# Anyone buy from Garret at Japanese-whetstones.com?



## Smashmasta (Oct 18, 2016)

I might just be impatient, but I bought a stone from this site 10 days ago and haven't heard a word from him since. Got an email confirmation for the transaction when I bought it through the website. Sent an email two days ago, still haven't heard anything. Should I be concerned or is this normal for transaction on this site? Thanks.


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## bennyprofane (Oct 18, 2016)

Which one did you get?


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## Smashmasta (Oct 18, 2016)

Ohira uchigumori: http://japanese-whetstones.com/coll...ucts/ohira-uchigumori-hone?variant=8986375685

It's dark, but doesn't look too bad all things considered. A little small. If it looks bad, the order is still in 'fulfilling' status so I guess I can do a charge back.


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## Smashmasta (Oct 18, 2016)

Please don't tell me I'm the only one, in like a bad way...


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## Badgertooth (Oct 19, 2016)

He runs a little expensive for my tastes.


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## Smashmasta (Oct 19, 2016)

Fair enough. Anyone have any leads on some decent uchigumori then, haha?


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## Smashmasta (Oct 19, 2016)

Badgertooth said:


> He runs a little expensive for my tastes.



Have you ordered from him? Still haven't heard anything back.


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## Smashmasta (Oct 21, 2016)

I ended up issuing a chargeback for this order. Never heard from him despite several emails. His site never said he was away, so I don't know what's going on. Maybe I'm missing something, but just a heads up if you try and order through him in the future...


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## Smashmasta (Oct 30, 2016)

Just an update (more for possible future people searching for info on this site): 
I finally received email contact from Garret at japanese-whetstones.com yesterday via an unpleasant and uncivil email, and another one today... As I am not one to actively attempt to bring down the reputation of someone, even when they're in the wrong, I will not directly share the messages he left for me after I cancelled the order due to a lack of contact from him, a cancellation notice, a subsequent charge-back, and a forced shipping of product by him despite such cancellation and charge-backs from me. If you would like to know more, you can PM me. If you are considering ordering from him, you should consider PMing me first. But honestly, I would avoid dealing with him and the site if possible. 
Admins, sorry if such a message is not allowed, you can take it down. But I'm just trying to prevent this group of people who I have respect for from having to go through the stress I just did (and am still going through since this ordeal hasn't fully been resolved) with a very, very rude vendor :sad0:. Thanks to everyone else for being civil and responsible, and strengthening the knife and stone community. :biggrin:


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## aboynamedsuita (Oct 30, 2016)

Sorry to hear smash, guess that's why they're not a vendor here. PM inbound


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## Asteger (Oct 31, 2016)

I haven't looked at the site recently, but remember some not all stones looking good which also had something to do with the prices. (Probably always an issue if you're a seller, whether to carry a variety or or only premium stones.) Agree with Badger that prices are on the high side so haven't looked again. I think the site opened late last year and I bought something using a small phone while away on holiday, and so couldn't see the photo well. I later cancelled, also thinking I should save the money, and it was hassle free and so I mostly had a positive reaction to the whole thing because it was interesting to see a new, accessible seller who seemed easy to deal with, albeit with what seemed high prices. 

Let's face it, there have been some well monied buyers users out there who can gobble up stones and not worry about a hundred or two extra here and there or more. I've often thought that people are sometimes conditioned to pay a lot, too. Some sellers perhaps target higher payers, and maybe having uniformly higher prices also helps to sell. It's possible that you could list one stone that's reasonably worth $200 or so as $400 and people will assume they're getting something special and not be able to assess if it's a good deal or not because that's difficult with stones and, so, end up being quite happy.


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## Smashmasta (Oct 31, 2016)

I don't think his prices reflect much thought towards his market or quality. After (finally) conversing with him via email, his perspective of his stones are out of touch with reality, saying things like, "it's a privilege to buy from me," and, "[his] collection has the best stones that are rare and extinct", and concerning not answering his email provided on the site, "I do not check my emails. This is not a business, but a hobby" along with numerous other arrogant and confusing remarks. Hobby or not, when time, money and product are exchanged, it's business and certain responsibilities are required of you, including simple conversation and updates through the contact you have provided.

Again, I'm not actively trying to go out of my way to tarnish his reputation, but simply report on the single transaction I had. Perhaps he's had other positive transactions. But this situation was escalating towards a legal battle, but eventually both of us agreed to go our separate ways as both had already lost money in bank fees and shipping costs. I wish him and his future costumers the best. PM me if you want more specific details, but I'm closing the book on this headache.


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## malexthekid (Oct 31, 2016)

I must admit I read your comments and think that to a degree we customers have come to expect too much from vendors.

Good communication is great and can make you purchase or become a repeat customer, but it does also cost money to do.

As a consumer you have to make the call if you are prepared to pay for it or not.

But also we shouldn't as a default assume same day responses, if you want that use someone you can call.

Those musings aside, if I was in this situation I probably would have cancelled the order too.

Thanks for the infi


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## daveb (Oct 31, 2016)

Well stated SM. Sounds like you made the best of a bad situation. For precisely this reason I don't shop around for naturals much, I just buy Asteger's culls.:cool2:


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## Smashmasta (Oct 31, 2016)

Haha, I definitely agree with you - we're a bit spoiled and lucky to have the diligent vendors we so often discuss here on the forum, but that's why most of us buy from them, and why they've become so well-loved, etc.

We should know that the vendors have lives of their own, and thus give them a fair amount of time to reply, especially if we contacted/ordered on a weekend. The vendors we commonly use all have different rates of response and shipping, with the slower ones still shopped because their quality or value gives some leeway. MM comes to mind for the slower ones, but given decent reviews by users, including myself, we know what we're in for. For the unknowns, perhaps we should work on giving some more time before inquiring on status (although I honestly think a full business week is sufficient), but when we're talking about hundreds of dollars, it's understandable to be a little weary in the first place.

In this case, however, we're talking about a full business week until the first polite check-in email, and ultimately two whole weeks before hearing from him. Just as we learn as we go as consumers and users, so do vendors in dealing with the way they conduct their business; hopefully he will too.

I do like how you bring up a good point which starts a conversation about what we've come to expect, and a mention that mindsets may need to be slightly tempered. That's why this place is so great - it's a source of information and conversations, as well as a quality control support group and interactions check.





malexthekid said:


> I must admit I read your comments and think that to a degree we customers have come to expect too much from vendors.
> 
> Good communication is great and can make you purchase or become a repeat customer, but it does also cost money to do.
> 
> ...


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## Asteger (Nov 1, 2016)

daveb said:


> .. I just buy Asteger's culls.:cool2:



Haha  That was a long time ago too, I think



Smashmasta said:


> .. we're talking about a full business week until the first polite check-in email, and ultimately two whole weeks before hearing from him.



One week ... two? Luxury! You clearly have never dealt with Metalmaster :groucho:


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## Smashmasta (Nov 1, 2016)

Asteger said:


> Haha  That was a long time ago too, I think
> 
> 
> 
> One week ... two? Luxury! You clearly have never dealt with Metalmaster :groucho:



On the contrary, I've dealt with him a few times, including right now - waiting on a shipment that's about to hit 3 weeks (since being shipped). It might have got buried, but I mentioned that there are vendors we put up with since they have a reputation, MM being one of them. We know what we're getting into. That being said, why aren't vendors doing direct drone drop offs within the hour?!?! :rofl2:


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## Ruso (Nov 2, 2016)

Thanks for sharing your experiences!


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