BladeHQ Vendor Review

Discussion in 'Reviews' started by martin_j001, Jul 12, 2019.

  1. martin_j001

    martin_j001 Member

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    Ok, I feel a need to share this experience...mods, feel free to move where you feel necessary if this isn't the appropriate place...but I'd like to hope this doesn't disappear because I feel like reviews on vendors is worthwhile to our community...

    TL;DR: I won't ever deal with BladeHQ again, and I will urge everyone else to not use them as well.

    I placed an order with BladeHQ.com for a Giant Mouse ACE Biblio Green Micarta on Saturday, June 15--Father's Day. As I knew I would be out of town at the end of the week for my brother's wedding in Texas, I decided to have the knife shipped to his place, and to pay extra for expedited shipping ($19.99 for UPS two day shipping).

    Now, I knew going in that the different billing and shipping addresses were likely to cause an issue...no problem, I'll call on Monday and make sure all is good and they're OK with it on their end. Got an email on Sunday about the fraud alert, and did indeed call when they opened on Monday. Told them the details, they said they'd release it and get it on it's way...no problem, right...UPS two day, if it ships Monday or Tuesday, it'll be waiting for me on Thursday at the latest. Good to go.

    Tuesday, no shipping notification, so thought I'd give a call and see what their usual shipping timeframes are and all...cause time sensitive. I'm told that "Yeah, it'll go out today or tomorrow at the latest for sure, all is good." OK. Not ideal, but it'll get there in time, so cool.

    Wednesday evening (5pm central), as we travel from GA to TX, I still haven't heard anything else and am beginning to get frustrated...I won't be in TX past Saturday, so basically if it didn't ship Wednesday, it's not going to get there in time. Now, let's check their website and see what they say about shipping, maybe they're one of those vendors that has a 2-4 day shipping lead time and I missed that, and they didn't specifically say it to me yesterday, but maybe I did miss it, so entirely my fault, right?

    Here's what they're website says though... https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Shipping-Information--146

    ...well, that's contradicting whats happening here so far...ordered Saturday, verified address, etc on Monday, and still hasn't shipped by Wednesday...something isn't right. Give them a call again. This time, I'm told by the employee that answered that they'll get my knife personally and walk it directly to shipping so it'll go out today, as this is the last chance for UPS Two Day to get it to my location while I'm still there. I'm also issued a $20 gift card. Great, very helpful, appreciate the assistance and service.

    Thursday morning...don't wake up to a shipping notice, which if it shipped Wednesday, I should have. Finally around 11am, I get a shipping notice. And the item is "Awaiting pickup"...so not actually shipping until Thursday, meaning it won't arrive until Monday in TX, and I'll be back in GA by then. What. The. ****.

    Thursday, reach out to customer service again when they open, and am basically told that there's nothing they can do, and that the cause for delay was the different billing and shipping address, no matter how many times I remind them that I called on Monday, and that they see that in the order notes. I'm then told that as the knife has left their facility already (BS...you just opened), there is no chance for them to upgrade the shipping to make up for the mistakes, or anything like that. I asked then what my options were to cancel the order, as I want done with this company by now. I'm told they can recall the shipment, and that it will get turned around by UPS and a refund issued to me when they get it back. OK, good. I don't want my brother to have to worry about shipping something back or to me in the two days he has between his wedding and honeymoon.

    Guess what didn't happen....

    The knife got delivered to my brother on Monday, who was then nice enough to get it sent back to me so I could finish up the return.

    Contacted BladeHQ for an RMA, and was issued that on 28Jun2019. The knife was shipped back on 01Jul2019,, and received by BladeHQ on 05Jul2019, and marked as returned in their system on 08Jul2019, with a refund amount of $175 (the cost of the knife) showing.

    But...why don't I have the funds showing as pending even in my account by 12Jul2019. Seems odd...most returns go through immediately these days. So here we go again...this time, I send an email. I'm calm, civil, and just inquire....I see it's been returned in your system, just wondering about timing on refund, thanks." Response: "I see we got it back. It was marked as returned, and usually a refund is issued immediately, but for some reason that didn't happen. I'll issue it now..."

    WHAT THE **** BLADEHQ?!?!?!?!?!

    ...and now I've skipped ahead to leaving reviews everywhere I can about this maddening experience.

    BTW...ordered the knife from Giant Mouse directly on the Thursday while we traveled, and it met me at home the day we returned (without having to upgrade shipping, or call CS, or....). And I like it a lot.

    Now we wait to see if I actually get the refund....
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2019
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  2. Bruno_GO

    Bruno_GO Member

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    Well, I really know what you´re talking about.
    I had a really REALLY bad experience with Battery Junction and like you I´ll never buy from them again.

    Thank you for your review about Blade HQ.
     
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  3. Boker55

    Boker55 Member

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    So uh, what’s up with that gift card? Lol
     
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  4. martin_j001

    martin_j001 Member

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    LOL
    I’ll figure something out. Probably give it away or something.

    Still no refund posted to my account (I realize it’s saturday and that could be why, but thought I’d update since I was posting anyway).
     
  5. Mountainmistwanderer

    Mountainmistwanderer Member

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    Pics of the knife???
     
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  6. CWB

    CWB Member

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    I’ve ordered from them with no issues but also from these dealers.

    USA made blade
    DLT trading
    Knives ship free (favorite)
    Knife works
    Knife center
    Knife connection
     
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  7. martin_j001

    martin_j001 Member

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    [​IMG]

    Yeah, I've dealt with most of them in the past as well (all of them probably) and will continue to do so without thinking twice. This is the first negative experience I've had with a vendor of any kind in quite some time. One issue cropping up, I might be able to get...but having multiple cases of being lied to/provided false information in one transaction, and not being able to get correct information throughout the process...I don't feel that's worth just brushing off. Especially when there are others out there having similar experiences in some way or another.

    For those keeping track...still no refund showing.
     
  8. Boker55

    Boker55 Member

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    That’s crazy you’re still waiting.
     
  9. martin_j001

    martin_j001 Member

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    Indeed.

    That said, as of this morning...the refund is showing in my account. Finally. After they've had the knife that was returned to them for over 10 days.

    Ordered 6/15
    Shipped 6/20
    Delivered 6/24
    (making it's way from Waco, TX to me in ATL, GA 6/25-->6/28)
    Shipped back 7/1
    Received at BladeHQ 7/5
    Marked as returned at BladeHQ on 7/8
    Finally refunded 7/16

    Of the things in there that Blade HQ had direct control of, there's not a single one that didn't take more time than it needed to, more time than their own website says it will... and at every single step I was required to take action to get them to do what they supposedly do. **** BladeHQ for taking that much time out of my life that I should have been enjoying a trip to visit my brother and his new bride as they get married, and for making me babysit them through a process that is supposedly what they exist to be in business for. :mad:
     
  10. Blade HQ

    Blade HQ Member

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    Hi Martin,

    We appreciate your review; it helps make us better. Without making excuses, your experience is pretty rare for our order fulfillment and customer service processes. It appears we had Murphy’s law working against us this time: anything that could have gone wrong with your order went wrong. Our sincere apologies for messing up your plans, and for the frustrations in the process.

    Despite our attempts to make it right with you, we clearly missed the mark. Where wood is chopped, chips will fall. We will do our best to take your feedback and improve our processes for the future.

    Best,

    Ben, Logan, Thomas, and several others who read your feedback.
     
  11. Michael W.

    Michael W. Member

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    This is definitely not the only negative feedback about you guys. Maybe you should think about hiring a whole new crew.
     
  12. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    If you have first hand experience then share your thoughts so that they can grow and benefit from it.
     
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  13. Michael W.

    Michael W. Member

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    I’ve never ordered anything from them online. Just read about the bad customer service from bladeforums.
     
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  14. Mike Smith

    Mike Smith Member

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    I’ve ordered from them several times with no issues.
     
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  15. martin_j001

    martin_j001 Member

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    I get that in many transactions, there will always be a few flaws and screwups...but what strikes me in this case is it was just as you said--EVERYTHING that could go wrong, did go wrong--why? I dealt with multiple employees when I called--not just the same one over and over again. Each and every time I called or reached out, all that had to happen was for the employee to do what they said they would do, but that never happened. Were they lying about what they could do for me at the time? Why are they allowed to do that? Were they giving me information that they couldn't possibly know, or that they knew was incorrect? Why were they allowed to do that? Is this the culture among your employees to handle things in this manner when they do go wrong? And to top it off, unless I had reached out about the status of my actual refund, you would have received the return, marked it as received, and not even given me my money back--again, what kind of a garbage process do you all use that would even allow for an item to be received, marked/notated in an account as returned, but not immediately initiate a refund? As far as online businesses go, and customer service...it's nothing short of disgraceful.

    (to be clear, I don't really care if I get answers to my questions posted here...I just hope that you, BladeHQ, read them and ask them, and do something so this can't happen again...every customer that chooses to spend money with you deserves better--they could have chosen to spend their money elsewhere, but they didn't, so treat them, their time and their money with respect...something that didn't happen in this case)
     
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  16. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Keep this thread to first hand experiences only.
     
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  17. Adventurer

    Adventurer Member

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    Martin - sorry to hear about your experience and thanks for sharing.

    I have made one purchase from Blade HQ and the experience was great. Bought a venom green Izula back in 2011 when they did the initial run. I listed several of the limited serial numbers that I preferred and they were able to pull one of these specific numbers and ship it out to me. If I remember correctly they then did a limited run in red and started a thread on the old forum where members could request certain serial numbers if they wanted. Haven't done business with BHQ recently but wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them again.

    On a side note I also purchased a set of scales for my Izula from The Knife Connection and would highly recommend purchasing a set of these scales from TKC. One of my favorite knife sellers is @Scott Whittington at USA Made Blade. I would highly suggest purchasing from them whenever possible.
     
  18. Bruno_GO

    Bruno_GO Member

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    I just saw a report on other forum and it seems they didnt learn the lesson. The same procedures...
     
  19. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    Hate to hear that.
     
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  20. mwramos76

    mwramos76 Member

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    Love BHQ. **** happens. Sorry for the inconvenience of it all but it’s really all trivial when we really think about it. First world problems type of stuff. Hope they square you away.
     

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