Should I call out a custom knife maker for really poor customer service

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Kai Winters said:
Name him, shame him and get your deposit back...should be with interest...poor way to run a business...
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Name him if you think it appropriate, but no need to shame him. This is not personal, this is business. Should keep it that way. When it becomes personal over an issue like this, no one wins.
 
Existing customers should almost always take priority over future/potential customers that you don't even have yet.

While I can understand wanting to build an inventory for Blade Show, you shouldn't make deadlines if you can't keep them.

Being on a maker's list is one thing. Being promised a deadline that's now 5 or 6 months past is another thing all together.
 
Name him. Otherwise you're part of a becoming-all-too-familiar ponzi scheme utilized by far too many craftsmen.
 
You have to name him/her. Otherwise you leave others open to being sucked in. I have learnt my lesson. My fingers well and truly burnt and I will only order from dealers who have the custom knife I want in stock. I will never buy from a maker again. By naming these people it saves others. Now it may push you down there build list, but as stated previously you are pretty low priority it seems. I am 2 months into a dispute and owed $533. But I'm
Pleased I named and shamed
 
Yeah it's a tough call, but you've done your part and yes sometimes schedules slip but tripling the time is a bit of a tough one to swallow. I'm fairly new to the blade side of things but I am no stranger to custom rifles, the wait times and issues that can come with them. Is a slipped delivery time acceptable? Some times but there's a lot of variables and considerations. From my understanding you've been way more than patient and because of this "outing" or letting the rest of us blade folks know is no crime. A buyer beware reminder.

Some makers / builders are notorious for slipping times so when it happens to a customer then it's not so much of a big deal but there's a line to be drawn. I watched a builder on another site take years to get the projects done that he had promised in months. Yeah it got crazy scary as lawsuits were in the happening, law enforcement was involved, there was A LOT of money tied up. Finally the product made it's way to the buyers but not without some severe frustration....

So yeah, name the knuckle head.........
 
Splitt65 said:
Name him if you think it appropriate, but no need to shame him. This is not personal, this is business. Should keep it that way. When it becomes personal over an issue like this, no one wins.
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This is the correct answer. When people take less than optimal business transactions as a personal attack, it becomes very easy to go on the attack and destroy a persons reputation. It's always a good idea to consider that if you go into a deal with a clear understanding that crap happens and the deal may not go through for any number of reasons.
 
RevDevil said:
This is the correct answer. When people take less than optimal business transactions as a personal attack, it becomes very easy to go on the attack and destroy a persons reputation. It's always a good idea to consider that if you go into a deal with a clear understanding that crap happens and the deal may not go through for any number of reasons.
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I rarely comment in GBE, but often peruse. And this is why you are a MOD, dear RevDevil. You, Karda, and Benj put up with endless nonsense with little or no reward.

Thank you very much.

That is all.
 
Nellem said:
The thing is ... if you've been waiting for a long time to get a custom you do not want to give the place in line up ... so you just take it on the chin and wait longer. Cancelling an order is not a solution in most cases so few will do it. And if you make a fuss in public the maker will just move someone else forward into your slot.

These are cases to be taken up with the various knife makers guilds ... provided the maker is registered.
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I highly disagree with your statement. By that logic knifemaker/seller CS would never improve and the seller would have a tremendous amount of leverage over the buyer resulting in abuse. To the OP, I don't know why you would start this thread and not reveal the identity of the knifemaker--that is unless you already had an answer to your question and just wanted self validation. If you want to gripe and complain go right ahead, but don't be starting pointless threads. The only one who can help you at this moment is yourself. If you don't mind being tossed around by the knifemaker, by all means let him/her do so.

If you do reveal the maker and in retaliation he/she decided to further delay your order the knifemaker would only damage their own reputation and being that this is the LARGEST knife forum, I'm pretty sure said knifemaker cares more about their rep over one botched transaction.

My opinion of a resolve would be to FIRST, contacting said maker and try to create a reasonable and fair resolve. You can try to reason and discuss with the knifemaker, but being as you've already been tossed around a bit it I feel its time to move on. It would be under your discretion whether it is worth it to continue discussing with him or her. Now should you be unable to come up with a resolve, (in my opinion, I feel that this is now) reveal said maker and notify him or her of this thread. This thread will act as a ground in which said maker can uphold or improve upon his reputation--or damage it. As long as the discussion is kept relatively objective, subjective if within logic&reason, and not personal I don't see why the deal should go south or with any parties left with a sour taste.
 
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It has been frequently stated here that if you are asked to pay a deposit, you should walk away. Unless you are requesting extraordinary materials, the request for a deposit is a yellow flag for a maker who is getting into deep water.
 
I am dying to know if it's the same person I am dealing with. I have left several messages with one and no response. When I call I get vague promise. It's been since feb and supposedly in July August. But there were about 30 knives made for blade. Hmmmm
 
Why did you start this thread asking if you should name them ?

You asked, and people voiced their opinion.

If you're not going to participate in the thread, or name them, you may as well just lock this one down.
 
bonky said:
I rarely comment in GBE, but often peruse. And this is why you are a MOD, dear RevDevil. You, Karda, and Benj put up with endless nonsense with little or no reward.

Thank you very much.

That is all.
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Thank you Sir. I really appreciate your saying that. :thumbup:
 
Like everyone else has said you should name him and point him to this thread so he can provide an explanation if he wants to. And that goes for rolandsilvajr also.
By pointing these folks out it prevents others from going through the same hassles you are.
 
Do the right thing and talk to the maker first. You should always be a man and discuss things before making it high school drama with everyone who has nothing to loose saying, "Do it, do it!". If he blows you off after you advise him of this thread then so be it, drop the bomb. I tell you what though, the knife business is a fairly close knit family and makers do talk to each other. They get to know the buyers/collectors and if you plan on staying around for awhile I'd use the best tact. IMHO

It sucks he is months behind, but if the knife is worth the wait give it a lil more time or simply get your deposit back.

Hell, I had a pretty popular California maker promise me a trade of my Benelli Semi Auto for two knives. Months later and after increased popularity he changed it to one full custom for my Benelli. Then another month or two he had a baby coming and passed on the deal and offered me a custom at a discounted price. He even told me, "The Benelli has lost value since we first AGREED TO A DEAL." I reluctantly agreed and another 4 to 5 months passed. Out of the blue on a Friday morning he said my knife was ready and needed the cash NOW. I said it would take a couple hours and he flipped his gasket and said, "I'm done.". As if I was the one who changed my mind 5 times. I had the cash in his PayPal by 3 PM our time. Then he didn't ship the damn thing until the following Tuesday. When I finally got the knife it was a Spear point instead of the Tanto we had agreed upon. That same day, I sold the knife to a friend for what I paid and wrote the maker off. I saw the knife I ordered on a Blade YouTube video shortly there after I won't reveal his name, but I'll never buy a knife from him again. I will give my honest opinion on the guy when people ask about him, but I won't bring it up. I'm a lil hot headed and my blood pressure goes up. We will meet in Vegas and have a lil discussion next month. Its amazing how tough people talk over email or text.

Sorry for the Hijack, back on topic.
 
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