Ordered several knives back in early March and still waiting

I ordered my Regent Bowie near the end of January. Got it July 5. I didn't get concerned, I've had knives made before. I didn't try to contact them, except Andrew, here on the forums. Taking time to answer me would take someone away from their job. And mine was not the only job they had. My patience was rewarded. Truly fine execution of a very competent design. Of course, it's not perfect, it's a handmade piece. And the little things are simply character. And, if I wanted, or expected, perfect, I'd still be waiting for the Cold Steel Natchez Bowie to be delivered to dealers. It was on back-order, and had been for months, when I ordered the Regent Bowie. It's STILL on back-order. And I'm enjoying a much better knife. Their loss....

In summation: Shit happens. Doesn't bother me. I'll order from Kailash Blades Kailash Blades again.
 
justjed said:
I ordered my Regent Bowie near the end of January. Got it July 5. I didn't get concerned, I've had knives made before. I didn't try to contact them, except Andrew, here on the forums. Taking time to answer me would take someone away from their job. And mine was not the only job they had. My patience was rewarded. Truly fine execution of a very competent design. Of course, it's not perfect, it's a handmade piece. And the little things are simply character. And, if I wanted, or expected, perfect, I'd still be waiting for the Cold Steel Natchez Bowie to be delivered to dealers. It was on back-order, and had been for months, when I ordered the Regent Bowie. It's STILL on back-order. And I'm enjoying a much better knife. Their loss....

In summation: Shit happens. Doesn't bother me. I'll order from Kailash Blades Kailash Blades again.
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My sentiments precisely.

But, not answering customer emails for updates?
If true, (again, not my experience) can make someone pissed off.
 
I understand, but I try not to expect too much. I got a couple of pictures, but that was it. Still, that's a couple of more pictures than I have gotten of any of my other knives being made.
 
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Hey there Chris- I definitely appreciate your concerns about the state of our order processes. The last few months have been a real perfect storm of different issues:
- We've been smacked with new import laws that have affected our ability to resupply basic material for months and which is still ongoing
-My recent trip put a load of workload onto the smiths and management so we could work on new designs processes and systems updates, putting strain on an already seriously overloaded queue.
-Finally on the flight to Nepal my laptop was obliterated and then I lost my phone shortly after while finishing my travels (losing a lot of logins in the process). Since I've been back in australia I've had to head back to the family farm and get it ready for a quick sale without any of my tech being sorted out. Emails are still getting answered every couple of days but it has heavily impacted our communications as a whole and more importantly my ability to proactively manage the earlier two issues. At the end of this week I'll have gotten the farmwork crunch out of the way and will be able to get my work side back on track then take things from there.

Regarding the current state of orders our wait times have been consistently getting shorter and the systems I helped put in place to more accurately calculate smith capacity and wait times are all working out. I think the order timeline is sitting at about 8.5 weeks right now for new orders but email to operations@kailashblades.com will get you an up to date wait time for a new order or an update on a pre-existing order whenever it's needed. If you have any concerns I hope you feel like you could reach out.

C Chris_Texas If possible I'd love a link to this other forum where we're being discussed- I might be able to jump in andive some info and reassurance to those that aren't sure about reaching out themselves.
Take care,
Andrew
 
justjed said:
I ordered my Regent Bowie near the end of January. Got it July 5. I didn't get concerned, I've had knives made before. I didn't try to contact them, except Andrew, here on the forums. Taking time to answer me would take someone away from their job. And mine was not the only job they had. My patience was rewarded. Truly fine execution of a very competent design. Of course, it's not perfect, it's a handmade piece. And the little things are simply character. And, if I wanted, or expected, perfect, I'd still be waiting for the Cold Steel Natchez Bowie to be delivered to dealers. It was on back-order, and had been for months, when I ordered the Regent Bowie. It's STILL on back-order. And I'm enjoying a much better knife. Their loss....

In summation: Shit happens. Doesn't bother me. I'll order from Kailash Blades Kailash Blades again.
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Whoa... six months?
Kailash Blades said:
Hey there Chris- I definitely appreciate your concerns about the state of our order processes. The last few months have been a real perfect storm of different issues:
- We've been smacked with new import laws that have affected our ability to resupply basic material for months and which is still ongoing
-My recent trip put a load of workload onto the smiths and management so we could work on new designs processes and systems updates, putting strain on an already seriously overloaded queue.
-Finally on the flight to Nepal my laptop was obliterated and then I lost my phone shortly after while finishing my travels (losing a lot of logins in the process). Since I've been back in australia I've had to head back to the family farm and get it ready for a quick sale without any of my tech being sorted out. Emails are still getting answered every couple of days but it has heavily impacted our communications as a whole and more importantly my ability to proactively manage the earlier two issues. At the end of this week I'll have gotten the farmwork crunch out of the way and will be able to get my work side back on track then take things from there.

Regarding the current state of orders our wait times have been consistently getting shorter and the systems I helped put in place to more accurately calculate smith capacity and wait times are all working out. I think the order timeline is sitting at about 8.5 weeks right now for new orders but email to operations@kailashblades.com will get you an up to date wait time for a new order or an update on a pre-existing order whenever it's needed. If you have any concerns I hope you feel like you could reach out.

C Chris_Texas If possible I'd love a link to this other forum where we're being discussed- I might be able to jump in andive some info and reassurance to those that aren't sure about reaching out themselves.
Take care,
Andrew
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I don't have a link to the AR15.com thread, and am too lazy to look as it was a couple days ago. The thread was specifically about Kukris if that helps. To be blunt I am not sure there is much you can say. The guy above me just got the knife he ordered in January, six months ago. I believe him when he says it is well worth the wait, and that he didn't care, but that's a LONG freaking time.

Anyway, good luck to you. I hope you are able to get through whatever problems you are dealing with!
 
To be fair, it was only 5 months. I work in manufacturing, and understand the supply-chain problems, and other economic issues. Considering the state of the world right now, 5 months seems quite reasonable to me.
And, also to be fair, the majority of that time was for a kydex sheath to be made. Had I not added that to my order, I'd likely have had my knife in about 3 months...
Ironic, really, because I'm not exactly a fan of kydex!
 
The worst our standard order timeline got was 3.5 months, but it's certainly true that some people have faced longer delays. Kydex supply issues are the number one cause in the last 3 months or so. It's also possible for individual orders to run into larger waits due to blades failing the QC process and needing to start again- usually due to material or fitment issues.
Thanks for the heads up about the AR15 thread- I remember it from a year or so ago and will give it a look.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
 
No dog in this fight but, speaking as a consumer and former small business owner, I would install a FULL TIME/FULLY CONNECTED staffer dedicated to answering CS questions/concerns emails and/or calls. This is the life blood of a small business, IMHO.
Especially customers that are in the States. Not like we can drive over there and check on our orders. Nepal is another world away from us.

It's a damn shame to see such fine work have this negative feedback, in an area which could be so readily corrected. I'm still a VERY satisfied customer.
My unsolicited advise.
 
Sardonic 6 said:
No dog in this fight but, speaking as a consumer and former small business owner, I would install a FULL TIME/FULLY CONNECTED staffer dedicated to answering CS questions/concerns emails and/or calls. This is the life blood of a small business, IMHO.
Especially customers that are in the States. Not like we can drive over there and check on our orders. Nepal is another world away from us.
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As an overseas company we've found that comms are even more important than working domestically. Despite how long we've been working and the reputation we've built there's an underlying discomfort inherent to the Nepal to US sales and production process. It's fair enough- you're handing over a very big chunk of change to with who live very far away from you, are out of the reach of many laws and come from a very diffrent societal background. In this context if there's a delay or a communication issue customers are not sure they'll be getting the item they've ordered at all or have the ability to get a refund and respond with a level of tension according to those stakes. A small delay in comms can foster thoughts of us cutting the customer off and running. Issues with the language barrier can be perceived as being in incapable hands or as the staff being evasive.

A full time staff member on comms is something that's been considered thoroughly and something that we're not too far from being able to do. Currently we have the job split across 2 others and myself in 2 different time zones and are handling the the other comm spots as a kind of training role to build up the skills needed to handle higher parts of the business. In order to better manage production you need to see what kind of flaws in blades lead to negative feedback. In order to create new ideas for designs and features you need to see what features or designs people are asking for. Dealing with complex problem solving and developing a higher degree of written english is essential for the kind of work that will be needed as we grow. Even more generally- it's important for staff to get a grasp on the international aspect of the business rather than thinking the entire operation exists within the workshop.
While having this as a training role does expose customers to a higher likelihood of a fumbled interaction I'm confident that for now it's the best decision for the business. It's worked fantastically in the past with me there to handle the more complicated issues we run into and provide a safety net, but the issue is that I just haven't been available enough in the last few months to fill that role. It's great that we're able to receive feedback like this- a change occurs, the customer feels it and passes it back. On a personal level and a managerial level I'll be stepping up to ensure we maintain our reputation for prompt customer service and reliable timelines. Changes have already been made that are working positively :)

We had a full time comms member in the past but didn't have the comms load to justify it. We've grown a lot since then but are still a bit small for it to be a good fit. While training up an outsider with knife knowledge is hard it may well prove easier than taking old khukuri dogs and teaching them new tricks. For the last year or so I've been off social media and Bisnu has been learning the ropes there. I'll be pushing a bit harder to see if we can grow him into that role fully and if not then getting a pro in to manage social media/customer comms could be get the workload up to being a sustainable full time position.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
 
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Did our monthly timeline analysis with the guys today and here's an update-
Orders from the 1st of june have shipped already with a turnaround of 9 weeks.
Projected turnaround for orders placed on 1st of august is around 7 weeks and shrinking.
So far our new system to calculate timelines is working well and giving solid estimates.
I'll be introducing a timeline counter somewhere prominent on the website that will be updated every month so that customers can be better informed going into their orders.
Never did manage to find the AR15 thread but I've gone through all of our inboxes and everything has been answered and up to date for some time now.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
 
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