Beware Glenn Stokes!

[Triton]

This post is a warning to any other forumite out there who is considering or may consider buying something from an Australian smith named Glenn Stokes. Last December I contacted Glenn about having a sword made. We worked out a deal and I sent a deposit. (Fortunately a rather small deposit.) Glenn was to have the sword completed by April 1st at the latest although he said that it would probably more likely be done by the end of February. Today is April 16th and I have no sword. To make matters worse I have had absolutely no contact with Glenn since right after I sent the deposit. I have had contact with two others who are in the same boat with respect to this guy. I would say that Glenn Stokes is unreliable to an extreme degree. I would suggest that you save your money and buy from a more reputable maker elsewhere.

 

[Kumdo]

When you say that you've had no contact with him, do you mean you've tried calling or emailing and he hasn't responded? I know that sword/knife makers often get behind, but it's very uncool to not let your clients know where you stand. If he's going to be late, you should have gotten a formal apology and a new ETA of when the sword should be ready.

Hopefully he's just gotten backlogged and you'll be seeing your sword soon. Maybe he'll try to "make it right" by giving you a discount on the sword (if I were you'd, letters voicing my unhappiness with his service would be in the mail by now!). Good luck!



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John Gonzalez
Exclusive Dealer
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works

 

[Triton]

Not only have I tried emailing and posting to a forum that he frequented I have talked to a person "on the ground" there in Australia who has talked to him with still no results. I appreciate your good wishes.

At this point even if he offered to give me a discount I don't trust him enough to send the rest of the money. Some other people have paid him and full and they are the ones I truly feel sorry for.

[This message has been edited by Triton (edited 04-16-2001).]

 

[Jerry Hossom]

Certainly I can't speak to why he is not responding to emails, but 2 weeks late on a custom is not really that bad. Unfortunately, I'm running even further behind, but then I don't accept deposits so the risk and loss are all mine.

He should answer emails though.

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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
The New Tom & Jerry Show

 

[Triton]

Granted two weeks isn't that bad (and it is a pathetic state of affairs when we are just willing to blow off two weeks on a several hundred dollar contract) but this joker hasn't made any contact with any of his customers that anyone knows of in almost 5 months. Additionally there are people ahead of me in line who have paid in full and have waited almost a year for delivery at this point. It's a real shame I didn't know about that ahead of time. I'm going to do my best to insure that no one else makes the same mistake.