[David Jasper]

I had high hopes when I decided to contact him, as I did not find any negative reviews of his business or his work. However, after many attempts to get some resolution, and no response after requesting a refund, I can only assume that this vendor is not to be trusted.
So now I am out $75.00 and the only recourse I have is to report him for fraud to his ISP.

I am not one to go into this action lightly. I give breaks to all as long as they communicate. I would have even given him till next year to complete the piece if he only let me know he needed more time.

To not communicate is to indicate that you do not care or intend to live up to your obligations.

It is sad really, as I had intended to purchase his "Hawk" knife. Though I felt it highly overpriced, but would rather give an artisan the money than a production company. But that will never happen now. He has enough of my money with me having nothing to show for it.

[David Jasper]

As I am a fair person, I wanted to update my further adventures with Forged In Time. Today, I received a package containing 2 knives. This is after almost a years wait. However, the knives I received were not the one that I had ordered. So apparently this is a buy off from the owners of Forged in Time. I guess at this point, beggers can't be choosers, so I will mark this chapter closed as I feel this is as good as it is going to get.

None of the knives that I received are listed on their site, so I suspect these were ones they just had laying around. Certainly together they are probably worth the $75.00. Which was the purchase price at the time of order for the Personal Eating Knife. So, to conclude, I did receive knives. Were they what I ordered a year ago? No. Were they of the quality I expected of the one knife pictured? No.
So ends my business with Forged In Time and it is only slightly better than before only due to the fact that I did receive something. Which is better than nothing I guess.

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[Benjamin Rial]

I would like to start off this reply by saying "Thank you" to Mr. David Jasper for his fairness and despite what I'm sure he thinks (understandably I might add) I do appreciate his business and his patience.
Over the last two years my business has increased by almost 50% each year; far in excess of anything I had ever anticipated. I'm one guy in my shop. I have recently begun training two apprentices and am anticipating an increase in my production output in the next 6 months. I have literally had over 100 orders at any given time, consistently getting more and more business. I have also had to deal with a couple of scammers that had placed orders, received their orders, and then claimed to have never gotten them. Looking back over my shipping info months later, I indeed confirmed that they had received two of what they had ordered. One of the scammer's names was David. It was NOT David Jasper. David Jasper has been a good customer. I have not always been the most organized guy in the world (I'm a craftsman, not a book-keeper, but I'm trying to do better) and I confused David Jasper with this other character named David. One again, this mistake was entirely mine and in my experience, David Jasper has been a good customer.
David, I would like to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for providing you with such terrible customer service. I completely understand your position and, if in the same position, would have reacted in the same manner. I can only explain it as my being human and having made a mistake.
The knife you ordered from me was the "Personal Eating Knife" with the nickel silver bolster and a birch handle. I do specify that the knife comes with either nickel or brass for the bolster.
At the time is was priced at $65.00 with $10.00 shipping.
What I sent you are the two knives pictured with a black walnut and ash grips.
Both are Personal Eating Knives with sheaths. One has a brass bolster and a black walnut grip, the other does not have a bolster and has an ash grip. Both I forged from 1095 high carbon steel. Each is worth $85.00 (according to my current pricing). Even using the price that you paid at the time of your order, that is still a $130.00 value excluding shipping. Everything I make is hand made. There are going to be some differences from piece to piece. Do I feel that you have been given a good deal financially? Yes. Did I wrong you from a customer service standpoint due to my mistake? Yes.
I am profoundly sorry that I wronged a customer? Yes. Do I feel that my work is over-priced? Absolutely not. The only difference between what you ordered and what you received was that the handle scales are black walnut rather than birch. I'm essentially a one-guy operation (until my apprentices are skilled enough) and haven't updated everything on my website to reflect my current options. I haven't had any decent birch for handles for a long time, but have a lot of black walnut (which I think looks better with brass anyway).
In conclusion. Did I screw up? Yes. Am I human? Yes. Do I feel bad about my mistake? Yes. Did David Jasper behave with honor and integrity? Yes. Do I feel that he got value for his money? Absolutely. How many businesses will give you double the value of your order? Probably not many. Am I trying to improve my business practices? Yes.[/img][/url][/code]

[David Jasper]

So you sent me these two knives as replacement for the knife I ordered. I appreciate that you are trying to make up for lack of service earlier. However, I am curious as to why you didn't just send me the knife I ordered? I placed the order for the other knife specifically to go with my Scottish garb as it resembled a period Scottish knife. The ones you sent me do not fit that requirement. So, essentially, they are useless to me in that regard.
Again, I am still wondering why you didn't just send the knife I ordered? This all could have been avoided and not taken a year if you would have sent what I wanted.

Mistaking me for someone else is sadly a fairly weak argument. As my name only matched the first. Not my last. I don't want these knives that you sent. I want the one I ordered. I have no use for these as they resemble kitchen knives and do not really meet my period needs.
So as it stands, I am left with two knives I can't use. Maybe I can sell them, but for the price you quoted, I think no one in their right mind would pay $85.00 a piece for them. I have purchased many custom knives and historically these don't fit the bill for that price point.

I am very sorry this turned out the way it did as I was very hopeful for a maker that I could trust and that provided great customer service. This did not happen.

Your sending me two knives do not make up for the lack of the original one I ordered. A refund, as I had requested a long time ago, would have settled this with no harm and no foul. But you chose to blow me off until I brought this to the attention of the public and the Better Business Bureau. I am sorry, sir, but you haven't redeemed yourself in my eyes.

You simply attempted to buy me off with something you had laying around. Not something I wanted or originally paid for. If you have the knife I ordered, send me that and take these back. If not, then we will have to end this as it was originally. Nothing was fulfilled to my satisfaction.

[Brandt Giese]

Thank you David Jasper for sharing your experience as it has been enlightening.

[J. Hargis]

From what I have read I think Ben's explanation is reasonable. I see nothing "weak" about it.

It's not in Ben's best interests to hurt his good name by ripping someone off for such relatively low profit. If Ben had been truly interested in such alleged criminal activities then logic would dictate that he go for something a bit more pricey than this small knife. That is not to denigrate Mr. Jasper's order. What he ordered is a nice piece that he wants for his Scottish kit, understood. Mr. Jasper is very disappointed, understood as well; but labeling Ben a "crook" is IMO way over the top here.

As for the two-for-one deal, I feel it is a good indicator of Ben's sincere remorse and good faith in trying to patch up this problem. These are high quality handmade knives. Obviously not what Mr. Jasper ordered, but I believe Ben was simply trying resolve the matter as quickly as possible once it became clear to him that a mistake had been made; without the additional time to handcraft the ordered piece from scratch. I assume Ben had these two already completed.

Not to ignore Mr. Jasper's purpose for his order, but I would take this two-for-one solution all day long. In fact, I will buy the two knives from Mr. Jasper for the price of his originally ordered single knife. PM me, David, and we'll work it out.

It seems a pity that this has come to such a dramatic peak. As stated, I have dealt with Forged In Time on numerous occasions and Ben may be many things, but a "crook" he certainly is not. Forged In Time does quality work.

Jon

[David Jasper]

Thank you Jon for your offer.. However, I would like to resolve this between Forged In Time and myself. I am giving him the opportunity to make this properly right and not buy me off with unwanted merchandise.

From my experience, he refused to communicate with me, therefore he looked to be a "crook" in my eyes. If you like, I'll withdraw the "crook" label, but still say he is a poor business man. All he had to do was either return my money, or give me the knife I ordered. Simple. He did neither.
I understand you consider yourself his friend and I understand you are defending your friend, but it doesn't excuse his poor dealings with me.

You see, it is a principle thing. One of honor and trust. Which I am giving him the chance to regain. If he refuses, then I leave it where it lay.

Would any of you on this forum be happy and joyful over having to fight for what you had ordered and then being given a token to hopefully shut you up? I think not.
Again, it is about honor and trust. Something many have lost in this day and age and should think on regaining.

[J. Hargis]

Hello David:

I suppose Ben can be considered a friend of mine, no problem with that on my end. However, I have never met Ben face to face, only via various phone conversations regarding my orders, commissions. So please do not discount my assessment of this unfortunate business endeavor. I certainly have not let my rather limited interactions with Ben color my comments here.
I do understand your feelings, I've had some unfortunate arms dealings as well. Yet I do feel Ben has done his best in explaining and then rectifying the situation. Agreed, honor and trust are important in life, but sometimes accepting the situation is more pragmatic. My offer stands.

Best regards, Jon

[David Jasper]

I am glad that your experience with Forged In Time was a positive one. That doesn't diminish the fact that mine wasn't. Your opinion that Ben did all he could to rectify the situation is just that, your opinion. Many things have transpired in this saga to show that he only sent me the two knives to keep me quiet.

As an example. I have not had direct communication from this individual since Oct of 2013. My thought is he only responded on here when he received the Better Business Bureau letters and sent the "pay offs". If he wanted to do all he could to fix this issue, couldn't he just have sent the knife I ordered? Or an email explaining that he was at fault here and giving me the option of accepting the two knives or my money back? Or even just an email to let me know he screwed up and was sorry.
I received no communication.

One question that has been nagging at me is why he didn't just send me the knife I ordered? He told me back in Oct that he had mailed out my knife. It didn't arrive, so I contacted him. He said he would check the tracking and get back to me. He got back to me and said he had another one almost done and would send it out within the week. That was the last communication I received from him. I continued to try to contact him through Nov, Dec, and Jan. No response came from him.
You see, it appears that falsehoods are part of his business model. But, I am willing to still give him an opportunity to fix this by sending me the knife I ordered. Or refund my money.

As to your offer of buying the knives for what I paid, I must vacate that offer on the grounds that it is not your responsibility to rectify the situation. It is his.

Thank you for your input. I appreciate your sharing your experience.

[J. Hargis]

David:
Carry on as you deem best. In no way am I the voice of authority regarding your situation. Good luck, fellow collector.
Jon

[Bob Lancaster]

Hello All,
I ordered and Arbiter Longsword w/Elite Scabbard and Arbiter Companion Dagger from Ben Rial at Forged in Time in March of 2013. At the time that I ordered the wait time was listed as 5-6 months and I spoke to Ben on the phone prior to placing my order and he confirmed the time frame. I started contacting Ben in early September to see how my order was progressing and was told that he was a little behind schedule and that I should expect my stuff within a month or so. Unfortunately my ordeal was similar to that of Mr. Jasper's as far as the delays and the final completion of my order, I received my order in early March of 2014. Unlike Mr. Jasper's experience I had constant contact with Ben throughout the process and he never failed to answer my e-mails or phone calls. The customer service experience as it relates to the timeliness of my order left much to be desired and Ben and I had a couple of discussions about this, apparently he's had a tremendous increase in the demand for his products and I understand why. When it comes to the quality of his work I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed, I am by no means an expert but do I own quite a few high end blades and I really like what I got from Ben. The balance of the sword is in my estimation amazing, for the size of the blade it feels incredibly light and handles as if it were half its size. Both weapons were exceedingly sharp and beautiful to look at, my only complaints are that the sword's scabbard came damaged by the shipper and where the leather wrap on the hilt is joined it's a little sloppy. Ben has been in contact with me so that we can resolve the issues with the scabbard. While his accumen as a business man may have a bit to be desired his skill as a blacksmith and craftsman are certainly beyond reproach. I'll try to update later once the scabbard issue has been resolved. In summation I would highly recommend Ben and Forged in Time, the work is excellent and it is well worth the wait, just be prepared for the wait.

[David Hanna]

Hello;

I have to agree with the comments David Jasper has been posting. And yes, I KNOW I'm posting to an old, ongoing thread, but this is what Google pulls up for "ForgedInTime Reviews", so this is what I am using.

I ordered a custom Holmganga sword from Ben and Forged In Time and made a 50% down payment on March 6, 2014. At that point, I had been told it would take about 7 months to complete. TWO YEARS later, work still hadn't been completed. I had been given various stories, none of which I can verify, of incidents that occurred while making the sword. No pictures to back any of this up, or progress on the sword, or anything. Finally, I demanded my money back, at which point Ben guaranteed he would have the sword completed by the end of May 2016. It was not. I have since demanded full return of my deposit after which I was given a story about financial difficulty (which may or may not be true - again, no way to verify), to which we agreed on a reimbursement plan that he has since defaulted on.

I have found communication with Ben to be poor at best; it would take several attempts before I would get a reply, which would always ask for a little more time, or be short and/or cryptic. Maybe he's a good guy to some, maybe he makes great product; I have seen no evidence of either.

I have a very bad feeling that I have been scammed and that I will never see the sword that I had ordered, nor have my deposit that I paid returned to me, either in part or in full. Well, I suppose that's my fault. At the time, all the reviews seemed fairly positive. As it stands, there is a warning listed for Forged In Time on the Better Business Bureau for this very thing, and yes, I have lodged a complaint. That, and put a warning on these forums is about all I can do at this point.

I've a bad feeling that I will never see my sword or my deposit again. Suppose that serves me right for trusting a person such as this.

[GG Osborne]

To Lin's point, I purchased one of his Scottish dirks, took one look at it (abut 30 seconds), put it back in the box it shipped in and have not looked at it since. Certainly not authentic, more someone's generic idea of what a dirk looks like, I think. I was disappointed to say the least. Did not contact the maker as I felt caveat emptor applied.

[Spenser T.]

If anyone is considering forged in time I will share my experience with them via private messaging. Feel free to pm me.

[Mike O'Hara]

I thought long and hard before adding to this resurrected thread.

I made multiple purchase arrangements with Ben dating back to 2012/13.

To be fair, two were fulfilled and I was very happy with the results.

However two items were outstanding for more than two years and now a refund has been outstanding for the same length of time. Communication has been poor and always prompted by me making complaints. I am still being promised redress, but I am now highly skeptical. Living overseas means that I have fewer options to pursue issues.

Based on my experience - and I have kept extensive email records of the issues - I would have to advise any forumite to take very great care in dealing with Forged In Time.

As a point of context, I have had (and still have) a major issue with another sword maker that I am not going to name here and several very good experience with Valiant, A&A and Albion.

regards
mike

[Corwyn Wyatt]

Hi, everyone. I'd like to add to these tales of woe regarding Forged in Time. I put in an order for some throwing knives and a buckler in February of 2015, paid in full, and never received anything. On the few occasions I could get a hold of Benjamin, he apologized up and down and promised to get my order out, but it never happened.

Be warned that if you do business with this guy you might get what you ordered, but he's just as likely to take your money and run. If anyone has managed to get a long overdue refund, please let me know how you managed it.