Smullin Supply Company on eBay--Disappointing experience

[enderwiggin]

I purchased a Native IV from Smullin Supply Company (eBay ID: smullinsupplycom) weeks ago. When it arrived, the knife had terrible vertical blade play, an uneven grind, and something about the lock felt very off.

I ended up sending the knife back to Spyderco rather than returning it to the seller, because as an eBay seller myself, I know I would appreciate the gesture. I still wasn't 100% happy with the repair they did on the lock, the grind was still uneven, and there were a couple other cosmetic things that bugged me.

So I contacted Smullensupplycom, and he assured me that he would have no problem exchanging the knife. He sent a shipping label out and I shipped it back to him on the 16th.

UPS tracking shows that my returned knife was delivered on the 17th of this month. 10 days later, still with no word about where my replacement knife was, I emailed him asking when I could expect the replacement Native so I could keep an eye out.

He apologized, and said he'd forgotten to ship the new one, but would order me a new knife and ship it to me ASAP.

I received the package today, and it's the same knife. He never ordered a replacement, he just had me ship it back, re-oiled it, and shipped back the exact same knife.

I've wasted time driving to a UPS office to ship the package back and spent time waiting, only to receive the exact knife I already returned because I wasn't happy with it. There's a possibility that this is just a misunderstanding, and that he sent the knife back by mistake, and didn't mean to misrepresent it as a replacement knife.

Honestly, being jerked around like this has made me far more upset than if he'd just said "Hey, you already had it repaired, there's nothing more we can do."

 

[darcuss]

Yeesh, that is undeniably shady...perhaps he did place the same knife in the box to return to you. New knife in left hand, old knife in right, wasn't thinking and packed up the old knife? But, even if so, since he oiled it he might have planned to pawn it off on someone else. It's an ebay transaction so at least you have some recourse (paypal claims, negative feedback, etc.) Thanks for the heads up on another lousy knife dealer and I hope you reach an agreeable resolution.

 

[enderwiggin]

Here's the message I sent last night:
I received the same knife I originally returned to you in the mail today.

I'm not sure if there was a mix-up where it was just sent back by
mistake, or if you've already sent out another knife in addition to this
package.

Please let me know.



I received this message today from Smullin Supply:
The packing team should not have resent you the same item on an exchange.

Are you sure its the one you sent in, and not another knife of the same
model?

I've also contacted our warehouse manager to look into this for you.

--The Smullin Supply Team



My reply:
It's the same exact knife I sent in.

Thanks for looking into it for me.



Smullin Supply:
My warehouse manager is telling me it can't be the same knife as you
sent back because the returns get processed by a different person than
the shipping.

On Monday the warehouse will open again an I will have my warehouse
manager go out to the warehouse to look at the knifes that we have is
stock. They might all be like that.

I will let you know more on Monday.

--The Smullin Supply Team



I responded back:
I assure you it is the same knife. I made a temporary marker dot inside the scale so I could tell if that happened.

It looks like the knife was re-stocked and set back to me again.

I don't know how that happened or why, but it's a little frustrating to have spent 10 days and multiple emails back and forth only to have the exact same knife returned to me.

And now to be told that I'm mistaken and it's not the same knife? I assure you this is the same knife I returned to you. Even without the temporary identifying mark.

At this point, I suppose the best thing to do would be for me to simply return the knife for a refund, rather than risk a second mix-up.

Please let me know if I can just pay for postage this time instead of again waiting for a shipping label, or how you'd like to do this.

Thanks for your time.



A lot of unnecessary messaging back and forth, only to have the guy imply that I'm an idiot and can't even recognize the knife I just returned to him because I was unsatisfied with the fit and finish.

Really burns me up to get jerked around like this.

 

[enderwiggin]

I shipped the knife back to SmullinSupplyCom after they agreed to accept a return and refund my money.

As of Friday 03/06/2009 at 10:20 A.M., they've signed for the package and have the knife in their possession.

I'm waiting for my refund to be credited back, but I'm sure that could take a few days.

 

[enderwiggin]

Just got an email today from Smullin Supply.

Because they pulled a bait-and-switch "exchanging" the knife (knowingly or not), I opened a case with eBay on Febuary 28th. I explained to the seller that it was only as a precaution since the dispute deadline was approaching.

They received the knife I returned for a refund on Friday the 6th, and it's now Thursday the 12th. I feel like they've been dragging their feet with their own return policy.

Today, the seller confirmed that my return did arrive to his warehouse last Friday, and told me he'd set up a refund through eBay:

Smullin Supply:

We got the knife.

I've responded to your case on eBay. I think you have to accept and then
eBay will issue the refund as I selected that option, if it hasn't
already. Let me know. If not we can do it via PayPal. I just don't want
it to come out twice.

Hope this helps!

--The Smullin Supply Team


There is no "accept refund" button in an eBay dispute. The options are:

• I'd like to respond to smullinsupplycom and continue communication.
• My concerns have been resolved, I want to close the case.
• My concerns haven't been resolved, I want to report this seller to the eBay Trust and Safety team.



Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if I'm being unreasonable here. Does the seller think I'm going to close the dispute with them before I receive a refund?

I know that this guy has to run a business, but seriously--if he'd just refund the money back already, I could close the case and leave him a good review for taking all this time to try and make the deal right.

Am I missing something here?

 

[whatthepuck]

he knows exactly what he has done the entire time he has been doing it! THE SAME EXACT DEAL WHEN I GOT A SUBPAR KNIFE FROM THEM! I returned it and sent the info to paypal and i got my money back immediatley. Just send paypal your return tracking link and its a done deal, you will have your money! Leave him neg feedback as he deserves it!

 

[enderwiggin]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's had problems with him.

They guy took the time to send me several extended emails about how he's gone above and beyond the call in helping me, and how I've just made his job more difficult.

I know I can be a pain sometimes, but don't offer a money back guarantee if you're going to have a problem taking care of your customers.

I finally received my money back for the deal, but I don't think I'll be doing buisness again with them any time soon.