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Bad Rick Barrett (Resolved)

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Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
758
***I HAVE BEEN REFUNDED***

I received a full refund of $2200. Rick did the right thing, I was not scammed or ripped off in the end. I wish it did not have to come to having to go public, but it's done and over with. I appreciate everyone's responses and support during this process.

For the record, Rick makes awesome knives and I hope this was a learning experience that will not be repeated. A lot of custom knifemakers fall into this rut and it's hard to get out of. Regardless, I wish him the best of luck going forward.
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Apparently the update above caused some mixed emotions. Please read my latest response which I also posted at the end of the thread:

"When I said to update the posts, I did not mean to take anything down. Everything should stay up as a lesson to any knifemaker that wants to pull this kind of crap with someone else. What I meant was that any ongoing thread that I am not posting to should be updated that he actually paid me back. Regardless the ridiculous amount of time it took and the negative feedback he rightfully received, it is the truth, he paid me back. In situations such as this, honesty is the best approach, I had nothing to hide; I was honest about what happened and I am being honest about the outcome.

As far as his knives being "awesome", well, that part is still true. He does make good knives, his poor business decision to drag me along for 4 years is what was being discussed here. If he sent me a piece of garbage for $2200 or nothing, ever, then we have a different issue entirely. There are people out there that did receive their knives from him or bought one that was already finished online and are very happy. I am not talking about fanboys who hold his "personal knife" while he urinated, but regular collectors. I owned and eventually sold (over a year ago) one of his custom Skull Tap blades. I knew he made good knives, that is why I sent him $2200. Me telling the world that all of his knives are suddenly pieces of shit because of a really stupid business decision would not be honest.

The dude took a beating for several days straight online and again, I have all of you to thank for that. His reputation is definitely scarred and it will take some time to recover. And yes, I agree, that I received my refund because of said beating and no, I will never own another custom Rick Barrett knife again, period. The incident is over, all of the posts will remain online for years to come and potential customers will find it.

On that note, during this long, 4 year, process, I had been periodically checking all over the internet for any negative press about Rick Barrett. Some have told me it's out there, but I was never able to find anything. That may be why I gave him the benefit of the doubt for so long, but it's here now and there is no changing that.

I will switch my heading back to bad (instead of no header), someone had pointed out that I shouldn't of changed it and I agree.


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I am finally going public with the transaction I have had and still have with Rick Barrett. I was way more patient and understanding than I should have been as you will see in the emails below. Please note that I have omitted some of the personal conversation we had as it is not for public consumption. If you want to get a summary without all the communication, just skip to the end.

I have tried to make this as easy to read as possible. Here is the timeline:

9/17/15 - Rick Barrett displays two knives on Instagram saying that they are being built and available for customization. I email him and we begin to discuss pricing, options and so forth on the Fallout model.

9/18/15 to 10/15/15 - Rick and I email each other back and forth many times discussing various topics surrounding the customization of this knife. I had collected a ton of knives up to this point, but never a custom that I had a say in. Rick was very patient and we slowly agreed upon a design in which I mailed him a check for the full value of the knife: $2200. Before anyone starts with the speeches, I had the money at the time and Rick said it would make Christmas that much better for his kids. Given Rick's reputation, I wasn't worried. I was in Japan on vacation towards the end of this discussion.

10/20/15
- I emailed Rick stating that I was home from my trip to Japan and received no response. No big deal at this time.
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3 months pass
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1/29/16 - Rick's Email:

"Sorry about the long lapse in communication. I had really hope to have your knife done by now but I've been crazy busy dealing with some logistics issues and catching up on some way overdue fixed blades. Anyways, I'll be making some serious progress this month and will start getting you some pictures and updates as things go along. Hope all is well on your end and you had a great holiday season."


1/31/16 - My Email:

"Thanks for the update, I appreciate it. And I totally understand how things can get hectic, I am so close to finishing my first folder, but its taken months to find the right days to get out to Alan Davis's house. I am 3 days into it and it should be finished tomorrow. I have a pic of it on Instagram (rustworx). My new job is kicking my ass right now, but its a startup tech company that has the potential of paying off big time. We'll see..."

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5 months pass
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6/~/16 - At this point I no longer received any communication until I saw Rick at Reate's table at Blade. We spoke for a few minutes, he explained there was a delay with waterjetting parts and he needed to find a new company, etc. I have no reason to doubt him, but then the zero communication continues.
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6 months pass
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12/10/16 - My Email:

"We spoke briefly at Blade while you were at the Reate table who were showing off your mid-tech prototype I believe. They did a very nice job, btw, I see them popping up here and there on different websites.

I just wanted to see real quick if you had any updates. I know you were having an issue with multiple water jet companies no longer honoring your agreement and/or just not doing a good job. I, myself, am so consumed with my job that I haven't touched my grinder since before Blade this year."


12/14/16 - Rick's Email:

"Holy cow, almost missed this email and had been waiting to hear from you. Got moved to my junk mail. I'm in the middle of my holiday rush right now but I have everything almost ready to go. I had lost a bunch of my contact info on my old computer and couldn't seem to find your contact info but the project has been progressing. The only big thing I have left to do is confirm the gear artwork I did up before engraving it on the frame. I have to dig up to sketch take a pic and send it your way. Anyways, like I said, in a holiday rush right now but I'd like to have your project be one of my first ones finished in the new year. So I'll find the sketch and send it your way sometime in the next few days so we can confirm things. Talk to you soon and so glad to hear from you. Was beginning to worry that something happened to ya."


12/14/16 - My Email:

"I was doing my best to not be a pain in the ass :) Glad to hear from you and I am glad I emailed you when I did.

The beginning of the year is perfectly fine and I can't wait to see your sketch. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!!"

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4 months pass
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4/6/17 - My Email:

"I never received any sketches for the knife. Please let me know what the status is. Thanks!!"


4/6/17 - Rick's Email:

"Here's the sketch, mainly to get an idea of the gear shape and placement. I had an idea to then do quite a bit splatter or etched away metal effects around the gear area similar to the effect around the radiation symbol on the skulltap then even add some bullet holes and bash up the frames really good on the outside giving them that worn look. Then I was going to take some copper bar and pretty much grind it/rub it into all the recessed areas and over the frame to try and get a bit of a mechanical copper deposit going on"


---This email had three pics attached two it. Two were of other knives he made prior and one was a sketch of what the handle would look like when complete. This was just a sketch, nothing else.
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1 month passes (this one was my fault)
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5/8/17 - My Email:

"Sorry for the delay, (my personal junk omitted).


I really like the sketch you sent. I was going to ask some other questions, but given that I have no time to really put anymore thought into this, I am cool with what you want to go with (really cool with it). The only thing I want to ask is if you do use the bullet hole look, can you make the holes look more jagged and less round? I want it to look like it was punctured or struck by something sharp other than a perfectly round bullet?

Thank you for your patience and I hope to see you at blade."


---As you can see from this message, I end up giving him full discretion so there would be no more delays from going back and forth. At this point it's been 1.5 years since I sent Rick $2200 and I didn't want to wait any longer.

(continued on next post)
 
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8 months pass
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1/21/18 - My Email:

"We passed the two year mark back in October and in less than 3 months, it will be a year since I have heard from you. I responded back in May of last year, but never heard back and I didn't see you at Blade. The knife was originally supposed to be finished sometime in January 2016 according to our email thread. I know you had some issues in early 2016 with finding a place for water jetting, I believe, which I think you had squared away by Blade that year. Perhaps you are still catching up from those issues, but again, I haven't heard anything.

As this point, I would just like a refund. I will verify with my bank, but I believe I paid $2200 up front."


---Now, something worth mentioning at this point. Rick has been making other folders and $4000+ Japanese swords most of the time I have been waiting for this knife. These non-commissioned blades were being sold on Instagram, FB and his personal website. After the 2 year mark passed and almost 1 year since I was emailed back, I think it was perfectly reasonable to ask for a refund.

1/21/18
- Rick's two back to back Emails on the same day:

"I just finished getting the engraving done and spent about $500 on the engraving portion of it, right now I'm finishing the distressing on it. I had planned on finishing it by the end of this month. I spent all of fall and much of this winter finishing swords but I've gotten a lot of progress done on the folder."
---

"After doing the final distressing I need to do some etching but I should have pictures late next week or early the following."

1/30/18 - Rick's Email:

"Still working, doing the bronze finish on the accents and trying to add some copper/ bronze effects to the weathering on the frame. Basically the final finish phase before assembling things but trying some techniques I've never done before."


---Cool, I am finally hearing about some progress being done. Maybe? I respond thanking him for the updates a few times in between emails.
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1 month passes
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2/27/18 - Rick's Email:

"I've been away from work the past two weeks dealing with (family issue omitted). I'm back at it now and plan on shipping your knife by next week. I'll contact you as soon as its ready and send the final pics."


---Another email was sent the same day, 2/27, with more personal/family issues in detail which I will not post.
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1 month passes
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3/27/18 - Rick's Email:

"Finally got the frame finish to a point where I am happy. I hope to get the blade final fit up this holiday weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'd like to have it ready to ship sometime next week. It's hard as I have this distinct vision in my head of how I want it to look and as a result I keep "nitpicking" over every minor detail."

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8 months pass
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11/3/18 - My Email:

"I am currently selling off most, if not all my custom knives. (I explain that I am going through a custody battle and more personal stuff that is not relevant here.) It would be a huge help if you could list it for $2200+ and pay me back the $2200 and keep whatever you make over that. Again, I will just sell it on my own anyway, but its going to take me way longer and I may have to take a hit. Let me know, thanks."


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5 months pass
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3/21/19 - My Email:

"On March 27th of last year you said the knife should be ready to ship "sometime next week". It's now a year later and I have no pictures, no updates, no knife and am still out $2200. I paid for the knife in full almost three and half years ago.

I sent you an email back in November of last year to the (email address omitted) email address asking you to either refund my money or if the knife was done, sell it for $2200+, and then reimburse me the flat $2200. I never got a response. I am sending this email to the addresses I found on your website in case you no longer use the other one.


(Personal information omitted). Even if you sent me the knife tomorrow, I would just turn around and sell it online. If the knife is done, again, please just sell it and reimburse me, I am fine with that. If I try and sell it, I will most likely take an undeserved loss. I attached my original order pdf for reference."


3/21/19 - Rick's Email

"My email has been spotty at best. I am currently getting ready for a trip, I will get your knife listed shortly after I get back and check with any dealers to see if they are interested. With any luck it will sell within a few weeks, I have retired that model, so it is no longer available.


I am no longer taking ANY orders simply because of the difficulty in keeping up on things. Last year I had (omitting more personal information). Sorry to hear about the difficulties with your custody battle."


---There are a few more emails back and forth that same day, nothing relevant past what was said above.
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7 months pass
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10/13/19 - My Email:

"Its been almost 7 months since we last spoke and 4 years since I paid you for this knife (October 2015). Do you have any update for me on selling it off to a dealer?"


10/14/19 - Rick's Email:

"On the road right now, I'll get back to you tomorrow and fill you in on attempted sales."


10/15/19 - Rick's two back to back Emails:

"I've been trying to sell the knife privately as new for $2400 to make a little extra for you. I even took it to Blade show and a few gatherings, but most guys were only spending in the 1500 range.

I thought I had it sold once and the customer wanted to make payments. That fell through when he got laid off from his job, but I have another guy interested now and I'm trying to "set the hook". I was only going to hit up dealers as a "last ditch" effort as they rarely want to pay full price. I can hit them up too but I don't want you to take any sort of loss and would prefer to try to get you at least a small profit to help with the battle in getting your daughter. My nephew just went through a 2 year battle doing the same for his son and I know it can be tough."

"Also, I've got enough pictures of the knife, that if the currently interested guy doesn't bite, I may as well send it to you so you can enjoy it and likewise try to sell. I'd still like for you to be able to hold it in person after waiting for it to come to life."


10/16/19 - My Email:

"Thank you for the updates. I have sold almost all of my custom knife collection and most of whats left that is $400 or over is for sale on my eBay account. When I sold the Skull Tap, I took a $200-300 hit before fee's if I remember correctly and it was completely unused. I am sure the knife is beautiful and perfect, but if no one is going to pay the maker for what it's worth, I will probably be even worse off. I really hope the currently interested individual grabs it."

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1 month passes
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11/14/19 - My Email:

"Do you have any updates? If the other guy didn't buy it, couldn't you just list it on your website? I don't see a single custom Fallout for sale anywhere on the web right now, I don't see why it wouldn't sell rather quickly.

Also, could you send me some pics, I still haven't ever seen the knife."

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And that is it. I handed Rick Barrett $2200 in October of 2015 and never received a knife, a refund or even a picture of the progress outside of one rough sketch. Do you realize it takes less time to finish high school than the total time it's taken this transaction to complete which still isn't over?

In my last email I asked for pictures and he has yet to respond. I have seen his Facebook updates since my email, so I know he has been online. I don't think there are any pictures because there is no knife, plain and simple.
 
Obligatory "never pay up front" post.

Yeah you have some incredible patience for a knife that was supposed to be completed in a few months. I read all of these threads and can never understand how someone can be making other things, knives/swords/etc, but cant take a few days to finish such a pricey piece. Even if he only put an hour a month into the knife it would have been done long ago. There are so many terrible makers in this community.
 
Obligatory "never pay up front" post.

Yes, I knew that was coming and yes, to everyone reading this, I agree with this statement.

Now, I have paid up front with Scorpion 6, whom I ordered my second ever custom from and got within 6 months with plenty of updates along the way. DSK Tactical as well, 2 different knives, custom, but not in the sense that I chose the customization. Those knives were all ordered after my Barrett knife and received within 6 months of each order.
 
Sad to see such a skilled makers become like this... Your are such a patient customer. I won't even wait for a year tolerate this shit seriously.

Anyway, he's pretty active on facebook. You might try to contract him and lets him know you made it public already.
 
Kinda getting Neil Blackwood vibes from this. It sucks.

Unfortunately not all talented knife makers are good businessmen.
 
Man, that really stinks.
You are not the first to have issues with this maker.
It's true that many artists are not good business people, but in this case that's not the real issue. This guy lied over an over again, and purposely did the things he did. He should have refunded you your full amount immediately when you asked. This is a complete lack of character on his part.
I hope you can be made whole somehow.
 
What's the word I'm looking for...um...fraud. Yeah, that's the one.

4 years huh? I applaud your patience sir.
 
Often, skilled makers of thing - knives - houses - jewelry, are not skilled in operating a business. That reality is not material when issues of dishonesty arise. The honest "poor businessperson" admits error and is perceived to be at least trying to make things right. This sad tale is more akin to someone "paying" a debt with an insufficient funds check.

Slimo's website now gives a clear warning not to deal with him: "Once an order has been placed there are no refunds! Changes to standing orders can be made at my discretion."
 
Slimo's website now gives a clear warning not to deal with him: "Once an order has been placed there are no refunds! Changes to standing orders can be made at my discretion."

So what's that mean? He can accept an order, accept the payment, make a change "at his discretion" where he decides he's not gonna make your knife and then not issue a refund? "Slimo" is accurate and on the nice end of what he should be called.
 
He is trying to look like there is a sales contract, but it's an illusion. You get whatever he unilaterally decides you get at whatever price he ultimately decides to charge - like, in this case, nothing. How about "scum of the Earth"?
 
He posts on a knife b,s,t forum on facebook quite a bit... dirtbag! The word needs to get out.
 
Yikes!

I'll never understand why makers do this to themselves.
 
Assuming the inflation rate at 4% each year from 2015, the $2200 equals to $2573 in Nov. 2019.
I don't like the math here either.
:oops:
 
Often, skilled makers of thing - knives - houses - jewelry, are not skilled in operating a business. That reality is not material when issues of dishonesty arise. The honest "poor businessperson" admits error and is perceived to be at least trying to make things right. This sad tale is more akin to someone "paying" a debt with an insufficient funds check.

Slimo's website now gives a clear warning not to deal with him: "Once an order has been placed there are no refunds! Changes to standing orders can be made at my discretion."
What a POS! This thread needs a sticky along with all the other dirtbag con (knife) artists.

Like I said, Neil Blackwood vibes. He got overwhelmed with back orders and spewed excuses left and right. Now? He deleted his social media knife presence. I feel for everyone he still owes money/knives to.
 
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that should help with search engine results
 
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