The Death of Blade...

[MHS Fencer]

Well, Blade still exists, at least to some point. I didn't ask Justin about it, but he drove the Blade van up to the North Atlantic Sectionals and was selling things in between his bouts. From all appearances it still exists, though, I did not ask in specific. Language has often been a difficulty in dealing with them if Justin of Josh wasn't there. Additionally, to some degree, incompetence (I was working the booth, I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I was).

-Ian

[swordsen]

It will be unfortunate if they go under. they were always good for innovative stuff. (the pocket scoring box was nice)As to customer service, I usually bought from them at events, not by mail. P.C. on the other hand royally screwed me a few times on service, hence they were taken off my list of suppliers. Oh well.

[piscesdragon]

Add Physical Chess to your blacklist of vendors. I ordered a new sabre from them and paid extra for 3 day shipping ($13 worth of shipping). On the third day, no order. When I called them, one of their reps proceeded to chastise me for being impatient about my order! I then sent them two angry emails about both my late order and the horrible customer service. No response to either. Two days later I get a call from another rep saying "it sounds like the last few days haven't been going your way." No apology, no refund of shipping.

My advice - avoid them like the plague. Also, if you order from them online, you're playing with fire. Their ecommerce site's security isn't working...quite easy for someone to steal credit card numbers.

There are plenty of other fencing vendors out there with comparable pricing and much better service.

[UCLAFencer]

I think I can explain the terrible service of Physical Chess. Isn't Blade, Physical Chess, and Allstar run by the same people?

[New Dealer]

Originally posted by UCLAFencer:
I think I can explain the terrible service of Physical Chess. Isn't Blade, Physical Chess, and Allstar run by the same people?

Close. Stan owns Blade and PC, and I believe he owns or has a major stake in Allstar-USA (That's the one I think you meant), which makes sense, since Blade's the official US importer. Allstar back in Germany referred me to Stan when I approached them about selling Allstar stuff.

I can tell you that I am paying VERY close attention to the complaints I am reading here, and will do everything I can to prevent such errors when I begin operations.

Keep in mind, though, that no one goes to work thinking of ways to screw up and piss customers off. End result mistakes are usually the result of small, systemic errors in procedure that add up to a mistake at the worst time. Correcting those systemic problems usually cuts down on a great many of the end mistakes.

[Jeff Harman]

I had asked this board a while back about where to buy reels and it was suggested by Neevel or Doug or one of the intelligent types that post here to get the Allstar "mercotech" reels. I tried everything but couldn't find that word anywhere. After several e-mails and a few phone calls, I finally placed an order with Blade for "the same reels Allstar has been selling for the last 19 years that I've been in this business". (big time accent so I'm guessing it was "Sam") They got here (Kodiak, Alaska) in less than a week via U.S. Mail. So, despite the hassle of getting them finally ordered, I did get what I wanted, at the agreed on price and in a timely manner. I'm no xenophobe, but I do prefer to do business with someone I can understand on the phone...

[Gary]

I have been dealing with Physical Chess for about two years now and have not had a problem with them at all.

[neevel]

The word is Mercotac--it's a type of mercury wetted rotating contact made by a company of the same name ( www.mercotac.com ). The Uhlmann and now Allstar reels use them. You can find info on them at the new Allstar web site ( www.allstar.de )-- they've even got a forum up where you can ask Frank Messemer questions and get feedback. Except for the contact and a slightly redesigned upper case to accomodate it, they're the same as the older Allstar reels. They may well have not made it over here to the States yet. Frankly, reels are one item where it'd _really_ make sense to buy from Europe-- you'll save a huge bundle, even with shipping. Allstar isn't doing direct international sales yet, but you can get the new reels for about $230 each at www.fechtsport-langenkamp.de .

-Dave

[This message has been edited by neevel (edited 05-15-2001).]

[foiled again]

For what its worth, I ordered from Blade twice in the last two months and both orders were complete and timely.

fa

[Bugaboo]

Considering the sad state of customer service across all companies nationwide, it's not really surprising that problems in a miniscule representation -- the fencing industry -- would be highly visible to its particular pool of customers.

Lacking a large volume of customer interaction opportunities, it behooves the companies to try even harder to maintain quality service. All it takes is two or three days of bad attitude and you're sunk.

[Gajuith]

our club bought two reels and floor cord includding shipping direct from Uhlmann for about 400 to 500...very very good deal for the best on the market.