Post by george on Aug 18, 2020 19:59:18 GMT
Hi everyone, first post from me, although I have been in here for a while now.
Here's my review of the Darksword Armory Waylander sword, and I'm sorry to say it's not a positive one.
I bought the sword a while back direct from dsa's website along with their sharpening service and shipping costs to the uk.
I immediately recieved a confirmation email, and then about a week or so later I recieved a shipping notification email and tracking number from FedEx. All good so far.
When the sword arrived at Stansted airport, I received an email requesting details of what was inside the package. Its not illegal to import hand made swords to the uk, so I gave them the information as requested from dsa's website. They said this was not sufficient and the package was seized for a day or so. They then contacted me again to say that due to the nature of the package that FedEx would not complete the delivery due to the safety of their driver and that I would need to arrange a courier to collect it or collect the sword myself from the airport.
At this point I contacted dsa by email.
To be totally fair to dsa, they did go to some lengh to sort it out, however it still resulted in a lot of hours on hold and trying to explain the situation once again to fedex, and a lot of emails to and from all three parties. All in all very frustrating. Dsa did try to arrange a courier to collect it, however fedex refused to hand it over to them. The sword ended up being stuck at fedex Stansted for nearly two months in total.
This week I finally went myself to collect the sword. It's about a 180 mile round trip plus fuel and about half of my day gone, but at last I have the sword, and by this point dsa had agreed to refund me 90 dollars of the shipping cost if I collected it myself.
It was well packaged, but to be honest that's the best I ever saw the sword look.
Unpacked it pretty soon became clear that this was a lemon.
There is a LOT of epoxy resin residue visible in the gap between the guard and the blade. The wood core of the handle has been glued in the wrong position so the ovalised section is out of line with the blade, the pommel is slightly crooked and when you lightly strike the pommel with your other hand it rattles.
Also the fuller is considerably longer than it should be. I know these are hand made, and I expect and welcome slight variation, but they weren't paying attention when they ground this one in.
I emailed dsa about this, they responded straight away asking for pictures, which I sent. They also said that the rattling is due to the blade hitting the throat of the guard, it's perfectly normal and does not affect the structural integrity of the sword. I've since realized that the pommel is loose as well, so that's why its rattling.
I emailed dsa again today stating that I wish for a refund, as I do not want a replacement at this point as I dont wish to have to travel and collect it again.
I have now been sent a way bill for DHL (not fedex thankfully) to send the sword back to them and move forward with processing the redund when they have it back.
So all in a disappointing experience. As for the actual sword itself, it feels fantastic in the hand. If this hadn't been a friday afternoon model I would absolutely love it, but it does seem they have quality control issues to address. If you are thinking of buying one, I would strongly suggest use a uk importer, as they will able to deliver it your door and hopefully they offer a bit better quality control than was present on mine.
Here's my review of the Darksword Armory Waylander sword, and I'm sorry to say it's not a positive one.
I bought the sword a while back direct from dsa's website along with their sharpening service and shipping costs to the uk.
I immediately recieved a confirmation email, and then about a week or so later I recieved a shipping notification email and tracking number from FedEx. All good so far.
When the sword arrived at Stansted airport, I received an email requesting details of what was inside the package. Its not illegal to import hand made swords to the uk, so I gave them the information as requested from dsa's website. They said this was not sufficient and the package was seized for a day or so. They then contacted me again to say that due to the nature of the package that FedEx would not complete the delivery due to the safety of their driver and that I would need to arrange a courier to collect it or collect the sword myself from the airport.
At this point I contacted dsa by email.
To be totally fair to dsa, they did go to some lengh to sort it out, however it still resulted in a lot of hours on hold and trying to explain the situation once again to fedex, and a lot of emails to and from all three parties. All in all very frustrating. Dsa did try to arrange a courier to collect it, however fedex refused to hand it over to them. The sword ended up being stuck at fedex Stansted for nearly two months in total.
This week I finally went myself to collect the sword. It's about a 180 mile round trip plus fuel and about half of my day gone, but at last I have the sword, and by this point dsa had agreed to refund me 90 dollars of the shipping cost if I collected it myself.
It was well packaged, but to be honest that's the best I ever saw the sword look.
Unpacked it pretty soon became clear that this was a lemon.
There is a LOT of epoxy resin residue visible in the gap between the guard and the blade. The wood core of the handle has been glued in the wrong position so the ovalised section is out of line with the blade, the pommel is slightly crooked and when you lightly strike the pommel with your other hand it rattles.
Also the fuller is considerably longer than it should be. I know these are hand made, and I expect and welcome slight variation, but they weren't paying attention when they ground this one in.
I emailed dsa about this, they responded straight away asking for pictures, which I sent. They also said that the rattling is due to the blade hitting the throat of the guard, it's perfectly normal and does not affect the structural integrity of the sword. I've since realized that the pommel is loose as well, so that's why its rattling.
I emailed dsa again today stating that I wish for a refund, as I do not want a replacement at this point as I dont wish to have to travel and collect it again.
I have now been sent a way bill for DHL (not fedex thankfully) to send the sword back to them and move forward with processing the redund when they have it back.
So all in a disappointing experience. As for the actual sword itself, it feels fantastic in the hand. If this hadn't been a friday afternoon model I would absolutely love it, but it does seem they have quality control issues to address. If you are thinking of buying one, I would strongly suggest use a uk importer, as they will able to deliver it your door and hopefully they offer a bit better quality control than was present on mine.