The full story on the Sebenza GAW - knives 4ever / james knivelover

knoefz

knoefz

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On December 20th 2013 knives4ever aka james knifelover (jlarabie495@gmail.com) started a GAW for a Sebenza. There was lots of controversy because the pictures he showed in this thread and some more were not his own. The thread eventually got closed a day later by Karda due to all the controversy this caused.

On December 23 knives4ever pulled a winner, my heart skipped a beat because my name popped up! Wow, unreal, a Sebenza, one of those knives I've drooled over for years, never expected to own one. Grail knife! I felt like the luckiest guy on the planet (really!). Several people on the forums were so kind to give me a heads up, time difference between USA an EU made my reaction appear a bit slow for some but I responded in the winner thread on the very same day. No matter the controversy I still had all faith in knives4ever as he kept responding in the thread. Strangely he was no responding to me after presenting myself in the thread... I got ignored by him in the thread. His email was not enabled at the time so I tried contacting him by visitor message on the forum. After Karda gave him a heads up I got an email from James, telling me he'd ship the knife on Thursday (December 26 2013).

After that there was silence. I've e-mailed him several times, with questions about a tracking number... he didn't have one. I mailed him I'm thinking it got lost... vague answer that he'd ask the post office. I had to e-mail him again to know the outcome... they told him the package was pending... whatever that means. (how would they know without a tracking #?) Every time all contact was initiated by me.... I even suggested him to contact his insurance... you'd want that if a $400,- knife got lost right?

No responses after my last mail from January 29 2014, this is what I wrote him:

James,

The lack of communication from your side about this GAW makes me wonder what's going on.
Did you actually ship the knife? Where is the knife now? What actions have you taken?
It's a $400,- knife and you don't seem to be taking any actions at all? That makes me wonder...
I hate to say this but I get the feeling all the sceptics about the GAW on bladeforums were right.

Please prove things otherwise, my faith in people in the knife community is very high,
I'd hate to see this trust damaged. I will be talking about this on the different knife forums out there.

Regards,

Jeroen

No response yet. This is where it ends for my Sebenza happiness.
My patience has come to an end and my faith about this was an honest GAW is gone.

I just wanted to share the whole story as many people have contacted me about the outcome of the GAW.
I've also reported the outcome to Karda who asked me about the GAW yesterday.
Thanks everyone for listening and informing about the outcome. Really appreciated all of your interest!

Note: I've double posted this here after mailing with Karda about this post in the win&cheese forum.
 
If I still owned any of my Sebenza's, I'd likely just toss one in the mail for you. Sold them all, though. Hey...we should each donate money to a "pot" until we reach an amount which is sufficient to buy a nice 2nd hand one for you...assuming you never get yours. I'm not suggesting that you can't buy one for yourself, by the way but, if many of us can afford to spend hundreds (and thousands...and tens of thousands) on knives for ourselves, why can't we set aside $5-$20 for this cause? Guys...let me know if you want to join in the effort or if you have an extra Sebenza to donate to the cause. Wish I did. Meanwhile...if the donor doesn't make this right, get rid of him.
 
Wait, you are telling me Knives4ever is a liar, and should be banned?



Strange.....




I'm really sorry he got your hopes up. Hopefully the mods will finally take action.
 
Well, it just makes him look bad. No surprise by his attitude. Thanks for the update. Keep saving up. You will get there. At least we know the guy was simply looking for attention.
 
Jeroen,
My opinion , and I can't afford a CRK. You reap what you sow. For a Chris Reeves that usually means about $300+ worth of sowing. Only thing I would suggest is you stop wasting good energy on bad.
If the contest was rigged then you never really won. I'd have to gain further knowledge on the issue to give an educated opinion but I'd rather study septic tank design. Smile and move on. Your still as whole as you were.

As far as starting a fund to buy a knife for Jeroen. :thumbdn:




James P
 
Thanks for all support, advise and wondefull offers. You guys Rock.
I'll pass on the septic tank design study, thanks ;)
I've started my own little fund but it never reaches it's intended goal, life gets in the way usually :D

The whole thing makes me feel kind of stupid/naive that I actually believed the guy in the first place.
If something sounds too good to be true it usally is...
 
knoefz said:
Thanks for all support, advise and wondefull offers. You guys Rock.
I'll pass on the septic tank design study, thanks ;)
I've started my own little fund but it never reaches it's intended goal, life gets in the way usually :D

The whole thing makes me feel kind of stupid/naive that I actually believed the guy in the first place.
If something sounds too good to be true it usally is...
Click to expand...
Glad you are taking this so well a new guy offers a sabenza for free then posts a bunch of junk knives hmmm . Hope he gets what's coming to him.
 
Conman/confidence man . They are good at gaining your trust. We have all experienced the affects . Even if we don't know it.
 
JCP1969 said:
lol, or sharp objects
Click to expand...

It's all about balance, really. If I post about having people who spend a "crap ton" of money on their toys donate a small amount each to someone who APPEARS TO have fallen victim to an ALLEGED conman (or whatever title is most appropriate), then someone surely must post a comment making fun of the OP by telling him he was the only one who thought it was a real GAW. Without these opposing forces, the earth would spin violently out of orbit and we would all be flung into an adjacent planet! So...thank you, d!ck...thank you for saving my life without even knowing it ;) !
 
knoefz said:
rub it in ;)
Click to expand...

lol sorry man.

Reminds me of a man I saw on the show Intervention - not only was he addicted to something (I forget now, I think pills but his other addiction was far more interesting) but he talked daily to con artists in Africa, and sent them thousands of dollars over the last year. They would tell him "we have your millions, but we just need $480 to get it out of the bank", and he wanted to believe so badly that he kept on sending money, almost like him sending the money would make it true. I've saw quite a few instances of similar "wishing it true" behaviors - the fact is that if there is no Sebenza, the fact that there was actually a give away will not lead to receiving a Sebenza.

I know you aren't that desperate or naive, and I know that it can make you feel that way when you buy what some people are selling - I was making a joke about the giveaway, but it does pay to carry a vigilant scrutiny with you wherever you go. There was nothing to lose this time, but a more developed scam would have had a target, and confidence is all they need to get you.

Good luck OP, hope you get a Sebenza with your own money soon!

ETA- He was addicted to morphine, and this is one of the craziest TV programs I ever watched. It shows "Mr. George Washington" calling him to get more money, the Nigerian government increased his prize http://vimeo.com/17802175
 
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knoefz said:
On December 20th 2013 knives4ever aka james knifelover (jlarabie495@gmail.com) started a GAW for a Sebenza. There was lots of controversy because the pictures he showed in this thread and some more were not his own. The thread eventually got closed a day later by Karda due to all the controversy this caused.

On December 23 knives4ever pulled a winner, my heart skipped a beat because my name popped up! Wow, unreal, a Sebenza, one of those knives I've drooled over for years, never expected to own one. Grail knife! I felt like the luckiest guy on the planet (really!). Several people on the forums were so kind to give me a heads up, time difference between USA an EU made my reaction appear a bit slow for some but I responded in the winner thread on the very same day. No matter the controversy I still had all faith in knives4ever as he kept responding in the thread. Strangely he was no responding to me after presenting myself in the thread... I got ignored by him in the thread. His email was not enabled at the time so I tried contacting him by visitor message on the forum. After Karda gave him a heads up I got an email from James, telling me he'd ship the knife on Thursday (December 26 2013).

After that there was silence. I've e-mailed him several times, with questions about a tracking number... he didn't have one. I mailed him I'm thinking it got lost... vague answer that he'd ask the post office. I had to e-mail him again to know the outcome... they told him the package was pending... whatever that means. (how would they know without a tracking #?) Every time all contact was initiated by me.... I even suggested him to contact his insurance... you'd want that if a $400,- knife got lost right?

No responses after my last mail from January 29 2014, this is what I wrote him:

James,

The lack of communication from your side about this GAW makes me wonder what's going on.
Did you actually ship the knife? Where is the knife now? What actions have you taken?
It's a $400,- knife and you don't seem to be taking any actions at all? That makes me wonder...
I hate to say this but I get the feeling all the sceptics about the GAW on bladeforums were right.

Please prove things otherwise, my faith in people in the knife community is very high,
I'd hate to see this trust damaged. I will be talking about this on the different knife forums out there.

Regards,

Jeroen

No response yet. This is where it ends for my Sebenza happiness.
My patience has come to an end and my faith about this was an honest GAW is gone.

I just wanted to share the whole story as many people have contacted me about the outcome of the GAW.
I've also reported the outcome to Karda who asked me about the GAW yesterday.
Thanks everyone for listening and informing about the outcome. Really appreciated all of your interest!

Note: I've double posted this here after mailing with Karda about this post in the win&cheese forum.
Click to expand...

...now if you put a line about a dead cat in this story we might of had something... :D
Sorry about your situation. I hosted a GAW few weeks back and myself being a fairly new member did receive a little skepticism about the GAW being legit. Some of that skepticism was a result of your Giveaway experience. I was fortunate enough to have befriended some wonderful people on the forum, long time members whom the community knew and trusted. In my GAW I purchased a knife for the giveaway and sent those members a direct copy of the receipt and tracking number. They, of their own free will, could contact Benchmade and verify the order, etc. And all of this was done prior to the winner being chosen. Before starting the GAW I contacted several moderators explaining my intentions and getting their suggestions on the 'dos and donts' before I ever began. One prevalent theme was "Your GAW, your rules". When Bencmade billed me I sent a copy of the receipt to them as well.
I am an old dog and really know one knows who I am other than what you see written here. Do any of us really know each other? That being said one builds that trust through longevity and honorable behavior. A man's word used to mean something. To me it still very much does. To post a GAW, choose a 'Winner' and then disappear is Despicable and the member should be banned. Hands down. I'm not anybody special but if I say it I mean it. Shouldnt we all be that way?
All one should have to do during any GAW is post the question "Is this real?" and if no other member on that thread or Moderator assigned to that thread comes on to say 'Yes, it is." Then maybe its not.
One thing this experience does suggest is perhaps there should be some set rules for a Blade Forum give away. Like what to do if a minor wins? In my case I rece ived very good advice from Marcinek, Codger 64, Legion 12, jc57, RWS, Esav Benyamin, Kiah, Kardah and Glockman 99. I sought this out myself as I wanted the GAW to be an enjoyable experience for everybody and I didn't want to do anything to take away from the integrity of this forum so naturally I hosted it in Whine & Cheese. Naturally....:D
 
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This is what we term as being malicious behavior. Knives4free will be banned if this does turn out to be a hoax. It more than likely is. Bottom line is that we don't have time for this kind of crap. If he wanted to do a giveaway, that is not a problem, it did not have to be a "Sabenza", it could have been anything. It's not about the item, it's about the feeling of generosity behind it that matters and wanting to give back to a community that discusses knives and other stuff.
 
Very sorry this happened to you, knoefz.

Most all of us knew it was a fake giveaway from the get-go, but some didn't want to believe that. Some even gave us a hard time in the W&C thread for thinking/knowing it was fake.

Again, very sorry this happened to you here. Not sure if it will make you feel any better at all, but he will be banned.
 
Sorry to hear what many suspected was going to happen actually happened. It seems like this, along with the fraudulent entries he submitted in other members' contests would be more than enough justification for banning.

No doubt the mod staff is doing the right thing. :thumbup:
 
Hopefully this bad experience doesn't sour you toward a great place with many many more good people than bad.
As far as chipping in for a replacement, I will respectfully decline, but only because I saved up for many months to purchase my first CRK and enjoy and appreciate it all the more because of it.
 
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