I guess I should come in here and clarify. HardKnocks is right on with his comments. I REALLY want Survive!Knives to make it. And I really want my 2.7 to ship. I am still a fan of the company so to speak. In my rant on the other thread, I stated my frustrations with the total confusion of firsts, seconds, Ugly Betty's, pre-orders, pre-sales, and Monday sales. Whew! That's a mouth full.
Think about that S!K.
And then I really start thinking about the starter program. It sounds good and a lot of people bought into with the right mindset. They paid good money to help the company to "get over the hump" so to speak. Make the move. Buy equipment, etc. Hire people. IMPROVE production. That is what we were told right? That all makes sense. But that was two years ago and nothing about the service has gotten better. I'm not sure when the other two people were hired but Jordyn just got there. Since you went from one to five has anything improved on the service end? Something isn't right about the whole "we can't find qualified people to do what we do" scenario.
Visit any dealer here on BF and they typically have two types of knives listed. In stock and out of stock. A few have an email service that can send you a notice when a particular model is back in stock. THAT is great customer service. I know you guys are salt of the earth. I really want to believe you are. None of my criticism is personal. Lord knows I work hard at being a good person but eventually have made others angry. The question becomes why you keep doing what you're doing and ticking so many people off? And this goes back the last couple years IIRC.
If the CruForge V gave you problems, well, okay. Maybe that one was tough. But we keep getting the same deal on every knife you offer. It's here! It's ready! A couple months! A few months! 5-15 days! Buy them now while you can! The money goes out, the sale was a huge success, and as my wife says, 'crickets'. Meaning that dead silence you here after sundown in the woods, and nothing happens until we start to get the delay excuses AGAIN.
It seems so simple to a simple minded working stiff like me. STOP saying you will ever ship anything in any time frame. It would be better to go back to that first pre-order time when all you said was that we would have to wait. Period. No guessing. No verbage in the sales thread that lead us to believe anything other than, "we don't know when your knife will ship". At least that was honest. Now every time there is a "sale", a little while down the road, we hear the same old excuses about why the knives won't ship. Then we see customs, one offs, limited editions, etc. and delay after delay no matter what was said in the sales thread. Repeat the process. Repeat the process. Repeat the process.
You know what I do, I under promise and over deliver. I say I'm 3 weeks or 4 weeks out in the shop even though I plan to build the very next weekend. Then when something comes up like my best customers who have spent hundreds and some thousands of dollars with me, or one of our military men or women need a sheath right away (BTW - always free if possible to active duty combat veterans) I can do it and still meet my other timelines.
I get it. I really do. I want to build all kinds of stuff in my shop and try new things. I'm that guy that can't sit still most days. But I NEVER put that ahead of customers orders or the timeline I've promised. Never. I also never ask for payment up front. I take people's orders at their word by believing that those here and other venues I deal with are a cut above the rest of society. And I have evidence that they are.
Have I missed a deadline? You bet I have. I was sick and in the hospital once. I broke 3 fingers once. My only grandson was in the hospital once. My parents died. Life happens and I made it right with my customers and let them know all the details of what happened. But that is not what is happening here to us, your customers. In the last 4 years, those were the EXCEPTIONS and not the rule. I feel that our love of your product has allowed you to take advantage of our kindness, patience, and generosity. The number of people who feel slighted by S!K is growing. At some point, even die hard fans like myself will just give up. The fun is waning, as was stated before. How many of us are moving over to Ambush, CPK, Fiddleback Forge, Busse, and others simply because we're treated like we matter and they have knives you can actually buy? They don't have a 2 year old track record of ever increasing delays and excuses and continuously do that to their customers with every knife model they come out with. How bad can you treat me before you kill the love?
Yesterday I was at work at 4:20 a.m. I finally left a 8:30 p.m. I worked another 12 hours today. In my mind, that's a hard earned dollar. It is for me. I saw a knife you had for sale with a delivery time of only a "couple months" and after some great advice from a fellow BF member, I bought it immediately without any hesitation. At the near end of those couple months I asked about it and was told it would "probably" be next month. UGH!!!!!
All the people I hunt and fish with always ask me about my S!K's. I'm never in the woods without one. How can I recommend them to the company? Even more important, why should I plan to buy any more Survive!Knives in the future directly from S!K?
I'm a huge fan. HUGE. The pics are on one of these threads and two of the big fixed blade knives I actually USE are GSO's and I have a 3rd one coming. Half the knives in that photo are for others to use to clean their animals, food prep at camp, etc. Before S!K my go to blades were made by ESEE and they've since been replaced by S!K's for most of my uses. If we ever see a GSO 12, my ESEE Junglas might get ousted as my go to chopper. Unless it's in your warehouse on the shelf, I will probably never buy one directly from S!K anymore.
Beyond Silver, I would say I'm your second biggest fan. I absolutely love what you produce. Your product is hands down, the best built blade for the money on the market and as a custom sheath builder, I've seen thousands of fixed blades. I've had many Randall's here, Dawson's, Chris Reeves (some worth thousands), and too many customs to count. None were close to the S!K you make now for the price you charge. But, as your customer, I feel lied to, mistreated, and taken advantage of because the very things that make buying your product a bad experience continue to happen over and over again with no end in sight.
So many people that I talk to about this business practice you have going on say that there is something wrong with the picture. The issues, at least the way they are presented to us, are easily solved in any business. I know. I've worked for many years in turning companies around and helping them go from red to black. A half dozen or more times in the past 15-20 years. You might say it's what I do for a living.
I'm not sure what else to say here. Harsh words to be sure but the truth nonetheless. From your second biggest fan.
I almost don't want to say this but it needs to be said. I'm not sure anyone at S!K will read this and if they do, I feel like they could care less. I am, after all, just one guy in Texas who's upset with the way that S!K has treated me as a customer.
Oh well, think of how great that 2.7 will look when it's piggybacked onto this gorgeous 4.7!
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