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Gareth bull: Slow Delivery/waitlist thread

And the saga continues. Shippers were closed Monday so supposedly shipping today. According to Gareth the knives have shipped but he is waiting on emails of waybills to provide tracking. Still sounds like more delays and bad information, but I guess we will see. It's well I to the evening g there so I believe he should have the tracking info by now. Best guess is that it's more BS. I will give him another day or so and then file with PayPal. It's a damn shame, but knowing what I do now I would have passed.
 
^^^same info I received today. Guess I'm the fourth to fill an empty slot of that last batch....? I'm looking forward to em since I have one of his 3.25 inch versions and it is a very well made knife. This generation of shamwari look to be ever the bit better.
 
chazdiesel said:
And the saga continues. Shippers were closed Monday so supposedly shipping today. According to Gareth the knives have shipped but he is waiting on emails of waybills to provide tracking. Still sounds like more delays and bad information, but I guess we will see. It's well I to the evening g there so I believe he should have the tracking info by now. Best guess is that it's more BS. I will give him another day or so and then file with PayPal. It's a damn shame, but knowing what I do now I would have passed.
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untytled said:
^^^same info I received today. Guess I'm the fourth to fill an empty slot of that last batch....? I'm looking forward to em since I have one of his 3.25 inch versions and it is a very well made knife. This generation of shamwari look to be ever the bit better.
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Yep, same here, still waiting on a tracking number. I am carrying a 3.25" Shamwari right now, love it.
 
An update: this morning I received shipment notification for the knife. Per shipping company, scheduled to arrive Friday. By my Calculation that will be almost exactly a 3 week delay. All in all not horrifically unreasonable, but could have been expressed more clearly. I honestly think more realistic ship dates provided initially would greatly reduce angst.

I believe the "early" shipping date statements are made in part to ease into The pay up front business model. Obviously that model isn't sustainable -- that seems to be an issue that though recognized, hasn't been solved.

EDIT: I recieved the knife on Friday. From start to finish, not the most smooth process. As indicated above, if not for the history and lack of early communication, I would not have been terribly concerned with 2-3 week later delivery. For those looking for the shortcut version: I was originally told my knife would ship 12/20 (with anticipated delivery 12/23-ish -- it is international and all; I think some tolerance must be permitted). The knife was shipped 1/3; I recieved delivery on 1/6. In fact, had there been some early communication, in all likelihood, I would never have found this thread (which in turn would have similarly reduced concerns). I hope the other 3 posters recieve theirs in the near future as well. Now I'll excuse myself and get back to flidding with my new shiny (Obviously, its very early, but I very much enjoying the actual knife so far.)
 
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Update:


Knife delivered! Great looking knife. All in all, I am pleased but like others have said, better communication would be optimal.
 
Just want to add...Gareth is a genuinely nice guy. He aims to please and is truly honored when you show appreciation for his work. I knew of his history before ordering a knife on Instagram...and was more than happy with his service. I'm on the books for another knife...and I'll just pretend a date was never given in the event that it is missed. I don't doubt that it hurts him when people lose trust. We all have our demons...i know nothing of his life or means to live...but I know myself as an insecure person could come up with excuses not to ship things to the extend that it'd hurt their own opinion of me. For example...I have sold one thing online. A used phone. It gave me anxiety through the roof. What if he notices a scratch on it that I didn't mention? What if it takes a dump in a week? What if the shipping company loses the package?! It isn't rational. But...again...people have their demons. Now if I imagine myself building a knife...I'd never feel like it was good enough. "Is this what he's expecting? Did I charge too much?" *throw box against wall and get depressed about the possibilities.* Is this what he's going through? No idea. Probably not...but it seems to me to be the one shortcoming that people bring up about him. His knives are excellent. They're made to use...and have the passion and creativity of a well-seasoned veteran poured into each one. I, again, have nothing but praise for my only "sale" so far with Gareth. Maybe I got lucky...but either way...I just hope that people can assume the worst and be pleasantly surprised when the knife does show up. Google the dude...there are a lot of slam pieces out there. Very seldom is anything negative said about his knives. And when it is the "overall" score is still "this is a winner." I know I'll get hate for sympathizing. I just feel like this particular case may be different than most. The Grimsmo Brothers? They've missed deadlines and get a bad reputation for it. But their product is awesome. They don't genuinely seem "sorry" for their customers. They're continually nerding out over their new machines...things that aren't working exactly how they like...taking money down and missing deadlines by...a year...and a half...and climbing. But they're eccentric so they kind-of get away with it.

Gareth? I randomly decided to tell him my dad loved his knife (the one I bought was a Christmas present) and carries it daily. I "made his day" and he was happier than hell to hear that he was pleased with it. That's %100 true, by the way. He has 3 new walking sticks to. No idea why...but that's what he's made as an excuse to use the thing on.


Ramble over...
tl;dr
Gareth Bull is a man who may struggle with shipping delays (but in my sole experience he did not). But he is not inherently a liar...or evil...or out to scam anyone. And his knives are awesome and cost well below what they should if you ask me. Maybe think of it that way...I'm paying $130 less than I should and thus may lose excellent customer service as a result :p.
 
I'm struggling with a service provider who has a paid membership on this forum. After all the BS and crap communication stalls I still havnt got my product. It's only been 3 months though. A little longer and it's him or me.
 
I received my 2.75" Shamwari on the 10th of January. I was originally told it would be here on the 23rd of December. It was about 2.5 weeks late. No doubt I was bummed, but it was worth the wait, the knife is awesome. Gareth was very kind, I'd buy from him again.
 
I don't know if anyone cares, but my paid in full Shamwari XL from November 2012 is still undelivered.

I've emailed Gareth at least 10 times over the years and I emailed Gareth again today, will let you guys know if he makes good on his oft broken word.

David
 
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That definitely sucks - especially when you can see on Instagram how much he is making and selling!
 
Makes a beautiful knife, but cannot honor delivery dates.
Also, terrible communication.
 
I have a 3.25" Shamwari but I bought it from a forum member. I had no idea Bull was such a deadbeat.
 
I suppose you could even buy from Bull not knowing. But, then, seems like the knife will be a no show, and 'ya know.
 
Such a shame because he does great work and has tons of talent. As usual though, no business sense whatsoever.
Only way I would ever own one?? Second hand.
 
Any updates dude??

Sosa said:
I'm struggling with a service provider who has a paid membership on this forum. After all the BS and crap communication stalls I still havnt got my product. It's only been 3 months though. A little longer and it's him or me.
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