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please
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
What is your favorite site to get stropping materials?
- Thread starter iambored388
- Start date
David Martin
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There are some real problems with Hand America . The thread is here in this forum .
Sharpeningsupplies.com is good, e-mail John . DM
Sharpeningsupplies.com is good, e-mail John . DM
Brian_T
Gold Member
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There is nothing wrong with HandAmerican.. Keith is great to deal with!!
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Vintage Bldes LLC sells stropping supplies, including Hand American products.
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I agree, Sharpening Supplies is my favorite, prices are always fair and they're very helpful whenever I've called.
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If you're on a budget and can't spring for a strop right away, denim is a decent substitute.
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No shipping outside the U.S., though.Strange for a business.
Not as strange as you might imagine. I run into this every time I want to order something from the US.
Amazon.com states right under the item number it it won't ship a certain item to Japan. (There are quite a lot! You only see this note if you are logged in to Amazon FROM Japan) Most often it is because of international sales agreements. SonyUSA products can't ship to Japan, but SonyCanada products can, etc., Often small companies don't want to get involved in international customs duties problems their customers might face. Most of us 'Merkins never realize these restrictions. And I find 99% of the restricting companies are American. I have never once had any difficulty getting goods shipped in from other countries. I often have to pay import taxes, but usually nothing outrageous.
Often, too, when ordering over the Internet we get no real idea of the actual size of the business we are dealing with. They may have a 50-page beautiful web-site, but actually only exist as a desk in some guy's home office. He only orders in what a customer has asked to be shipped out. He's afraid of shipping out of the US because he thinks he may get ripped off!
When the company that I wish to order from states up front that it doesn't ship outside the US, I have them send to a US mail forwarder I maintain. No problems with that at all. :thumbup:
If the company does NOT say this until after I've filled out my order, entered in all required information, etc., etc., etc. THEN discover they won't ship outside...
I find a different company to use. That's as bad as waiting a month and a half for an in-stock order to arrive when you know it should only take a week at the most.The real beauty of the Internet is that now we have a LOT of choices where to make our purchases and no longer need to put up with ANY service inconveniences. Not ANY! :grumpy:
Stitchawl
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- Feb 16, 2006
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yeah if u don't mind waiting......and waiting.......and waiting........ohh did i mention waiting..........i get my stuff from japaneseknifesharpening.com ....get all my stones....felt and diamond from there....ryan
You should have mentioned 'waiting.'
I've said it before and I'll say it again; HandAmerican has great products but ridiculously poor and inconsistent service. And this problem is not something new. I got the same excuses from him 15 years ago that he is using today. Exactly the same. If you are lucky, you get your goods in a week. But only 1 person out of 50 is lucky. The rest wait months and months. He does give away a lot of free trinkets to try to make up for his poor delivery, but...
And as I've also said before; The real beauty of the Internet is that now we have a LOT of choices where to make our purchases and no longer need to put up with ANY service inconveniences. Not ANY!
Stitchawl
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- Mar 8, 2010
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I can't tell just who you are by your screen name, but it seems as though you must have had a bad experience with my company at some point.
You state that I've made excuses to you over a period of 15 years.
I wonder if you might enlighten me, and others reading this just when these incidents may have occurred.
As far as your 1 in 50 ratio is concerned our records show quite a different story.
Not to say that there hasn't been an occasional late shipment. I don't ship garbage quickly. 90 percent of our products are hand made, hand finished, and hand mixed in my shop and this take time.
I have never advertised, all of my business comes via word of mouth. I don't shill on forums either.
It does happen that a customer will be quite pleased with a product of ours and relates that information to others. This is not something that I can anticipate and it often happens that a product that we may sell five of a week is suddenly in huge demand. That does cause delays at times.
I rarely get involved in this type of post. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished and would ask that you consider a more respectful tone when discussing my company and products.
If you have a legitimate complaint or issue with me contact me and I'll be happy to review the details.
Keith De'Grau
You state that I've made excuses to you over a period of 15 years.
I wonder if you might enlighten me, and others reading this just when these incidents may have occurred.
As far as your 1 in 50 ratio is concerned our records show quite a different story.
Not to say that there hasn't been an occasional late shipment. I don't ship garbage quickly. 90 percent of our products are hand made, hand finished, and hand mixed in my shop and this take time.
I have never advertised, all of my business comes via word of mouth. I don't shill on forums either.
It does happen that a customer will be quite pleased with a product of ours and relates that information to others. This is not something that I can anticipate and it often happens that a product that we may sell five of a week is suddenly in huge demand. That does cause delays at times.
I rarely get involved in this type of post. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished and would ask that you consider a more respectful tone when discussing my company and products.
If you have a legitimate complaint or issue with me contact me and I'll be happy to review the details.
Keith De'Grau
Several bad experiences, over a several year period.
But let me reiterate, as I have said in every one of my posts; your products are excellent. No question about that. Top notch. It's your shipping that is appalling. Absolutely inexcusable!
Sorry I can't give you the exact dates, but it began back when you were selling double sided strops mounted on Corian plates that fit into a well-made Corian base if that gives you a frame of reference. You've long since changed to a different design. I'm guessing but it's between 10-15 years ago when I placed my first order with you. That order took almost two months to reach me. I sent so many e-mails that went un-answered I finally had to phone you. You explained you were having difficulty with your web site, and some difficulties with your manufacturers, so I waited. And waited. And waited. You were the only one selling the sort of products I was trying to purchase. So I waited. Eventually everything arrived, and you included one or two 'extras' to make up for the wait. It was a long time ago, and shipped to the East Coast.
If it's even a ratio of 1 in 3 it is unacceptable in today's marketplace. Judging by the large number of posters in BF's threads about your company complaining about poor shipping, I have to believe that the ratio is much greater. This is just a small sampling and the numbers of displeased shoppers is greater than the number of happy ones. Not displeased with the products. Displeased with your management of the order.
Yes... This is the very same excuse you made to me during my first order to you. (You left out 'fixing problems with your web site.) You made these same excuses to me when I placed my next order with you a year or two later. Exactly the same excuses as other poster in these threads tell us you gave them. You made them yet again, exactly the same, on my last order to you a few years ago. You made them to other posters in this thread so I have to think that nothing has changed over this 15? year period, right?
I waited a few more years and looked at your web site again. By this time you had switched to magnetic based single strops and a lighter Corian base. You also added quite a few different types of leathers to your strops so I thought I'd give these a try. Heck, by then you must have solved you web-site problems, right. Wrong. Again... several weeks and no deliveries. Unanswered e-mails until I phoned. That's when you 'explained' that you were having web-site problems and difficulties with your manufacturers. As usual. Eventually I did receive my order, along with the anticipated 'free extra' to make me feel better. I have to tell you... although it's a very nice gesture on your part, it didn't make me feel better. It made me feel 'used and paid for.'
As well they should! Your products are some of the best available. I've never said otherwise. I still use them, still endorse them, still appreciate their quality. And I tell that to ANYONE who asks me about the quality of HandAmerican products. HandAmerican 'could become' the number one dealer for this sort of product. But not with you as its business manager. Your products are great. Your order management is horrendous. And these days these same products are available from other companies who ship in a timely fashion. I buy from them now, and recommend other do the same until you fix your shipping and web-site problems.
Nothing personal here... I wouldn't be any better at it than you. Perhaps even worse. But if you want a successful company, then hire someone who can run it properly. I don't do taxes. I hire an accountant. I don't do computer programing. I hire an IT specialist. I don't hire and fire employees. I hire a personnel manager. If you want HandAmerican to flourish, as well it should with the products it carries, hire a manager. When you get your shipping to equal your products, I'll be the first to sing your praises from the rooftops.
Remember this, if nothing else; 'there are no excuses.' It's the first thing a military cadet learns at the Point. It's the first thing you learn in any good MBA university program. It's the first thing we should be teaching our kids. There are NO excuses.
I hope this gives you a better idea of the difficulties.
Stitchawl
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2010
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- 77
You're welcome. Your products are very good. It's your excuses and shipping that are objectionable.
Well... if you re-read what I wrote, I said 'it began' with my first order that was 10-15 years ago. My second order to you was a few years after that. My third order to you a few years after the second order. My fourth and final order a few years after that one. So, I'm not angry at some 'thing' that happened (actually, I'm not angry at all. I don't have the problem any more. I order from other sources.) I'm discussing a long term series of events that began 10-15 years ago, and according to many posters here are still occurring during this past 30 days! Same delays and same excuses.
Denial is NOT a river in Egypt.
Thank you for your offer, but there is nothing that "I" need to work out. I've solved my ordering problems. When I order something these days I get it within a reasonable time or have immediate communication from my vendor. A consumer needs no more than that.
I wish you good luck with your company.
Stitchawl
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- 77
Thanks for the best wishes there Stitchy - sounds like you're ready to move on.
Just remember, all that I asked was your name. I would certainly have looked into any issue that you may have had with my company and done my best to remedy the situation.
Keith De'Grau
Thank you for your offer, but there is nothing that "I" need to work out. I've solved my ordering problems. When I order something these days I get it within a reasonable time or have immediate communication from my vendor. A consumer needs no more than that.
I wish you good luck with your company.
Stitchawl[/QUOTE]
Just remember, all that I asked was your name. I would certainly have looked into any issue that you may have had with my company and done my best to remedy the situation.
Keith De'Grau
Thank you for your offer, but there is nothing that "I" need to work out. I've solved my ordering problems. When I order something these days I get it within a reasonable time or have immediate communication from my vendor. A consumer needs no more than that.
I wish you good luck with your company.
Stitchawl[/QUOTE]