Closing Forum

C

Christina Montero

Joined
Sep 15, 2000
Messages
22
As soon as possible we are closing this forum. I can see nothing-positive coming from this venture. The last straw was being threatened with out cause or reason. By a person that feels that he should threaten and make noise rather than ask for customer service. As soon as Spark returns this forum will be closed. I see nothing like this happening to other manufactures which leads me to believe the little troll patrol has nothing better to do with their lives than to try and cause me grief.

Christina Montero
 
well!! close it i guess, who cares, ya'll never are here to answer questions, etc, i have defended your products for months, after having rolling lock probs myself - i admit, because of ya'lls prolonged abssences from this forum, rumors fly!! if ya wanna stop them, just get on the forum now and again and respond - i must agree ya'll have great customer service, as far as repairs go - i do think ya could sell glockman some studs for his knife, but thats another story.........

i love my SIFU, think its a great folder, but, to be honest, ya'll havent came out w/anything else that is of interest to me - sorry - the only other item, the pocket hobbit, because of the double edge, is in a grey area in my state as far as legality - so no go on that one , and nothing else is of interest

sorry ya feel that way about your most loyal customers (some of us) and if thats the way ya feel, close the forum ASAP - nothing will ever come from asking questions which go unanswered for if not months, certainly weeks , all this does is promote a feeling of negativity, 'whats up', why dont they answer, etc - example - christina has 22 posts - ridiculous

if ya are gonna have a productive forum, ya need company participation - if ya wanna check out a successfull one, look at the spyderco forum, which sal monitors closely - ya might could learn a thing or two from them imho - wont threaten w/i 'aint gonna buy no more rekat stuff' cuz, to be honest, i wasnt planning too a long time before this thread

just my .02 worth, everyone else may think i'm full of BS , best wishes to all of ya guys, certainly nothing personal meant on my part, just shooting stright w/ya


sifu
 
wow - replied to this thread before i read others - ya are closing it just cuz the one guy had probs w/his 6 Sifu's and griped?? heck, i thought ya had gone back and read previous posts lol - i agree the guy has to let ya fix the knives, but geez, talk about a loyal customer (was loyal??) he bought not one, not two, not five but EIGHT sifus i would say he is (was?) a fan - cant blame someone for getting aggravated when something breaks, esp if its an expensive item - anyway whatever, best to ya, and good luck to rekat


sifu
 
Sifu,

You hit the nail squarely on the head. If a company is not able or inclined to actively manage a web forum, it's better not to have one than to frustrate customers with one that doesn't function effectively. Apparently Cold Steel has made that decision and although some of their customers would like to see an active CS forum, they would probably choose none over one that doesn't perform well.

However, I still like REKAT knives and will buy them when they fit my needs or interests.
 
agree, if they came out w/something new which interested me, i would purchase it - just right now, nothing does


sifu
 
Originally posted by Christina Montero
As soon as possible we are closing this forum. I can see nothing-positive coming from this venture. The last straw was being threatened with out cause or reason. By a person that feels that he should threaten and make noise rather than ask for customer service. As soon as Spark returns this forum will be closed. I see nothing like this happening to other manufactures which leads me to believe the little troll patrol has nothing better to do with their lives than to try and cause me grief.

Christina Montero
Click to expand...


DAMN...:(.:eek:.:(.
 
I think that this forum allows the free exchange of information from the little people out here ( the customers and consumers) HAS CLEARLY EXPOSED THE UNRELIABILITY OF THE REKAT ROLLING LOCK SYSTEM. REKAT is obviously aware of their problems but will not fix them before releasing their products to us the consumer. Then when we complain justifibly, they become defensive. They certainly could learn a lot from how SEARS treats their customers. I would never have known how to perform a spine whack test on SIFUS if I had never found this forum. I would have still been out here dumb and happy not knowing I had 6 major potential problems on my hands in the form of six sifus that could fold on my fingers. The exchange of free information is a good thing. THANKYOU BLADES FORUM !!
 
Christina Montero,

PLEASE think long and hard about closing the REKAT forum. If you and Bob need help in moderating, I'm here to offer help. (And that quip that I made in my "Thumb-studs" post about selling all of my REKAT knives was me just blowing-off some steam. I'm sorry.).

I know that there have been some hard and tough things said, but please don't take them as us not wanting a REKAT forum, or that we don't appreciate this forum.

Anyhow, if you do decide to back-away, and close this forum, I want you know that I wish REKAT the very best. (In my opinion, there STILL isn't anything even close that beats a Sifu, as the BEST "combat" folder around!).:).
 
BFC has done a lot for REKAT. The Sifu was born here. I don't have any figures, but I bet a large percentage of REKAT's sales have been generated here at BFC. Would it be too much to ask that REKAT maintain a presence here at their forum? I mean, I know you are busy, but even ten minutes a day would suffice to answer questions that came up, and would make your company look a lot better to all of the prospective customers who have decided against buying REKAT because there's no REKAT to be found (no presence on their forum, still no website (why not just leave the old one up 'till the new one is ready?)).

I like REKAT's knives, as do most of the people who post here, but the company needs a good PR person to talk with customers. Other companies do it and it's not that hard.

As far as J W Kilpatrick, if six out of eight of his Sifus don't work, I'd consider that more than a legitimate gripe. Yes he does need to send them in if he wants them fixed, but IMO you should be very friendly to that type of customer.

Clue me in if I'm missing something here, but if the Rolling Lock is supposed to be able to take 1000 Lbs of force at the pivot, how on earth is a little spine whack going to damage it?

Some manufacturers read their forums, and if a complaint is voiced they try to fix the problem, not only with the particular customer who mentioned it, but with future production runs of their knives. I see no reason to get offended or hostile when complaints are voiced. Think of it as a free pool of product testers & R&D ideas.

You can close this forum if you like, but most of us here would like to see it remain. Remember we are here because we like REKAT knives, not because we don't.
 
Christina, I'm sorry to learn of your decision to close the forum. I hope you will reconsider but, as others have said, it takes company participation in order for a forum or other Web presence to be successful. Without you or the Bobs here it created a vacuum and in came speculation and the trolls.

I've said this in here & in other threads on other forums but it's worth repeating. I couldn't be happier with the performance of any of my REKAT products. A Savant is next on my list & I'm looking forward to the Pygmy Warrior & the light weight Carnivore. Best of luck & I really hope you do reconsider closing shop here.
 
I like REKAT SIFUS also. That is one of the reasons I bought so many of them, plus I considered it a good long range investment that I could sell for a profit at knife and gun shows here in Texas. I sure don't like being told by Bob Brothers that I abused these sifus by spine whacking them when he hasn't even seen them or inspected them yet. I had read somewhere that the rolling lock system would not fail under 750 pounds of pressure. HELLO----- How is spine whacking going to damage them? I own a lot of COLD STEEL EXTRA LARGE VOYAGERS AND YOU CAN'T possibly get those to fail by spine whacking them and I payed $57 each for them. I would think that after getting a steady stream of information about the rolling lock failure from reports here at BLADES FORUM that REKAT might possibly come to the conclusion that they might have a problem with the reliability of the rolling lock and get it resolved. If REKAT will just treat me right and fix my 6 sifus at no additional cost, I will consider the matter closed.
Bob Brothers told me today that he no longer works for REKAT and that he is the only person who repairs SIFUS. So, if I send them back to REKAT will they have anyone there capable of repairing them and Christina will not tell me what address to send them to for repair.
 
Spine whacking is abuse because it deforms the pins that the rolling lock was designed upon. If these pins bend out of shape, then the lock will no longer perform reliability.

The lock is designed not to fail under constant pressure, not repeated whacks on the back of the blade. Time and again this has been stated, time and again, people continue to ignore it.

The lock system typically holds up just fine for the first whack. After that, it see's problems because the pins don't handle it well.

Just because other knives can pass the whack test, doesn't make it a valid test on lock strength.

Anyhow - if you beat on your knife, then don't be suprised if it's considered abuse.

I'm sorry to see REKAT go. They make some of the toughest working folders out there. They have never "ignored" problems with their products and have been uniformly willing to help reasonable people who've had problems with knives they've purchased.

Certain parties (not those posting here, so please don't get riled up) have made it their mission to give REKAT a black eye, hassle the people working there, disparage the product line, etc. Naturally, this has rubbed off as a "sore spot" where the internet is concerned.

REKAT has excellent customer service - I know this from experience, but personally and second hand. I've watched them take care of customers who have use their knives to cut out locks in car doors to just chipping the edge.

I'm sorry to see them go, but I can understand why. Hopefully this will not be the last time we'll see them here.

Kevin
 
AMEN Spark! Good luck Christina and Bob T and Bob Brothers!

PS, I love my SIFU, I got it when Bob Taylor stripped the neck knife I had on right off me head while stuffing the first Cabon Fiber SIFU in my pocket! Ill never forget that! :)
 
I'm very sad to see REKAT leave Bladeforums:(. I love the knives that come out of REKAT and confirm Sparks comment about REKAT's customer service. I have used it when I obviously voided the warranty, REKAT has always taken care of me. I hope Christina and Bob reconsider their
decision, but if not I wish them nothing but the best. They make a damn fine knife, and their customer service is second to none.
 
wow - bob b is no longer w/REKAT?? well ya heard it here first folks........


sifu
 
Christina,
I have seen all the complaining people have posted here and I can understand your dismay. The first blade I ever bought from 1SKS was one of your Red and Black special Edition Sifu. The second was A single finger groove special edition in D2. I love them, I carry them, and I use them. I do not tend to abuse any tool that I own, so I have never happened to spine wack a blade of yours or anyones. I agree with Spark, that is deemed abuse in my circles. I don't even like momentum openings as they tend to end up seeming too forceful in the opening. I guess what I want to say is that I love your knives. I hope that you can forgo having your forum leave here, as that was how I and many others first heard of REKAT. I, for one will miss the easy avenue to learning of your coming products and the chance to get them first from Spark. I hope you reconcider, but if you don't, I wish REKAT well, and I for one will look forward to your next knife!! GOOD LUCK!!
 
I am going to be very sorry to see the REKAT Forums close also. I bought one of the original green handled SIFUS about two years ago. The only reason I ever knew that REKAT existed is from their forum.

I found it very unfortunate that a few members here, jumped to conclusions when you were closed for vacation. The incorrect word spread that you were no longer answering various posts so this meant you were out of business. I was shocked to see folks jump to such conclusions without looking for more info first.

As a relative newcomer to the world of knives (about 2 1/2 years) I have noticed a huge number of new manufacturers and importers jumping on the knife "bandwagon". Without this forum and without an active web site I think it will be difficult for new folks to even know that REKAT exists.

Forums need to be monitored. If you, REKAT, find it difficult to keep up to date and answer the various posts, than you should close it down. If you find that too many people are complaining, than that is an entire different situation, which might be a quality issue.
Since you returned from vacation I found that your forum has never returned to its previous state of proper "question and answer" and "sharing of ideas". Forum questions need to be answered and answered on a regular timely basis. If you feel "threated" by vocal consumers, who have a complaint, than your ability to handle customer service needs to be readdressed. Please keep in mind that without your forum, the complaints and the compliments, will still be printed on the general communication portions of BladeForums. I also find that a knife manufacturer or importer who will allow a few trolls to close down their one avenue of direct communication with their customers, simply does not want to deal with customers directly, in the first place.

Negative comments from some consumers is simply part of doing business. Christina mentions that she sees nothing like this happening on other forums. Check out the Emerson forum. This is a good example of a forum which is constantly fired on by those who don't care for Emersons.

I don't think that this forum can be viewed by manufacturers and importers as free advertising. A forum brings the good and the bad out in posters as well as vendors. Don't forget: without BladeForums, your SIFU would most likely not even exist.
 
Well, I had a sifu for about 1 day before I sent it back to the person I revieved it from. It was a brand new knife fresh from the tube and when I recieved it I thought "Holy-shi+, this is going to replace my commander..."

So, I did the basics with the knife. Pocketed it, drew it, practiced a few draw&strikes with it to find what it liked vs what it did not. I saw som real advantagas their, because a knife THIS size could backcut well and let me get into some bowie stuff.

Thinking about that, I opened the knife, and swatted the back of the blade onto my left palm. This is the type of back of the blade smack it would recieve in a fight, as this is a COMBAT folder.
The lock failed. I called the person I revieved the blade from and told him. he tried it with his sifu. Lock failed.

I sent the blade back to him and I got my knife back, as this trade obviously did not go satisfactorily.

If this knife is supposed to be a COMBAT folder, it should be able to withstand the kind of stress that a knife fight would give it. That includes a smack on the back of the blade.

Instead of telling us how the lock is supposed to handle "constant presure", why not address the problem that your users are actualy having.

If you design a pistol that is the reliable and accurate under laboratory conditions with clean dry factory ammo, but is not reliable under real world conditions like moisture, some dirt and not being cleaned with a Q-tip every 100 rounds, maybe it should be called a target gun rather than a combat sidearm.

Like it or not, people are expecting the sifu to handle stress that is different from the kind it was "designed" for. You can either address that by making the lock reliable under those conditions that your users are exhibiting, or you can comlain that the user is not using the knife properly.
 
I'm very disappointed to see this forum close. This is where I learned a lot about REKAT, their great products (which I proudly own and carry), and their great service...which I actually haven't needed yet for any of my products.

It saddens me that attacks against an actually reputable company could be brought to such a head that REKAT feels its just wasting its time, or even hurting itself, by reachin out a hand and lending an ear to us, the consumers. I know we moan and groan sometimes about products, but I always felt that it is because we expect more from a company that we actually respect. Or, maybe, we, the members, aren't backing our company enough when the trolls come a callin? I'm not so sure about the second part, but its possible. I know that most REKAT customers will stand up and be counted when the trolls threaten.

Anyway, I just want the folks at REKAT to know, even though they will have no forum any longer, I wish them luck, and can't wait to be able to get me some more REKAT products.

Please, take care.
 
Christina,

The way I see this action you are planning on taking is a 2 part deal.

Part 1 - I was always a supporter of REKAT and have had many of your knives. Your personal presence here on YOUR forum has been extremely dissapointing. I have seen questions go unanswered for weeks at a time since Bob Taylor was uninvited to this site and you took over. If you wish to have a public forum in which your customers and potential customers can discuss and ask questions about YOUR knives, you must maintain a presence here. If you can not devote 10 minutes a day to this forum, then obviuosly it should be abolished. If you knew that you didn't want anything to do with the place, you should have let it go when Bob T. left.

This action you are considering would be a bad move IMHO, because you will be losing many current and future customers due to the lack of respect you have shown here. A forum on the internet will always have a troublemaker or two, but so what. Does it really mean anything in the overall scope of business?

Part 2 - As I previously stated, I have had many of your companies knives. I can speak from a good deal of experience with them and tell you firsthand that your quality control is dismal at best, plain and simple.

Practically every Rekat knife I have ever had or held, had what can be considered a huge flaw in the overall smoothness of the action. That flaw is that gritty feeling upon opening. I learned how to fix the problem by taking apart BRAND NEW Rekat knives and polishing the area around the pivot. This should have been done before the knives left the factory, not after, especially since you have said before that taking a knife apart voids the waranty. I have had MANY of your customers ask me how to make their knives smoother opening, so don't think it is just me. If Bob Taylor is still with the company at all, ask him about our conversations.

Then you come on this forum and state that "Spine Whacking" is abuse. You have got to be kidding me :( Do you mean to tell me that if I was in a situation in which I had to thrust my so-called trusty Rekat Rolling lock knife into an individuals chest area, that the downward and side torque pressures on the spine of that knife in that situation would be considered abuse?

Do you actually understand what the "Spine Whack" is trying to accomplish? I am not talking about placing the knife in a vise and hammering on the spine of the blade, or taking it and smashing the blade time after time on a desk or other hard surface. but a quick, wrist snapping motion towards the tip of the spine onto a hard surface.

This is attempting to create the forces of a thrust when it hits bone(ribs) and cartilidge. The pressure on both the top and sides of the blade when it strikes bone and other fairly solid objects is considerable. If I was to accomplish said thrust, and the forces on the blade caused the lock to fail, I personally would not be a very happy camper.

Your customer service from what I have heard is just fine, but you tend to lose customers when every knife they purchase from your company has faults.

Quality Control comes first.. Customer service is an added attraction.
 
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