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Ripped off by Dale Reif

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$25 for a maker to sharpen a knife he sold you??? That's pathetic. Any maker with any kind of conscience or self respect sharpens knives they sold, for just the price of postage. Frank, that sucks about the refinish. Try to talk to a maker you are friendly with in private and see if you can get them to touch up the finish for you.

I'm still waiting for one of the guys that were burnt a few years ago when he used plastic instead of carbon fiber in his inserts, to speak up.

People like this screw up the knife world. Pass the word to all your friends and hopefully his sales will dry up.
 
Lifter -

Just so all the facts are straight, although the knife was made by Dale for TAD (GPF-5), I didn't buy it directly from Dale, I got it from another forumite.

Dale never broke down the price of the job for the refinishing/resharpening; he just said that he would resharpen it and, "put a nice satin finish on it." So, since I didn't buy it from him, I was OK with the refinish/resharpen quote of $75, even though I thought it a bit high.

I do know that other custom makers will sharpen and fix thier work for free, in fact, I sent Jerry Fisk a bowie for a refinishing and he did it for free, even though I didn't buy it from him. Most of the custom makers are class acts.

I'm actually getting over being mad at Dale, I'm just real disappointed and saddend that a maker that I had a lot of respect for has, for whatever reason, deteriorated into his current state.

As far as the knife goes, I'm just gonna sell it off (at a loss). I just don't want anything with his name on it in my collection. Pity though, because the knife is really a hell of a good tactical design and well made. Oh well, another life's lesson learned at age 53!

Frank:cool:
 
well, here is how real pro's work:

sent pat crawford a used crawford ti kasper that i bought very used from a forumite (ie scratched handles/etc)for refinishing. he beadbblasted the whole thing, replaced the lock, sharpened, resigned the blade and since i had mentioned i didnt have a belt sheath for it, he shipped it back in a crawford logo kasper sheath. it looks 100% like a new knife, enough so i have not carried it since, dont wanna see the "first" scrath. pat didnt owe me a thing, knife was well used, bought second hand/etc.

price?? $28.88 including UPS 2 day shipping. he THANKED ME for sending in a knife which had been used so he could evaluate it and pinpoint any potential weakness/etc. this man stands behind his product 100%. fully 1/3 of this was SHIPPING, the lock was $17 if memeory serves, wow, that is service IMHO.

point being, with people like pat (and many other well known makers) who stand behind the product so well, why even bother with some one who is gonna wanna be prepaid/etc, and $25 to sharpen?? i would never prepay a custom myself, esp w/a small timer, just too many variables, but do hope ya get your knives/cash back, and poo on this dale reif guy, i wouldnt buy a tent stake from him, lol.




greg
 
Originally posted by lifter4Him
...I'm still waiting for one of the guys that were burnt a few years ago when he used plastic instead of carbon fiber in his inserts, to speak up...
Click to expand...

(See my post)

After reading some of these posts, the name "Dale Reif" should be added to the "Allan Blade Running & Hiding Society". :(
 
Originally posted by SIFU1A
well, here is how real pro's work:

sent pat crawford a used crawford ti kasper that i bought very used from a forumite (ie scratched handles/etc)for refinishing. he beadbblasted the whole thing, replaced the lock, sharpened, resigned the blade and since i had mentioned i didnt have a belt sheath for it, he shipped it back in a crawford logo kasper sheath. it looks 100% like a new knife, enough so i have not carried it since, dont wanna see the "first" scrath. pat didnt owe me a thing, knife was well used, bought second hand/etc.

price?? $28.88 including UPS 2 day shipping. he THANKED ME for sending in a knife which had been used so he could evaluate it and pinpoint any potential weakness/etc. this man stands behind his product 100%. fully 1/3 of this was SHIPPING, the lock was $17 if memeory serves, wow, that is service IMHO.

point being, with people like pat (and many other well known makers) who stand behind the product so well, why even bother with some one who is gonna wanna be prepaid/etc, and $25 to sharpen?? i would never prepay a custom myself, esp w/a small timer, just too many variables, but do hope ya get your knives/cash back, and poo on this dale reif guy, i wouldnt buy a tent stake from him, lol.
Click to expand...

Wow... That's pretty impressive customer service.
 
Ok, here's another one...Alan Folts. I picked up one of his Mantis fighters and it was a little sctached up. I emailed him and asked him if he could touch it up for me. He said sure send it on out.

Well, long story short, he also ended up fully sharpening the false edge and completely redoing the sheath as well as the original reason I sent it.

What did it run?

Zip

He even threw in another little damascus knife he made because he felt he took too long in getting it back to me!!:eek:

That is service and customer appreciation!
 
Hey everybody, Dale told a Suspect that he sent me a knife on the 13th, and guess what, NOTHING has arrived, how 'bout that!


:barf:
 
small update,

Just got off the phone with the postal inspectors, they said I have a valid claim based on the reciepts and emails from Dale that I sent them. Have to wait for an inspector to be assigned to the case, but the ball is rolling!

John

Never deal with Dale Reif:barf:
 
Well, since he's (Dale Reif) basically refusing to hook this up. . .you definitely need to follow through and hook this as&#115hole up ! :mad:
 
I have five Dale Reif knives including two sets of the two tkcl knives. My nly really high end one is this one. I did send it to him to be resharpened (wasn't very sharp on arrival)and it came back in perfect condition..no charge.

As to the tkcl knives the first set were really nice. I bought the second set rather plain from someone who wasn't thrilled with them. No filework and plain handles. I had him do the file work, clean them up and add nicer handles. Also tried to get gold coins inlaid in the handles. This proved to be a task that he couldn't accomplish to his satisfaction (I never saw them). But he went through a number of slabs of wood trying. Eventually he returned the coins and the completed knives at the agreed price.

In short, I haven't had any problems.
 
Just an update on my "resharpening/refinishing job" experience with Dale Reif.

Five days ago, I asked Dale for $50 of my $75 back due to the poor quality of the refinishing work. To his credit, he has just now replied and offered to return the $50 to me, or, at my choice, send the knife back to him to refinish it again, with him paying shipping costs both ways. I have elected the money back option.

Regarding his work, he said that there were deep scratches in the blade, which were pretty hard to get out, and that he thought that the job he did, "looked good". He also said that he could not re-apply the logos as there was no way to realign them.:confused:

Anyway, as I have posted negative stuff about his work (albeit true), I thought it only fair that I post the positive stuff as well. I'll update this when I receive my $50 back.

Frank:cool:
 
Im not believing what Im reading.. The custom makers Ive dealt with over the years have been great. I recently sent a 70's gerbermkII back to the factory that had really been abused broken tip 1" worn out blade etc no sheath asking what they would chg. to restore heard nothing for two weeks, the knife shows up completely restored , looked like new only slightly shorter, new sheath and they charged nothing, paid the frt etc, this is from a factory knife maker who had no responsibility. It would seem a custom maker would have more pride in his product. sorry for rambling on
jim
 
It's difficult to believe that someone would just throw their career down the drain like that. My first thought was one of disgust, but now I'm interested in the why. Maybe something bad has happened in his personal life and he just doesn't care anymore. Not that it would be a good excuse for poor communication, but you have to wonder what would make somebody act like such a fool.

Maybe we should send a 'delegation' of heavily-armed Kansans from BF that can nicely ask Dale to give the money back. I'm game, anybody else?
 
Elbanko,
Believe it, it is all true.

Snow,
Go for it, 50% to who ever gets me a refund.:D


John


Never deal with Dale "The Thief" Reif:barf:
 
Well,
It is time that I recieved a knife from Dale, but, true to his stellar performance of the past, he told yet another lie, and missed yet another dead line. Keep it up Dale, you are making it way too easy for the postal inspectors, and now that you lied to my lawyer, watch for a summons coming your way!!!

Edited for content

John


Never deal with Dale "the thief" Reif
 
Originally posted by john sage
Well,

I am going to start a poll, who thinks it's drugs, or alcohol that is making Dale act like such a child?

Never deal with Dale "the thief" Reif
Click to expand...
Uh... well... I certainly empathize with your situation. I had to hassle a gunsmith to complete and ship a custom combat shotgun a few years ago (6+), back before I personally learned the "never pay in full, up front" rule. To the tune of well over a grand.

But I would surely encourage this forum to not engage in such speculative polls. The lawyers among us could probably advise specifically why not. I always get slander and libel confused, technically.

I have no idea why he's having such problems. Unless someone knows Dale personally, and knows he's having health problems or something, I think a poll could end up with a bunch of ==> :footinmou or worse.

I'm not sure calling him a thief in public is appropriate either. Let the bare facts speak for themselves. Civility on the forums is typically a good idea.
 
I received my knife from Dale Yesterday..everything I expected..Maybe the guy has got to put his life back together after a divorce..? anyway he did right by me FYI
 
Originally posted by john sage
I am going to start a poll, who thinks it's drugs, or alcohol that is making Dale act like such a child?

John


Never deal with Dale "the thief" Reif
Click to expand...

What you are going through sucks and I think you are not being treated at all well by Dale Reif, but I don't see a need for the above statements. You have presented your case very well and there is no need to resort to personal attacks.
 
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