I ordered a discontinued Spyderco knife for my husband from 1 Stop Knife Shop. The knife was listed as being in stock but I first tried to send them an e-mail to be sure, however this online store only accepts product inquiries by phone. This red flag should have made me think twice, but I went ahead regardless.
As soon as I confirmed my order, I received an automated e-mail saying that they were back-ordered on that particular knife and that it would ship in a month. Luckily my CC was not charged.
Of course, I never received any more updates and never got the knife.
I am not saying they are dishonest, just incompetent (for not updating their inventory), probably misleading (the site showed the knife as in stock but I was immediately notified it was back-ordered when I ordered) and have a very bad communication model: there is no way to contact them other than by phone (and their toll-free number is only for placing orders, all other queries, including product information and order cancellation, have to be placed through a 502 area code phone!).
Why a company that does business online does not use e-mail as a way for its customers to communicate with it beats me.
Also, their website is very badly designed, with many product pictures missing.
July 23rd update: after almost 2 months, I finally received an e-mail from 1SKS saying that there was a problem with my order, the problem being that the knife is no longer manufactured.
Given the fact that that particular Spyderco has been discontinued for more than 4 years, didn't they know that already when I placed my order?
This review was modified by its author, coolgirl, on
7/23/09 10:55 AM.