Ripped off by Dale Reif

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I rarely see his knives sell anymore and when they do it's for next to nothing. The one I owned was an absolute POS. It actually arrived with no edge (He forgot to sharpen it, go figure :rolleyes:

I paid $475 and sold it for $175 one Month later...................

I still say; "Beat him up"!!!
 
I have read this....OOFFFAAA! What a read. :( ... and it has got me thinking about some solution. Let's assume that the dissatisfied customers of Reif are "victims" and that the losses described here can be proven in some manner.

What about the possibility of the parties that can prove a financial loss from Reif establishing a communal collection contract with a collection agency local enough to Reif to actually be effective and to be able to file appropriate legal action "en mass" as it were. This would entail some percentage loss from the "victims". However, they would at least be able to recoup some of their losses.

Another possibility would be if the "victims" could sell their existing "contracts" with Reif to some member local to Reif and thereby effectively consolidate the provable losses. This would allow the local member to collect directly from Reif and if necessary the local member would be able to adequately and cost effectively file any requisite legal collection actions without unnecessary travel or expense. The local member would of course most likely "buy" the previous financial "contracts" that Reif had established with the "victims" at less than actual amounts in order to offset his/her time and expenses.

Just an idea to attempt to bring some of this to a conclusion.

All the very best,

Stuart
 
This is the first I've heard of this guy. I just read this entire thread, wow.. John you have excellent self-control, if it was me I just might have been arrested by now. I'm just wondering if there has been any new developments with this POS?

This thread has been very enlightening to say the least.
 
for whatever reason this guy aint gonna pay anyone imho, other than a personal visit i dont think anyone is gonna get any $$ ya might get a judgement on him, but the judgement and a dollar will get ya a cup a coffee, if it was me i honestly dont know what i'd do, something not nice i imagine, between me and the wall something i wouldnt ever post here about lol.

i do think that if reif still makes knives this should remain at the top like a sticky so other folks dont get ripped off either by buying his stuff from him, or sending it in for repair never to be seen again. most folks prob would not do a search imho. another reason not to own a reif knife if repair is needed ya will have to deal with dale, or i guess ya could send elsewhere but my first thought would be to send to him, unless i saw this of course.

as i have said before there are tons of good honest folks out there who will bend over backwards to make ya happy too bad anyone got hooked up with this guy.
 
Holy cow! I just noticed this after how long?! Sheesh, okay ....I'll hold him and you hit him. Or, or I'll sneak up behind him get on all fours and you push him! Seriously...I'm not kidding. Screw that, I'm not above physical intimidation man....LOL I feel for you for losing so much $$. That is just the worst. If there's anything I can do other than keep this post alive, let me know. As for the half joking, half truthful scenarios mentioned above? I would be willing to do that too ;)
 
RDT, I just had the same reaction you did! How weird! When I was at the 1999 Badger Show in Janesville, WI, I think a Dale Reif folder won Best in Show. I don't get these kinds of shenanigans, and they seem commonplace in the knife world. Weird.
 
Chiro, it keeps happening more and more often. What can we do??? There's gotta be some laws we can use to our advantage? Anyone here knwo? Any lawyers out there, cops, judges, etc?
 
Not a lawyer so I can't help you as far as legal advice is concerned.

99% of knifemakers are honest. It is bad apples like this one that make things hard on those that are honest. Bad experiences with makers like Reif will make people gun-shy about dealing with other custom makers. It is good that he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Not good for those he owes, but good for those that would have dealt with him in the future.
 
RDT said:
Chiro, it keeps happening more and more often. What can we do??? There's gotta be some laws we can use to our advantage?
Click to expand...
There are more and more knifemakers out there, that's all. If a smaller and smaller percentage of them are dishonest, that still leaves too many sad stories, and the internet helps make sure we hear about all of them.

There are laws against theft, laws against use of the mails in illegal activities. Not always easy to apply them, and a judgement against someone with minimal or hidden assets is worthless.

The best we can do here is BTTT for anyone thinking of dealing with the wrong people.
 
Another thing we can do is just don't pay for knives in advance. When it's time to make knives and he's already been paid for it, got paid and spent the money a year or more ago, and the knife knuts who paid for them are out of state and can't very well sue him for a few hundred dollars each that adds up to a lot of money, well, there aren't many careers where about the only thing keeping you from stealing a large amount of money is your personal honor. Under the circumstances it's not surprising some succumb to temptation -- so don't give them the temptation.
 
Cougar Allen said:
Another thing we can do is just don't pay for knives in advance.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Never pay in full for a knife in advance! I have no problem with a small deposit, but the moment a maker asks for full payment up front I let the maker know that I would be willing to pay a small deposit, but no more than that. If that isn't good enough, I back away from the deal.
 
People have paid in advance for knives from me but I have and will never steal their cash. As well, if they leave a deposit to secure their knife, fine but not the entire amount. Never the entire amount. This kind of business just sucks, pure and simple. :mad:
 
I don't know if it does any good bumping this back to the top. It seems that Reif no longer makes knives. Can anybody confirm that he is still active in the knifemaking community?
 
Haven't seen any of his knives around for a while. The bottom fell out I guess. Too bad, in a few more years he could have actually made it big time and sustained a good lving. Instead he screws people and gets away with it and now who knows what he's up to. my guess is something not so distinguished as making knives. Probably selling used cars, snake oil, tonics, etc. ;)
 
The last I heard he was mowing lawns for a living. I haven't been able to get him on the phone for a while. He either changed his number or couldn't afford cell service anymore. I hope it was the latter. Once a ****, always a ****. :barf:
 
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