Melvin, I couldn't have said it better!! I like your way with words!
Below is some really interesting reading concerning our man Ted. It was sent a while ago to me by Jason Stewart of Blackjack Knives, Ltd. Ted apparently purchased a bunch of Blackjack knives from the Stewarts after Blackjack folded. They seem to have found Ted as unpleasant as the rest of the world. Below that email is my original email to Jason. Jason gave me permission to qoute relevant parts of his email, but here is the whole email. I think followers of the Ted saga may find it interesting:
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Stewart [SMTP:jason_m_stewart@email.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 7:00 PM
To: Whalen Kevin MSgt 22 CES/CECS
Subject: Re: Do you have any info on Ted Wood?
This man is absolutely the worst person to do business with. When my
father and his business partner originally planned to purchased the
Blackjack inventory from the bank, Ted Wood was the major antagonist in
the deal. He wanted the inventory at all costs. We outbid him....but
this is just where the trouble started.
He contacted ME about 2 weeks after the inventory purchase and wanted to
make an offer on all the finished Blackjack product, not the EK, BK & T
or others. I arranged for him to come up to Gladstone, about a 5 hour
drive for him. We unpacked all of the knives, cleaned up the tarnish,
and laid them all out so that he could peruse them with ease. This took
me and another gentleman about 7 hours to touch up the brass (oxidized
from storage) and another 5 to lay them all out for presentation.
He gave the impression that he was going to buy the whole lot and was
going to make a hefty offer. When he arrived (hours late) all he wanted
to do was buy it piece-meal. He walked away with about 30 knives, many
rare ones. He then wanted to buy more, a little at a time over the next
few months. He completely wasted our time. So.....we boxed everything
up and sent it off to AG Russel. The funny thing is that for what he
speant on just buying items one or two at a time, after the initial
visit, he could have purchased the whole lot if he had made the offer on
that first day.
Another thing is that after he arrived home after the initial visit, he
said we didn't pack some of the knives in the box that he took with him.
They were knives that he didn't purchase. We refused to send them to
him, since he DID NOT PAY US for them. We extended him some credit at
one time, as well.....he just kept the knives and didn't pay for them.
To make an extremely long story short.....he is a royal pain in the ass
to deal with and he will screw you every chance he gets. It is true
that he's disabled in some way....but I think that the reasons he gave
are laughable. I think it MAY have been in a motor-cycle wreck, but I
don't know for sure. I HAD TO ASK HIM NOT TO CALL ME ANYMORE AT
MARBLE'S BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO CHEAT ME EVERY TIME HE CALLED.
Ok....I've got to stop or I'll go on and on.....
Email me any time....It's good to hear from honest straight shooters who
are active in the knife community.
Jason
-----Original Message-----
From: "Whalen Kevin MSgt 22 CES/CECS" <Kevin.Whalen@amc.af.mil>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 14:20:55 -0500
To: <jason_m_stewart@email.com>
Subject: Do you have any info on Ted Wood?
> Hello Jason,
>
> I am in the middle of a knife transaction that seems to be
going
> downhill fast. It involves a person who goes by the name Ted
Wood. I
> was wondering if you had any insights to this creature. He
has some
> nice Blackjacks that supposedly came from your father's
private
> collection. Every once in a while, he posts them on Ebay with
some high
> reserves and hardly ever sells them. Some are marked
prototype and some
> are very interesting pieces, such as a stag handle Damascus
Mamba. Ted
> claims to have a "storefront" in Clarkston, Michigan.
>
> Anyway, to make a long story short, I returned a rusty,
stained BJ
> Chestnut Hunter to him after he sold it to me telling me that
all of his
> knives were "nice". I returned the knife to him in May of
this year,
> after he promised to "make it right", but no refund has been
sent by
> Ted.
>
> I was just curious if you know of him, or have dealt with him.
My
> impression of him is that he is not he most honest person in
the world.
> He first contacted me pretending to be his wife Lori. If I
had made the
> connection that is was Ted making the deal, I would not have
done
> business with him. I had trouble with him previously on an
item I bid
> and won on Ebay. After the auction, he claimed to have meant
to put a
> reserve on the item and my bid had not met the non-existent
reserve. I
> figured I would let that slide. When I emailed him about
returning the
> knife, he acted like I was the first person to be unhappy with
one of
> his knives. I am finding that to be untrue. I started a
thread on
> Bladeforums asking about Ted and got some more unhappy
customers. Here
> is link if you would like to check it out, you find it
interesting
> reading:
>
>
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1356726#post1
> 356726
>
<
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid56726#post
> 1356726>
>
> I have been in contact with the two other Ebayers that left
negative
> remarks for "knifeman666" (somehow that name fits) and they
are getting
> really mad. Ted's wife replied to one of them and she claims
Ted has
> epilepsy, lost the use of one arm, and one leg in an accident
after he
> got out of the Marines, etc. I about busted a gut at old Ted
claiming
> to teach Sunday school!
>
> Just thought I'd check and see what your feelings on Ted are.
> Personally, I think he is giving knife dealers a bad name. He
is the
> first knife person I have run into to act this way. Since he
apparently
> had dealings with your father and lives in MI, maybe you know
of him and
> can shed some light on his situation. I can't figure out how
he stays
> in business treating people as he does.
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
>
> Kevin Whalen
