Update: LifeBlade.net (Taylor Swain)

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Medic1210

Medic1210

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Taylor has refunded me the purchase price plus some, so I am updating this status to resolved. At his request, I'm gonna just leave it at that.
 
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Thanks Esav. He hasn't responded to any of my PMs since his last activity on the forum, so we'll see. Not holding my breath though.
 
He was going to make a knife for me as well. We spoke on the phone in early March. He mentioned that he would be starting my knife and that it would take a bit to get it back from HT. I wasn't in a hurry or anything. But yea, he did drop off the map it seems. Is he on any other forums?
 
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Sorry to hear about this. It's especially sad that the mess started for such a silly reason as his inability to follow your directions regarding shipping. I've had a few Exchange deals with military folks here on the forums (one trade, one sale, a purchase or two), and shipping to/from an APO address could hardly have been simpler. And even if one isn't familiar with how to ship to a military address, the recipient is always more than happy to help (as you were in this case).
 
Too bad cuz that little blade is sweet. Never seen a little neck knife like that. I hope everthing works out for you.
 
Yeah, it was sweet. Probably the most unique looking knive I've seen in a long time. I'd much rather have the knife than my money back, so unfortunately, it's not gonna work out for me. My knife is gone, most likely sold at some Haji shop or bazaar in Afghanistan for $4. Oh well.
 
I purchased a kiridashi from him a few months ago. It was in production and took a little while, but I did get it and it is a high quality product. He was in constant communication with me regarding my order.

I am sorry for your troubles. I hope he is alright and comes around to make thins right for you.

Travis
 
Man that is an awesome looking little knife. I hope everything works out. There's no way it could be insured through the post office?
 
That's just it... I have no way of knowing if he insured it, because he isn't answering his phone or responding to my messages. I could have checked the box for an insurance tag, but unfortunately, I chunked the box after seeing it was empty and the note inside from the sorting facility in Bahrain stating it was received there in the current condition. Two and a half months of wondering if I would even receive the knife, followed by relief and anticipation when I saw it had arrived, followed by extreme let down to find it empty. I just didn't think to look for the lable. I knew he had stopped communication already given the number of PM's and emails that had gone unanswered up to that point, so any hope of getting anything was just gone. Oh well. At least it was just $130 and not $1300 lost.
 
Hi Mike,

First off, my sincere appologies if in fact I'm responsible for the loss of your knife. I'm coming into this very late, as the first indication of there being an issue was an email from a fellow forum member letting me know that you'd left me negative feedback.

Due to family obligations, knifemaking has had to take a back seat and I haven't logged in here for several months. I took a look at my account settings and unfortunately it wasn't set up to notify me via email when I'd received a new PM, so I was unaware of the fact that we had a problem.

What's odd is that I haven't received any form of contact from you via the 2 email accounts listed on my website, nor have I received any messages from you via the 2 phone numbers listed there. I've received emails and phone calls from others just fine, so I wonder if there's some issue with your location, my web hosting service, my toll free service provider, or my cell provider. Just seems unlikely that all 3 would be an issue, so I'm not sure what's going on there. Just double checked, and found nothing from PayPal regarding you having issue with our transaction either.

Please allow me to take a look at our PayPal transaction history, our communications leading up to and through your purchase, and I'll reply here shortly.

Again, I'm sorry I'm just responding. I honestly had no idea there was an issue. Regardless of what we figure out, I want you to be happy with your decision to purchase a knife from me, so please rest assured I'm not out to deceive or rip anyone off and will take care of you one way or another.

Sincerely,

Taylor Swain
 
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Mike,

Upon review of our PayPal transaction, and our correspondence, I've found that your knife was indeed sent via Priority Mail International, to the following address…

Michael ******
Fluor / FOB Shank
APO, AE 09364
Afghanistan

...rather than domestically via Priority Mail and the APO address that you specified in our correspondence.

I had someone helping me package and mail shipments at the time and I'm afraid that there may have been a mix-up there. I've shipped to dozens of servicemen deployed abroad and am quite familiar with how the APO address system works. I also agree that you gave clear instructions, I'm just afraid that they weren't followed by my assistant, or that I didn’t ensure that he was clear on the process.

I'm extremely sorry for the concern that the mix up has caused you and that you haven't been able to enjoy the one-of-a-kind knife that you purchased. I would be happy to refund your purchase price on the knife, or make you another, whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Due to current economic conditions, I’ve found it necessary to take on an additional job to support my family, so my time in the shop is limited to about 10 hours a week these days. I have two previous orders that I would need to fulfill before I begin work on a replacement for you, but I’m about to wrap them up and could get started in 2-3 weeks from now, if that time frame works for you.

I’m still puzzled by the fact that I didn’t receive any of your attempts to contact me and am truly sorry that I had no idea you hadn’t received your knife. I know it must have been very frustrating for you.

Just let me know how you would like to proceed and I’ll make it so.

Regards,

Taylor Swain
 
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I understand things happen, and am willing to resolve this issue without anymore negative if possible. Honestly, I'd rather have a knife like the one I purchased than a refund if that's possible. If you're able to do that, then I'd be happier than I would getting my money back. I've waited this long, another month isn't gonna kill me. If it's gonna take 2-3 weeks to get started, then I'll be home by the time it's finished, so we won't need to worry about APO shipments or whatnot. I received your PM requesting all future communications to be in this thread until this is worked out. With that said, I'll post my attempts to contact you via PM here. I do not have the emails, but they're basically carbon copies of the PMs. I have to use a web portal to access my home account, and it does not save outgoing messages. I guess I should have C/C'd myself in the send box, but I didn't. They were sent to your info@lifeblade.net address you have listed on your site. As for phone records, check back around the middle and end of May (the dates of the last two PMs). They would be from an 864 area code, as that's where our VOIP servers are for our phones over here. I called the number on your website, and left a message on the one that actually had a recording a couple times. Here's the PM communication attempts I made. Given the communication now, I will edit my OP as well as thread title if possible to indicate we're working on resolving the issue.

Mike


PM's below

5/3/2011

Re: LifeBlade Half Life purchase
Hey Taylor,

Just checking to see what method you used to ship the knife to me, or if there were any delays with getting it to the post office. Only reason I ask is, I haven't received it yet, and I've already received a knife I ordered from Idaho a week later. Actually received that knife last week. When the package arrived, I figured yours had finally gotten here, so I was pretty surprised to see it was the other knife. Didn't expect that one so quick. Anyway, I'm not sweating it, but was just curious if it shipped USPS priority or some other carrier, or if you had a tracking number for it.

Mike


5/10/2011

Re: LifeBlade Half Life purchase
Hey Taylor,

I know you're a busy guy, but I'm kinda surprised you haven't responded to my last PM. I see you haven't been on the forums since April, but I know all my PM's go to my email, so I'm starting to wonder what's up. I haven't received the knife yet, and while I'm still trying to remain positive, this is the longest any package has taken to arrive in my year and a half over here. As mentioned in my last PM, I purchased a knife from a guy in Idaho a full week after I purchased your knife, and it arrived in less than 10 days. It's going on a month now since I bought the knife from you. Like I said, I'm trying to remain positive, but the lack of communication now is a bit disconcerting. Looking back, I never even received any confirmation of actual shipment, just this message stating the knife is all boxed up and ready to ship. I am curious if there was any delay, or if the knife did in fact go out the following day after payment was made, and also what service was used (USPS Priority, etc...). All I really want is some form of communication from you to let me know I shouldn't be worrying about anything.

Mike


5/20/2011

Re: LifeBlade Half Life purchase

Taylor,

I gotta tell ya, the lack of communication on your part after the sale is disturbing. I've tried sending PM's, emails, and even tried calling you, without any luck. Still haven't received the knife, and it's well over a month since it was supposedly shipped. I went back and checked the paypal notification of shipment, and see that you sent it International Letter. Why would you send it via International mail? Mailing to an APO address is no different than shipping to a US postal address. It's not considered an international shipment. I'm on the fence here, but am very close to filing a dispute with my credit card company, mainly because I've received absolutely zero communication from you since payment was made. I find it odd that during the purchase, your response to PM messages were almost immediate. I know I receive emails when I get a PM on the forum, yet you haven't even logged on since the 24th of April. What's the deal man? I don't want to file a dispute with my card, but your lack of communication or reassurances is making me feel like that's what I need to do. I've never had any international shipments in the past, or shipments to me in Afghanistan to take even half this long to arrive, so I'm thinking something isn't right. Did you insure the package? If so, you need to check on the status and possibly file a claim. All I'm asking for at this point is some sort of communication from you. I don't think you're scamming me, but in the end, I'm still the one that's out the money if this thing never shows. Talk to me man. Don't make me file a dispute with my CC company and give you a bad rating. It's been a couple weeks since I tried contacting you last. I'm giving you one more chance to respond to me before I take action I don't want to take. Let's get this worked out without issues please.

Mike


Editing to add: Given the time zone differences from East Coast to Afghanistan of 8.5 hours, it's time for me to log off for the night, so I won't be able to respond again until later this evening Eastern time.
 
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I'm glad to see that this is heading in the right direction, because that is a cool little knife!
 
Mike,

I appreciate your patience, understanding & willingness to work with me. I will keep you posted on the progress of the replacement knife, so that we can coordinate it's delivery to your stateside address.

Just so we're clear, I wasn't implying that you hadn't made the attempts to contact me, I just find it extremely odd & disconcerting, given that I haven't experienced that with anyone else (to my knowledge).

Lastly, to the 2 gentlemen that made me aware of the situation and to Travis for speaking up for me in this thread, I am eternally greatful. It's stunning to realize that a man's reputation could be in jeopardy and he might not find out about it until it was too late.

Sincerely,

Taylor
 
LifeBlade.net said:
Mike,

I appreciate your patience, understanding & willingness to work with me. I will keep you posted on the progress of the replacement knife, so that we can coordinate it's delivery to your stateside address.

Just so we're clear, I wasn't implying that you hadn't made the attempts to contact me, I just find it extremely odd & disconcerting, given that I haven't experienced that with anyone else (to my knowledge).

Lastly, to the 2 gentlemen that made me aware of the situation and to Travis for speaking up for me in this thread, I am eternally greatful. It's stunning to realize that a man's reputation could be in jeopardy and he might not find out about it until it was too late.

Sincerely,

Taylor
Click to expand...

Thanks Taylor. I'm glad we're finally getting things straightened out. Please understand I wasn't trying to trash your reputation. I had no way of knowing you weren't getting email notifications of PMs here, or apparently not receiving the emails I sent to your website. All I could tell was you just weren't responding to me, which seemed odd given our communications during the sale. Like I mentioned above, I even went so far as to check your local newspapers to see if there was any mention of your name in the obituaries in case the unthinkable had happened. Please keep me updated on the progress with the knife. When it's done, I'll get you my home address for shipment.
 
LifeBlade.net said:
Lastly, to the 2 gentlemen that made me aware of the situation and to Travis for speaking up for me in this thread, I am eternally greatful. It's stunning to realize that a man's reputation could be in jeopardy and he might not find out about it until it was too late.
Click to expand...

Glad it's working out. Look forward to hearing from you.
 
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