Mark Hill Knives

[moley1508]

so, I am probably going to get banned for this but wish to warn others of my experience which I understand is not an isolated incident according to others that will remain nameless .

I give due credit where credit is due but also feel obliged to make people aware of my current situation as if I was in an informed position prior to placing an order I simply would not have ordered.

I must make it clear that I am aware of Mark being unwell, I have no clue what this condition is so cannot comment.

An order was placed app 9 weeks ago, paid for in full and Mark was informed that I would like the knife for a certain date to take on a trip.

this date has passed, numerous chasers have been sent with a contact number provided as I had previously been informed that he had internet issues.

there has been next to no contact unless prompted by me. pictures and a promise the knife was nearly ready have not materialised.

a refund has been requested several time as I still need a knife and wish to purchase one elsewhere, still no response.

this is factual, not slanderous in any way and can be documented easily by me.

illness aside, orders should not be taken unless they can be met, communication needs to exist in situation where dates need to alter, and money should remain available if worse case arises and the order is not going to be be met.

I just want people to be aware of what is happening. I can cope losing this money but someone else may not.

I hope this is received in the right way and with its intentions appreciated.

if someone want to take over my order please pm me.

best wishes.

 

[sunndog]

Really hope mark gets on top of this and doesn't dissapear from the knife world


Yes, i do want another knife from mark but his stuff is/was superb with rare innovation. Be a great shame if he stopped creating

 

[ValeTudoGuy]

Firstly I think you are well within your rights to post about your experience. Im a little shocked though as it's mostly different than my experience.

02/02/16 - Mark offered to make me a knife to my design
10/02/16 - I agree for Mark to make me the knife and he advised there would be no way it would be less than 4 weeks as he had other orders to fulfil before mine. I pay 50% up front.

He stays in contact semi regularly, uncontactable for possibly a 4-5 days here and there... Though I was pretty relaxed and just waited for him to PM back.

End of March I informed him I was going to Spain for a while and so im in no rush.

Contacted him when im back mid/late April and he advises me its half done.

10/05/16 - He contacts me to say its done and will send pictures on the next day when he can upload to the computer. I pay 50% remaining in good faith.

11/05/16 - He sends me a picture and tells me he is without a car for a couple days but will get it posted as soon as he can.

18/05/16 - I receive a FANTASTIC and beautifully made knife.

Now I understand that we are/were in fundamentally different situations in that I had no deadline and you did. There was some delays etc. But nothing particularly concerning and he was always in touch within a week of me reaching out, if not on the day.

I would be interested to know the dates/timescales that you have experienced and if you paid a deposit or in full.

I cant afford to buy your spot at this time, but I would have no qualms doing so after a quick cursory chat with Mark.

It might be an idea to post what you ordered so if anyone else does want to jump on they can see if its a knife they want.

All the best and I hope you get a resolution.

 

[moley1508]

thanks for the fair responses to date.

I don't mind delays, setback etc its the lack of comms that creates doubt and bad feeling my end.

paid in full btw. I have left messages on here, FB and sent them to his contacts pages on his website.

last comms was on Friday 21.04 and was told knife was nearly ready and pictures would be sent over the weekend. nothing heard since this though which is another 2 week gap.

its one of his spear pointed spB2's 4" blade in 3mm o1 stock, oak scales and black liners with a dangler sheath

 

[C_Claycomb]

Sorry to hear that you have been having problems Moley. If what you say is true you shouldn't be worried about a ban for posting. The folk we ban are the ones that come on and spout invective, which you have not.

I don't know Mark, but have read about a lot of makers who have got into difficulties and your description sounds almost like a carbon copy of many others. Hitting deadlines, making the knives and keeping up with communications seems to often stretch one-man-band makers so that if something else happens in their life; illness, injury, domestic problems, unexpected home/vehicle/shop repairs, its a long list, but any of them may be enough to tip the balance and mean that they start falling behind. Nearly all the stories also involve makers taking money up-front. In this case, if you hadn't paid you would be able to walk away, and Mark wouldn't have the pressure of an order to fill.

Sorry I don't have any advice, but I think you have every right to ask for a refund whether or not he finishes the knife. The "contract" was delivery by a certain date, and the item being made is not so special that it is unreasonable to expect that it could be sold to someone else for as much as you were willing to pay. Reports of good customer service are worth a lot more to a maker than the cost of a bushcraft knife that can be sold to someone else later. I have been both maker and buyer when there have been deadlines, and when things have taken longer than planned, and my sympathy lies with the buyer.

Hope you get it resolved soon. Good luck

 

[Corso]

if you paid by paypal I'd raise a claim now as there is time limit

 

[robevs73]

Mark has done some Heat treatment work to me and he's been spot on.
It is hard to be a one man band when you are self employed . I'm sure there was no premeditated malice meant to you by Mark, from experience he's a good guy.
This is why I never take a deposit, if I can't deliver then I don't have to reimburse a customer, luckily I've never been in that position.
I'm sure Mark will sort things out .
We all have Up's and down's in our lives and sometimes this effects our work and customers.
I wish you both the best and truly hope that Mark can work through his personal problems .

 

[Samon]

same boat, well.. my boat sailed 4 years ago lol. Yep 4 years I've been waiting for a canadian belt knife blank! I got my other two knives within a few months after I sent my guns to him.

I do like Mark, but it has bothered me for years that new knvies have been made and sold but mine hasn't even been started..

 

[KenThis]

Hi all,

I really don't like doing this without having heard from Mark or having him able to answer these posts himself.
However for completeness and because this has started to adversely affect my health, I'm going to detail my experience (mostly in the hopes it will help stop me stewing about it).

I first approached Mark in November and he was very professional, incredibly helpful and informative. He answered all my questions and took time out to explain some of the process etc. I was very impressed. He said there was currently a 4 week waiting list and that he was pretty busy in the run up to Christmas.
I needed to save up some extra pennies and had always meant for it to be a Feb 19th Birthday present (to myself) so said I would order in the new year.

I then contacted Mark again at the beginning of January and after half a dozen emails were exchanged detailing my specific requirements (size and personalisation) and my contact details, I paid half the total cost up front and the order was confirmed on the 10th Jan.
I want to make it clear at this point that no final date was agreed. Mark said he would be in contact as soon as it was finished. I just assumed that it would take approx 4-6 weeks (the previously mentioned waiting time) especially as it was made clear by me that it was a birthday present to myself on the 19th February.

I tried contacting Mark on the 15th February by personal message brom BCUK to check on progress because I was so ridiculously excited, but didn't hear back.

I then managed to contact Mark on Facebook on the 27th February. He told me he had been unwell through a serious medical condition (which I've seen close up how dibilitating it can be) and that he was therefore behind by a few weeks. I think I understand better than most that health problems can really get in the way of real life and told him there was no pressure my end and wished him the best for a speedy recovery.

I didn't hear anything through March so I wanted to check in with him on the 4th April by facebook to see how he was doing and how was progress with the knife. The message was read on the 7th April, but I had no reply.

I tried again to contact him through a personal message from BCUK on the 22 April to see how he was doing and to check on progress and again no reply.

As most are aware on these forums I suffer from depression, anxiety and social anxiety and having read some of the comments in the forums about incredibly long waits for knives from Mark, I've started getting stressed and panicky. It's very hard to explain to anyone who has never experienced chronic anxiety but when things go wrong or unexpected for me at least, I find I can't let things go. I overanalyse to the point where I can't focus on anything else and physically can't relax. At this stage it's not the deposit (which I can ill afford to lose) but the worry that it was something I said, I'm being unreasonable, I've somehow upset Mark, I'm being unfair, it's in my head and just not knowing what is going to happen.

I ended up sending the following message to Mark last Friday.

"Hi Mark,
I hope everything is ok and I didn't offend you by anything I said.
I've been trying to get hold of you for a while now. I understand you've not been well and have had internet issues which sucks.
Please could you let me know how the kephart knife is going. An update on progress and an estimate as to when it will be finished would be good.
I'm not sure if I explained before but I suffer from depression and anxiety, so understand completely that health issues can adversely affect real life.
However not hearing from youself and reading stuff on the BCUK forums is starting to stress me out. So hearing from you would be good.
my mobile number is 0****** and my email address is g********co.uk
look forward to hearing from you.
Take Care & Best Wishes"

I will update on here when I get a reply.

I want to be as fair as possible though, most of this could just be in my head or miscommunication.
We never formally agreed a definite date.
Because I have been told that I can come across as too pushy I made sure that whenever I sent Mark a message I explicitly stated that there was no pressure my end and that I was just excited to find out progress.
I in no way believe that this is premeditated on Mark's part. I 100% believe that these delays are beyond his control and that he probably feels as badly about them as his customers do. It is not always easy to deal with health issues and being self employed can only exacerbate issues if things become overwhelming.
I am still very excited about my knife and as long as Mark replies ASAP with some information about progress and likely finish date (that isn't too long to wait) I will be happy.
It would just be nice to be kept in the loop so I can stop panicking.

I'm happy to answer any questions about what I've said (except specifics about Mark's health issues).

Thanks for reading, just detailing this and getting it off my chest has made me feel better.

 

[ValeTudoGuy]

I havent specifically looked into what has been said and in all honesty, some thing's are best left behind closed doors.

But I would like to reach out to Mark, you did well by me and if there is any way I can help you do well by these other people then please contact my by PM either here or british blades and I will help in any way I can.

 

[moley1508]

thank you that is a kind offer and to others, you all seem to have taken my reasonings in the manner they were intended and it is credit to the people on this site for their attitude with quite a delicate subject.

for the record I have spent the majority of my working life being a one man self employed individual. sickness and injury have all lost me time but never my priorities which are to my old customers.

word of mouth is the best advertising and you are only as good as your last job in my opinion and waking each day with that in mind stood me in good stead for over 15 years.

I havent specifically looked into what has been said and in all honesty, some thing's are best left behind closed doors.

But I would like to reach out to Mark, you did well by me and if there is any way I can help you do well by these other people then please contact my by PM either here or british blades and I will help in any way I can.

 

[Tim_B]

I was in a similar situation, although cannot beat Samon's 4 years - mine has been a little over two years. I have talked to Moley via PM and our situations, barring timelines are very similar. I recently said to Mark not to worry about the order (even though full payment had been made up front) just to hopefully help him a little either fulfill other orders or some other way. It is difficult as Mark's health is serious, but at the end of the day its a business, and as previously said, orders should simply not be taken.

It's a very kind offer from Vale to try and assist Moley (and Mark) in some way.
Thanks
Tim B

 

[KenThis]

I havent specifically looked into what has been said and in all honesty, some thing's are best left behind closed doors.

But I would like to reach out to Mark, you did well by me and if there is any way I can help you do well by these other people then please contact my by PM either here or british blades and I will help in any way I can.

I agree entirely that some things are best dealt with in private. I spent a couple of hours this morning debating whether or not to detail my experience. I decided that since I'd been overthinking it all weekend it was probably best to set things out to try to help stop me stressing.

But maybe try reading what has actually been said. I think people in general have been very fair in what they've said so far, I certainly tried to be.

I think your offer to Mark is extrememly kind and just goes to show the camaraderie on the BCUK forums.

I also think that this can and will all be sorted out once Mark gets in contact with some of his customers and explains the situation.
We all want what's best, which is for Mark to be well and using his talents to be making knives.

 

[pieinthesky]

To the OP

I have a 4 inch x 4mm Bushtool style knife sitting around doing nothing. It was the first scandi grind I have done, the grind isnt perfect and the edge needs touching up.

It has been unused for a long time and could do with a few weekends in the woods.

You are welcome to it on long term loan/test if you need something as a stop gap. It would be nice to see it used and get some feedback.

Pic below - it is the green one and comes with an Enzo Trapper Dangler sheath.

 

[Nice65]

To the OP

I have a 4 inch x 4mm Bushtool style knife sitting around doing nothing. It was the first scandi grind I have done, the grind isnt perfect and the edge needs touching up.

It has been unused for a long time and could do with a few weekends in the woods.

You are welcome to it on long term loan/test if you need something as a stop gap. It would be nice to see it used and get some feedback.

Pic below - it is the green one and comes with an Enzo Trapper Dangler sheath.

Mike, all praise to you. You've not only done some incredible work with Spyderco with what I'd call the perfect EDC folder, you supplied me with a truly beautiful Harris tweed micarta 3/4 tang fixed which I use all the time.

Reckon you can get to the field in Kent at the end of the month? Be good to see you again.

 

[GGTBod]

Sorry to hear about your problems on this, i have had dealings with Mark in the past and he seemed a genuine straight up kinda fella, I hope he is doing okay as he just didn't seen the type to intentionally just rip people off in the dealings i had with him

 

[Robbi]

Outstanding offer and beautiful knives....all credit to you Sir.

To the OP

I have a 4 inch x 4mm Bushtool style knife sitting around doing nothing. It was the first scandi grind I have done, the grind isnt perfect and the edge needs touching up.

It has been unused for a long time and could do with a few weekends in the woods.

You are welcome to it on long term loan/test if you need something as a stop gap. It would be nice to see it used and get some feedback.

Pic below - it is the green one and comes with an Enzo Trapper Dangler sheath.

 

[Samon]

Now that is a fine act of kindness! You're a good man and I loved the style of your original folder so much.

 

[moley1508]

morning all

thank you all for all he offer, you are gentlemen,

as an update I sold some fishing gear to quickly fund a second hand Rob Evs knife. collecting it today.

thanks again for all the support, it is a appreciated

 

[moley1508]

further update in order to be transparent and honest.

just had a reply from Mark via FB, knife is finished and images to be sent today. hope all is now well.

reason for the delay was no internet and no phone which has been sorted as of today.

will update once knife turns up