Stolen Knives!

Neil Ostroff

Neil Ostroff

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Oct 6, 2001
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677
To the community.

As many of you know, I am not very active on this, or any other forum. I am a full time knife dealer, work alone, and spend most of my waking hours just working my business. However, I do enjoy Bladeforums and spend some time here daily.

I need your help. A shipment of 5 custom knives has been stolen. I have been in the knife business for 6 years- this is a first for me.

I hope that perhaps if some of these knives can be identified by you and the thieves tracked down that we will all benefit. Certainly for me from a financial point of view I will be very grateful - but also if we can stop the crooks, even one at a time, this is a good thing for us all. I would imagine that the thieves knew what they were stealing….

I sent a box of knives to a regular customer in Omaha, Nebraska on 2/26. There were five custom knives in the shipment- the value of the shipment was US$3,525.00.
I have been selling this man knives for over 5 years.

The carrier was UPS. Evidently, the UPS driver, instead of ringing the bell and having the fellow sign for the package (which is the standard practice), decided to just leave the box at the front door- no signature and no attempt to have the package handed to the consignee. This happened on 2/28. BTW-- this was the regular UPS driver.
I guess you all know the rest of the story- the package had disappeared.

Without going into all the gory details, UPS is doing their very best to deny my insurance claim - so far, they offered me $500.00- my loss is $3,525.00.
I am making good to my customer in full for his $3525.00 and will have to fight it out with UPS and their insurance people.
Trust me, I will never give up; this is now my problem to resolve.

Now, here is where I need your assistance. I am posting below the pictures of the 5 knives in question. Perhaps they may show up on eBay or some knife forum for sale or at a show in the Omaha area? Any tips will be greatly appreciated. I have deliberately waited these almost 2 weeks before posting this- I wanted to let the thieves feel comfortable that they got away with it and perhaps start to try and sell the knives. Had I done this the day after 2/28, they would have clammed up, possible for too long.

The knives are- in order.

BOB TERZUOLA; EBONY ATCF WITH DAMASCUS BOLSTER
TER6802.jpg

BRIAN TIGHE; ABSTRACT TIGHE BREAKER
BT6663.jpg

DARREL RALPH; AFTERMATH AXD SAO (Semi- auto)
DR6825.jpg

KOJI HARA; SNAKEWOOD FIGHTER
KH6769.jpg

BRIAN TIGHE; TIGHE STICK BREAKER
BT6647.jpg

I look forward to hearing from anyone who can possible shed some light on the subject.

My best regards to all,
Neil Ostroff
 
Sinking feeling. And I' m glad I don' t use UPS very often. But will keep an eye out for those blades. Good luck.

N.
 
that's ******. this is why i hate UPS as well. i've had stuff stolen from my door too.

maybe you should email one of the admins to sticky this thread
 
How can UPS get away with offering you $500.00 for a $3500.00 loss? Is this a standard practice for UPS? Btw, I know you and your customer are plain sick, as those are some beautiful knives.
 
This really sucks Neil. I will keep a lookout for these knives, but I fear that chances aren't good that they will be found.

As far as getting $3525.00 from UPS is concerned, that will have to be your cost for the knives. Shipping companies will never pay the selling price. At the maximum, they will only cover the amount you paid for the them.
 
That really sucks!

It is also one of the reasons that I try to avoid using UPS. They almost NEVER ring the bell. I will be sitting aorund waiting for something, and see them just drop the package on the door step. WTF, I am home and waiting, but they don't even attempt to give the package to an actual person.

That is in addition to never delivering a package early, even if possible. I have had packages shipped from other parts of NY just sit around waiting because they think the delivery time should be longer.
 
Hi All-

Terrible news...hopefully the dirtbags will be caught and punished.

As an aside, what is the deal with UPS no longer ringing doorbells or knocking? I thought it was just me. Heck, one time they even left boxes with computer equipment out in the torrential rain. Can't those mental midgets carry waterproof plastic garbage bags in their trucks for the slightest attempt at customer service?

Bumping back to the top. Good luck to you and the customer in getting the knives back.

~ Blue Jays ~
 
years ago, I remember UPS ringing the bell and waiting a few minutes if they see cars in the driveway. But it seems like in the last several years they don't. It doesn't take too much time to wait to see if anyone comes.

I was visiting my parents over the holidays and a package came. I was out in the family room playing one of my dad's guitars. I saw the truck pull up, it was obvious that someone was home... I drive a Thunderbird, it's hard to miss. So I'm on my way to the door, thinking he'll have just rang the bell by the time I get to the door. Nope. Doesn't ring, doesn't knock... just leaves the package and goes back to his truck. When I opened the door, he actually started moving a little faster.

But I remember long ago going to the door and being greeted by a rather friendly UPS guy... are they scared? Are they not allowed to talk?
 
I imagine that in the competitive environment that UPS works in, that to lower their costs they found it necessary to get more packages delivered, hence the drop and run.

I buy a lot of products via the internet and/or catalogs and I always have everything sent to my office, rather than home. At least I know that there will be someone there to receive the package (as well it let's me smuggle in those 4 new boxes of cigars and 3 new knives without the wife knowing).

I also suspect that UPS got bitched at all the time when they wouldn't leave the package, just the sticker saying no one was there to accept delivery and would try once again tomorrow. They can't win either way.

Also, it I were to ship something UPS valued at $ 3,500 I would spend the extra money to buy the insurance. I also belive that you can request that a "Signature Is Required".

I have never met a UPS Driver who wasn't very pleasant....they all seem to be great guys and enjoy their work. Maybe, here, its just a Mid Western Friendly thing.

I hope you recover your merchandise.
 
Anytime I have to use UPS they do the same thing to me.Last time I was sitting in the liveing room and the driver left the insured packeage laying on my front steps,didn't even put it on the porch.
I will keep an eye out on the forums for them.
Do not let UPS get by with any less than they owe you.
 
Ups doesn't require a signature for residential deliveries. If you want the package signed for you have to pay extra for signature required or adult signature required. The fact that someone has to sign for a insured USPS package over $50.00 is one reason I use them over UPS. Larry
 
ErikD said:
That really sucks!

It is also one of the reasons that I try to avoid using UPS. They almost NEVER ring the bell. I will be sitting aorund waiting for something, and see them just drop the package on the door step. WTF, I am home and waiting, but they don't even attempt to give the package to an actual person.

That is in addition to never delivering a package early, even if possible. I have had packages shipped from other parts of NY just sit around waiting because they think the delivery time should be longer.
Click to expand...


Yeah,I had a UPS driver leave a package with a return address of Smith and Wesson on the package inside sitting a 357 mag revolver just laying by the front door while no one was home :rolleyes:
Needless to say I was pissed.
 
I have shipped a lot of knives by UPS. I always take out insurance for the full value.If you don't take out ins. for the full value you are taking a chance. Sometimes when you look to save a few dollars it comes back to haunt you. An expensive lesson. Whether or not you took out ins. is irrelevent. If you ship without taking out the full value on ins. you take a gamble and some times you lose. Penny wise and dollar foolish.
 
Well Mr. Ostroff I am very sorry to hear about your loss. I have nothing but loathing & disgust for lousy theives. As much dedicated time and honest effort and skilled work that goes into custom knives it just makes you want to pick up a ball bat and start looking. I will make copies of the pictures and take them with me to any knife shows I do in the near future.

I have one question and I don't mean to get off topic but what do you "Mr. Ostroff and the rest of you fine bladeforum people recommend as far as my shipping options. I use UPS quite a bit and I have had no problem here in the Kansas City MO area. Would Fed EX be the best option. I personally have had problems with my local post office in regards to lost merchanidise. Nothing of your magnitude Thank GOD. IF Fed EX is more responsible and more efficient I wish some of you would PM me and let me know or just post it. Thanks you all and very sorry about your loss Sir. JD Spydo :mad:
 
I would much rather use USPS,insured,priority with delivery confirmation than UPS.On items that are very high end I would use USPS next day delivery.Just make sure the clerk scans the package in to the system while you are watching.
I have not ordered things in the past from places just because they do not offer any shipping other than UPS.
 
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