No Knife, no refund

Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
2
I've had it with Survive LLC. My order of a GSO6 was never going to arrive so I have them change it to a "Guaranteed 90 day" GSO 7/7, which was not dispatched within 120 day. I asked for a refund which Jordyn said would be done. Three weeks later I have no refund and no reply to a subsequent email. I have complained to the Better Business Bureau and after that I will be laying a complaint of wire fraud.
 
This is their business practice nothing new at all. Get ready for the fanboy slamming that's coming your way. But in all seriousness it seems you'll get your money but on their time frame. Post after post on this almost monthly.
 
Yup, the GSO-6 hasn't even started cutting yet, so you are looking at somewhere in 2018 at earliest for that one to be ready and shipped.
The GSO-7/7s have been shipping out slowly as they are being completed in the shop, but depending on how many orders there are it may take a while to get to your particular knife. LOTS of "90 day" orders completely missed that deadline (I have a 4.1 2nd that is way behind as well, but I am content to wait for it). In case you missed thei e-mail on Friday, here is a link to it: http://mailchi.mp/surviveknives/september2017update?e=9c73721b00

At the bottom of the e-mail is this:
SURVIVE! News:
Due to a family emergency, shipping notifications have been delayed. We are still working to fulfill orders, however, this situation will cause us to be in and out of the SURVIVE! Workshop over the next couple of weeks. We appreciate your patience and understanding

Hopefully Jordyn or Ellie will get back to you soon on that refund, and sympathies for that. Survive! is only 3-4 people by my last count, so handling thousands of e-mails/voicemails/etc. and other requests can take a while. You might try calling them and don't bother leaving a message if you miss but try again later until someone picks up and then stay on the line with them until your refund has been processed? Whenever I have had questions, that has been my mode of operation.

Re: "wire fraud", that has a pretty specific meaning and I don't think S!K accepts wire-transfers as a method of payment...? *shrug*
 
This company appears to be rather unique in their business plan.
I see all sorts of conflicting posts about them. Mostly good but a few not so much...

Is their quality really that good that people will wait several years for an order or is it that allure of waiting that attracts a certain type of buyer (one with near infinite patience).

I ask because I have a thread here asking about the business of knife selling, and how to avoid the major issues/problems.

It seems to ME that if you place an order knowing the way they conduct business then you should be prepared to live with that decision.
I have seen another post where a fella could not figure out the ordering process, and decided to pass once it was explained.

Is Survive that unique?

My best wishes toward their family issue, no doubt...
 
Re: "wire fraud", that has a pretty specific meaning and I don't think S!K accepts wire-transfers as a method of payment...? *shrug*

Yup. It means using telephone or Internet to communicate a statement of facts intended to fool someone into changing position - e.g. spending $$- knowing that the statement was false or with reckless disregard for the accuracy of the statement. pattern or practice of grossly underestimating the time to fulfill an order.
 
There are a lot of different business models for custom knives, ranging from Survive's "pay up front and we'll ship it when we've got it" to "send me your specifications and I'll message you when the knife is ready so you can pay for it". I won't fib, I really do prefer to get the chance to pay when my order is ready.
What Survive has is a really top notch product at a really great price. Nobody else I know of sells this quality of knife for as little money as Guy does.
In order to score this really great deal you have to pay up front and be really patient.
Is the business model perfect? No. Is it the deal good enough for me to take the bad with the good. Yes.
 
S!K lies to customers. They provide estimated dates which they almost always miss by a significant margin. At this point, it seems pretty obvious that S!K is not making mistakes but intentionally providing customers with false information.

S!K provides terrible custoemer service. They will take your money, but almost never return phone calls / emails or provide refunds in a timely manner.

S!K makes a nice (not spectacular, but nice) knife at a good price... Other than that, they are a terrible company.

S!K has had these issues since they started, and is incapable / unwilling to address them. IMHO, it is just a matter of time until this Ponzi scheme blows up and a lot of people lose their money.

Cue S!K fans that that will post about how everything at S!K is really OK...
 
There are a lot of different business models for custom knives, ranging from Survive's "pay up front and we'll ship it when we've got it" to "send me your specifications and I'll message you when the knife is ready so you can pay for it". I won't fib, I really do prefer to get the chance to pay when my order is ready.
What Survive has is a really top notch product at a really great price. Nobody else I know of sells this quality of knife for as little money as Guy does.
In order to score this really great deal you have to pay up front and be really patient.
Is the business model perfect? No. Is it the deal good enough for me to take the bad with the good. Yes.

That is exactly what I had hoped to hear. Most of the posts on Survive have been very encouraging.
Thank you!
 
S!K lies to customers. They provide estimated dates which they almost always miss by a significant margin. At this point, it seems pretty obvious that S!K is not making mistakes but intentionally providing customers with false information.

S!K provides terrible custoemer service. They will take your money, but almost never return phone calls / emails or provide refunds in a timely manner.

S!K makes a nice (not spectacular, but nice) knife at a good price... Other than that, they are a terrible company.

S!K has had these issues since they started, and is incapable / unwilling to address them. IMHO, it is just a matter of time until this Ponzi scheme blows up and a lot of people lose their money.

Cue S!K fans that that will post about how everything at S!K is really OK...

I can understand your sentiments.
Is there a thread where the fellas from Survive address this here on BF? A link to that would tie in with the beginning post.
 
There have been multiple threads on this. S!K will occasionally post, but not often and not with any substantial content. The S!K fans will make MANY posts to support the company, and in the end the threads get locked.

S!K has been taking peoples money and not following through on their commitments since at least 2015. They were in business for years before that with the same issues, but restructured the company in 2015. They are always about to make "big changes," but it never seems to happen. Go back to December 2015 and you will find threads where people complain about missed delivery estimates and terrible customer service.

S!K is basically a Ponzi scheme. I belive that if people stop paying up front for knives, this company will run out of cash...
 
Their time estimates are horribly inaccurate and some people have predicted the demise of the company since they missed their first big push to produce the 5.1 model in time for Christmas of 2015. They have admitted that taking orders helps pay the monthly bills. They are a tiny company that has probably bitten off a much bigger chunk than they should have. I continue to periodically receive knives from Survive as they work through their backlog and expect to continue to receive knives in the future.
Everyone should make an informed decision when purchasing items online and I like to think that these sorts of posts help that process.
 
I'm honestly deeply sorry to hear about any ill that may have befallen the Survive team or their family or friends. Though I'm a critic I don't wish that on them.

That said, if the behavior the OP is relating had begun when this emergency had I would be, and encourage, far more understanding. As is, it is, frankly, an MO that emerged far before this.

I sincerely hope everything is resolved quickly, including the emergency, but I am skeptical that it is truly the source of the delays.
 
To my Survive! brethren: I had defended Survive! in the past (and as some of you know, often got clobbered for it) and always wished them well as I still do. However, seeing threads like this pop up on the main page and then become runaway freight trains has become too discomforting for me personally and also very disappointing on the larger scale.

Those of you with skin in the game who possess any extra pull through the backchannel (if any at all) ought to let the powers-that-be know that this kind of negativity will eventually disband even the extra hardcore Survivors! who have decided to stick around for the good of the Community, if not necessarily just for the good of the Company. As you know, I don't post on here much anymore but I frequently read the first page's tip thread for information and for catching up. I did say in my posting several month ago through another similar thread that I would increasingly become more vocal against the Survive! practices if such threads keep popping up. In the past, I had a ray of hope that the New Survive! through the S!K line would breath both capital and better yet, more competent management practices but to date I see nothing to encourage some slivers my past optimism.

It is beyond discouraging to me to see that a lurker member on here since 2009, has his/her 1st ever post aired as yet another failure to communicate / issue timely refund post. SMDH!
 
I have to say that the "que fanboy" comments need to stop. I have been labeled a fanboy in the past, as has Chrial.Grolim, Silver Needle and many others here. Most of us are waiting for knives (a 4.5 for me). I have a friend who bought a 7/7 on a recommendation from me. I warned him the wait times could be long but jeeze. I dont see anyone blindly defending their customer service or lack there of... Im pretty sure that most of us are extremely tired of the poor customer service as well as a bunch of negative threads that ruin a cool little spot in the forums.

I for one have decided they wont get another penny of my cash until they can start meeting reasonable delivery times. I hope that the SK series being produced fully by contract manufacturer really helps increase their production (and cash flow) and that if the money starts moving they are smart about reinvesting the cash into the business.

I hope all the folks, especially the OP and the other recent poster asking for refunds get their cash.

I guess the point of my post is to show that even the loyalists are frustrated and ask that we keep stuff civil when it comes to members talking about members and keep everything factual when making statements about Survive! Knives, negative or positive

EDITED TO ADD...It should be noted that I have recieved every S!K that I ordered and that I know, that 4.5 will arrive at some point.
 
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