RICKYHAWK: Took 36 days!! to receive the knife... with help from Good/Bad/Ugly Thread

Rob_Angerer

Rob_Angerer

Feedback: +162 / =0 / -1
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I sent $400 to Rickyhawk on August 7th. He failed to send me the $400 Valloton D/A knife in a timely manner, and then indicated he had some personal problems (not his own health, not a job loss). Several excuses later via email, still no knife.

Ricky received my $400 payment on Aug 7. It's now Sept 3, No knife, no recent communication responses via email.

His email: rickandangehawk@windstream.net

Here is the thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...nife-and-Vallotton-Iraqi-Fighter-Priced-to-go
 
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Yeah 20+ days is not very timely. Hope its a good excuse.....also hope you get your knife and it all works out.
 
Rob,

Keep me posted on this. He needs to step forward and take care of things. I hope he is OK, but taking this long without contact at all is not right at all. (obviously)

Thanks.

Gus
 
Yeah thats weird! With all that good feedback? Maybe he was in an accident or is in jail? You never know? And his family may have no idea hes moving knives online?! Im on here alot, ill keep my eyes peeled!!
 
What what was his issue that it takes a month to get ten bucks for shipping and walk to the Post Office to get you your knife...
 
Ricky has communicated to me with a couple emails, apologizing for what a mess things are, several family problems were claimed, promising to ship the knife.

An email about middle of last week he said he had the Valloton kinfe in his car, boxed up, but then had to work late, etc... then more excuses, no knife. I've indicated that he can send me a refund or the knife, either one. I sent him my phone number. No response.
 
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I hope this ends well for you, this is always a frightening thing to go through. I had a very pleasant experience when I purchased from Ricky, hopefully he can turn things around.
 
I don't know why people in this situation wait so long to get the authorities involved. This is technically a crime now. Since you've sent payment, I presume you have his physical address. I would send him an ultimatum indicating that you've been more than accommodating to this point and that your patience has run out. Draw your line in the sand and commit to it. Inform him that if you do not receive your money back by a specific time and date you will be contacting his local police department.

I've been in this type of situation twice with people on from BF. I employed this strategy both times and had my money back within days.

But you have to commit to taking action in your own mind. Don't let this be an empty threat. You have to follow through and contact the police if he misses the deadine.
 
His profile shows he was on -Last Activity Yesterday 06:36 PM , so he has time to log on to BF he should be able to ship a 400 dollar knife!
 
I spoke with a Bladeforum member on the phone today who had some dicey dealings with Ricky Hawk back in July. Similar story on the excuses side for not delivering on his side of the deal... story about a sick uncle (for me it was that his uncle died), and similar story about marital problems. These could be legit issues in his personal life, but I paid him on Aug 7 and it's Sept 3 and he's dropped off the radar. And he indicated he'd gotten so far as to package the knife and have it in his vehicle.

I have also exchanged PM’s with another forumite who sold Ricky a knife (to pay medical bills) on the precondition that if Ricky chose to sell it, that he give the original seller a chance to buy it back. Ricky agreed to these terms, and then sold the knife on eBay 2 days later, without so much as a courtesy contact. This speaks to character.

Just got an email from a 3rd forumite who endured a sloppy deal with Ricky... took 3 weeks to get his knife.

Thanks to all three of these individuals for the information and background on recent deals w/ Ricky.

I now have confirmation of Ricky’s home address and cell phone number. And the voicemail says "this is the Hawks... " so I know it's the right guy. I found his address in Pennsylvania via Anywho.com and that same address in Rinersburg was confirmed by a Forumite.

I am taking appropriate actions. I have will attempted to contact him by phone numerous times this weekend, I left 2 voicemails with clear guidance on how things must proceed this week, and what my actions will be if he does not comply.

I would suggest that NO ONE on Bladeforums conduct any business with Ricky Hawk, and those of you who have had dicey dealings… please use the feedback system and at least give guys like Ricky a “neutral” so that the feedback system can be of some use. I have no doubt that Ricky has consumated some clean transactions… but I now also have it, based on a long phone conversation about a shifty delayed deal, that Ricky isn’t someone you’d want to trust with a payment in his hands. He has a problem delivering on his end.
 
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Bryan J said:
I don't know why people in this situation wait so long to get the authorities involved. This is technically a crime now. Since you've sent payment, I presume you have his physical address. I would send him an ultimatum indicating that you've been more than accommodating to this point and that your patience has run out. Draw your line in the sand and commit to it. Inform him that if you do not receive your money back by a specific time and date you will be contacting his local police department.

I've been in this type of situation twice with people on from BF. I employed this strategy both times and had my money back within days.

But you have to commit to taking action in your own mind. Don't let this be an empty threat. You have to follow through and contact the police if he misses the deadine.
Click to expand...

I don't make empty threats. GB&U will evidence this.

I have taken appropriate initial steps. The ball is in Ricky Hawk's court now... the steps will escalate starting Thursday this week, if I don't receive a knife or a refund by Wednesday Sept 7th.
 
JTR357 said:
Rob,You seem to have the WORST luck buying & selling here.
Click to expand...

I buy and sell a lot... as I have been restructuring and adding to my collection this past year. See my feedback.

I don't think "WORST Luck" is accurate given 60 transactions in past 12 calendar months. I just advertise unsatisfactory seller performance on GB&U when it happens ... for the betterment of the whole BladeForums marketplace.

Luck is a word I prefer not to use, good or bad. It implies random outcomes.

My 3 recent "issues" have always been when I was the buyer:
  1. Nov 2010: PachaasPaisaa sent me an empty box in lieu of an S90V Military, was proven to be a liar, and then got banned
  2. June 2011: TyFrameLock wouldn't refund my money on unsatisfactory knife, was uniformly advised he was in the wrong, threw in the towel here in GB&U, and ultimately had spent the proceeds and couldn't back up his deal.
  3. Aug/Sept 2011: RICKYHAWK has had my $400 since Aug 7, but hasn't managed to send a knife or a refund as of Sept 3.
I prefer buying through (most) dealers, because the outcomes are more predictable. (My dealer buying activity, of course, doesn't show up here on BF.) I.e., there are just enough people amongst the forumites (more-so on eBay) who have skewed personal value systems... and a few who are borderline crooks or worse. And of course there are great people on the forums who appreciate honesty, candor, and a clean deal.

I RARELY have any issues when *selling* on the forums, because it is customary to get paid first, and I describe my knives accurately and nearly always ship quickly (It's been many many years, more than 6, since a knife was returned to me...don't recall when, what knife, or why).

It would help if people who encounter endure sketchy/delayed deals on the forums would use the feedback system as it was meant to be used. Ricky's feedback was on this forum was clean, but it didn't take me long, after I had a need, to find two forumites who had less than smooth deals with Ricky, but I had to PM people who had sold to him recently. I'll eat my own cooking on this one.

I have learned that trading is difficult, especially with forumites who have short track records, etc. My experience is that successful knife trading is time consuming, and too fraught with difficulties of valuation, cash deltas, need to send pics back and forth, etc. Cash is an easy medium. I generally just don't trade.

Gus, your PM inbox is full. After I learned that Ricky has had sketchy deals with others, I decided to just post most of what I know here, in summary form, in GB&U.
 
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Hi guys, I have read this with great interest, and have thought very carefully about commenting.
I have bought a couple of knives off Rickyhawk, and it was a very worrying wait, I paid immediately, and waited for a long long time for contact-none, and got a short message back explaining family issues( I wont go into detail, but I would be bloody angry if this was just an excuse)..so I replied with concern to the issues, and hoped all was well, and just to let me know when he could help me receive my goods.
It took several pm's...most unanswered - which worries a buyer even more when there is a massive delay.
In the end, he did send me an e-mail apologizing for the terrible delay, and that the knives were now being sent through blah blah..
I was relieved I heard from him....once again a very long wait...after waiting another 4 weeks I contacted asking for some sort of tracking number-no reply...THANKFULLY the knives DID arrive a few days after me trying to contact.
I contacted him again, with an undertone of disappointment of no reply when asking for a tracking..but the knives had finally arrived....again NO REPLY.
The delay wasn't through mail error, it was totally by the seller, but I did receive the knives FINALLY, but it was my worst experience yet ofdealing through what I call one of my bladeforum brothers....and I have a lot of respect for everyone here....I feel this wasn't returned unfortunately.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...xed-blades-folders-and-vietnam-survival-cards
 
I don't care who died, or what sort of problem you are having with your spouse. If you have taken someone's money you go and ship the knife out, or refund the money. I've been through crap in my life like everyone has and this just is an excuse. Even if you are having difficulty in your life, as long as you are not near death yourself or dead, you can and have to keep on functioning. Nobody shuts completely down and gives up, because someone in their family is sick, or dies even. Same for marital problems, you still have to go to work and fulfill your obligations. That's just the way I see it anyway.
 
The data points are trickling in... despite Ricky's feedback score, there is a pattern of excuses and bad faith efforts ...
 
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Rob_Angerer said:
It would help if people who encounter endure sketchy/delayed deals on the forums would use the feedback system as it was meant to be used. Ricky's feedback was on this forum was clean, but it didn't take me long, after I had a need, to find two forumites who had less than smooth deals with Ricky, but I had to PM people who had sold to him recently.
Click to expand...

This is a pet peeve of mine. It may sound harsh, but I think everyone who had bad dealings with Ricky and never left any kind of feedback about it is partly responsible for your loss. We have an obligation here as a commuity to look out for each other and if I fail to warn others about troublesome dealings with a member, I have let everyone down.

If you were driving down the road to a bridge and found the bridge washed out when you got there, would you just turn your car down the road, or would you alert the friends that you knew were following behind you that there was danger ahead?
 
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