Survive Knives

Insipid Moniker · Jan 29, 2016

AdamFuzzyballs said:
Not that Guy or Survive! needs anybody to defend them, but..
S!K gets dozens of emails a day im sure. As far as i know, there are maybe two people who respond to those. As far as phone calls, its the same thing. Ellie posts on here pretty often, comparable to any other manufacturer ive seen on BF. She has said before (paraphrasing), they dont have all day to sit around and reply to emails, especially when they are working as fast as possible to get the knives done so people dont have to wait even longer. Be patient, they arent ignoring you. They are BUSY.

If you want to criticize someone for being slow to respond, take a shot at the big companies who actually have people whose whole job consists of responding to customers. Explain why it still takes them weeks to reply. I have experience in this very situation (not naming who because this thread is not about them.) but its a huge company.

You say you can buy comparable knives, then do it. I respect your opinion, we disagree and thats fine. Here is my opinion: Survive! knives are the best production knives i have ever had the pleasure of owning. The man and woman and workers behind the product have and will do whatever they can to make the customer happy.

If you arent willing to wait for the prime rib, then go ahead and order the big mac somewhere else.

I've heard that excuse very frequently. I've also dealt with numerous companies that are just as small that respond very quickly.

Standard78 · Jan 29, 2016

willythekid said:
The only one throwing a fit around here is you... there are so many great people on BladeForums that understand there can be differing opinions without having a meltdown. You are not one of them. I came on here to voice my opinion in support of the OP and then you came in with your nonsense about my throwing tantrums, which is not true, and how you'll look forward to laughing at my response. Me bringing up your upbringing has to do with the way you treat people. You come off as a jerk. Why? Because you don't agree with my opinion on your favorite brand of knives? Grow up. Why don't Bark River's offerings in 3v compare with SK? How about Andy Roy's Fiddleback production line? They're an outstanding value without the headache of bankrolling their operation. Being opinionated is your right... so is it everyone else's to voice theirs. Deal with it? Nah... I think I've wasted enough of my time on you lol... Have a great day.

Apparently you chose to read my comments as if I were being a jerk. You're allowed your opinion even though I believe it is null and void considering you used to throw a fit when you had to wait for your knife in that previous post. Me calling you out is my right because I think you're just voicing your opinion just so you can feel valid on this forum.
Bringing up a way a person is raised is just a chickenshit to get your point across.
Bark River and Fiddleback make great knives but do they offer their work at the same pricing as Survive? I don't see how this is a hard question to answer.

willythekid · Jan 29, 2016

Insipid Moniker said:
Just wondering, can you confirm, deny or explain the phone calls and emails that weren't responded to?

This. It's curious Guy had time to respond to Eric's (valid in my mind) criticism but not to the OP who is a customer who can't get a response to emails and calls.

craytab · Jan 29, 2016

I hate to see this sort of stuff happen. I had a 7/7 many years ago that came with a blunted tip. They were quick to resharpen it and have it back to me. I was satisfied with the service then but hearing for up front payments always makes me nervous.

Worldwatcher · Jan 29, 2016

I'm new here and all and have grown i terested in these knives... I don't see how this is productive in anyway! It is what it is, if you are willing to wait get one! If not move on... Standard78 as a military man, im sure your father or whoever was military wouldn't be proud of your bearing in your comments! Imho

abarnhart · Jan 29, 2016

Too many companies rotate from delivering upon payment to taking money upfront... And many, many of those have gone bad. A cursory reading of the GB&U threads will give you a clear illustration of this trend.

Once you are a little behind... It seems to get easier to get further behind.

It appears to be a very difficult business process to sustain. I wish the gentlemen at SK all the best in keeping it on-target.

Lots of great knifemakers on this forum making incredibly innovative and durable knives at reasonable prices. SK is just one in a sea of fish. Fish around and cast your net prudently.

SURVIVE! Ellie · Jan 29, 2016

willythekid said:
This. It's curious Guy had time to respond to Eric's (valid in my mind) criticism but not to the OP who is a customer who can't get a response to emails and calls.

Guy didn't reply to the OP because I told him I would since our communications are my responsibility. I have been trying to post for a ridiculous amount of time, but for some reason I keep getting kicked to a timed out page. Maybe tapatalk will work....

krazyjoe66 · Jan 29, 2016

abarnhart said:
Too many companies rotate from delivering upon payment to taking money upfront... And many, many of those have gone bad. A cursory reading of the GB&U threads will give you a clear illustration of this trend.

Once you are a little behind... It seems to get easier to get further behind.

It appears to be a very difficult business process to sustain. I wish the gentlemen at SK all the best in keeping it on-target.

Lots of great knifemakers on this forum making incredibly innovative and durable knives at reasonable prices. SK is just one in a sea of fish. Fish around and cast your net prudently.

Well stated!!

Except they already have my $$$

B.F.U · Jan 29, 2016

SURVIVE! Ellie said:
Guy didn't reply to the OP because I told him I would since our communications are my responsibility. I have been trying to post for a ridiculous amount of time, but for some reason I keep getting kicked to a timed out page. Maybe tapatalk will work....

I would suggest typing your response in word, google pages, etc then pasting into the forum. Sometimes when typing a long response that can happen.

SURVIVE! Ellie · Jan 29, 2016

Ok, now that that has been sorted out...

This has been addressed a few times on our subforum. Yes, we are behind on replies. I am the one and only customer service person on this team of 3 people. In addition to customer service I manage the finances, build and update webpages, plan and execute production runs, keep track of orders and overall inventory, write newsletters, perform the final QC on completed orders, create shipping labels, and probably a few other things. The inboxes can fill up quickly and it takes me some time to get caught back up once they do. There are a lot of emails that come in. I try to find ones that are most pressing and answer those first. If it is a matter of someone venting, or if it is something that is addressed by the auto reply, it will take me a little longer to get back to those. Some emails are people asking for major order changes or other things where I need to talk to Guy. Those take longer because he is busy getting orders fulfilled.

We are always on the look out for an additional customer service helper, but so far no one has been the right fit. We are hesitant to hire just anyone to help out. Employees are expensive and we want to keep our prices as low as possible. Anyone who joins this team, in any capacity, must work toward increasing efficiency to help offset their cost. For now, it's just me doing as much as I can each day.

Which is exactly why we take steps to provide people with as much information as possible. Our email has an auto reply directing folks to our FAQ and Production Schedule. We have an extensive FAQ that was laid out to be easy to read. The production schedule is updated regularly. We use instagram to reach more people with each update. We encourage everyone to sign up for our newsletter, which we use to send out a monthly production update. Communicating on BladeForums helps to spread information more quickly. We even have a checkbox that people have to click to say they have read the notes about delivery times. The product pages say it is a preorder in at least 3 different places. The FAQ and Production Schedule page both address preorders specifically. We have never tried to mislead customers and we don't force or coerce anyone to place an order. We don't advertise anywhere. If anyone has suggestions about how we could be more informative or other ways to decrease the volume of calls and emails, I would be happy to hear them.

willythekid · Jan 29, 2016

Standard78 said:
Apparently you chose to read my comments as if I were being a jerk. You're allowed your opinion even though I believe it is null and void considering you used to throw a fit when you had to wait for your knife in that previous post. Me calling you out is my right because I think you're just voicing your opinion just so you can feel valid on this forum.
Bringing up a way a person is raised is just a chickenshit to get your point across.
Bark River and Fiddleback make great knives but do they offer their work at the same pricing as Survive? I don't see how this is a hard question to answer.

If this will put it to bed... I find a Bark River Bravo 1 in 3v comparable to a GSO 4 or 5 at just over $200 and I find a Fiddleback camp knife comparable to a GSO 8 or 10 once the "starter" prices expire. This doesn't matter though because what is considered "comparable" varies from person to person. I find a lot of blades that are comparable to SK in both price and quality... once again YMMV. If you were offended by my "how you were raised" comment then I apologize. I don't come on BladeForums to make enemies. You probably aren't a jerk but your comment about looking forward to laughing at my comment was a jerk thing to say... as was me questioning your upbringing.

SURVIVE! Ellie · Jan 29, 2016

ALLHSS said:
I would suggest typing your response in word, google pages, etc then pasting into the forum. Sometimes when typing a long response that can happen.

Thank you for trying to help.

I used word, emailed it to myself and tried from different computers, tried posting from Guy's account. Tapatalk appears to be the solution.

Riz! · Jan 29, 2016

Eric@DLT said:
I do apologize, I may be the one who is misinformed. From everything I have read it has been implied that Guy was the one making the knives. My response may have been posted in haste with what I saw as an attack at our brand which doesn't have anything to do with the topi. If the manufacture and origins of where their knives are made is public knowledge I haven't seen it, but I haven't been a member here as long as others either so I may have missed it.

I have also never said his knives weren't good and whole heartedly meant it when I said we'd stock his knives too. We like to sell popular products and have even had requests that we did sell them.

Absolutely misinformed... It has been mentioned many times on this forum that Mike Stewart made him his first batches and then white river. Guy finishes the knives with a bead blast peened type finish, assembles the handles, and I think even has a laser etcher in house, sharpens and then ships them. he has never stated that he cuts the profiles and grinds the knives. He even adverstises for Peters Heat Treat right on the blade.

ncrockclimb · Jan 29, 2016

edit - Ellie's posting problem is solved

willythekid · Jan 29, 2016

SURVIVE! Ellie said:
Guy didn't reply to the OP because I told him I would since our communications are my responsibility. I have been trying to post for a ridiculous amount of time, but for some reason I keep getting kicked to a timed out page. Maybe tapatalk will work....

Fair enough... I will add that when I was a Survive! Knives customer, I had only one unanswered email, which I believe to be an honest mistake. My customer service with SK has always been very good.

SURVIVE! Ellie · Jan 29, 2016

willythekid said:
Fair enough... I will add that when I was a Survive! Knives customer, I had only one unanswered email, which I believe to be an honest mistake. My customer service with SK has always been very good.

I apologize for whatever mishap resulted in us missing your email. I haven't always been the one answering emails and we have had problems in the past. People who deleted emails or who didn't answer them thoughtfully/appropriately. We have also had technical issues where contact form emails got sent to a junk folder, never to be seen. This is part of why we have a hard time hiring someone. The emails are the face of SURVIVE! so we have to really trust the person to type well and keep an eye on all aspects.

krazyjoe66 · Jan 29, 2016

SURVIVE! Ellie said:
If anyone has suggestions about how we could be more informative or other ways to decrease the volume of calls and emails, I would be happy to hear them.

Maybe if your production schedule wasn't so aggressive and you didn't take so many orders there wouldn't be so many inquiries.

From your web site.

Here is the current SURVIVE! production schedule:
Necker II: Stay tuned for availability updates
GSO-5.1: Preorders are shipping out and regular ordering will start in January
GSO-4.7: Handles are finishing production. Preorders are scheduled to begin shipping right after GSO-5.1 Preorders
GSO-2.7: At production grinding
GSO-4.1: Heading to production grinding
GSO-7/7: Steel sheets are getting cut into blades

Once models start production they will no longer be available for preorder. Production will begin on the remaining models in the following order:
GSO-3.5: Additional sheets of steel are scheduled to arrive at the end of February. Cutting will begin at that time.
GSO-12
GSO-4.5 Bushcraft Knife
GSO-6
GSO-10
GSO-8
Necker and Necker IIs

Insipid Moniker · Jan 29, 2016

Ellie, thank you for taking the time to answer my question, it is appreciated.

Riz! · Jan 29, 2016

You guys just keep doing what you do at Survive! Ignore all this petty bull as I am sure there are many more people who are willing to wait than the few who are complaining.

I sort of wish you would just cancel their order, refund their money with a "we might not be your company" note and then raise your prices to ease the demand a little, until you can catch up. I will keep buying your product as I am one of those EVIL FAN-BOYS.

Who came up with that term anyway?

I also find it interesting that so many people here have not opened and successfully ran a small business making knives and yet they have so much knowledge about the topic...

SURVIVE! Ellie · Jan 29, 2016

krazyjoe66 said:
Maybe if your production schedule wasn't so aggressive and you didn't take so many orders there wouldn't be so many inquiries.

From your web site.

Here is the current SURVIVE! production schedule:
Necker II: Stay tuned for availability updates
GSO-5.1: Preorders are shipping out and regular ordering will start in January
GSO-4.7: Handles are finishing production. Preorders are scheduled to begin shipping right after GSO-5.1 Preorders
GSO-2.7: At production grinding
GSO-4.1: Heading to production grinding
GSO-7/7: Steel sheets are getting cut into blades

Once models start production they will no longer be available for preorder. Production will begin on the remaining models in the following order:
GSO-3.5: Additional sheets of steel are scheduled to arrive at the end of February. Cutting will begin at that time.
GSO-12
GSO-4.5 Bushcraft Knife
GSO-6
GSO-10
GSO-8
Necker and Necker IIs

We do limit the number of orders we take, we close preordering once the knives start production. This actually leads to more emails from people wondering how to order or asking why they can't place an order. We also get a lot of emails from people asking us to add "just one more" preorder to the list. When we stopped taking preorders for a bit we received tons of those types of emails.

I don't see how our Production Schedule is aggressive, it is what it is. I update it regularly (Though looking at your post it looks like it is due for a fresh update). If we slowed production we would still be getting emails asking for delivery timelines and information about specific orders. If I don't mention a model on the schedule I receive emails asking why not, has it been discontinued or when it will be added to the schedule.