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Karve Diem

Will you be ordering a SS Karve?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Later when the price drops

  • I’m so torn...


Results are only viewable after voting.
Thinking of cancelling since my order (places in the first 5 mins) didn’t ship today.

Hit em where it hurts. This is absolutely ridiculous. And still no email to alert us to anything about the situation.

Might just buy a second hand brass at this point.

There’s an Instagram post today addressing the situation and apologizing for the rough release.
 
There’s an Instagram post today addressing the situation and apologizing for the rough release.
I just saw that as well and it seems they have learned alot, which could help the business in the future. I’m staying patient, but I didn’t pay yet so I understand the frustration of some people who ordered. The wait list MIGHT be better handled than the release I expect. And if the Karve SS is a Huge success than some people will overlook this. Imo he should stay more up to date with his customers and reassure them of what’s going on. Happy Shaving!
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Bummer to see that this hasn't been sorted out. Fortunately for me the top cap was sold out thus sparing me the misfortune of bad service

i do hope you guys get these soon
 
At this point, hearing an endless stream of excuses is getting ridiculous. I have still not received any shipping notification or any other updates about my order.

On Instagram he clearly states that all the production issues have been sorted. If that is the case, then ship the razors out already. Jeez
 
Who the heck has an Instagram account?

You know what everyone who ordered does have though? An email account.

Lol.

Exactly.

I cancelled last night and had an email this morning confirming the cancellation and refund, and asking if they could receive feedback.

I simply said that after nearly 4 weeks of not receiving a shipping notice or email regarding delays, I had decided against my purchase.

To be honest there’s a lot of talk and comparisons with the Blackbird razor and I think I may pick up a used one with the cash now.

I say all this as someone who bought the brass version, as a Canadian rooting for a home shop, and as someone who wanted to really like Karve. But 4 weeks and no contact? I will try other high quality razors.
 
Yesterday I sent an email to cancel my order and have not heard back. I just sent a second request. If I don't hear anything over the weekend I will put in a claim with Paypal. I am not messing around with these guys. I am not desparate for another razor as I have plenty.
 
It is as if all of the purchasers were duped into a mini GoFundMe campaign of pay now but get it later.

On June 26th Karve CB razor fans purchased the new stainless steel versions with the understanding that a certain amount of inventory was ready to ship out. Many quickly bought knowing the supposed existing inventory may sell out and wanted to get ahead of the next option of the new waiting list.

What was happening in reality is there were no manufactured SS razor parts and Karve was selling something that did not yet exist. Everyone was going on the list whether they knew it or not. It was all one big list containing two types of customers. The first type of customer was an actual buyer who paid (meaning pre-ordered) the razor and the others who declared they were interested in purchasing at a future, when available, date but would not actually pay for the purchase until the order was ready to ship.

But lets make no mistake, we were all on the list and those that actually paid were pre-paying for something that was yet to be produced. It begs the question, was the first group of paying customers needed to fund the inventory to cover both for their purchases and the others on the waiting list?
 
It is as if all of the purchasers were duped into a mini GoFundMe campaign of pay now but get it later.

On June 26th Karve CB razor fans purchased the new stainless steel versions with the understanding that a certain amount of inventory was ready to ship out. Many quickly bought knowing the supposed existing inventory may sell out and wanted to get ahead of the next option of the new waiting list.

What was happening in reality is there were no manufactured SS razor parts and Karve was selling something that did not yet exist. Everyone was going on the list whether they knew it or not. It was all one big list containing two types of customers. The first type of customer was an actual buyer who paid (meaning pre-ordered) the razor and the others who declared they were interested in purchasing at a future, when available, date but would not actually pay for the purchase until the order was ready to ship.

But lets make no mistake, we were all on the list and those that actually paid were pre-paying for something that was yet to be produced. It begs the question, was the first group of paying customers needed to fund the inventory to cover both for their purchases and the others on the waiting list?

Possible. I don’t think there was ever any intent to run a scheme like this. Now, by not communicating the facts about the release in an email to all waiting customers, that opens the doors to rumors like this circulating.
 
Possible. I don’t think there was ever any intent to run a scheme like this. Now, by not communicating the facts about the release in an email to all waiting customers, that opens the doors to rumors like this circulating.

I agree, I very much doubt that they deliberately tricked people into some kind of “GoFundMe” scheme.
Nevertheless, it is a real shame that either Jack (as the new Karve communications/ PR person) or Chris himself didn’t think to email all customers, or put some kind of notice on their website, apologising and explaining what happened, and also giving some idea on production progress now and timings.
They have a very good product, unfortunately, similar to last year, they are letting themselves (and their customers..) down by poor communication and customer service....
 
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Before I ordered my brass Karve a while ago, I actually read the whole Karve Diem thread. I noted that some people waited weeks or months from order to delivery, particularly with releases. So here I am with a stainless steel Karve order. Am I happy with the less than accurate disclosure about shipping? No. Am I happy with the delay in shipping when led to believe that razors and parts were in stock? No.

Is this situation unreasonable? Well, I believe that Karve razors are artisan products, hand-made if not super carefully so and not made by a large scale commercial enterprise. I am willing to be flexible with delivery with that understanding. FWIW, I have never heard that Karve failed to deliver on a product, even if the delays were uncomfortably long. So, I will wait. The razor will be worth it. Quality products sometimes are. I am very sympathetic to everyone who believes that the communication leaves a lot to be desired. But, small company + great product leads to forgiveness.
Yup.
 
The crazy part is, not only have none of these orders been filled, but he has STILL not really addressed the situation with all the people who placed their order immediately. I have emailed twice for a status update and received nothing from the new "communications specialist."

All he needs to do is send out a generic, mass email explaining the situation and giving a realistic timeline that he intends to stick to. Every time he apologizes and vows to do better, he just keeps up the same old behavior. Business as usual.

I just want a realistic shipping estimate...that is all.
But it will definitely be the last order I place with Karve.

I have nearly every base plate (in brass) and nearly every handle length. I have a few of the OC plates that I love. I am a huge fan of the product, but this customer service is just an absolute joke.
 
The last time I went to the Karve web site, I saw that he had posted a wait list of 74 people. My name is somewhere in the middle.

Someone stated that there were only 100 orders on release day. However, I suspect that there would have been many more orders placed had more top caps been available. I got to the site about 1 hour after release and there were still various base plates and handles available, but no top caps. I am certain that dampened the enthusiasm.

Chris attempted to build inventory to anticipate the interest in the razor. However, remember that in the time he was building inventory of the stainless razors, he had money invested in materials and he had time invested in machining without any sales to bring in income. During that time, he still had the costs of daily living. Even having 100 razors ready to go would represent nearly $15,000 in finished inventory.
 
Order # 3834, ordered within 4 minutes of the sale going live, and still waiting for a shipping notice.

3.25" Handle, OC plate (B), SB plate (C).

This has been handled with all the openness and disclosure of a Chinese industrial disaster. Lesson learned . . . no more purchases from Karve on the day of sale.
 
Since Karve ignored my two requests to cancel my order I had Paypal send them a message and within 15 minutes I got my refund and apology from Karve. I am done with Karve.
 
Since Karve ignored my two requests to cancel my order I had Paypal send them a message and within 15 minutes I got my refund and apology from Karve. I am done with Karve.
Dude, that’s seriously in poor form. I hope they get their act together and this doesn’t sink them because I really want one. But i’ll wait until West Coast shaving starts to sell em so I can avoid this circus.
 
Since Karve ignored my two requests to cancel my order I had Paypal send them a message and within 15 minutes I got my refund and apology from Karve. I am done with Karve.

That is crazy...the thing I don't understand is why he continues to spout business plattitudes while continuing to ignore the root cause of the problem, which is simple communication. Even after receiving multiple cancellation requests he is not motivated to throw the brakes on this runaway train with a simple email or an explanation of any kind.

Now that I think about it, I had a similar experience when I first ordered my brass set last year. The web site stated that fulfillment would happen in 1-2 weeks. After 30 days I finally wrote an email requesting a cancellation. Instead of canceling the order, magically it immediately shipped and he replied with the tracking info. I honestly think I would still be waiting for it to ship if I hadn't asked to cancel.
 
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