"TyFrameLock" a dishonorable seller... Caveat Emptor

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http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/852128-s90v-Acies-Sold!?p=9646845#post9646845

I bought an AG Russell Acies from TyFrameLock (Tyler _____ , don’t know his last name). He had Reese Weiland (a very good guy to work with) make an S90V blade for the Acies. Once Tyler received the knife back from Reese, he decided to sell it (see thread). He indicated it was because he decided he liked smaller folders.

When I asked about the lockup before the sale, Tyler indicated “I would say that it is equal to the tension of a sebenza but not as firm as an umnumzaan.”

When received, the knife had two problems:
1) The thumb stud was not centered laterally (too little exposed for right hander, too much thumb stud exposed on other side), was asymmetrical, and was not oriented so the flat side of the angled thumb stud was facing a right-handers thumb orthogonally when opening. Reese confirmed the thumbstud is press-fit, and that it would not be simple for the typical knife owner to re-center without a press. I own a stock Acies, so know the thumb stud on this customized knife was not oriented as per a stock knife, and was not oriented properly. This is something the seller should have easily noticed, and should have sent back to Reese to remedy. As-is, the current configuration of the thumb stud doesn’t allow the user’s thumb to hit a flat thumb stud ramp, it hits the peak of the stud, which is sharp. It simply isn’t right per a stock knife.
2) The lockup wasn't right. Unclear if this is from a flat spot on stop pin from flicking it open, or something that Reese needs to adjust. TyFrameLock specified to Reese that he wanted an "early lockup", which required Reese to make a slightly oversized (larger diameter) stop pin. The knife locked up a bit early (60% of frame lock bar behind the tang), but could be pressed over to be fully behind tang with some thumb pressure, but this locked the frame-lock so tightly that you couldn't unlock with one hand. Just simply not set up right.

These are all details, but they are issues that a conscientious and reputable seller would not pass on to a buyer.

I told TyFrameLock, within a day or two of receipt, that he should not consider this a "done deal" until I had a chance to talk to Reese Weiland about the fixes and costs. The PROBLEM was TyFrameLock denied that there could possibly be any problem with the thumbstud (full-on denial, it was, to paraphrase, just not possible that there could be a problem, since he didn't notice it, therefore it couldn't possibly be...), and kind of told me to FO and that the lockup was what it was. He refused the possibility of refunding my money… and in fact, eventually he said that “the funds had already been re-allocated” to some other purpose, and after a bunch of back-and-forth emails, he offered a $30 discount, on a $430 knife, for me to just go away. Well, this isn't the sort of honorable behavior I expect from any seller, much less a seller of a more than $100 knife on BF. Every indication in his communication told me that I’d be a fool to send the knife back to the guy and “hope” for a refund of the purchase price. Not even close. He suggested I just turn around and sell it on BF since there were numerous bites on BF after I offered to buy, and that I could "even make a few bucks" by re-selling. So he passed the problems to me and suggested that I now become the seller of ill repute. Truly unethical behavior for a seller.

Now, the reason I post this is just as a Caveat Emptor for future buyers. I only post this after confirming what a reasonable and cool guy Reese Weiland is to talk to and deal with. He was m-ore than happy to suggest that I send the knife to him and we'd make it right, no cost. That's super. Kudos to Reese for being a totally reasonable guy to work with. Unlike TyFrameLock.

I therefore punt on TyFrameLock, and suggest that you consider this post before you do a deal with him. I'll handle the knife fixes with Reese myself, end up with a suitable usin’ knife, and a good relationship with a maker (who I just now bought ANOTHER knife from)... and TyFrameLock can ... uh ... enjoy his status as a dishonorable seller in my book. Food for your thought. You are only as good as your last deal. Tyler clearly punted, and so I’ll punt on Tyler.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/852128-s90v-Acies-Sold!?p=9646845#post9646845
 
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Sorry to hear that, Rob. I bought a Manix from you a while back, and you're definitely someone who goes out of his way to describe the condition of a knife as accurately as possible. It's too bad TyFrameLock isn't similarly ethical in his dealings on the Exchange.

Thanks for the warning -- I'll definitely be avoiding this guy.
 
Bottom line; he found stuff he didn't like within a reasonable inspection period. The buyer is entitled to a reasonable inspection of the knife.
 
Actually, I never suggested the blade was off centered, and although the original thread indicated it was off-centered, it's not enough to be an issue. I have the knife in hand as I type. The blade is very close to being centered. The issue is with the thumb stud, which is both off-center and is not oriented properly (rotationally, like the hands on a clock). The flat of the thumb stud is at e.g. 6'oclock when it should be at about 8'oclock like the stock Acies. It makes a significant difference in the way the knife feels on opening. And the 2nd issue is with lockup as I indicated.
 
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I feel that I clearly depicted the condition and the only defect with the knife which was an off centered blade.

I do not feel that I was dishonest,

I feel that Rob conjured up this centering issue because of his disapproval of the early lockup which was discussed with about.

In the end I believe these "issues" disappeared, because they were not issues to begin with.

You were trying diversion with this quote. In fact, blade centering was never my issue. An improperly oriented, press-fit thumb stud and improper lockup were the issues... and my first response to the seller was that I needed time to see if the issues could be worked through with the knife's modifier, Reese Weiland, before we considered this a done deal. I do now in fact have that plan together, and so on my nickel, I'll ship the knife to and from Reese (who has been great to talk and work with) and get it "right" so I can have a good quality usin' knife, and one that, should I choose to sell it in the future, I do so in good conscience as a quality user that served me well. (I'm mostly harvesting TyFrameLock's quotes here for posterity so the old "late editing game" isn't played with his retaliation.)
 
this was a bad case, and I fell into a slump and was just assuming that the deal would be fine, so I made an *ss out of myself because I assumed.

In all future deals I WILL be stating my terms, of more than likely a 24-48hour inspection period no questions asked return policy, in-lieu of an insured returned package with everything intact.....

lesson learned the hard way this time.

I do not feel that I should have been drug through the mud though...

Click. Harvest. Store for posterity.
 
You were trying diversion with this quote. In fact, blade centering was never my issue. An improperly oriented, press-fit thumb stud and improper lockup were the issues... and my first response to the seller was that I needed time to see if the issues could be worked through with the knife's modifier, Reese Weiland, before we considered this a done deal. I do now in fact have that plan together, and so on my nickel, I'll ship the knife to and from Reese (who has been great to talk and work with) and get it "right" so I can have a good quality usin' knife, and one that, should I choose to sell it in the future, I do so in good conscience as a quality user that served me well. (I'm mostly harvesting TyFrameLock's quotes here for posterity so the old "late editing game" isn't played with his retaliation.)

Ok, so I'm confused. The knife was modified by Mr.Weiland. It was done improperly. Mr. Weiland has offered to make it "right". You are going to pay the shipping both ways. Something doesn't seem "right" about that.
 
sounds to me like seller should pay for the shipping back and forth to Reese or give full refund
 
Umm... $30 would probably cover the shipping costs, right? Why didn't you take him up on that offer? His pictures -do- show the thumb stud pretty clearly in the pictures. You're saying the deal wasn't done until Reese agreed to fix the knife. He did that. The seller offered you enough of a refund to cover the shipping costs (and more, probably). Why could this have not been handled in private? Did the seller stop responding to you? Was it right for the seller to spend the money before you confirmed that you were happy? No. But, it still seems like the problem was resolved to your specifications.
 
Umm... $30 would probably cover the shipping costs, right? Why didn't you take him up on that offer? His pictures -do- show the thumb stud pretty clearly in the pictures. You're saying the deal wasn't done until Reese agreed to fix the knife. He did that. The seller offered you enough of a refund to cover the shipping costs (and more, probably). Why could this have not been handled in private? Did the seller stop responding to you? Was it right for the seller to spend the money before you confirmed that you were happy? No. But, it still seems like the problem was resolved to your specifications.

I've bought and sold a lot of knives on BF and elsewhere, and it's very rare I've asked a dealer or a forumite for a refund (I can think a a couple instances in a decade, all dealers)... and I've very rarely been asked for one myself (I can't recall one it's been so long). But the deal is, I KNOW how I'll respond... if the buyer has any sort of beef, it's just not worth the postage and insurance for any questioning of my integrity.

Based on the seller's response, I assessed my odds of a full refund as approaching zero (he told me early that "Funds re-allocated, refund not possible".) This was totally unreasonable, as apparently TyFrameLock doesn't have the funds to back up his actions, or they got spent and QUICKLY and without backup resources, and so I trusted that he'd follow through on NOT refunding my money. He put an approximate 24 hour deadline on the $30 (!) refund offer on a $430 knife. So I called Reese, within that time frame, to see if Reese and I could work out the knife-fix-it deal, since the seller was belly up. And for a $30 refund, he'd say "he got his revised deal, I'm done".

There are always second-guessers and armchair analysts. You are missing the point. You might've taken the $30. Your choice. Not mine in this case. I'd rather expose an unscrupulous seller than argue about $30. My time is too valuable to me. YMMV. You can search on "PachaasPaissa" to confirm I don't take dishonesty lightly.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...nd-Moses-amose001-ucr.edu-amoses007-gmail.com

You can take my caveat emptor warning or leave it. Personally, I wouldn't deal with TyFrameLock ever again, as he was quick and resolute in his poor sense of fairness. Your methods might vary. Let the buyer beware. You've been warned.
 
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Thanks for posting this, Rob.
TyFrameLock, none of your actions here reflect well on you, especially starting the retaliatory negative thread on Rob and then locking it down when all the responses agreed that what you did was wrong (with a parting comment about how you're "looking into" whether or not Rob even contacted Reese, an obvious suggestion that Rob's lying, and a total dick move).
 
I'm guessing TyFrameLock won't have the courage to respond here and dig the dark hole even deeper ... as not only did I contact Reese and discuss various options for the Acies fixes, which I'll follow through on... but in fact I also bought an RJ Martin Japanese Tanto from Reese (he was selling for another person) in the process of our discussions... not exactly the stuff of fabrication. TyFrameLock is showing signs of desperation and disbelief. Another character flaw. TyFrameLock's failure to post here that he did talk to Reese and that I did discuss various Acies fix options will be indirect proof in itself.


Martin RJ Tanto from Reese Weiland by rdangerer, on Flickr
 
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I also thought that negative feedback could /should only be left if either a seller or trader never mailed a knife.Or if payment was never sent for a product.

It appears to me that TyFrameLock left negative feedback out of spite(isn't that against BF policy??).You should definitely have it re-moved.

There was no money lost for the seller, in fact he came out quite nice in the deal,,as you are the one who is left with mailing your knife in for repairs.

That is VERY uncool and a very sleazy manuever by Ty in my book.
 
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Agreed. I'll ask Spark to review the posts and see if he'll see fit to remove the retaliatory negative feedback (I think he is the only super-user who can do so...).

But until then... a bit more rope...
 
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