Problems with Mike Sastre

bquinlan

bquinlan

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Let me begin by saying that I have been a fan of Mike Sastre and his work. I have a half-dozen of his sheaths and they are all excellent. He has been slow in delivering once or twice, but has generally come through. He has always been a great guy.

Now I am seriously unhappy with Mike. In early February I contacted him about getting a pair of G-Clips that I could use in place of regular and mini TekLoks. He said it would take around two weeks and I sent him a check.

Three weeks later, the check had been cashed, but nothing had arrived, so I emailed him. I emailed him several more times, every few weeks. In April I finally got a response saying that he'd been swamped, but that he would finish up the order and send it that week.

It is now almost July. I have sent him emails numerous times and have not had a single response since April. The G-Clips have still not arrived.

I believe that Mike's intentions are good, but this has gone beyond the point where that matters. The reality of the situation is that he took my money, lied to me about delivery, more than once, and has stopped communicating. That all adds up to a rip-off.

--Bob Q
 
No No No.

That is not Mike. He is just too busy and overloaded. CALL HIM ON THE PHONE and get the thing straighted out.

513 868 9680
 
He's hard to reach by phone too. I did talk with him twice, in among all the emails. Each time he promised to send the stuff within a few days. :(

I have given up.

--Bob Q
 
:( I have to go with you guy's,,,
Thankfully, I didn't send him my
Fred Perrin LaGriffe.....
You people notice he doesn't respond
to the negative post's !!!!!!!
Mike:( :( :(
 
I have seen Mike's work first hand and it is great stuff.

I am sure that he is overloaded with work but he is an honest guy.

I met him at a show in Ohio and he is very serious about what he does. Best to contact him by phone.
 
With my recent track record on BFs I'm almost scared to post here since it may cause a shitstorm but Mike Sastre is a friend of mine. Now, that does not excuse multiple missed delivery dates at all, but we have done the same thing on the RTAK. Even though it's not our fault directly we still feel partially responsible since our name is on the blade. The sheath maker is running the production knives behind, so the delivery has been pushed out by Ontario again. We will get there though and it will be worth the wait.

Back to Mike: He's always been an honest man in every dealing I have had with him. He does exceptional work which is probably the cause of all of this. When I talked with him at Blade he was swamped, but this whole industry seems to be in that situation at the moment. Is it an excuse for missing several dates? No, but most good old boys hate to tell someone "no." In other words their intentions are honorable and then it becomes a deal of not enough hours in the day to take up for their mouth overloading their ass - and all of it started out as an honorable thing and wanting to help someone.

Another thing that also happens in small businesses (especially custom shops) is the lack of being able to schedule work. You get a customer that calls wanting something. At the time they call you see a window where you can get it out. A few days or weeks later the customer decides he wants the product, but by that time something else has come in and filled that window you thought would work when you originally talked to the customer. I ran a small business for 10 years and it was a bitch. It was either feast or famine. I'm glad I'm not doing it anymore.

Jeff
 
All of this can be understood as long as there is some kind of communication. Four to five months for something that was promised in a couple of weeks is excessive. Add to that the fact that another promised delivery date was missed and that there has been no communication from Mike in going on three months and you have a real problem.

Mike really does seem to be a nice guy whose popularity has caused him to get into some real trouble. What is needed from Mike is some communication. Even if he is so busy he thinks he can not take the time to contact people, this is something that he must do.

Mike if you are reading this, get in touch with everyone that is owed a sheath and explain your situation to them. Most people will understand and everyone will appreciate that you were honest with them. If you don't do this, things are going to snowball and it could go as far as to ruin your reputation.
 
I had a bit of a wait on a sheath once from Mike as well. He was neck-deep in Pikuni sheaths at the time, and my sheath was late in arriving but well worth the wait. That was only one experience...

Mike made other sheaths for me in the past and cranked them out fast while maintaining his usual standards of quality.

I guess my point is, that while correspondence or timeliness apparently are not his strongsuits ;), Mike Sastre is a man of integrity and honor, as well as a heck of a sheathmaker. I'm not even saying that anyone's disputing that fact, just that anyone who's got something on order with him end up with a fine piece of work when he's not bombarded with other stuff.

I currently and will continue to send my stuff to Mike first, since I know that it'll always be done right, wait or not.

Professor.
 
I don't know Mike at all , but honest or not when ya take a mans' money do the work or give it back . Running behind can be understood but just not producing a paid for item is just plain stupid .
 
In the interest of fairness I thought this thread needed an addendum. Mike Sastre sent me a brief email last week with an apology and the news that my order was being shipped. It did arrive in todays mail as promised. The work was excellent, as always.

I never doubted that Mike intended to deliver the goods. I hope he will work on his responsiveness and on giving a more realistic appraisal of his schedule and priorities.

--Bob Q
 
One of the best reasons to use a credit card when ordering items to be shipped to you.

If the product is not received in the stated or timely manner you can initate a chargeback through your CC company. Not only does this get you your money back, but it also generally cost the retailer around $35 dollars for each chargeback, thus encouraging them to not charge for products that they aren't ready to deliver.
 
I had a couple of custom sheaths done by Mike a few months ago. They took a little longer than I had expected, but not too bad, and they are VERY well made and perform perfectly.
 
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