marcangel said:
The Al Mar Ospreys were "exclusives". The Schrade Kious I believe was an "exclusive". There have been alot of exclusives that have showed up on the market, particularly on the internet at 2/3 or 1/2 the price you charge. I believe the black pearl William Henry K-22 also showed up as well as the Santa Fe Stone Works Black Pearl Kiwi were billed as limiteds or "exclusives". As for dealers outside the internet, I can't really help there. But Sooner State Knives, Knife Center of the Internet and several other 'netailers have showed up with the goods not long after AGR has. Right now, I can get the black pearl Queen/Burke collaboration for $234, I believe the AGR price is $345.That is just one example. Another exmple that isn't really billed as an exclusive but you would have to be blind not to recognize it is the white handled Kershaw/KAI kitchen and steak knives with the AGR stamp on them. "Unless you buy from a top maker of..." Come on, please don't insult my intelligence. All I have to do is buy from Kershaw, same knife, black handle.
Now I have noticed the "exclusive" part has dropped from your catalog quite a bit these days...but the prices are just not competative with the rest of the market. You need to know that and you need to do something about it.
I'm sorry you felt the wording was strong, but I paid ALOT of money for that set of Ospreys and went to ALOT of trouble to get them since your staff didn't seem to understand the difference between a BILLING address and a SHIPPING address and I had to drive 25 miles at 5:00AM to get those knives before they got shipped BACK to you by UPS because thay wouldn't leave them on my door since my wife and I both work. When they showed up being offered by every Tom, Dick and Harry for 2/3 of what I paid, I was more than a little upset.
One of the first custom knives I bought was ordered through you from my wife for a Christmas present. Now back then I wasn't very knowledgable about the custom knife world. She had ordered 6 months in advance expecting to have it for Christmas. Well, the maker was a little slow, understandable. I got the knife nearly 18 months after the order was placed. Did my wife hear from your company. NOPE. Did I have to call at least 3 times, YEP. Does she order custom knives from your company, the cutting edge anymore? NOPE.
Finally, was I thrilled with the fact that you no longer have an "Authorized AGR" dealer near my home, because of business decisions NOPE. BTW, that dealer was Country Knives in Intercourse, PA, if you want me to name names.
Schrade Kious was not an exclusive and has never been presented that way.
William Henry K22 with Black Pearl was an exclusive. If it showed any place other than with us, both we and William Henry unaware and would like to know where.
The Spyderco Kiwi with Black Pearl is an A. G. Russell exclusive. Our arrangement is with Spyderco, but there is nothing to keep Santa Fe Stoneworks from removing one handle material and replacing it with another, I would expect that to increase rather than reduce the price because of the extra hand work that would require.
Queen's Dan Burke gentleman's knife was never an exclusive and never sold as such. If another retailer is selling it at a lower price that seems to me to be free trade. What is your beef?
What is the issue with our kitchen knives with VG-10 Damascus blades. Yes, Kai Cutlery was the first to introduce this particular steel in this country, but like any material that is new, it is currently being used in many knives by many different companies. We will very soon offer our model A334 and AG510 folders with this blade steel.
Regarding our pricing - we price at a level that allows us to produce a top quality printed catalog, in many cases with information that knife enthusiasts can not find from other sources, provide top notch customer service and the best guarantee in the business. Believe me, we are constantly conscious of pricing. We simply cannot offer most knives that are available from every internet dealer in the U. S. When we find that we can't come close to prevalent internet pricing, we usually simply drop the product from our catalog. Catalogs are very expensive to produce. If we cannot make enough on a product to cover the cost of the catalog space and pay our employees, we simply cannot promote it in a catalog.
I understand your frustration with not having your order show up as you had expected. I recently ordered several pair of boots and ended up having to call the owner of the company to get boots that I could wear. This was after trying three times to get something that would fit. But you know, I knew that if I persevered I would have boots that would wear comfortably for years. Last week, I got the boots and am really satisfied.
Our customer satisfaction guarantee is 100%. If you feel that you were wronged by the Ospreys showing up in other places at a lower price, we would appreciate you letting us know that and let us remedy the situation.
It is true that the internet will allow any body with a problem, real or imagined to do maximum damage to anyone today. It is impossible for a person or firm to defend themselves, only customers who perceive unfairness and overwhelm the attempted damages can prevent real damage being done. God help the poor slubb who has not built up a reserve of customer loyalty. Why would you continue to buy from someone who has wronged you so many times? Why read a catalog that insults your intelligence?
It is not like it was when I was the only knife catalog that there was, I know that you would like a catalog with the best prices, the best pictures, the most information and never failing immediate delivery, and great customer service. Sorry we cannot be that, but three out of five ain't too bad!
A. G.
