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Thread: Special Circumstances Knives legitimate?

  1. #1

    Special Circumstances Knives legitimate?

    Hi everyone, new member here. I ordered a custom knife from Special Circumstances about a year ago, and I think I may have been scammed. I noticed there are members here who have this company's knives, so I figured I'd try posting here for help. Sorry if this isn't the right place for this kind of post. The owner initially gave an estimated completion time of a few months, but he stopped responding to any emails. I paid a 50% deposit up front, which is now gone. I checked their facebook page, and based on a few other comments it seems I am not the only one who this has happened to recently. Anyone here do business with this company that could provide any insight into what might be going on? Thanks.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by js475 View Post
    Hi everyone, new member here. I ordered a custom knife from Special Circumstances about a year ago, and I think I may have been scammed. I noticed there are members here who have this company's knives, so I figured I'd try posting here for help. Sorry if this isn't the right place for this kind of post. The owner initially gave an estimated completion time of a few months, but he stopped responding to any emails. I paid a 50% deposit up front, which is now gone. I checked their facebook page, and based on a few other comments it seems I am not the only one who this has happened to recently. Anyone here do business with this company that could provide any insight into what might be going on? Thanks.
    The only recent thing I know of that might be going on is that it was recently revealed that carbon fiber will set off most metal detectors which left Special Circumstances and other “NPE” blade folks scrambling to figure out what to do.

    Try sending an email that you’ll be contacting the better business bureau if you don’t get your merchandise or a refund.


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    My posts only represent my opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of my employer. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.
    My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.

  3. #3

    Special Circumstances Knives legitimate?

    Quote Originally Posted by js475 View Post
    Hi everyone, new member here. I ordered a custom knife from Special Circumstances about a year ago, and I think I may have been scammed. I noticed there are members here who have this company's knives, so I figured I'd try posting here for help. Sorry if this isn't the right place for this kind of post. The owner initially gave an estimated completion time of a few months, but he stopped responding to any emails. I paid a 50% deposit up front, which is now gone. I checked their facebook page, and based on a few other comments it seems I am not the only one who this has happened to recently. Anyone here do business with this company that could provide any insight into what might be going on? Thanks.
    I believe the owner is Ian Wendt, a member here and on total protection interactive. I don’t know how to tag him through tapatalk but he should be around on Facebook and Instagram as well.

    Edit: out of curiosity I checked his Facebook page and found this
    Last edited by NerdAlert; 03-14-2018 at 05:48 AM.

  4. #4
    Member orionz06's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Ian is a good dude, not a scammer. Likely backed up, I have friends who have been waiting longer than expected as well but knives are going out.
    Think for yourself. Question authority.

  5. #5
    Thanks for the replies guys. I ordered a knife back in March of last year. The last communication I got from Ian was in September, in which he said the knife would be done in a few weeks. I tried emailing him again multiple times in the November-December time frame, but he stopped responding. After 5-6 emails in 2 months with no response, I tried to get a refund through Google Wallet, but it was too late for their buyer protection. After that I just gave up and accepted this transaction as a loss.

    @Tom_Jones @orionz06 Could either of you PM me a phone number or alternate contact for Ian? Since you guys are vouching for him, I would be willing to give him another chance.
    Last edited by js475; 03-14-2018 at 10:28 AM.

  6. #6
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Sierra Nevada Mtns, CA
    Ordering things like this or custom leather holsters or etc., you have to send in the money and just forget it ever happened. Then you are surprised when it shows up and you have not invested anytime in updates or wondering. I've been burned a couples times as well (to be clear never by Ian).

  7. #7
    banana republican blues's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Blue Ridge Mtns
    Quote Originally Posted by Cookie Monster View Post
    Ordering things like this or custom leather holsters or etc., you have to send in the money and just forget it ever happened. Then you are surprised when it shows up and you have not invested anytime in updates or wondering. I've been burned a couples times as well (to be clear never by Ian).
    As a rule, "most" custom knife makers do not take money up front for orders. There are exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of custom makers I have dealt with over the last 25 years or so make contact when the knife is ready and ask for payment at that time, or, in some cases, upon your satisfaction with the work (depending on the maker or your rep in the "knife community").

    The few times I've had issues with a maker generally were with makers that requested payment in advance.

    This is in no way meant to impugn the integrity of the maker in this case. Tom and Tom's endorsement mean a lot to me. But I have also seen cases where even good guys have gone off the rails for one reason or another.

    Just a data point from someone who was quite involved in the knife community for many years.
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  8. #8
    Site Supporter dontshakepandas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    I contacted him about a year ago wanting to buy something, but never heard anything back. I don't do facebook so I never tried that.

    I did end up picking up one of the collaboration knives he did with Overwatch Precision and I love it. It would totally be worth waiting for, but based on the communication I've seen, I'd have a hard time paying any amount up front for something from him.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by dontshakepandas View Post
    I contacted him about a year ago wanting to buy something, but never heard anything back. I don't do facebook so I never tried that.

    I did end up picking up one of the collaboration knives he did with Overwatch Precision and I love it. It would totally be worth waiting for, but based on the communication I've seen, I'd have a hard time paying any amount up front for something from him.
    He initially responded to my emails pretty quickly, but then all communication just stopped. I had heard good things about his knives, which is why I took the chance with a deposit. We'll see how this turns out, but I'm not very optimistic at this point.

  10. #10
    Member SpyderMan2k4's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Ian is good to go. I ended up waiting about a year and a half for a knife of mine. His stuff is hand made and there's a hell of a demand for his knives. Those two things equate to long wait times... It's the nature of the beast.

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
    Owner of Aridus Industries. Creator of the Q-DC, CROM, and other fun shotgun stuff.

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