Hello everyone,
I want to share the experience i had with JP from Heimrick shop.
I ordered a longsword for armored combat on 11/24/06
JP said it will be ready by "late January". Fair enough, better than other places where it would take three or four month.
So I ordered it.
Scroll forward to "late January"
On Jan 18, I emailed JP asking to confirm the date as it was getting closer to late January

On January 22, he replied saying that he is 2 weeks late.

On Feb 12, I send him another email asking to know how is my sword coming along...

On Feb 15, since he did not reply..send him another email asking if there are any news on my sword?

On Feb 16, JP replied that it shall be ready early March

I waited through all the March, hearing from JP that it should be another 2 weeks

Last email that i got from him was saying that he is running late.
I wrote to him that I am very upset with the situation about my order. I complimented him saying I read many review about his work. However, I wrote to him that that I expect the honest answer "when my sword is going to be ready?"

Heimrick wrote back to me saying that he is very busy person, since he is a weaponsmith and he has a lot to deal with.
In addition he mentioned that he was not feeling well but is better now. He promised my sword will be ready in 3 weeks.
Hoping for the best I settled to wait another 3 weeks.

On April 19 3 weeks came to an end. No email from JP. Emailed him myself. He send me a short email informing me that it is going to be yet another week.

Sunday April 29 a week is coming to an end. No email from Heimrick. I cannot really wait any longer, I need my sword for my training. I write to him that I will have to see the picture of my sword today or on Monday - or I will have to order the sword from somewhere else.

Immidiately I get a response from JP. He is very upset with me. I was very rude to him (I thought I was direct but not rude) He said that he his reputation is spotless and
a) he is upset that I asked for the picture
b) my sword is ready
c) he is going to sell the sword to someone else because I am a problematic customer

I did stay civil during our 5+ month email exchange. I understand delays do happen especially if it is a small business like Heimrick's. However, I do question his integrity.
End of story.
I might just add that I dealt with several smithes from Canada, USA and Eastern Europe and never had problems like this. Delays did happen, but never by 3 month.
It seems that JP main point was that since he did not ask for the deposit he does not own his customer anything including the honest estimate on when the work is going to be completed. Somehow, I do not buy this. I needed that sword in January.

Yeah, he's a bit touchy. No custom blade smith or armourer likes demands. Also he (like many smiths/armourers) doesn't take peoples' money upfront because he doesn't make swords full time, every day. When its done, its done. I am not defending him because we've suffered many delays with him as well. However, if you expect production shop scheduling and time guarantees for hand made custom products... well you will be disappointed. I suggest you look elsewhere. You've burned your bridge with JP. :(

I will say this about Heimrich weapon reproductions. They are tough and low maintenance for very, very reasonable prices. Our Heimrich blades have ripped up cheap production blades at conferences, through no ill intent, just drilling. A few months' of waiting is not too much nuisance for something you can rely on for years. Better luck with your next shopping adventure.

I think you didn't do anything wrong, as long as your point of view, as presented here, is correct. Of course being "direct" or "rude" is completely a matter of personal perception.

I may be out of line here, since I don't have any experience ordering custom swords.

However, I do have plenty of experience dealing with contractors in my profession. Some of them are very skilled, are in high demand and pretty picky when it comes to taking on a project. While I do get a fair share of "misunderestimates" :) when it comes to completion time or cost, (something you just learn to live with), I never had anybody get "upset" over me asking them to report actual progress, complete with samples of finished work, if required. Especially if contractor keeps moving completion deadline - just like you, I'd rather hear "Oh sh@t, we are in deep trouble here", at least there's an honest answer that I can plan around.

The fact that he didn't take a deposit, to me at least, doesn't give him right to treat you in such way. In my field it would be considered unprofessional.

Again, this all is based on your side of the story.

Good luck - there are other sources, I am sure.

I would suggest reading Kel's response again, it does not seem to be an excuse or defense of the maker to me. I honestly think its one of the better reasoned responses to a scenario like this that I've seen online. Regardless, I'm sure the experience was vexing, and I'm glad you shared it so that I can avoid walking the same path sometime in the future.

I have to say up front that I have never ordered a custom piece from a weaponsmith, just standard items from the larger suppliers. I understand your frustration with this particular maker, but I also understand his dilemma.

One of the reasons I have never ordered from a solo smith is the near impossibility of setting and meeting deadlines, if he is good enough to get a decent number of orders.

Every person who runs a small business based on personal services performed by just one person, or a very small group of workers, is under pressure to predict when the work will be done. When business is booming it is nearly impossible to give a reliable answer to this question, whether you are making swords or painting pictures or writing books. The literal and honest truth would be that the guy really has no idea when he will get your specific item done. But if he told the customer that, it would not be taken well.

Once the game of offering an unreliable prediction has been commenced, it is nearly impossible to get back to reporting the status of the project reliably. Each time a predicted finish date is missed, a new and more creative excuse is needed to satisfy the demands of the customer. Sometimes the truthful answer is that too many projects have been accepted. Sometimes the craftsman truthfully reports that he has been ill, or has had family emergencies, etc. But also he is refraining from saying that he is increasingly annoyed to be bothered with repeated demands for predictions of completion dates, when he should be catching up on his smithing work. You will not be the only one asking for an explanation, and the cumulative burden of responding to those demands will be great.

Imagine a business where you have five projects that are not completed on time. So you must take time out to write to five customers who want to know why their work is not finished. The time spent explaining puts the artisan further behind. Now he may have ten irate customers who demand written explanations. And so it goes, until more time is spent explaining than working, unless he hires someone to do his explaining for him.

When a bigger supplier gets more orders than it can handle, it always has the option of hiring more help and expanding operations. A one man operation is limited by the abilities of the sole proprietor, who cannot lengthen his day.

The best way to avoid the sort of experience you describe is to do business only with those suppliers you can trust enough not want to demand explanations from. Once you feel the need for an explanation, you will not be making things move faster by asking for it.

My first sword was from Heimrick, and I remember a few delays, but nothing like this. I recently had a custom order (from another company) that fell at least 4 months behind. It is just part of the business - I don't think it is limited to one man shops. Thing happened and schedules slip. I do wish that more makers would be a bit more realistic, and give estimates that are doable, with some time for unforseen events worked in. People are always happy if you beat a schedule, and while it may not be what we want to hear up front, I at least am much happier to know it will be awhile rather than be disappointed.

Gordon

I had a similar experience with Irish Arms except that they had required the money up front. They were very much behind on their promised shipping date and they eventually simply stopped replying to my emails. Then, all of a sudden, the sgain that I had ordered arrived, but the scabbard was about an inch too short and the blade had rust pitting on it. Irish Arms offered my money back, but I would have had to ship the bloody thing back to Ireland as well as being at a loss for the period of time invested in it. I have gotten some help and stretched the scabbard, which is leather w/out wooden inserts, and I have removed all but the worst of the rust pitting and will keep the sgain. But I shall NEVER order from Irish Arms again nor shall I ever recommend that anyone else do so.

Well, I hate to add an unwelcome perspective, but I had the opportunity to read the original email exchange you posted before you revised it down to this summary and, frankly, I see where the smith is coming from. The way you demanded a picture of the sword, complete with the threat of taking your business elsewhere, made it seem that:

1) You didn't believe that the smith had a sword to show you
2) The smith was lying to you deliberately
3) Or he is a complete charlatan who hadn't intended to send you a blade at all and was leading you on

Not surprisingly, he wasn't too pleased by those inferences and told you so point blank. Now, if this were a simple misunderstanding and he and I both read too much into the tone and substance of your email, the thing to do would be to apologize for the misunderstanding and deal directly with the smith to rebuild those bridges. You started this thread instead, which is supposed to accomplish . . . what? Damage the smith's reputation?

I've dealt with custom smiths who have given me the same treatment. I have a double order now with one smith who has a stellar reputation. I paid the order in full up front and was told that one of the pieces was in stock and would be shipped in two weeks. Three months later I had neither word nor product, so asked for an update and was told again that it would be two weeks. Fast forward another six months . . . and again I'm told two weeks.

Now, I suppose I could conclude that the smith is stringing me along. Maybe he' s telling me "two weeks" when he knows for a fact that he can't deliver for another four months. I don't think so. I think the smith is just too optimistic. He has great intentions of working long hours, being extra-productive, and getting that backlog taken care of. But real life gets in the way of intentions sometimes. I'd be willing to bet that each and every time I've been told "two weeks" the smith believed it more firmly than I did.

Some folks are good at making swords, keeping track of their schedule and predicting completion dates. Others are only good at one of the three. Getting angry and insulting a fellow's character because his production schedule is messed up is generally not helpful.

Actually, you sent the smith (JP?) a choice: send you a picture of the sword or you will take your business elsewhere. Seems to me he chose the latter. "Pure evil" is a bit of a stretch. And as for "punishing" the customer, seeing as how this thread was started in anger, there appears to be an element of punishment on your end, too.

Regardless, you're right to move on. I'm sure you'll be happy with your Albion.

Max-
I do not want to see you calling other people names on my site. Calling somebody, or their actions, "pure evil" is out of bounds. You are invited to discuss, critique, and report your experiences, but you will do so in a professional manner. Mr. Rivet has an excellent point and I will caution your usage of my site as a means of retribution or punishment of others.

Should you or anybody else have questions about this, you can contact me directly. I would, however, prefer this topic to simply snap in place on its own and keep me out of it.

I don't have a problem with things taking a long time, etc.

I just wish people would be upfront and say "I don't know how long it will take, in the past it has taken six months to a year on average, though I've had people wait 2 years."

Agreed. That would be my preference, too. Sometimes I think "I don't know" is harder to say than "I'm sorry." Still, like I said before, some folks have a hard time making realistic estimates.

I had another scenario that dragged on and on. In this case, the smith was very communicative and kept me updated, but for a while he was apologizing to me every week. And in that case he legitimately had reason to believe he could deliver by each and every one of those dates, but kept running into unrelated family issues, health issues, weather problems, and so forth.

This fellow makes weapons for the joy of it. If I'd chosen to be ungracious about it, I could really have made the transaction a bad experience for him. I'm not doing business with a corporation, I'm interacting with an individual. Delivering on time and keeping promises are wonderful policies. But, when human beings are involved, grace is the best policy.

Part of the challenge is, I think, that most of us have very little pactical experience doing business with smal one person companies, and a rather large referenceable base of experience doing business with corporations and as parts of a corporation. Its unfortunate, but there is a learning curve involved in this buying toys for this hobby and people on both sides end up with scrapped knees because of it from time to time. When I'm not sure I can manage my expectations for whatever reason, I've learned the hard way that the best option is to stay away.

BTW I also have a current order with a different vendor that is running late.

I sent an email when it was due (a month ago) and i have heard nothing back.

Its well and go to say don't bother them, but its really hard to trust when you don't get any response that the communication was even recieved.

Its not that helpful when you're in the situation, but the only thing I've found to do is avoid ording anything else from a vendor until they deliver what I have in the pipeline with them. Nice thing about this is that it spreads risk a bit and adds variety to the collection when I find I just can't wait no more.