General Update

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Hoping I hear from him soon, emailed him like 4 days ago but I understand he's busy I'm sure he'll stand by giving me a rufund

 

I too asked for a refund but no reply to my emails.

 

Thanks Brian, I received the refund

 

Is there any news on the knife progress?

 

Personally, after a few months of waiting it all kinda blends together. Now it's like an un-anticipated surprise. Looking very much forward to the final product, hopefully soon!

 

Brian,
You have a lot of customers waiting patiently for an update, everyone has mostly been polity and supportive of your situation.
My biggest issue is not the fact that the knives, that everyone has already paid for, are late (sh1t happens), what pees me off is that you have committed to provide an update to all your customers every 2 weeks and can't even keep to this simple commitment.
I find this extremely distasteful and unacceptable.
Furthermore, posting an update like "there is no update" is also not good enough.
Surely you can give us the estimated completion time that is given to you by BRK, or what the issues are causing any further delays.

I look forward to your urgent update!

 

I have the Gen 1 & like it alot.
However. .

"UPDATE 02/13/2017 1112] Late update. Family legal stuff has taken a significant amount of my time the past week and I completely forgot. There was no update regardless, as I just talked to Bark River this past week. I have spoken to Jim Stewart a couple times the past week and we are on schedule so far. They are sourcing the handle and liner material and will be cutting on it soon. Mike just told me that he doesn't think the mammoth ivory will hold up to machining, so I will be sending out an email to the two or three people that ordered mammoth ivory and figuring out what to do. I was bummed because I wanted one in MI too! That's what I know. Let's all hope the next update will be finished knives!"

After all this time the linners still have to be sourced & ordered? Just now you figure out mammoth ivory is a no go? Not saying this is on Brian but it has not been handled properly.
I wish Brian all the best & hope everyone gets there knives soon.

 

I have to second that
Even if family and work and the such take a lot of time shouldn't and mustn't in any way interfere with the business you've got going with a lot of customers, especially after they/we have all been waiting pretty paitently

Gesendet von meinem ONEPLUS A3003 mit Tapatalk

 

I know this may not be the right place to post this... But it's Brian's birthday today. So everyone should wish him a happy birthday.
Happy birthday you old fart!

 

Happy birthday Brian, I hope you have a good day man.

 

Happy Birthday

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Yeah, I hate to be that guy, but...I've been burned on one too many crowd funded projects. The first sign tends to be that the project creator/lead stops communicating. I pray that this is not going to be the case with this one. Please, Brian, please post some sort of update. It's been almost a month since your last one. I've been watching Bark River Knives factory walk through videos and I haven't seen anything about the companions, though they've mentioned other collaborations. Any information at all would be greatly appreciated to ease anxiety. You've found time to post that you're processing refunds, I'm sure you can find time to at least post that you're working on typing up an update, even if it's not the update itself.

Edit: I see an update has been posted, and for that I'm thankful. I understand you can't get blood from a stone, but I don't think that's really what people are asking for. Obviously folks are going to want the product, but more so I believe they just want to know what's going on, and that they're not being forgotten. I mean, I can't speak for everyone, but that's my take on it. Regarding the production, however, has Mike told you about any of the progress they've made? Or if they've made any at all? Have the blanks been cut? Ground? Handles cut? Shaped? Sheathed formed? Where do we stand? I know you can't discuss certain things, and that you can't force things to get done any faster, but surely you're allowed to ask for a status update on your own project from the guys who are working for/with you.

 

Brian, you asked the question "what can i do?" i think that, that is a good question. You are not alone in this process we are here with you and there is strength in numbers. I do not think BRK feels any accountability or urgency to this process (that may not be the case) with the number of times they have pushed back the production times. An idea I had was why cant we start to hold them accountable as a group. We could start a thread on their page asking questions about production process, times, and deadlines. if this is brought into the eyes of the public and people can see that they are not keeping their commitments. that can be a motivator for a company to speed up their processes, no company wants a bad public image.
I do not think that it would hurt to brain storm and find ideas for the problems that are being faced at this time. If we don't try to find a solution, nothing will get fixed.

I may completely off in left field, be stepping out of line, and crazy. If I am please let me know.

 

I like this idea, but I have a feeling that it may get shut down if we put it on their forum. It may be a better idea to put it into the Feedback forum. That way, they can comment on it, but they would not be able to close or remove it, so it would stay in the public eye. It would also be less likely to be overrun by fanboys

 

Thank you for the update Brian, I have faith that the knives will get done and will be spectacular.

 

I had strong reservations last August when Brian announced the decision to move production to BRK, and told us “This is the kind of company we want to work with. They hold extremely tight schedules,” but I decided to wait and see. After 6+ months, their original estimate of "start to finish around 8 weeks” is ludicrous, all status updates have been rendered irrelevant at best, and some very specific questions posted here went unaddressed. After more that 29 weeks with BRK, we have no knives, no status, and no clue about what will change, and how, or when. The continual delays are vexing enough, but it’s totally unacceptable to me that we can't be told anything about what has actually happened, and it’s even worse if BRK withheld or misrepresented pertinent information. I wish Brian and his customers the best of luck, but BRK is running the show, and it’s clearly not a priority.

Accordingly, I emailed Brian one week ago, requesting a refund. He hasn’t responded, so I repeat it here. Brian, please issue the refund as requested. It should be in your [email protected] inbox, dated March 9, 1:09 PM, subject line "Companion Gen 2 Refund Request."

 

Brian,

I have gone through all your posts and I am confused and would like you to please clarify.
I have summarized the timeline below for ease of reference:

27 October 2016 : Steel arrived & blades are being cut.
8 November 2016 : Blades cut and are at machine shop being ground.
8 December 2016 : In the process of being machined.
7 January 2017 : No update on blades, BRK has problems with vendors. New sheath supplier needed.
21 January 2017 : “Expect the knives to be finished end February 2017.” Promised next update 4 February.
13 February 2017 : Update is more than 1 week late. “Still on schedule for completion end February 2017.”
8 March 2017 : Update is 2 weeks late. Few more weeks to get up and running.

My questions are numbered for ease of response:
1. The blades were cut by 8 November 2016, we are approaching April 2017, 5 months later, surely it does not take 5 months to grind and heat treat a few blades?
2. Do you have a new sheath supplier and is this going to delay the delivery of the knives? Have you completed all items required for delivery, i.e. packaging etc., or is this too going to jump out of the woodwork and delay delivery?
3. Update given that knives will be finished end February 2017, this was confirmed middle February 2017, 2 weeks before completion expected date. This date was given by the supplier. We receive an update more than a week after the expected completion date saying the knives aren’t complete. Who is lying to us? You or BRK?
4. My biggest concern, your last update, BRK needs a few more weeks to get up and running. This statement requires detailed information.
• Have the knives even been cut as stated on 8 November?
• Have they been machined?
• Have they been ground?
• Have they been heat treated?
• Have they been sharpened?
• Where in the process of manufacturing blades are these blades?
• What still needs to be done to completion?
• Has the liner material been ordered?
• Has the liner material been delivered?
• Has the liner material been machined?
• Have the knives been assembled?
• Have the sheaths been made?
• Is the packaging ready awaiting delivery of knives and sheaths?
• What is the estimated timeline to completion taking all the above into consideration?
What is meant by a few weeks to get up and running? (I understand this statement to be - nothing has been done to date)

You mention that you can’t discuss certain things on an open forum??? The time for excuses and deflecting questions and answers has come and gone. There is one golden rule in life: you can say anything as long as it is the truth!!!!
Brian we need and deserve honest and detailed answers!!!!
I look forward to your response.

 

Hey Brian, wish I could stick this out longer but I can't wait anymore, I'll be emailing you about getting a refund.

 

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I'm hoping we get a significant update by the end of the month with pictures of everything. I think everyone would really appreciate hearing from BRK, even email screen shots.