|
Post by bobbyslash on Nov 27, 2020 4:38:22 GMT
Good luck! This sounds incredibly frustrating... Definitely knocking Skyjiro off my potential future sword list. I really wanted to like them and give them a chance... In the beginning, this Danny fellow seemed like a pretty kind and sincere person, but as many people here now see, it's just a guise he puts up in manipulating us and the system to his best interest. I've read most articles from years past on here describing their shady business tactics, and really should have listened. They really are masters of playing the system, and the pandemic is their "Ace in the Hole" card they are pulling right now, as that can cover a wide area of liabilities. Similar to what others have said, you'll probably see some type of shipment sent your way once you cancel, only to find they sent you a bottle of oil lol. For me however, I actually did receive the sword months later after the oil when I had already cancelled (I thought that was just a kind gesture from them, but NOOOO, if anyone receives that, notify your financial intuitions IMMEDIATLY and tell them you DID NOT request this shipment); and the charge reapplied to my paypal... Needleless to say, I'm not having a great time disputing this either... I will also look into these agencies mentioned above. Thank you, and hope I am not too late now...Good luck to others as well.
|
|
|
Post by irwt on Nov 27, 2020 4:56:45 GMT
Does anyone think there is any benefit to sending Danny the link to this thread? If he is more aware perhaps he wont try such tactics as blatantly?
|
|
|
Post by rrcsbg on Jun 23, 2024 22:49:43 GMT
SkyJiro Forge represents the worst customer service experience of my life - by far. If I could rate 0-stars, I would. If I had done more research on this company before placing my order 15 months ago, I would never have placed an order with them to begin with. I regret my entire experience with SkyJiro. This business is a scam. I placed a credit card order through their website in March 2023 for 3 of their highest-quality swords - all of which showed an "in-stock" status on their website at time of order. About $14K worth of swords. I knew at the time of order that these swords were handmade to order, so I kind of doubted they were actually "in-stock", despite the false advertising. After a couple months, I asked for a status update, and was told in writing that the 1st sword would be finished at the end of 5/2023, 2nd sword to be finished at the end of 6/2023, and the 3rd sword to be finished at the end of 7/2023. Sounded reasonable to me at the time. Those dates came and went, with no delivery, no updates, no notification of delays until I asked. A professional and courteous business would inform paying customers of the status of their order before delays occur - but not this company. Half of the time that I ask - in writing - for a status update, I am ignored. The other half of the time I get vague answers with every excuse you can imagine for a new delay. I was told in mid-June 2023 that one of my swords was almost done - this turned out to be a lie. Eventually I was told that their Master Swordsmith, the only person who can work on my order, has long-COVID, and is very slow. Now, I am not one to punish a person for being sick, but this was a suspicious excuse and I was skeptical, but could not verify the illness so I gave them extra time. 5 months of additional excuses and delays go by... Finally in November 2023, SkyJiro informed me that they would have to cancel my orders for 2 of the 3 swords because they could not deliver in a timely fashion, and that they would issue a refund for those 2 swords, but that the 3rd sword was was complete except for a scratch on the scabbard (saya) that needed to be repaired. (Note that 1 of the 2 swords they were canceling was the one they said was almost ready 5 months earlier.) I waited for a couple weeks, no refund with my credit card, no delivery of the 3rd sword. I have never had a credit card refund take longer than 5 business days, usually more like 3 business days. I contacted SkyJiro again, and am ignored. I wait another week or 2, and try again. This time I am told (in November 2023) that their bank is processing the refund. This turned out to be a lie. Weeks go by... nothing. I give them a call, and they tell me that their bank - which is a foreign bank - is withholding the refund from SkyJiro, and that SkyJiro is powerless to do anything about it. Really??!! They tell me that they will send me a refund check in the mail instead. (I am getting really concerned at this point.) They also tell me that now my 3rd sword is waiting for the authentic Japanese silk cord from Japan in order to wrap the handle before it is finished - in other words, progress was going backwards. Several more weeks go by... nothing. No refund. No sword delivery. Finally in mid-January 2024, 10 months after placing my order and 2 months after I was told that their bank was processing my refund for 2 swords, I am told they mailed the refund check... for 1 sword. This was not what was agreed in writing. I wrote back and asked about the refund, as promised, for the 2nd sword? They ignore me. I wrote back a couple days later asking for a response on the refund for the 2nd sword. They reply: "We may be able to do that 2nd sword, we'll know after we deliver the first sword." I was furious. Notice that they didn't bother to tell me that they were changing the terms of the refund arrangement and that I only found out after I had to ask after they stiffed me the refund for the 2nd sword. Also notice that they still had not delivered the 1st sword which, according to SkyJiro, had been nearly complete for 2 or 3 months. Well, I blew my lid. I wrote them an angry text giving them an ultimatum. Deliver the 1st sword and the full refund for the 2 other swords within 10 days or I would start posting on social media about the negative experience, file a complaint with the BBB, report fraud to the credit card company, and start small claims court legal proceedings. Well, they called me within 2 minutes of receiving that message. We then went around and around on the phone. They said they could not finish the 1st sword in that amount of time because they were still waiting for the silk cord from Japan. They said that their supplier in Japan kept omitting my silk cord from their orders. I asked them when was the last time they placed an order for this cord, and they couldn't tell me. I asked them when was the last time that they contacted their Japanese supplier to rectify the situation - and they didn't know. I asked them how long they needed to get the silk cord and finish the 1st sword - and they told me they needed 2 more months! I blew my top. I told them that they had 10 months to get this on order and that if they didn't have it by now that this was negligence on their part. At this point in time, I told them that if necessary, they can order the silk cord from their supplier and have it shipped overseas overnight. Expensive - yes. But possible, and I told them they were obligated to do so after 10 months of inaction. They also tried to give me a sob story about how they are a small business and that they don't have the money to send me my refund - as promised. That they needed time to raise the money through other product sales. (In other words, they spent my money on paying employees to make orders for other people - not my order.) I stood my ground and insisted that I would follow through on my threats to take this issue to social media, BBB, report credit card fraud, and start small claims court proceedings if they didn't comply with delivery within 10 days. A couple days later, I received the 1st refund check for 1 sword. (This was the first tangible progress on my order in 10 months.) Within about a week, I was told that my 1st sword was ready and being packed, and that they would have a shipping tracking number the next day. I didn't receive the tracking number for a week, so I asked for it again. I was ignored. I asked again the next day, and was ignored. I asked a 3rd time, and finally they provided the tracking number, and the 1st sword showed up (minus an accessory that was supposed to be included, which I had to ask for.) I decided to give SkyJiro a bit of an extension on the 2nd refund check for the 2nd sword since they had finally shown progress by delivering the 1st refund check and the 1st sword (only after threatening legal action did I get any tangible results). At the end of February 2024, almost a year after placing my order, and more than 3 months after SkyJiro told me their bank was processing my refund for 2 swords, I asked again about the 2nd refund check for the 2nd sword. I was ignored. I asked again about 10 days later, and they finally replied that I would receive the 2nd refund check in the mail - 7 weeks later on April 30 2024! I called SkyJiro and we went around and around on the phone about why they couldn't issue the refund for another 7 weeks. They gave me the excuse that their bank was foreign and that their bank was withholding they money. I asked why they would continue to do business with a bank that withholds their money, why they can't just get get a bank account with a US bank - they said they can't because they themselves were foreign. I don't care if someone is foreign or not, but what I do care about is being treated professionally. And, by the way, I believe their story to be a lie, because their 1st refund check was from Wells Fargo - last I checked that is not a foreign bank. After a long uncomfortable conversation on the phone, I asked SkyJiro to promise me that they would absolutely have the 2nd refund check in the mail on April 30 2024, no excuses and no delays, and they agreed. I expressed displeasure with all the lies, excuses, delays, etc, and they blamed in all on COVID. By this point I had done a lot of research online about SkyJiro, and found that other customers have had similar experiences going back to at least 2017. When I asked SkyJiro why other customers were having the same problems going back 3 years before COVID, they didn't have an answer. On May 1st, I asked if they got the check in the mail on April 30 as promised, and I was ignored. Notice a pattern? I asked again a couple days later. I got the reply "Yes, we are doing it!" Notice the vague response... doesn't say if they got it in the mail yet, doesn't say if it went in the mail on April 30. A week goes by, and no check in the mail. I ask SkyJiro again, and asked them to specifically say what date the check went in the mail. I am ignored for another 5 days. I ask again, and I then get a response in the morning, not with an answer, but saying they will find out the following day. I ask them why they can't find out "now"? No response. 2 days go by, no answer. By this point it is May 17 2024. I have never seen the USPS take longer than 10 days to deliver the mail within the continental USA, so it is obvious at this point that SkyJiro did not do as promised. They lied to me, again! I decided I needed to threaten legal action and social media blitz again in order to get them to respond. This time they replied that they had sent the check in the mail early the previous week (notice they still won't say what date the check supposedly went out - always insisting on being vague - probably on purpose to avoid any accountability). For those who have managed to read this far, why should a paying customer have to resort to legal action to get a company to act in a professional manner? Anyway, that would have put mailing the 2nd refund check around May 6-7. On June 23 2024, I still had not received the 2nd refund check. I contacted SkyJiro and informed them that either the check was lost in the mail, or they had lied to me and never sent the check. I explained to them that either way they still owe me the 2nd refund check. I explained that I expected them to resend the check in the mail, and required a tracking number so the check can't get lost in the mail (trying to take away an excuse of theirs). I even offered to deduct the cost of the tracking service from the refund total they owed me. I explained that if necessary they should cancel the lost check so they don't have the risk of it being cashed twice. I told SkyJiro that I required them to send me a tracking number for the check in the mail within 48 hours on June 1st. And, you guessed it, they have ignored me again. Subsequently, I have had a couple text message exchanges with SkyJiro and they keep telling me the check is in the mail, but refuse to provide a tracking number or any proof of mailing. After 7 weeks of waiting they refuse to take any tangible action other than saying “we sent it”. It is now more than 6 months since SkyJiro said their bank was processing my refund for both swords, and 7 months since they said they would refund me - and I have not received my full refund. It is not like I am making a mountain out of $25 or something. SkyJiro still owes me $4700 for the 2nd sword.
I filed a very detailed negative review on Google Reviews about 2 weeks ago and let SkyJiro know about it.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau today and let SkyJiro know about it. So, here I am, spilling all these nasty details of what it is like when you place an order with SkyJiro. If you like getting ripped off, lied to, ignored, and being fed endless excuses and delays - then go for it. You might get your merchandise if you threaten legal action. Don't believe me? Do a Google Search for "SkyJiro Reviews" and you will find more complaints than actual reviews of their products. Buyer beware.
|
|
|
Post by vidar on Jun 27, 2024 8:31:05 GMT
What a horror story! I hope you will get your money back.
But why on earth did you decide to spend so much money on Chinese reproductions? You can get real Japanese swords for that money. Chinese made swords can be great training tools, but I wouldn’t spend more than 1000$ on one, let alone more than 4k… But back to topic: there are good an reliable Chinese manufacturers, and Skyjiro is not one of them…
|
|