VALIANT = THIEVES! Do not purchase!

fishface5

fishface5

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Well two emails have gone ignored - I paid in mid-December for a XL survival Golok after reading so many good reviews; I never thought to check GB&U since so many people had purchased from them, but I guess that was a while ago. As of now they are a tak-your-money-and-run operation.

Since it was coming from Australia I didn't panic after not hearing anything for 30 days, but by then apparently it was too late to challenge the payment made via paypal. So I'm out $100 AUD. Same old story we've seen with some knifemakers who make a great product, but once it's popular they take the $ without bothering to send the product in return.:jerkit: :jerkit: $100 AUD seems a cheap price for one''s integrity.

UPDATE - got the blade almost exactly 4 months after paying & no communication. It is indeed very nice. But I think anyone wishing to purchase off the website should try emailing them first so you don't go through the annoyance I did. Valiant aren't thieves, I'm truly relieved to say. But they certainly did piss me off. Nice knife tho!
 
It may not be a "Thieves" issue yet. Last winter (2006) I purchased a Golok. After 2 1/2 months, no emails.., I made a thread here about my problem. Didn't call it as a "theft", just said there was a problem.

Valiant emailed a bunch of people have the same problem, that his father was dying..., and I did finally got my knife after four months.

The ARE nice knives; quite reasonable purchase for the knife.

You'll probably get your knife, but it does seem to take a long time.
 
Thanks for the info. I do hope that's the case, but on the other hand an excuse made several months ago wouldn't seem to still apply. I think I also read they were blaming delays, months ago, on email/computer problems. Seems to me if you're running a business there's a responsibility to get things on track after several months. Reminds me of Newt, or Alan Blade, or any of the numerous problem makers who come up with a litany of excuses one after the other . . . hopefully I'm wrong but time will tell. Like I say, it's a mighty cheap price to sell out one's integrity for.
 
I'm not going to minimize your experience, but I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb in telling you that I think you'll get your knife.

Valiant has a tenous supply chain, going to way out of the country and relying a couple of guys to make things happen. I know knives are being held up in Australian customs, and the knifemaker supplying Valiant hasn't been able to provide anything going on 3 months now because of computer and personal problems.

I'm convinced things will work out. I have been part of a large special order since Sept. '06 anyway, and am still waiting. In that case though Valiant Company agreed to supply the knives without a penny coming from us up front, taking a bunch of us at our word that we would pay.

The person being hurt the most by all this is Bill at Valiant.

I'm with you on your frustration, but hang in there. I don't think you'll get shafted.

Best,

Norm
 
You would think that Valiant would stop taking peoples money until they had a guarantied supply of knives that they could deliver.
 
have you tried calling Wandi? I've bought twice from Valiantco - always pleasant experiences.
 
I'll have to call - but still it would be nice to get a response to my emails, even if there is a supply problem that doesn't explain failing to respond to a paying customer's emails . . . .
 
Wandi is apparently having issues with his internet provider and since he is under contract with them he is not able to go with another provider. His contract is up in June. The only reliable way to contact him is by phone. Remember email is not a reliable communication source under normal circumstances. Also Australia's red alert on terrorism is holding up his knife shipments.

That said I would only order another Valiant blade from Bill the Valiant USA dealer. He will not take payment before he has the blade in stock so he takes all the risk.
 
Well, I received an email with a request for shipping charges which apparently their website didn't add? Strange. Anyway, the email listed my order and says

"We truly apologise for the long delay in processing your order (any orders placed in between mid October 2006 – late February 2007). We had quite some problems with our computer system and internet connection. We really stuffed up with these ongoing and neverending problems that we finally decided to have a break (January – February 2007). We just got back to business a few weeks ago and started rescheduling a few hundred orders (however we just got our internet connection back 3-4 days ago!!!). We sincerely thank for your patience and kind understanding!"

So, hopefully I will be seeing my golok soon!! That would be a huge relief, it's surprisingly and wonderfully rare to have a bad experience in the knife community.
 
Amazing! How does a web based company stay in business if they lose their internet connection for 5 months? A company like that should not take people's money until they can provide the product.

Hopefully you will have your knife in the not too distant future.
 
If they lost their connection they may not have been able to get to the site and get it to stop taking orders. It's all on auto.
 
The multi-month thing last year had the same end..., the company emailed me to add the shipping cost from me.
 
I thought this may help when purchasing a Valiant blade.

I had just bought a medium Survival Golok, and the next day Valiant emailed me to pay for the shipping.

I emailed Suwandi WD. that it would be WAY easier to pay for the shipping at the same time as paying for the knife. Suwandi said:

"Dear Sir,
Thanks for the S/I payment.
Oh yes, we agree w/ you, it is way easier to pay the S/I at check-out ... however, Paypal only have percentage and quantity based shipping calculator (we do it based on 'actual' weight per item/s)
If we want to charge our customer with far more than what they should pay, this is the way to go.
Unfortunately we're way too honest and don't want to take this opportunity to gain more margin and that's wahy we do it the hard way.
Hope this info is helpfull.
All the best,
1D."

I did finally figured out how to pay for the shipping :rolleyes:
 
I paid the shipping via paypal on March 22. Today, 4/1, I received an email saying it's finally been shipped today and should arrive in about 3 weeks. Here's hoping. That would make it only 4 months since I originally paid for it. Meanwhile I bought another blade to do the same job, that should arrive tomorrow (1 week after paying). Unless the golok is a whole lot better I'll be selling it just because the buying experience was so unpleasant. But at any rate I look forward to being able to retract my statement that Valiant = thieves. It's not an accusation I enjoyed making.
 
Hey Fishface, out of curiosity what did you get to replace the valiant? I've been trying to get a bark river golok but it's impossible to find one.
 
I got a Banshee cutting sword from KultofAthena.com, and it is indeed cool. But it's a short samurai-style sword, two-handed length handle, not so much a utility blade just fun. However today I just received the golok, and it is a gorgeous wicked-sharp tool. It's a piece of art that I would probably take over the Banshee for most tasks, including the most important: killing zombies. :D .
 
The Banshee is actually a modern interpretation of a dha style blade, not a katana. Just saying.
shrug.gif


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dha_(sword)
 
Look man, my criteria for short swords are simple - "is they good for zombie-killin'?" Beyond such practical concerns my ignorance of swordliness (hat tip to Colbert) is boundless . . .
 
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