PeteyTwoPointOne
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 7,999
It REALLY pains me to start this thread, but truth be known, I probably should have took action before now.
Let me begin by saying I own / owned 10 customized Spydercos that Steve has worked his magic on. He's a top drawer craftsman...absolutely stellar. All my interactions with him up till the past year have been friendly, timely, and professional.
But...nearly a year ago <August 2016> I had Steve purchase some custom handle material for me when it came available for $60. We had good comms. back & forth settling on which models would best take advantage of the beautiful stock. December of '16 work <supposedly> commenced on 3 knives.
I had a few intermittent emails from Steve mostly consisting of him giving excuses for not starting work on my handles yet after promising me a quick turnaround. I'm a patient guy and I counted Steve a friend-- as much as you can be a friend over the internet-- and I was understanding and NEVER dogged him about keeping me waiting or breaking his self-imposed promised deadlines.
Then fast forward of March of this year. After ABSOLUTE crickets from him for 3 months, I contacted him and told him that I was getting a little concerned if he was ok and I even informed him of some brothers here <BF> and over at SpydercoForums who were asking me about him. Well, he went into some personal stuff I'm not gonna mention without his permission...so I told him I understood and knock out my handles when he got clear of this issue.
Well, toward the end of March he asks for payment in advance on the work and gives me a personal reason why he's asking...Steve had NEVER asked for $$$ in advance from me. I PayPal'ed him $410 <G&S>.
Since then he's emailed me back TWICE...once with a promise that he would gift me a knife <a custom Millie I had previously asked him to SELL to me> for being so patient, and a second email with a promise that he FINALLY was gonna wrap up the work on ONE KNIFE of the 3 I sent to him for handle jobs. He promised that for the weekend following June 14, 2017. Needless to say, I have not been gifted a Military <I didn't ask for a gratuity> nor have I gotten the SINGLE knife that was promised.
Fast forward to today. ABSOLUTELY no contact from Steven since June. I have emailed him <he previously said he quit trying to keep up with emails> and texted him. Has he lost his phone? Yah, right.
Today I opened a case with PayPal on the $410 for services-- that were supposed to be-- rendered. The $60 for the Kirinite was nearly a year old...don't know if that's actionable anymore. But he owes me that, too. Plus he still has in his possession a Dodo of mine-- that we decided not to work on. A Tatanka, Police, and a Chaparral of mine is still in his custody also awaiting the work we contracted on.
I treated Steve well...never hounding him or blowing up his phone. I always paid the very day he requested his fees. Heck, I even sent him spare material like ironwood and g10 when I sent a job along to him just because I felt like gifting him a little.
But I've talked with a few of my brothers here and over and Spyderco and I've found out that he's still crafting handles and has, IN FACT, let a number of customers jump line ahead of me and delivered completed custom jobs. Something I don't appreciate ONE DAMN BIT considering he played on my sympathies that he was going thru some personal trials and he had cut way back on his workload.
So....in closing...at the very least I've been mislead by someone I've treated quite well...not cool.
And at the worst...I can't even go there
...
But I should have known-- because the only WIP pics I ever got were of the material itself with an outline drawn on it.
And that brings us here to this thread, something I've lost a lot of sleep over even considering...
Let me begin by saying I own / owned 10 customized Spydercos that Steve has worked his magic on. He's a top drawer craftsman...absolutely stellar. All my interactions with him up till the past year have been friendly, timely, and professional.
But...nearly a year ago <August 2016> I had Steve purchase some custom handle material for me when it came available for $60. We had good comms. back & forth settling on which models would best take advantage of the beautiful stock. December of '16 work <supposedly> commenced on 3 knives.
I had a few intermittent emails from Steve mostly consisting of him giving excuses for not starting work on my handles yet after promising me a quick turnaround. I'm a patient guy and I counted Steve a friend-- as much as you can be a friend over the internet-- and I was understanding and NEVER dogged him about keeping me waiting or breaking his self-imposed promised deadlines.
Then fast forward of March of this year. After ABSOLUTE crickets from him for 3 months, I contacted him and told him that I was getting a little concerned if he was ok and I even informed him of some brothers here <BF> and over at SpydercoForums who were asking me about him. Well, he went into some personal stuff I'm not gonna mention without his permission...so I told him I understood and knock out my handles when he got clear of this issue.
Well, toward the end of March he asks for payment in advance on the work and gives me a personal reason why he's asking...Steve had NEVER asked for $$$ in advance from me. I PayPal'ed him $410 <G&S>.
Since then he's emailed me back TWICE...once with a promise that he would gift me a knife <a custom Millie I had previously asked him to SELL to me> for being so patient, and a second email with a promise that he FINALLY was gonna wrap up the work on ONE KNIFE of the 3 I sent to him for handle jobs. He promised that for the weekend following June 14, 2017. Needless to say, I have not been gifted a Military <I didn't ask for a gratuity> nor have I gotten the SINGLE knife that was promised.
Fast forward to today. ABSOLUTELY no contact from Steven since June. I have emailed him <he previously said he quit trying to keep up with emails> and texted him. Has he lost his phone? Yah, right.
Today I opened a case with PayPal on the $410 for services-- that were supposed to be-- rendered. The $60 for the Kirinite was nearly a year old...don't know if that's actionable anymore. But he owes me that, too. Plus he still has in his possession a Dodo of mine-- that we decided not to work on. A Tatanka, Police, and a Chaparral of mine is still in his custody also awaiting the work we contracted on.
I treated Steve well...never hounding him or blowing up his phone. I always paid the very day he requested his fees. Heck, I even sent him spare material like ironwood and g10 when I sent a job along to him just because I felt like gifting him a little.
But I've talked with a few of my brothers here and over and Spyderco and I've found out that he's still crafting handles and has, IN FACT, let a number of customers jump line ahead of me and delivered completed custom jobs. Something I don't appreciate ONE DAMN BIT considering he played on my sympathies that he was going thru some personal trials and he had cut way back on his workload.
So....in closing...at the very least I've been mislead by someone I've treated quite well...not cool.
And at the worst...I can't even go there
...But I should have known-- because the only WIP pics I ever got were of the material itself with an outline drawn on it.
And that brings us here to this thread, something I've lost a lot of sleep over even considering...
