunate that the buyer was out of the country when the transaction took place. On the other hand, the buyer was sent a pic(s) of the knife.

It's pretty evident that that the buyer isn't happy with the inlay (he's contacted you and CRK about the inlay).


Does he plan to send the knife to them for a closer look/inspection ?

I may be wrong, but here's my read. . . . if the buyer is willing to ship the knife back to CRK for inlay verification, he or she will contact you for a refund if the wood is verified that it isn't what is on the card.

As previously stated, I would contact the buyer and tell him or her that you don't remember who you bought the knife from and ask him or him what their intentions are. Once you find out what his or her intentions are (i.e., going to send it to CRK) I tell him or her to send the knife back to you and you'll refund.


Rick, PM sent.
 
I guess that the main question is: Did you know that the buyer would not be able to inspect the knife for that long? If you did not know that, your definition of a reasonable inspection period would differ from that of the buyer. It would have been the responsibility of the buyer to make that clear, if he did not, then the responsibility is his. If you did know that he would only be able to inspect the knife several months after the sale, then, in my opinion, the responsibility is yours.
 
I had NO IDEA when the buyer was going to see the knife.

When he bought the knife; he was in Saudi Arabia.

Now he told me he lives in Thailand.

On 12/20/2004 he emailed me (from looking at the picture I sent him) "...You’re right, the scales on your knife are pretty dark for Bocote. The scales look more like Cocobolo wood instead of Bocote. Regardless, the dark scales look nice, not as dark as my African Blackwood...."

I emailed him about another knife 2/10/2005 and he didn't mention anything about this knife, but I didn't know that he hadn't seen it.

He could have nad his relative here send him the knife too.

Like I said; no problem yet.
 
RGRAY said:
...Anne's reply; "...It is certainly possible that paperwork gets mixed during the life of a knife. While I hate to cast aspersions, it is usually in the hands of dealers that this happens but I know we are not infallible...
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that the knife is Left Handed.

I have never seen a dealer list more than one LH Manandi at a time; so the likelihood of a dealer mixing it up is slim.

I think the card was just written wrong at CRK.
 
TheBadGuy said:
The deal is not over until both parties are happy within reason . I mean a 3 day inspection period to me is fair. The fact that the dude just got it now is his problem b/c you did not create his circumstances.
Click to expand...

I agree, it wasn't your fault.

oil
 
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