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Where in the world is Richard Derespina? Let the buyer beware.

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Apr 23, 2015
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I hate to make my first thread here so negative, but Richard Derespina has left me with no recourse after numerous attempts to communicate with him over the past year have been met only with silence. I am out $895 for knives that he told me would take TWO WEEKS. This was over a year ago. I have heard NOTHING in eight months.

And now the long version:

On 5/20/15, I contacted Richard and told him I'd been looking for a Kris for a while and asked if he could take an order. I didn't think he was, but felt it worth a shot. I also asked about any karambits available. To my surprise, he responded the next day. And I quote...

Richard Derespina said:
Thanks for the inquiry and enthusiasm! Well, you're in luck as I will have a "Roided Kris" done in a couple weeks. As well as a spare Geometer karambit. Grinding my butt off on a large batch of those as well as some other models and happen to have a couple spares. Let me know if you're still interested and we can discuss further.

I couldn't believe my luck! A Kris AND a karambit? I paid him $520 the next day, 5/22/15, for the Roided Kris, and made further inquiries about the Geometer. During this period he was quick to respond to emails, sent me pictures, and was generally very helpful. I had some concerns about the Geometer design, so near the end of one of his emails he added this:

Richard Derespina said:
PS, a Model 1 Karambit free'd up as well. So if you preferred that model for a more traditional hook, the price is the same as the Geo.

I decided I would indeed prefer a Model 1 and paid him on 6/2/15.

Shortly after, communication slowed to a crawl, then stopped completely. Given he had told me both models were already available and would be ready to ship in two weeks, I inquired about progress about two weeks later, on 6/17/15.

He responded same day. In retrospect I think he was quicker to respond during this period because I still had time to file a claim dispute with Paypal.

Richard Derespina said:
No worries, your Roided Kris is almost done, needs a handle but the bevels(which I do first) are stellar! The Model 1 is here with the primary finishing started on the bevels as well, but I ran out of belts! Everything but 400 grit belts so I ordered some last friday and am waiting for them. Will be in touch in about a week or so. Thanks!

Since he failed to get in touch with me during the promised week (or month), I asked for an update on 7/16/15, again on 7/26/15, again on 8/9/15, and again on 9/9/15. No response to all of them

So as you might imagine I was getting pretty nervous at this point. Having been scammed in the past, I recognized scammy behavior, but everyone told me what an upstanding guy he was, so I told myself "he's just busy." Finally on 9/29/15 I sent an email that actually got a response two days later. It seems the key was the subject line: "Requesting refund or status update." His reply, below.

Richard Derespina said:
There are 2 years worth of orders before yours. Yours was a spare. Theirs was owed to them for a long time. Yours is done, but your Kris isn't which is what the hold up is. I will have progress for you this coming week with pictures and shipping info.

I do not cease all communication, I communicate when I have work to show. If up until now I haven't completed your pieces(which I said I hadn't) then I would be wasting both our time just talking to you about your pending order.

I will be in touch end of next week with the progress report as mentioned above.

Thanks for your patience.

By this point I had picked up a definite pattern with Richard. If he doesn't have your money or thinks the money is in jeopardy, he lies and/or makes excuses in order to appease you. If he has your money and there's nothing you can do about it, he doesn't bother communicating. To him, it's a waste of time to spend two minutes sending a status update every couple months. Other knifemakers don't seem to have a problem with this, but Richard does. By the way, I still have not received this progress report that he promised within one week. 35 WEEKS LATER. Nothing.

Oh, he did send out one mass email on 2/11/16. I won't quote it here due to length, but basically he made excuses as to why he can't fulfill orders, and meanwhile urged people to order the next batch of Model 10s. If Richard really is so far behind that a two week project takes him YEARS, then maybe he should stop taking orders and expanding with corporate clients

So I kept inquiring for updates: 10/1/15, 1/10/16, 4/19/16, and 5/23/16. Haven't heard from him since the message quoted above, where he promised me a progress report within one week, which message was sent 16 weeks after the progress report he promised in the second quote. And keep in mind he had told me that both knives were already done WHEN I ORDERED. They were spares, but it appears now that he used my spares to fulfill someone else's order and put me on a waiting list. I did see both a Roided Kris and Model 1 pop up brand new on a well known corporate knife-selling site in the interim, interestingly enough.

In my most recent email I gave Richard fair warning that I would post my experience with him here if he continued to blatantly ignore me. I guess he doesn't care.

Anyway, at this point I have mostly given up on getting either my knives or my money back. This message is a hail-mary that maybe someone can give me an alternate way to get in touch with Richard, or that he will show up to explain himself.

But as I see it, things seem pretty clear. The guy is at best an unprofessional liar, and at worst a selective scammer. I'm leaning towards the latter explanation. I know there are others with outstanding orders from Richard who have heard nothing. Be warned: if your project with Richard involves significant effort (as opposed to say, the Model 10s) and you're not a corporate or long-time customer, he may happily take your money with promises of pie in the sky, only to forget about you altogether. I strongly suspect Richard is lying to select customers about waiting times, then putting those customers on the bottom of his wait list when higher-priority clients come calling. He has lied to me repeatedly--and not small lies, but outlandish ones. Multiple promises of being in touch within a week, and then not hearing from him in ages, or at all.

If Richard shows up with a REALLY GOOD EXPLANATION as to why his two-week project not only has not been completed, but why he hasn't even responded to an email of mine since 10/1, then I will apologize to him. But it better be good.

In the mean time, buyer beware. Personally I wouldn't deal with this man again if you paid me. It is just not worth the headache. I'd rather be mugged for $900 than deal with lies and silence. At least I'd know where I stand.

Thanks to anyone who read this, and if you can get me in contact with Richard please message me.
 
You'll apologize?? Seriously?? The guy lied and scammed you out of a lot of cash and you'll apologize to him?? Couple weeks turns into a year, while he's spending your money and selling knives while ignoring you??
If he does come here it will be to spew more BS and lies to string you along a little longer.
 
I just pulled up a mess of emails dating back to 2007 in which I experienced the same challenges with Derespina. A bunch of excuses and apologies were made, then silence, then more excuses. However, everything was sorted out in weeks, not months, and certainly not years. I believe the only saving grace was that I payed with PayPal and communicated my intent to file a refund claim. It seems as though his business etiquette went from poor to terrible to downright pathetic.

My advice for potential customers - take a hard pass on this vendor.
 
I'm in on this one.
I placed an order with Rich Derespina, with a stated wait time of 1 yr. 50% payment required up front.
I contacted him after about 15-16 months, requesting an update, and every 4-6 months after that. Most of the time, I didn't get a response...when I did, it was BS excuses. Finally, at about the 3 yr mark, he contacted me saying that he planned to work on my knife in the near future. I expressed my displeasure, and stated that if I had been willing to forfeit my payment, I would have cancelled the order long ago. I told him that my financial situation had changed, and it would likely take me some time to come up with the money...and suggested that if he had another buyer, he could sell the knife and refund my payment. Much to my surprise, he agreed - admitting to poor communication and not honoring his commitment. He said it would probably take about a month to get the knife finished and sold. That was 7 months ago, and he has not responded to any of my subsequent emails/messages.
Buyer Beware!
 
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One thing I have learned from my short time on this forum is to NEVER pay a knife maker up front. So many threads like this...
 
One thing I have learned from my short time on this forum is to NEVER pay a knife maker up front. So many threads like this...
Yeah...I learned that about 2.5 yrs ago.
He wasn't the first custom maker I'd dealt with that asked for a deposit... but he was certainly the last that got one.
 
Never pay up front!

No legitimate knife maker takes payment up front. (Unless you order something exceptionally crazy involving rare/expensive materials.)

If a maker can't afford to buy materials, he can't afford to make knives and you need to look elsewhere.
 
I guess that's just a thing with knifemakers. I have paid several hundreds of people online via Paypal upfront, and I have only been scammed before once. Richard only takes payment upfront and unfortunately is the only person who makes a decent Kris that I know of.

Lesson learned, I guess. I just can't believe he's managed to maintain a good reputation acting like this.

Here's the mass email he sent on February 11. Excuses and lies bolded for your amusement.

Richard Derespina said:
Hi All,
This is a long overdue update on the current work load. Some of you are past due and some of you are soon to be due for your knives. Currently I enjoy a lot of popularity. However, as a one man operation and full time Father I am often backed up. Such is the case right now. I have delivered approximately 100 knives since December, yet I have several hundred more to plow through. I deeply appreciate your patience and understanding. Having such great customers is truly humbling as I know how lucky I am.

There was a time when I could more easily respond to each and every one of you individually. Sadly, that is changing and I must start doing more mass emails like this to address everyone equally. I get too many emails from old, current and potential customers every day. This becomes too much communication, typing, etc and that takes me away from work. Taking me away from work, only delays the delivery times further. One of the reasons why on my website I had to specify that ETA's changed based on a myriad of factors.

Without completed knives in hand, I will keep doing these mass emails. When your orders are completed or near completion you will receive communication from me individually. As well as a picture of your knife.

Please continue to be patient and bear with me. I promise to deliver although I am late. As well, no one is forgotten in the hustle and bustle of my work. There are a handful of you that will be addressed ASAP after this email, separately to discuss finalization of your work and any other issues pending.

For those of you who missed out on the first Production run of the Model 10, there will be another run starting this Spring. I am awaiting the delivery estimates now. Initially they were set for mid Spring to early Summer, but this may change plus or minus one month or so. These will again be in D2 steel, with Black and OD G10 handle choices. Black Kydex and teklock belt clips. A great and reasonably priced package. Thanks to those of you who were able to purchase and help sell out the lot. I will be doing another Pre Order list once I have an ETA on the entire run. Watch the Derespina Knives facebook page and my website for updates on the Pre Order list.

Thank you again for your continued patience, you have my utmost gratitude. I hope you've had a great start to the New Year!

Sincerely,
Rich Derespina

Poor guy...how can he be expected to fulfill a contract when he's a full time father? I must be totally unreasonable, expecting occasional updates from someone who owes me $900 after lying to me repeatedly about my knives being spares

I mean, he's SUPER BUSY, so don't you dare try to contact him, but PLEASE BUY MORE MODEL 10s

So on 2/11 he has completed 100 knives since December. So that's about 50 knives a month. Let's estimate one customer per two knives (so 25 customers a month), and suppose generously that each customer emails him as often as I do, i.e., about once a month. Then holy crap, he has to answer ~25 emails from customers EVERY MONTH? How can he expect to do that? Email someone almost every day? I mean, how could anyone ask him that? He's a full time father for God's sake. Plus asbestos and stuff. I don't know, see the website...

Oh, BTW, that ridiculous warning on his website about how inundated he his with everything, where he says an educated customer is my best customer, etc. No refunds whatsoever, blah blah. None of that was there when I ordered, but a lot of things can change in a year I guess.
 
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^^^ Typical. Will block any negative comments and the fanboys will defend him........till they realize they've been had. Then they'll come here.
Sucks
Joe
 
For the record, Richard contacted me on 6/17, telling me my knives had been done (for an unspecified time) but that due to workload and personal problems he hadn't been able to ship. I'm not sure why he couldn't make it to the post office for me during this period, but anyway, he did indeed ship the knives and I received them today.

The Model 1 Karambit is excellent, but he did not make it to the specifications I asked. Perfect angle in reverse grip for jabs (90 degrees to the hand grip). Very sharp. Ring is a little large, but similar to what most karambits have. My only complaint about the knife itself is the ring placement is suboptimal for the extension grip. Maybe a person with very large hands could use it in the extension, but I have to stabilize wrapping my middle finger around the handle. This isn't much of a complaint though--I've yet to find a double edged karambit that can transition properly between reverse grip and extension, and I own quite a few. The Model 1 comes closer than most. However, I asked Richard to grind serrations into the back edge, which he said he would do, and which I have seen him do for this model, but he did not. The edges have no serrations. I still think it's a great knife, but he did not do what he said he would do, and that to me is unacceptable.

The Roided Kris is amazing. It is the only kris I own, so it's a little hard to review. The blade is zero ground, about 6" long, and has 4 inundations/waves per side (counting the final partial wave toward the tip). Width starts at 1.5" at the base and drops about .25" at the peak of each wave. At the last wave the blade is about .5" wide and then rapidly tapers to a sharp tip. The tip is sharp but not quite as sharp as most daggers. I imagine this is because of the nature of the grind, with the waves and whatnot. Top and bottom of the knife are mirror symmetrical, i.e., the knife looks the same from top or bottom, except the orientation of the waves are mirror images of each other (imagine an S and a mirrored S). Because the edges are zero ground, it is scary sharp. I have no complaints regarding the kris. I think a handle with a ring would be interesting, and would probably prefer it that way, but then it wouldn't be a traditional kris. Also, I ordered with a black handle--it looks nice but in retrospect I think the red handle and some of the camo handles look better.

I'm guessing from the timing when Richard contacted me that he got wind of this thread, but he didn't mention it in the email, so it's vaguely possible the timing is coincidental, but I doubt it.

Bottom line--Richard Derespina makes great knives but is beyond terrible with customer service. If you want one of his knives I recommend buying one second hand or from a third party website. I'm unsure if forum rules permit me to mention specific companies, so I'll be indirect--his knives often show up on a large custom knife site formerly based in Arizona, frequently brand new and for the same prices (sometimes less!) he charges customers directly. If I had waited for a Roided Kris and Model 1 to show up there instead of ordering from Richard, I could have acquired both in less time for the same cost. They even had a Damascus Roided Kris for sale at $20 over what I paid for the regular version, brand new.

Only order directly if there's a knife you absolutely must have and can't find anywhere else, AND you're willing to pay up front, AND you're willing to have virtually no communication with the maker during the process, AND you're willing to wait vastly longer than the expected wait time.

Personally I will not buy from him again unless he changes his payment policy.
 
I am currently going through the same thing. The exact same story as you as well. I emailed him 2015 July he said he had an extra of my knife and it would be ready in 3 months. After several delays and me trying to be patient and understanding, I am still without a knife, money nor contact from him. Did you ever get your situation resolved?
 
I don't know whether to feel better or worse after reading this. Different maker, exact same problem, very similar lies and still no knives. I will never pay up front for a knife again!
 
One thing I have learned from my short time on this forum is to NEVER pay a knife maker up front. So many threads like this...

Not all makers are like this, you have to be very careful of the ones that you do pay up front for. A good start is to research the maker, see if he is a bladeforums memeber too. I know a lot of makers that would never act like this and always deliver within the time frame and communicate.

It's a hard choice for a maker, do you risk buying tons of expensive materials and have a customer flake? It's both ways so as a customer please research.

Now this maker is garbage from the multiple threads complaining about him, he displays a pattern of lying and what seems like a Ponzi scheme business.
 
One thing I have learned from my short time on this forum is to NEVER pay a knife maker up front. So many threads like this...

I wouldn't even assume malice, but I've seen it time and time again where makers who are decent folks suddenly get popular, and then all the sudden their books are crazy full, and they can't keep up, and it's just death on them if they were taking money in advance. Almost no smart maker will do this IMHO. There's no knife harder to make than one that's already been paid for and the cash spent. If I ever started selling knives, I'd never take money before I was ready to ship.
 
I just pulled up a mess of emails dating back to 2007 in which I experienced the same challenges with Derespina. A bunch of excuses and apologies were made, then silence, then more excuses. However, everything was sorted out in weeks, not months, and certainly not years. I believe the only saving grace was that I payed with PayPal and communicated my intent to file a refund claim. It seems as though his business etiquette went from poor to terrible to downright pathetic.

My advice for potential customers - take a hard pass on this vendor.

Sounds like to me, he has NO business ettiquette and is a thief!
 
:thumbdn::thumbdn: UPDATE :thumbdn::thumbdn:

After I told Richard about the missing serrations on the Model 1, he told me to ship it back and he would have it fixed in, I believe he said, "about two minutes." But, he was going to be out of town or something so I had to wait a couple weeks to send it in. Ok, whatever. Anyway, I didn't take the "two minutes" literally of course but I thought, okay, maybe I wait another month or so, big deal. He sounded genuinely repentant, like he would make my knife a priority to finish (as it should have been, since he said it was finished on 6/2). So against my better judgment I sent back the Model 1 (at my own expense, by the way) for him to "slap on" the serrations, as he put it. I used tracking and insurance and confirmed receipt on 7/22.

I inquired 8/9 if he had indeed received it as I got no reply. He eventually responded on 8/28 with a picture of a nasty cut on his finger, which was why I hadn't gotten my knife. Hmm. Okay.

Next I get a mass email on 9/26, where he is still complaining about his cut finger, but also now sciatic nerve problems and technical problems with the guy who coats his blades. I haven't heard from him since.

So it's been well over three months since he confirmed receipt of the Model 1, which he mailed to me incomplete one year after paying him, after being told the knife was a spare. Hell, he's probably telling some other sucker right now he's got a spare Model 1 and using mine as photographic proof.

I know there are many others out there he's lied to, some worse than he did me. Some even in this thread. I would urge all of you to spread the word NOT to buy from this guy. He is fundamentally dishonest and quite possibly a selective scammer. Email him, and tell him you are sick of his excuses. Professionals make good on their promises.

Richard Derespina is NOT a professional. Let him know his behavior is UNACCEPTABLE. Hell, we don't accept it when children make lame excuses as to why they haven't done their homework. Why believe or accept the lame excuses of a grown man in his 40s?
 
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