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Bad Dealings With Vinnie Palucci

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I really didn’t want to have to post this here, I have never posted negatively about anyone anymore, but then again, no one has ever treated me poorly before. I want to preface this by saying; I am not without fault here. I told Mr. Palucci that I wanted a knife, and then changed my mind two days later. Does that make me a flake? Probably. Should I have made up my mind before ordering? Definitely. Does that mean that I should listen to threats and insults on Bladeforums and over private email? No. I know nothing about Vinnie except that he told me he does not sell knives for a living. I know nothing about him personally, and I’m not trying to drag his name through the dirt, but I feel the way he does business needs to be known by other potential customers. This is the reference thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=179622

This whole thing started about a week ago when I ordered a Strider Model BT from Vinnie on the 25th of Feb. The next day through browsing the forums I realized that the Strider guys were shipping a bunch of folders before Christmas (which was what I really wanted), and that they would be available. I then emailed Vinnie and asked him if he was getting any folders in; and that I decided that I was going to wait for a folder because I couldn’t afford to spend 300+ dollars twice. Vinnie later replied to me that he was not getting any folders in, so I cancelled the transaction. The knife was not shipped to me, and I had not sent him any money.
This is a complete list of every email I sent to Vinnie, I don’t have a record of the emails he replied to me because AOL refreshed them with more recent e-mails:
********************************************************************
(Begin Email)

Date: 11/25/2001 4:28:41 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Thanks alot Vinnie, I really appreciate you sending me this email. I was actually starting to feel kind of bad about strider knives in general. I have posted several posts over the past few months, and sometimes no one has even answered. I have yet to buy a Strider knife (exception buck strider folder) and was planning on doing so up until no one answered me, I think I'm deffinately interested in the WB. It's alot of money though, I will let you know by the end of the week? I just have to wait until some money clears my account and then calculate if I can afford it. Thanks so much,
Chris


Date: 11/25/2001 4:40:51 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Im interested in either the WB or BT, can you tell me the differences between them? I don't know much about strider knives. is one tip stronger then the other? is there different intended tasks for each one?

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/25/2001 7:04:07 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

hey vinnie, ill take the WB, but can you honor the day after thanksgiving sale to the 2day after thanksgiving sale please? I'm 20 and poor. ?????!!!

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/25/2001 7:15:19 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Deal, and I will take the BT sir.
I will send the $325 out next week.
where shoudl i send the money order to?

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/25/2001 7:19:27 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Oh ****, no way I figured they had a bunch of guys helping them. Well, aren't I a prick then for being demanding. I'm in the Marine Corps. DEP, I leave for MCRD Feb 19th, this is my Christmas present to myself. I got guaranteed combat support, hopefully Assualt Amphibious. Hopefully they will let me carry my BT.

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/26/2001 9:00:10 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Im going to mail your money order for the BT for 325 now.

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/26/2001 11:21:06 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

scratch that, check has not cleared, it will be friday. grr.

Subj: Re: WB
Date: 11/27/2001 10:04:11 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Seitokuken
To: striderknives@att.net

Hey Vinnie,
I just realized that Mick and Duane are shipping quite a few folders before christmas, are you going to be getting any of them in stock? I think I'm going to hold off on the BT, I'm much more interested in the Folders. Do you have any ideas if you will get any in?

(End Email)
*******************************************************************
Four days later I had the chance to visit Triple Aught Design in Oakland, who did have a folder, and I purchased one and then posted so on the Strider forums. (I ended up getting a Strider-Buck folder) After I posted, Vinnie posted some really juvenile, offensive stuff about me. I do quite a bit of trading on Bladeforums, and I’m sure I’ve screwed up a few times, but I think I have a pretty good record here as far as I know. After we exchanged posts on Bladeforums,

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=179622

Vinnie sends me this email:

Chris,
Let me tell you something you little funcking punk. I will conduct business any way I want to. You tell someone something than go back on it makes you a punk. I don't give a **** if you don't appreciate it. Nor do I give a **** that you don't like me threatning you. I've been a Marine for 12 years and I don't have to take any crap from some little kid who can't make his mind up. Keep this attitude with you when you go to boot camp. See how far it gets you there. As far as you going to Recon you can forget about it. Because you are such a ****ing little punk who has does nothing in his life yet you don't understand how samll the community is and how influencenal people can be. The fact that you didn't buy the knife from me was no big deal I could give a ****. It was the fact that you said you were and didn't. I have all of the old e-mails if you would like to read them. I told you to send me your address so I could package your knife. You sent me your address. So I packaged a labeled the knife. Your a little kid who is soon in for an eye opener.

As I said in the beginning, I know nothing about Vinnie, nor do I really care, but I don’t appreciate the way that he treated me. I respect that he is a Marine and does not sell knives for a living; but the word below his name on Bladeforums.com says Dealer. I think he needs to really take a reality check. He is selling knives to customers. Have you ever been treated this way by a vendor? What do you think you would do if you were? I’m sure at the least you would never do business their again. People cancel orders in business transactions; people even return items sometimes. The fact that Vinnie got so bent out of shape and had to call me a “F*cking punk high school kid” because he packaged a knife and then had to un-package a knife because I changed my mind 48 hours later really makes me wonder what his problem is.
In the end, I ‘m aware that my opinion does not add up to a hill of bean here, and I’m not going to waste anymore of everyone’s time talking about this, I think Mr. Palucci’s lack of integrity and immaturity speak enough about him.
 
Maybe Vinnie was having a bad day, but it is my opinion that it is not you, Chris, that acted like a punk in this matter. Threats of that type have no place in any business transaction. Whether it did not go to the sellers liking or not, this was handled exceptionally poorly. I am absolutely flabbergasted by this whole thing.
 
What is it about Strider knives that does this to people? Is it the hardcore bit or...?
Yer both wrong but its done now and hopefully you've both learned something.
 
whys Vinny so angry? is it that difficult to package a knife? I'm sure that DEALERS [as is his status on BF] have ppl cancel orders everyday, is it normal for them to threaten the customer when this happens?
 
I have to comment on this one,Chris I read your post,and your wrong,if I read the OP right you ordered a BT from Vinnie,he answerd all your questions,you ask for a discount becose your only 20 and poor(like thats an excuse!) and he gives it to you,you say your buying the knife,then you say your sending the money,then you say I need some more time ,he get's it ready to ship,then you back out!!!I would have been pissed too!hell the guy went out of his way for you!then you go on the Strider forum and talk about the new knife you bought so Vinnie calls you on it,then you run over here and complain about how He did'ent talk nice to you!please tell me,how He do you wrong?did he cheat you?,did he lie to you?........I thought not,No,you made a deal,he held up his end and you did'ent thats all it comes down to.About 2 mo's ago I bought a WB from Vinnie,great knife,great service,I will order from him again and will recomend him to anyone who asks.You do have alot to learn,here's the first,a Man's word is his bond,
Dean
 
As I did on the Strider forum I am going to do here as well. I owe Vinnie an apology. IMHO he did overreact quite badly to what Chris had done, but I now realize that there was at least some good reasons for Vinnie being angry. If you make a deal with someone, get him to lower his price and give him your word that you are going to go through with the transaction, then that is what you should do. I also realize that if Vinnie could have gotten a folder the deal still would have gone through, but when you make promises you should carry through on them.
 
This is really none of my business either but, that's never stopped me before. I bought a BT from Vinnie a few weeks ago, great service, great communication, I'll buy from him again. IMHO, if you tell a guy your going to buy something, you need to buy it. I myself have impulsively contacted a seller before and then regretted it because I didn't need to spend the money. I went through with the deal anyway because I had given my word and committed to the deal. From Vinnies end of the deal not only has he taken this knife off the market and spent his time packing it up ( probably with your info inside meaning it will have to be repacked for someone else), but he has also had to tell other buyers that this knife was no longer available. This all takes time that most people don't have. Anyone would've been a little pissed.

Martin
 
Here's my take on it. I've had a handful of people behave the way Chris did with Vinnie. That is, I give them LOTS of my time and attention, work with them beyond the call of duty and then they screw me. I, like Vinne get pissed. I, however, just bear it and don't get nasty back. I try to understand that people sometimes flake out for whatever reason (I have). Do they deserve to get chewed out? Sure. Do they deserve to be basically be threatened bodily harm, like Vinnie did? Probably not very "cool" behavior, but that's just the way it goes. If I did something like Chris did I would half-expect to get told off too. Especially if the guy was a Marine. Marines are known to speak their mind and take everything that is an "honor" issue as a personal slight against them. Good for them. I'm glad everyone isn't a cookie-cutter personality. Who knows; maybe this kind of thing will give people more pause to really think about the way their behavior in "business" transactions might behoove them... or get their a$$es kicked.

Chris, I personally don't think you did anything terrible. A little rude and inconsiderate maybe, but nothing to warrant this kind of anger.... from the average person. Just seems you bumped heads with the wrong guy.

Terribilis Est Locus Iste
 
Sorry Chris but I have to go with Vinnie on this one. He went out of his way to do you right and then gave you a discount that he had no obligation to give. Backing out of a deal like that is a violation of your code of honor. Although Vinnie did not express himself well he was trying to point out to you that your code of honor is the most important aspect of your life as a US Marine. Behave like that in the Corps and you will find yourself out on the street with a bad conduct discharge in short order. Keeping your word is serious business both in the Corp and on this forum and from the tone of your post I'd have to say that you have yet to learn this invaluable lesson. Let's hope you don't have to learn it the hard way in the future when the price to pay may be a lot higher than harsh words.
 
I think Vinnie went overboard - but this seems a common form of communication via email when deals go wrong. Frustration seems to be amplified on email because you can't use your voice or facial expression to get your point across.

But I appreciate Vinnie's basic point - If I was selling for a living, I wouldn't really want to waste time with a waffler either. In my profession, we do a lot of "pro bono" consulting, but usually, the reward for getting a job can be very high. I presume the margins on knives is small, especially so at the lower discount such as was offered. Therefore, make up your mind and don't waste people's time.
 
Vinnie. My MFS that my Son bought for me arrived today. One of the smoothest transactions I have had in the knife-world. You are a PROFESSIONAL...Thanks for your Business card...I WILL NEED IT!!!!!be safe....wolf
 
My SON wanted that knife. But it was "sold" to Chris. Vinnie in GOOD FAITH did NOT sell it from under Chris. Instead, he lost two sales. That BT could have had my Son's name on it, the MO in Vinnies hand within one day, and the knife in MY hands ( screw my kid!!!)within a week. That may be WHY Vinnie is upset,LOOK on the thread in the STRIDER Forum. Vinnie was almost "frantic" trying to contact me. But Chris JUMPED on the knife, and I came in second.....wolf
 
Alas, every episode of The Days of our Knives must end, sooner or later -- but stay tuned, folks, another all-new episode will be coming your way before you know it -- for these are The Days of our Knives.
 
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