Robbed of $1500 by Crusader Forge Knives

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Well, not much to debate here. Crusader Forge obviously has a history of bad business practices. I myself can not stand it when a maker takes advantage of the popularity of their knives, gets a big head, and fails to deliver. They think it is ok to give people BS and then have the attitude of "hey, if you don't want to play my game - then too bad for you". I am not surprised by the maker's response in this case. Comes here - gives no info or facts; just says the OP is only giving his side. Here are some simple business rules to live by > deliver what you said you would, when you said you would, for what you said you would - oh, and make sure the customer is happy. The maker here, needs to stop taking orders, get caught up and the re-evaluate their biz model. If you keep shoveling customers crap it will come back to bite you. I hope some folks do (with proper restraint) give them some feedback on how they feel at the blade show. How can you be a nice person and basically lie to someone over and over again - or ignore them when they paid you.
Another lesson learned here - been said before - never pay a maker ahead of time. Especially someone who may take a long time.

Additionally, all this legal advice is not really relevant - no one is going to get a lawyer and sue someone for such a paltry sum. Just send the knife back and have him refund everything. If he does not - then repost the info here. His reputation will crumble soon once word on that gets around. The knife community always sorts out the deadbeats in the end.

Would be nice to at least see this maker apologize for their poor practices and customer information. But of course that did not happen.
So it appears that the OP is correct and others can now choose whether they want to do business with CF or not.
 
Thanks for calling this company out. The loss/theft of this kind of hard earned money would boil my blood to the point of doing something I'd probably regret!
 
SteelStickler said:
Crusader Forge said:
In response to Mr. Cohen’s accusations;
It is not my way of dealing with any customer’s issues/complains over an “internet forum”
However, this post presents only one side of the story as interpreted by Mr. Cohen. This goes out to all of you that follow up on the post with your “legal advice” etc. and to all our friends supporting us “Thank you”. Please understand that accusations might be far from the actual issues.
Regardless, I Do Not Wish to resolve any private business matters over the “internet forum”. My goal as a custom knife maker is to make you, the customer, a knife that suits your specifications. Mr. Cohen has received my knives and exchanged them etc. I can only hope that I can create something to meet his specifications.

With kind regards,
Maciej
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Fail.
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My thoughts exactly...
 
That's the great thing about this forum, and the sad fact of CF's reply to this post.
The people who would spend the kind of money that CF is asking for a knife are all here, or will be checking here before they buy.

Great way to destroy a business, but hey, every opportunity to make it right is right here.

The court of public opinion is what will make or break a business, CF's choice seems clear, and I am +1 on never buying anything from them....

To the OP, I hope you get your money back in the end, I know regardless, that this is a tough experience.
Thanks for putting this on here, we need to support the honest people, and bury the rest.
 
I wrote CF and told them their business practices were reprehensible. They emailed me back and said that they have refunded the difference to the OP. ???
 
Pittknife said:
BTW here is an example of a nice person and great customer service:
I have been trying to buy a RJ Martin anything (Q36, DRT, modulator w/e), I finally found RJ's contact and he politely responded that due to overwhelming demand he couldn't take more orders and has to focus on finishing orders. He suggested I try the lotto route at shows and some dealers. While this sadden me from a collectors standpoint it also increase my desire to own one of his knives. The guy was honest and unwilling to take my money because he knew he couldn't make me a knife. Reputable makers don't take money if they can't make your knife, that is the lesson I learned.
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This is 100% the way it should be. As a friend of mine who is a very well known maker often says…….

"The hardest knife to make is one that you have already been paid for"

Crusader Forge said:
In response to Mr. Cohen’s accusations;
It is not my way of dealing with any customer’s issues/complains over an “internet forum”
However, this post presents only one side of the story as interpreted by Mr. Cohen. This goes out to all of you that follow up on the post with your “legal advice” etc. and to all our friends supporting us “Thank you”. Please understand that accusations might be far from the actual issues.
Regardless, I Do Not Wish to resolve any private business matters over the “internet forum”. My goal as a custom knife maker is to make you, the customer, a knife that suits your specifications. Mr. Cohen has received my knives and exchanged them etc. I can only hope that I can create something to meet his specifications.

With kind regards,
Maciej
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Sir this "Internet Forum" represents collectors, dealers and general knife enthusiasts all over the world. Your reply is now permanently recorded here for all time, and every time someone does a search for "Crusader Forge" this thread will be part of it.
This thread has already had 2000 views.

A simple reply to the OP here of something like…….
"We are sorry for the misunderstanding and trouble. You are being refunded in full and please return the knife to us asap"
This would have shown an immediate interest and enthusiasm for solving the problem.
 
If the OP accepts the difference that was refunded to them, wouldn't that be viewed as an agreement having been reached in a court of US law? I would set the check aside, if it is a check, if it is a Paypal payment, I wouldn't spend it.
 
Sometimes silence speaks volumes.........

Crusader Forge's silence is deafening and it screams "Don't buy from me!!!"
 
Crusader Forge said:
In response to Mr. Cohen’s accusations;
It is not my way of dealing with any customer’s issues/complains over an “internet forum”
However, this post presents only one side of the story as interpreted by Mr. Cohen. This goes out to all of you that follow up on the post with your “legal advice” etc. and to all our friends supporting us “Thank you”. Please understand that accusations might be far from the actual issues.
Regardless, I Do Not Wish to resolve any private business matters over the “internet forum”. My goal as a custom knife maker is to make you, the customer, a knife that suits your specifications. Mr. Cohen has received my knives and exchanged them etc. I can only hope that I can create something to meet his specifications.

With kind regards,
Maciej
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So are you planning to address any of the issues the OP mentioned (changing the price, false time quotes, poor communication, wrong knife), or are you just planning on making that blanket statement that really doesn't apply to anything relevent, and then leave?
 
Crusader Forge said:
In response to Mr. Cohen’s accusations;
It is not my way of dealing with any customer’s issues/complains over an “internet forum”
However, this post presents only one side of the story as interpreted by Mr. Cohen. This goes out to all of you that follow up on the post with your “legal advice” etc. and to all our friends supporting us “Thank you”. Please understand that accusations might be far from the actual issues.
Regardless, I Do Not Wish to resolve any private business matters over the “internet forum”. My goal as a custom knife maker is to make you, the customer, a knife that suits your specifications. Mr. Cohen has received my knives and exchanged them etc. I can only hope that I can create something to meet his specifications.

With kind regards,
Maciej
Click to expand...

I can understand a desire to keep business transactions private, particularly with people advising legal actions, but I honestly think some elucidation here might help your cause. It seems that you are, at minimum, guilty of poor communication and that's something I strongly recommend you remedy as it can cause relatively simple mistakes and misunderstanding to snowball. What I know right know is that Mr. Cohen ordered one product, paid for it, and got something different. Now that could have hapoened because of mistakes, miscommunication, misunderstandings, but whatever the reason it's pretty clear he did not get what he ordered and paid for. Without any kind of evidence to the contrary, that seems like a major issue on your part. Maybe there's a reasonable explanation for all of this, but with only the facts presented it looks very bad for you.
 
Well I said we should wait for the other side of the story from Crusader Forge and if that short statement is all we are getting . . . well I am glad people have their pitchforks out. Such a weak attempt at addressing the multiple issues of delays, excuses, and lies. Who the hell cares if it is not your "way" to address issues on an internet forum. Your dirty laundry would not be out in the open if you conducted business honestly in the first place.

It can be really simple sometimes to tell if someone has been deceitful - you confront them. If they come back at you and really pursue the issue wanting to clear up all of the facts, that is a good sign. If they try to change the topic or shy away from discussing it any further, well that is pretty telling to me. How would you describe this reaction from Crusader Forge :rolleyes:

Please follow up with us Cohen so we know where things ended up.
 
Sad that such a good knife maker has let his business practice become this way. Sounds like he has too much business and not enough help and/or experience dealing with a growing business. This could all be fixed with additional staff and better business practices. There are too many other knife makers out there and Crusader Forge better fix these issues before their current, future and past clients go elsewhere.

Rule #1 the client is always right.
Rule #2 re-read rule #1

I will go elsewhere until I hear these issues are cleaned up.
 
Crusader Forge said:
In response to Mr. Cohen’s accusations;
It is not my way of dealing with any customer’s issues/complains over an “internet forum”
However, this post presents only one side of the story as interpreted by Mr. Cohen. This goes out to all of you that follow up on the post with your “legal advice” etc. and to all our friends supporting us “Thank you”. Please understand that accusations might be far from the actual issues.
Regardless, I Do Not Wish to resolve any private business matters over the “internet forum”. My goal as a custom knife maker is to make you, the customer, a knife that suits your specifications. Mr. Cohen has received my knives and exchanged them etc. I can only hope that I can create something to meet his specifications.

With kind regards,
Maciej
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However; He has made it public due to not being able to resolve issues with you privately. There also seems to be a pattern of issues with other customers. While I can understand not wanting to take private business public. Please understand when issues are left unsatisfactorily resolved, you leave consumers not much of a choice but to call you out publically.
 
I have sent them an email also.
I have invited them to make things right on this thread or with the OP.
This is important, and we all need to get behind this....
 
Knifenutty said:
Some companies just don't understand the simple concept of who needs who.
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I used to listen to my dad and his friends talking about their work, and realized that whatever business they were in, the had the same goal. Satisfy the customer.
 
gte217e said:
I am a dealer for Crusader Forge and can confirm that this is how the ordering process with Crusader Forge is.
First of all, I have to say that Kathy and Maciej are wonderful people. I met them for the first time at last year's USN Gathering and they are just extremely nice. I don't believe there is one mean bone in their bodies. Maciej is also a volunteer firefighter and that takes up a lot of his time.

My first order with Crusader Forge was for 3 folders and 3 fixed blades. It took 1 year to get the folders and more than 2 years to get the fixed blades.

The second order from them took about 8 months and the third order took about the same amount of time.

Prior to ordering, I knew that it was going to take a while and we were prepared to put aside some funds and wait. For an end user, that is usually not desirable.

Kathy's default response will always be "2 weeks." She tells that to everyone, including us. There is always a delay. There is always something else going on. That is just how Crusader Forge is if you want to deal directly with them.

I am not sure why Crusader Forge even entertains the idea that they should sell directly to the end consumer; it doesn't make sense for a shop that small to take on thousands of orders from thousands of individuals. It takes custom software just to sort my customers and make sure things run smoothly; and my business partner is a freakin' software engineer.

Based on the way I see things handled in the feedback about them, in my mind I see Kathy using spreadsheet software from MS DOS 6.11
This is unfortunate because I really like their folders and I am not the only one.

I hope that you guys don't treat Kathy and Maciej with any disrespect at the Blade Show despite how orders are being handled. After speaking with them, it does not feel like they are out to make enemies. It seems as though they are overwhelmed with the demand and being a small shop, it is difficult for them to catch up. When Kathy says "two weeks" I feel like she is a die-hard optimist and she truly thinks and wants the knives to be ready by then.

I'd recommend against purchasing a knife directly from them as it is truly a hassle and instead go through a dealer that doesn't jack up the prices.
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Wow. Your "helping" isn't helping. Lying to customers out of a sense of optimism is still lying to customers. I've been in retail for two decades and that just doesn't fly. Ever.

To the really awesome, super-duper nice folks at Crusader Forge, I just want to point out that the road to bankruptcy is paved with good intentions, not finished product in the hands of paying customers.
 
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