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Post by Corvus Corax on Jan 24, 2019 18:17:43 GMT
I need some advice about the following situation. I purchased a Heron saber from Valiant Armoury in February of 2018, just over 11 months ago. I have not received the sword yet. I contacted Sunny in October of 2018 to ask if I could cancel my order as I was trying to free up some funds for a down-payment on a house. He replied that "Your order is all complete except for the castings from the foundry which I am picking up on Friday." To which I replied "If you're that close to finishing it, just please disregard my original message. I had many months to ask about canceling and didn't. Sounds like you've already put a lot of work into it and I'm excited to see the result!"
That was now over 3 months ago. What should I do? I really would have preferred a cancellation and it now kind of seems like I was mislead in order to avoid a refund. I hate drama and am not sure how to resolve this without playing the blame game.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 24, 2019 18:29:54 GMT
have u thought about just emailing sonny asking him whats up, its been 3 months? that does not sound like a unreasonable request if he said he was almost done 3 months ago
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Post by Corvus Corax on Jan 24, 2019 18:33:16 GMT
have u thought about just emailing sonny asking him whats up, its been 3 months? that does not sound like a unreasonable request if he said he was almost done 3 months ago Yeah I can email him. You think I should just overlook the cancellation angle?
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Jan 24, 2019 18:44:56 GMT
i mean ofc bring it up but dont get heated or things can go south pretty fast
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Post by Gunnar Wolfgard on Feb 7, 2019 16:15:58 GMT
That seems to be a common problem with Valiant Armory lately, getting castings. That's what killed his Suontaka sword. Sonny should find a new caster before they kill his business. I would say if you have gone way past the original delivery date and now another 3 months added to that you should be given a refund, it's not like he can't resell the sword to someone else when he finishes it. Definitely e-mail him again, people tend to put things aside if you don't keep on them. But keep it friendly.
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Post by Corvus Corax on Feb 7, 2019 19:17:24 GMT
Update: I emailed Sonny on Jan. 24th and asked for news. He responded promptly and said that he had shipped it a few days prior but must have forgotten to send me the tracking info, which he then gave me. I received the sword a few days later. It definitely had some problems consistent with what others have said about the Heron saber in the past here on sbg. Notably, the fittings had a very fine layer of surface rust on them and the guard and pommel had some wiggle. I thought about trying to return it but after already being denied a cancellation last fall and all that, plus the fact that I'm a huge Wheel of Time fan and the Heron saber is the best book representation without spending 2k+, I decided to just keep it. The rust came off easily with Flitz. I shimmed the guard, and lightly cold peened the pommel to fix the wiggle.
I'm happy with the sword now, but I in no way think that a $600 sword should be sent to a customer in that condition. I hate to say it because I've always been a big fan of Valiant, but I'm definitely hesitant to order from them again in the future. I will say that Valiant's leatherwork remains fantastic, and is honestly probably worth at least $600 on its own.
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harrybeck
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Post by harrybeck on Feb 7, 2019 19:20:49 GMT
With that treatment it would be my last bit of business with them. I'm not shy about defending my ground with vendors.
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Post by elbrittania39 on Feb 7, 2019 21:47:08 GMT
Update: I emailed Sonny on Jan. 24th and asked for news. He responded promptly and said that he had shipped it a few days prior but must have forgotten to send me the tracking info, which he then gave me. I received the sword a few days later. It definitely had some problems consistent with what others have said about the Heron saber in the past here on sbg. Notably, the fittings had a very fine layer of surface rust on them and the guard and pommel had some wiggle. I thought about trying to return it but after already being denied a cancellation last fall and all that, plus the fact that I'm a huge Wheel of Time fan and the Heron saber is the best book representation without spending 2k+, I decided to just keep it. The rust came off easily with Flitz. I shimmed the guard, and lightly cold peened the pommel to fix the wiggle. I'm happy with the sword now, but I in no way think that a $600 sword should be sent to a customer in that condition. I hate to say it because I've always been a big fan of Valiant, but I'm definitely hesitant to order from them again in the future. I will say that Valiant's leatherwork remains fantastic, and is honestly probably worth at least $600 on its own. Its worrying that a layer of rust formed in the mail. Makes me wonder if it was sitting around longer beforehand. I've never owned a sword that just spontaneously rusted in a week.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Feb 8, 2019 2:33:20 GMT
Its worrying that a layer of rust formed in the mail. Makes me wonder if it was sitting around longer beforehand. I've never owned a sword that just spontaneously rusted in a week. I believe it could happen. In my younger gun carrying days I have known them to become soaked in a matter of minutes before learning better when entering a harm dwelling from the freezing outdoors. No rust though as I was aware of the possibility and was drying and oiling in a matter of a minute or two. If your package was subjected to a sudden change in temperature along the way I think it could very well happen especially if not properly greased/oil.
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Post by Svadilfari on Feb 8, 2019 7:01:56 GMT
Given the freezing conditions over much of the USA in the last week or two..I can well imagine the package undergoing extreme variations of temperature in transit. Going from a heated warehouse, into a cold transit van and stuff like that, could lead to some condensation and rusting within a short period of time. If this happens several times from original despatch to final delivery, then the risk of rusting increases,
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Post by Gunnar Wolfgard on Feb 8, 2019 13:19:24 GMT
Sometimes the plastic packaging can cause a problem if left in to long. I ordered a couple pieces of brass for a migration sword I'm making. When they came I took one piece out of the plastic to work with the other piece I left in. Both were shinny when I got them. A week later when I took the other piece out it was tarnished. I would assume it was the chemicals in the plastic that caused it. But if your sword was well oiled it should have survived the trip.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Feb 8, 2019 14:09:23 GMT
Sometimes the plastic packaging can cause a problem if left in to long. The chances of rusting are increased if the item is in a container that can’t breathe, like a sealed plastic bag. In that case a sudden temperature change can cause havoc. Many a hunter found his rifle rusted after placing it cased in the trunk of his car after the hunt and forgetting it.
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Post by MOK on Feb 8, 2019 15:35:33 GMT
Almost all plastics in common use are pretty much chemically inactive under normal conditions, which is one of the main reasons they're so widely used. I've certainly never heard of metal tarnishing from contact with plastic. Far more likely, as pgandy said, the package just trapped some moisture.
(This is also why proper shirasaya are made of porous, permeable wood, BTW.)
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Post by Corvus Corax on Feb 8, 2019 17:15:54 GMT
There was no plastic in the packaging. Only paper and cardboard. The blade was oiled and had no rust. I wasn't able to detect any oil on the fittings.
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