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TADGEAR? nope, not with this attitude....

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Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Messages
3,271
I bought a knife from Evan at Tadgear. Knife arrived timely and opened fine.
It was, however, much smaller than I had anticipated for the measured size.

I emailed him the following:

"Hi Evan.

Just got back from ---------- tonight after visiting my parents. Got the Microtech Mini-UMS. It was delivered perfectly and opens beautifully as promised. Thanks. It is really small, though. Your website description is 100% accurate, I am sure. I guess I"ve just seen other 2.5" bladed knives that are just... well, bigger.

What I pictured as a mini is more like a micro.

Do I have any recourse with you to return it? I have purchased over a dozen knives from both knivesplus and knifeworks, and I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with you at all. Knife is perfect, it's just a lot smaller than I anticipated.

Please let me know if I can return it. I understand that the shipping fee is non-refundable.

Thank you,"

His customer service-friendly tactful reply?

Dave,

We are not a library. I will have to charge you a 5% restocking fee. If you don’t want to be charged the fee, I can:

1. give you store credit for future purchases.

-Evan

evan@tadgear.com
TAD GEAR, Inc.
660-22nd St
San Francisco, CA 94107
U.S.A.
voice: 415-318-8252
fax: 415-318-8251


gee, all this time I thought he was a library:jerkit:

First purchase with him. Guess it was my last, too.

what a putz.
 
I bought a knife from Evan at Tadgear. Knife arrived timely and opened fine.
It was, however, much smaller than I had anticipated for the measured size.

I emailed him the following:

"Hi Evan.

Just got back from ---------- tonight after visiting my parents. Got the Microtech Mini-UMS. It was delivered perfectly and opens beautifully as promised. Thanks. It is really small, though. Your website description is 100% accurate, I am sure. I guess I"ve just seen other 2.5" bladed knives that are just... well, bigger.

What I pictured as a mini is more like a micro.

Do I have any recourse with you to return it? I have purchased over a dozen knives from both knivesplus and knifeworks, and I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with you at all. Knife is perfect, it's just a lot smaller than I anticipated.

Please let me know if I can return it. I understand that the shipping fee is non-refundable.

Thank you,"

His customer service-friendly tactful reply?

Dave,

We are not a library. I will have to charge you a 5% restocking fee. If you don’t want to be charged the fee, I can:

1. give you store credit for future purchases.

-Evan

evan@tadgear.com
TAD GEAR, Inc.
660-22nd St
San Francisco, CA 94107
U.S.A.
voice: 415-318-8252
fax: 415-318-8251


gee, all this time I thought he was a library:jerkit:

First purchase with him. Guess it was my last, too.

what a putz.

I know I have only been hanging around on BF for a year or so, but still this is the most retarded complaint I have ever heard. Smaller than measured size?
I expected 2.5 inches to be bigger? Your sites discription is 100 percent accurate, the knife is just not what I expected?

Still TAD gear should refund because its best you don't have a sharp object.
 
You misunderstood.

It's not SHORTER than 2.5". But some knives are much bigger to hold, regardless of their length. A 3" Delica and a 3" strider don't have the same 'girth' when you hold them. I don't think that is retarded.

Furthermore, I inquired as to IF I could return, I complimented his initial service. I complimented the product itself.

I found his reply abrasive. If I spoke that way to my customers who wanted to return something, they'd leave. And they should. If you had any customer service experience you would know there is a way to talk to people, and it's not like you are doing them a favor. He could have said 'no problem, but I do have a restocking fee' That would have been fine. But being curt with a paying customer who can go anywhere isnt' good business.
 
I can understand your frustration,what people don't undertsand is the dealer still has to pay processing charge fee's even on a return.Even with shipping charges not calculated,he would have to pay at least 2-3% just for the priviledge of you trying out the knife.This doesn't include time spent processing the order/packing etc.On the other end of the issue,dealers have to realize there is going to be these kind of problems when conducting business, site unseen.TAD must have a return policy for this type of issue,which you should have explored prior to committing.If there is no defect there will be usually a restocking fee.Normally runs between 10-20%,so 5% ain't bad.He could have used a bit more tact in his e-mail though.No reason to be sarcastic.
 
I have been dealing with TAD Gear for many years, and they have EXCELLENT customer service. I agree that he could have used a tad bit more tact.
 
I know I have only been hanging around on BF for a year or so, but still this is the most retarded complaint I have ever heard. Smaller than measured size?
I expected 2.5 inches to be bigger? Your sites discription is 100 percent accurate, the knife is just not what I expected?

Still TAD gear should refund because its best you don't have a sharp object.

I'm sure Dave meant that the overall knife was smaller than he expected, not the blade. I'm also sure that Dave is every bit as able to handle a sharp object as you are.

Evan should not have included the "We are not a library." part, but maybe he was having a bad day. I don't care for rude replies either, but I try not to judge someone based on one experience, unless that one experience is awful.
 
I'm sure Dave meant that the overall knife was smaller than he expected, not the blade. I'm also sure that Dave is every bit as able to handle a sharp object as you are.

Evan should not have included the "We are not a library." part, but maybe he was having a bad day. I don't care for rude replies either, but I try not to judge someone based on one experience, unless that one experience is awful.

Yes, you are right. And if I got all huffy, that would be one thing. But I purposely included our correspondence to contrast my tone and his. No biggie...I'm just used to more professional replies from other online dealers.
 
Again, gentlemen, I had no problem with him annunciating his restocking fee.
I understand business expenses. That wasn't my complaint.
 
I have made purchases from Tad gear before, and been very satisfied with the transaction....that being said.......IMHO he should have just stated that the return would be no problem, but there was a 5% restocking fee. The added little dig wasn't needed as far as I am concerned. On the flipside, you probably wouldn't have gotten the annoying reply if your email to him was along the lines of "knife wasn't as expected, what can we do?" Instead of your very polite, elequent, and accurate question. Sometimes being extra nice can send the wrong message as well....like he might have gotten the impression that you were feeling guilty. Don't get me wrong here, I don't think that there was anything wrong with your email, just trying to maybe figure out what he saw in it that caused him to reply like he did. I wouldnever send that type of an email, nor speak to a customer in that way unless there had been a pattern of the same behavior, or a progression of noxious emails preceding it....in which case, I would probably just let the customer know I was done with them instead of exchanging hatemail.


On yet another note....check out this site...it is hilarious, and full of this kind of stuff http://www.actsofgord.com/
 
No biggie...I'm just used to more professional replies from other online dealers.

I agree, he should have been more professional in his response. All I am saying is that this may not be his normal way of responding in this kind of situation. It may have just been the result of a bad day.
 
i dont know that wanting to return the thing for this reason or that resaon is a bad thing as long as the knife is unused of course, if i didnt like it enough a 5% fee would be worth it, & the guy at TAD has no reason to be rude/huffy at all, i dont get the "library" part WTF does he mean??

as far as having to pay the CC fees its a biz and thats part of doing biz and keeping folks happy, doing that would be worth the fees imho.

anyway the 5% fee would cover any fees by the CC co.

i never have returned anything like that but i woulda figured it wouldnt be a problem as long as the article being returned was still in LNIB shape.
 
Jewelry store I once worked in paid around 2% for most cc transactions, more around 4% for AMEX.

Although I'm not fond of 'restocking' charges, if that was the policy, no problem.

Look, you sometimes don't know if you like a knife until you hold it. Chicago is down to one brick and mortar store, Mayor Daley has made it impossible for anybody to sell knives within the city, $500 'special license' etc. I can't just walk in and survey my selection like you can in some areas.

SO, you take a chance. I've bought a dozen items from knivesplus. One time, I returned an aus 8 Delica. Big deal, they took it, I"ve bought plenty of other stuff from them. They were courteous, no problem, I came back, kept the other 11 or so items. IF I was a serial returner or the like, then that would be different. Oh well....
 
ive exchanged emails with evan at tad several times. never gotten a sarcastic response or pour service in any way. in fact quite the opposite. great products, quick processing/delivery, great customer service.

im sorry to hear that your experience has tainted your opinion of tadgear. give them another chance to make it right. just my .02
 
This is for SIFU1A- The Library part is because TAD thought Diamdave was just "checking out" the knife and thinks he really didnt want it.<br>
This is for Diamdave- I'm sorry brother you had a problem. Bottom line is, it doesnt matter what ANYBODY thinks about this matter, especially Justabuyer, he's not even a member, "just-a-user". If you have a problem and don't feel comfortable dealing with TAD because of this, I wouldn't blame you. You have to remember that your money is yours and you have the right to be happy with what you spent your money on. It doesnt matter who was having a "bad day" or what. That is no excuse. Being smart or cute wouldn't cut it with me either. Im sure there is other dealers and sites that would treat you better than that. Take care and hope you have better dealings in the future, Aaron:D
 
I worked in retail a long time ago. I had customers that returned things I and we just said, "sorry you were not happy, would you like and exchange or a refund?" Either way, we treated them as good customers and they came back to buy plenty of stuff...we more than made our "process fees" back by treating them right and the amount they spent over time was way more than the cost of one return.

There are good online retailers as you know who wont give you attitude over a return...stick with them.
 
MANY MANY positive expierences thanks to TAD:thumbup: ....IMO their attempt at a resolution was MORE than fair although perhaps? a bit abrupt, BUT Still MORE than fair. And Just as I'd expect from one of the Industries best.:thumbup:
LD
 
I think the "library" comment was unprofessional and a bad idea but it looks like they gave you a break at least on the restocking fee. From the Tadgear website:

"RETURNS ARE SUBJECT TO A 15% RESTOCKING FEE"

And he quoted you 5%. From all the positive reviews I've read about Tadgear over the years I'd like to think they were just having an off-day.

Full text:
http://www.tadgear.com/returns_&_exchanges.htm
 
TAD is a great store, and Evan is a great guy. If you knew him, you would understand his email a little better. He wasn't trying to be rude, he even discounted your restocking fee. Thicker skin dude......thicker skin.
 
Hi Dave, thanks for your time at explaining what "went down" with TADGear.
This gives everyone a heads-up, including TADGear.

For those that have good transactions with TADGear, I hope you posted your experiences, here in the GB&U Forum.

Why the hell anal-ize Dave's experience?

Most Respectfully... How's about being fair here too!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!
This is your area to tell about your experiences (Good or Bad) with dealers, sellers, and individuals you've bought, sold, and traded with.
 
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