Jean Thibodeau's Doge -- myArmoury.com

Sam Haverkamp · Industry Professional

Jean,
I know you just want the darn thing already Big Grin

Russ did say they arrived safely there on the weekend.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Tue 30 Sep, 2008 9:21 pm Post subject:

Russ Ellis · Industry Professional

Well, I wish that I could report that the conclusion of this project was a resounding success, but unfortunately I can not. Jean received his Doge yesterday and was disappointed with some of the aspects of the construction of the scabbard.

Now for the interesting part. Jean could have immediately logged into his trusty computer, come over here to myArmoury and told you what a no good so and so that guy Russ at Tritonworks is. Happy

After all, I had his sword for some ridiculous number of months while wading through some of the production details and at the end of that time and after much anticipation the scabbard was not all that he had hoped. That's on me, there were some things involved with this one that I wasn't quite happy about and I SHOULD have gone with my gut and not shipped the scabbard. However, I managed to convince myself that it would be okay and shipped anyway. Always listen to your gut. The responsibility is entirely mine.

What did Jean do? Well, he sent me an email detailing the issues that he found and THEN, because Jean was worried that I would get the wrong tone from something dry like an email he called me on his dime from Canada just so we could discuss it. Happy

That my friends is a classy customer. We were able to talk through the details, come to a conclusion about how a fix could be made and how I could insure that Jean was satisfied with the outcome of this project.

So is this one a win or a loss? Well, financially I certainly took a hit on this project, but in the end that doesn't matter at all. What matters is that Jean gave me a chance to rectify the error and try to make it right with him. I also learned (or perhaps relearned some things) I do this stuff as a hobby and a way to earn a little extra money to fuel my collection. I'm not so arrogant as to think that I will always get it right, but if no one tells me when they are not pleased with something then I cannot improve in that area. At the end of the day my goal is to have satisfied customers. It's a small community and I like to think that I "know" most of you. You guys are my friends (and fellow nuts when it comes to swords) and I want to always treat my friends properly.

To all the other makers out there, if you are so fortunate as to attact Jean's interest I would unhesitatingly recommend that you work with him, he is a very patient guy and a good person to deal with.

Allen Foster · Posted: Wed 12 Nov, 2008 8:58 am Post subject:

Russ,

I don't know you but that was one brave and classy post. Wow!

Sam Haverkamp · Industry Professional

I would be happy to re-do any of my work that contributed to the challenges free of charge. I will even pay for shipping to me and back. I really wanted this to be an heirloom for Jean :-)
S

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Wed 12 Nov, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject:

I want to thank Russ and Sam for making an unfortunate, for both sides occurrence, as pleasant as possible and doing their best to correct the problems which are not aesthetic but simply structural design issues that the Doge's design with the spur on one side and the finger ring on the other makes for complex design issues.

On the plus side Sam's sculptural artistry is superb and the chape turned out O.K. structurally, the throat piece because of the Doge design had only a very narrow area holding the front and back together and the supporting body on which the sculpture is attached to is of too light a gauge and was too easily damaged.

A scabbard fixture, for a regular sword not needing these deep cuts to accommodate the spur and finger ring, would be much better supported by the underlying body of the scabbard. I would still use a thicker gauge though.

Sam has gotten in touch with me and I will give him my design suggestions in more detail in P.M. or e-mail.

I also want to thank Russ in return for the nice words and he has already compensated me for the problem.

By the way, I think I can fix the problems myself if needed but will get in touch with Sam before I " epoxy " anything together in a permanent way as a re-designed of the supporting structures of a replacement piece is also an option.

I'm glad to say that this is a good example of a " professional " and " respectful " way to deal with a problem and it remains a pleasure to deal with Russ and Sam.

Scott Kowalski · Posted: Wed 12 Nov, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject:

R D Moore · Posted: Wed 12 Nov, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

Jean, Russ, and Sam,

A superb example of how these issues should be handled. It's very refreshing to read these posts and I'm proud to be associated with you.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Wed 12 Nov, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject:

Oh, Sam has offered to fix the fittings and fit them himself to the scabbard if I send it to him and absorb the shipping costs !

I'm considering it seriously and just have to contact the shipping company about the paperwork needed to ship internationally for repairs and not have to pay taxes twice when it's shipped back.

Should know and decided about this option by early next week. Again, really first class in dealing with a problem. Big Grin

( Edited: Oh, I meant to say that Sam offerered to absorb the shipping costs as well as do the work, my sentence was ambiguous and could have been taken as meaning I would be paying shipping. )