Suspicious buyer

K

KnifeMaker.ca

Joined
Jan 1, 2009
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Does anyone know a knifemaker by the initial of MP in Cincinnati? Potential customer - large(ish) purchase - gave two different names - (other was initials VT) - fake phone number...

He has posted some knife pics on flikr, but I can't find any other information.

I understand the concept of privacy and web anonymity, but it would sure be nice if someone could say "heck yes - I know MP"... :)

Thanks

Rob!
 
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Thanks Will

I already searched the whole site - and others - and google - and more before I posted - only found the flickr pics.
 
Will, we had a "Vlad" going by other names as well running a scam, stealing high-end knives for resale.
 
If it seems fishy, it probably is. I would question why he would order from Canada when most knife making supplies are cheaper in the U.S. and would have no border hassles.

Just make him use a secure way of getting payed and dont ship the product until you have the cash in hand. Western Union or International USPS money order are ways I'd recommend. Make sure the USPS money order is INTERNATIONAL otherwise you have to go to the States to cash it.

Brad
www.andersonknives.ca
 
Most people aren't going to agree with me, but I don't think it's right to put the guys' names up here in a somewhat negative light with only a hint of suspicion and no wrong-doing. As a merchant, you have ways to ensure that your funding is secured before you get the items sent out.

Require a form of payment that you know you can verify. Let him know that he gave you a wrong number and require a good one. If he wants to use a credit card, authorize the purchase, use the CVV and AVS and then call the bank and ask them to make a courtesy call, etc.
 
AcridSaint said:
Most people aren't going to agree with me, but I don't think it's right to put the guys' names up here in a somewhat negative light with only a hint of suspicion and no wrong-doing. As a merchant, you have ways to ensure that your funding is secured before you get the items sent out.

Require a form of payment that you know you can verify. Let him know that he gave you a wrong number and require a good one. If he wants to use a credit card, authorize the purchase, use the CVV and AVS and then call the bank and ask them to make a courtesy call, etc.
Click to expand...

Agreed you do not know anything about him. It is not right to put him up here when you could have just as easily required a verified form of payment. I suggest you edit your post.
 
Acrid Saint

Sorry to offend. My intent was to find something positive here - not to portray something negative. I hate to just cancel a maker's order and was hoping someone here might know him. Hard to imagine many makers that aren't familiar to at least someone here.

As noted by others, this is looking just too suspicious and this was 'last attempt" to try to be able to serve this guy.

If the mods feel the names are inappropriate, feel free to kill the thread.

Thanks to all.

Rob!
 
Hi Rob - I'm surely not offended, I just wanted to put another perspective out there. From a merchant standpoint one can see where potential customers might be worried about calling for the first time and getting their info put out here.

I don't disagree that the information as posted is suspicious, I just think that there are appropriate measures a merchant can take when they think someone is suspicious. It would have been just as easy to come here and say "Hey, I just got an order from X, does anyone here know the guy?" and not cast him/her in any light.
 
I gave you a full list of well-known US vendors (admiralsteel, jantzsupply etc.) that worked with us and can confirm our (Vlad & Mike) trustworthiness.
If you don't want to check it - then you just don't need to sell all your stock of 3V in a single deal, that's simple.
Actually, it's the first time when I meet such a strange business strategy.
That's confusing, really.
 
I gave you a full list of well-known US vendors (admiralsteel, jantzsupply etc.) that worked with us and can confirm our (Vlad & Mike) trustworthiness.
If you don't want to check it - then you just don't need to sell all your stock of 3V in a single deal, that's simple.
Actually, it's the first time when I meet such a strange business strategy.
That's confusing, really.
 
Eh, don't get your shorts in a twist. I've been burned by folks with references. Those references aren't going to pay the bill. It is a fact that weird folks and foreigners sometime strike an odd chord, and most folks want to play it safe when there is a large sum. There is nothing in the world wrong with that.

If you don't want the 3V, perhaps I do...
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Eh, don't get your shorts in a twist. I've been burned by folks with references. Those references aren't going to pay the bill. It is a fact that weird folks and foreigners sometime strike an odd chord, and most folks want to play it safe when there is a large sum. There is nothing in the world wrong with that.
If you don't want the 3V, perhaps I do...
Click to expand...
That could be true and even save your money from a fraud one day, but - honestly - that's not a business. Looks more like a paranoia on large to me, especially when you've been offered a Paypal payment with the shipping delay for 45 days just to make sure that money won't be claimed back.
Good luck with 3V, but keep in mind that Rob won't sell you anything if he will see a "warning flag" in you. Vlad or Mike - that sounds like names of evil Russian paratroopers from Modern Warfare 2, but Nathan is quite a suspicious name too. :)
 
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Rob sounds fishy and as far as getting a refund from paypal and so on its a legal way for scammers to steal . If its a big order them a wire bank transfer is in order lmao the cost of the wire is 100 bucks but I wouldnt trust paypal as far as I could puke. Ive been burned by paypal and they allowed the scammer off scott free. International money order or bank wire transfer the only 2 ways to go Rob . My friend bought a 80 thousand pound track hoe and a new d7 cat all wire transfer last month he said its the only way to send or recieve large amounts of money. International money order works too, same as cash. Then to top it off paypal takes like 3 % and for what???? The service is non existent if you want a refund most of the time but the scammers all know the loop holes.
 
Most of us, at best, are very small businesses, we can't afford to get hit for the price of a knife or two much less for a load of steel (or is it steal :p ).

I understand you're upset about being called out on a forum but it's not professional to resort to snide comments. It's unlucky that you happen to have the name (Vlad) of a rather infamous knife scammer and perhaps at the outset of the deal you should have notified the maker that there would be more than one person or name he's dealing with. I've had overseas customers have a purveyor or some other third party pay me. That's great as long as I'm aware up front, it's when other names start popping up in the middle of a deal that I'd start to back off.

I know Nathan from here, I know some of the other guys from here, noone knows you know matter what references you post. I also usually require some references when dealing with people overseas, I can't afford to get burned.
 
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