River City Sheathes / Mike Sastre

Could you be more specific, Tom? Just post the facts of what happened; once they have the facts people can form their own opinions.
 
Welcome to the club Tom. Sorry to hear that you are suffering the same misfortune as I am. Starting my fourth month waiting now, been one month since he has returned an email or call which coincidentally was when he told me on the phone that he was just about finished and would mail them the next day :(

But what the hell can we do???? :confused:

Simon
 
Tom,

Keep me posted and count me in on all of the steps.

I agree with your intended end result.

Simon
 
Hey Tom,
How's it feel to have the shoe on the other foot? It's kind of ironic this is happening to you. I waited for a year for a knife from you with a down payment of sending you something I had that you wanted. Your promised lead time passed and I waited an additional couple of months longer. I noticed all your posts on this, (and the other forum), and when I saw that your "ass kissers" were getting knives ahead of me, I finally called you on it. I sent several e-mails and they went unanswered. You did get back to me eventually and apologized but it was too late as far as I was concerned.

To your credit, after I had an angry, (MY ANGRY!), exchange with you in private e-mails, you announced shortly afterward on the forums that you would not be taking any more orders until the ones you had were filled.

Look, as in the Sastre thread, I'm not trying to flame here but you're reaping what you sowed. Mike, as you and some other makers, became famous on these very forums because of great craftmanship. I understand you now being pissed but YOU had a lot of people pissed at you!

Listen you Mayo "ass kissers", I don't need your grief now. You can give me all the crap you want and go ahead and defend Mayo but I can take it. I'm just calling Tom on the exact thing that he's now calling Mike on.

I think the moral of all this is, if you have a problem with a maker, go ahead and persue all angles with him. If he doesn't respond though, call him on it like Mayo's doing here! Being "famous" or "his product is the best" or whatever doesn't give a maker a "license to kill".

Personally Tom, I always thought your "swiss cheese" TNT's SUCKED! That's why I ordered mine without holes! :) Too bad I never got it!
 
I gave his wife a Damascus TNT and he said he would take care of me and get my sheaths done promptly.
Click to expand...

:eek: :eek: For a Damascus TNT, I will fly, walk, drive, hitchhike, or even swim to their base of operations and pick up your knives for ya!!!!:)

Sorry to hear about the bad time everyone has been having with this vender. I have no personal experence with this shealth maker, but would just like to make the simple observation that this not only sux because you are being delayed waiting for a product, but your knives are out there as well. Hope this has a decent ending for you folks.
 
Thanks Bad Guy, one way or another it will turn out. I am very close to taking a day off from work and flying out there to knock down Mike's door to find out what is going on. On the other hand I will be seeing him at Jim Keating's River of Steel most likely perhaps he is planning on waiting a full year and giving me my knives there - that could be a bad / dangerous decision on his part :mad:
 
well gene, you are quite correct ...tom and many other makers are quite behind on their orders...it is not the best business practice by any means..it can be frustrating

i bet mine may be more overdue than yours though

i even prepaid for one...something i don't regularly do

however tom arranged for the trade of something else really neat to make up for it....i also prepaid for the timascus for my new tnt and have patiently waited...it is just a bit of conspicuous consumption after all...not worth raising the blood pressure over

i am not worried though...tom mayo is a man of integrity and will fufil his orders...i know this because i have met the man and conversed with him for several years. that is the key here

writing nasty letters generally does not help and posting that you think his designs suck generally does not get you better service.

i am awaiting another knife by a different maker that is just as over due and also prepaid...(a habit that i have been broken of btw)

this particular maker has had some unfortunate events in his life and seemed to drop off the planet for a while...while i have never met him he also seems like a very decent fellow and i never wrote him nasty notes ...just sent polite inquiries...and low and behold...my knife is getting its sheath made and will soon be here....i wonder if it would have been ready if i had sent him "nasty grams"????

what sets mr sastre case apart is that he apparently is way overdue for a lot of people...AND not even replying at all...that is a cause for major concern ... as evading contact makes one think that there never will be fufilment of orders.

there is a difference between being frustrated over missed deadlines...and frustration that stems from worrying you have been ripped off....the degree of your response should be proportionate to where you think you lie on that spectrum...

i consider tom a friend so you can dismiss my words out of hand if you choose....fyi i do find derrier kissing rather gross though
 
Dear Gene..........I constantly kept in touch with you. I never had any idea I would be so overwhelmed with orders. I never stopped being in touch with you. I was still going to make your knife when you said you wanted your deposit back and I sent you the funds immediately- in the beginning you wanted to send me the item so you could be on the list-I was not taking deposits, it was your idea, I emailed you to buy the thing, not take it on deposit. I am sorry you are still upset by my tardiness. You are not the only person who bowed out because I am so slow. I make them one at a time and try to make every one as good as I possibly can. I will put you back on the list if you want me to. One guy who wrote me some flaming emails (no deposit however) was NEXT on the list with a flag next to his name, I tried to email him to let him know but he must have blocked my email addy. Hope it made you feel better to write that down: bottom line, I was slow, thats all, I did NOT rip you off or try to scam you in any way, and again, I apologize. :(
 
Tom,

you need not defend yourself, you are a man of integrity.

Making a comparison is apples to oranges

Nuff' said
 
I have to start by saying that, even though I live a few miles from Tom, I am not a fan of his work; certainly not one of his "ass-kissers". Nor have I had any dealings with Mike of River City Sheaths, so I am a neutral party in this.

I had read down the thread, just waiting for a flaming reply from Tom; to his credit, he gave an honest, calm, and somewhat overly aploligetic reply. This, to me, exemplifies what BF is all about - the open exchange of information, views and ideas among like-minded, mature individuals. Sure, wires sometimes get crossed and misunderstandings can occur but, if we can talk it out, leaning on our common interest to support us, we can get through a lot.

This thread could have turned ugly with relative ease - thanks, Tom for keeping your head and showing us how to conduct ourselves. I might not be a fan of your knives, but you, as a person, moved a couple of notches up in my book.

Preach mode now turned off. :D
 
Listen folks,
Tom and I go back to the early days of this and all the the other knife forums that predate BladeForums. Search the archives and you'll find that Tom and I gave opinions on knife function, form and steels. I was a big fan of Talonite in the Doc Welch, Bald1 and Rob Simonich days and Tom was also. The BIG difference was Tom was the craftsman and I wasn't! Tom put Talonite into use by including it into his folders and eventually came up with his master design, the TNT!

Tom,
You are CORRECT in that when you answered my ad, I WAS THE ONE who asked if YOU would accept the payment for a "Micro-Beefy" TNT with NO HOLES. You accepted and told me it would be no later than 6-8 months to deliver, (you guys won't believe it but that's how it was a couple of years ago!). We then discussed the opening hole vs. the stud. We exchanged e-mails and you recommended the opening hole, which I agreed on. When 8 months passed, I e-mailed and asked how the knife was coming along. You DID NOT answer and I forgot about it. Four months later, I e-mailed you again and received your response.

Again, to your credit Tom, you posted on BF shortly thereafter that you would accept no more orders until the ones that you had were filled. The only thing that ticked me off was when I noticed, (during the waiting period), that these "a-k's", (well-heeled buyers that had watches you wanted and who bought A LOT of your knives), were showing off all their new "Mayo Wares". That's when I e-mailed you!

Tom,
I agree with the respondents here that your answer was in peace and I concur and honor that. You are a fine craftsman and I'm glad that we both got this off of our chest's! I truly hope that your knife deal with Sastre is resolved and he should be ashamed.

Simon,
You have every right to express yourself here. If Mike doesn't return your knives with the sheaths soon, please let us know. He should send you and Tom's sheaths without payment. It's a problem that all of us should address. If somebody PROMISES you something, famous person or not, HOLD THEM TO IT! Don't be afraid to call them on it.
 
You have every right to express yourself here. If Mike doesn't return your knives with the sheaths soon, please let us know. He should send you and Tom's sheaths without payment. It's a problem that all of us should address. If somebody PROMISES you something, famous person or not, HOLD THEM TO IT! Don't be afraid to call them on it.

Well a couple of people have received their knives back from Mike but as for me still nothing, not a response via phone or email, not a tracking number for a package and no package. I gave him a deadline of today to ship back my knives complete or not and it looks like Mike is just going to continue to ignore me and do which ever orders he feels like in what ever order in his own good time :mad:
On the other hand Bob Dozier knives promised me an IWB sheath for a non Dozier knife in 10 days max., they actually laughed when I asked if that was their normal turn around time and explained that I had been months for some other sheathes. We shall see if they come through in 10 days and how the sheath is. I know Dozier has a lot of fans so if their sheathes are good they will get all my business in the future.

Simon
 
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