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My experience with two replating companies.

Here comes a long post about how I (and I think 14 others) got scammed then Razor emporium stepped up to help:

In June of this year, I sent Dan Varga of razor refresh a SS blackland blackbird with stand and a Razorrock SS handle to be plated . My payment to Dan was a couple vintage razors. He received everything and said he'd be working on it soon. A month goes by and I hear nothing so I reach out. He said it's in queue. Another month goes and I reach out again. He said his Nickle solution got contaminated so he can't plate anything until it is replaced. Repeat for another couple months.

Somebody called him out in a FB group. Then it came out he is out of business and can't complete the 14 people (30+ razors) worth of orders.

Matt Pisarcik comes in. Idk what deal he made but Matt of Razor Emporium took this lot on. Matt received these razors and turn around time was 3 weeks. SUPER quick for cleaning up somebody's mess. I didn't have to pay a dime. Not even shipping. Matt and the folk at razor emporium are amazing and have earned a customer for life.

Here are pix of my now rhodium plated Blackbird and gold plated Razorrock handle for my gold rockwell 6s.
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luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Speaking as a member of B&B, my own personal opinion is that I am happy to hear that you had a good result. For many people here at B&B, the end results were NOT as happy as yours.
If you do a little reading here, you will find problems as late as this past year with issues involving shabby service.
I know of issues with lost razors, family heirlooms being sold to other people, poor replating results combined with a poor customer service response.
If you or anyone else wants to risk your equipment with a company that has an extremely long record of shabby behavior including re-registering here under multiple names dozens of times to shill their business - well, that's your business.

For anyone else - I highly recommend Chris at Back Roads Gold. At least you have some assurance that what you sent in is what you get back, and it will be what you expected.

I personally find their behavior atrocious and here are some links that indicate a small measure of the problem including re-registering here under a false name, which you are aware of because you posted in that thread defending them. In fact, this year alone (2021) you have made nearly 30 posts praising them.

If you think the problem is isolated to people here, do a Google search for "Razor Emporium Reddit"
What do you have to do to get banned from Reddit for Christs sake?


Here's a thread from last year with folks describing the problems they had.

 
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@Adjustingtolife

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience to start with and glad to hear it was all straightened out in the end, but my 1st and only question would be, why would you take a razor that will last several lifetimes as is and have it plated? Seems overkill to me but its your money though!!

I personally wouldn't send or buy anything from RE as in the past his character speaks for itself as @luvmysuper has graciously pointed out!!
 
Speaking as a member of B&B, my own personal opinion is that I am happy to hear that you had a good result. For many people here at B&B, the end results were NOT as happy as yours.
If you do a little reading here, you will find problems as late as this past year with issues involving shabby service.
I know of issues with lost razors, family heirlooms being sold to other people, poor replating results combined with a poor customer service response.
If you or anyone else wants to risk your equipment with a company that has an extremely long record of shabby behavior including re-registering here under multiple names dozens of times to shill their business - well, that's your business.

For anyone else - I highly recommend Chris at Back Roads Gold. At least you have some assurance that what you sent in is what you get back, and it will be what you expected.

I personally find their behavior atrocious and here are some links that indicate a small measure of the problem including re-registering here under a false name, which you are aware of because you posted in that thread defending them. In fact, this year alone (2021) you have made nearly 30 posts praising them.

If you think the problem is isolated to people here, do a Google search for "Razor Emporium Reddit"
What do you have to do to get banned from Reddit for Christs sake?


Here's a thread from last year with folks describing the problems they had.

I can't speak for other's experiences, only my own.
 
@Adjustingtolife

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience to start with and glad to hear it was all straightened out in the end, but my 1st and only question would be, why would you take a razor that will last several lifetimes as is and have it plated? Seems overkill to me but its your money though!!

I personally wouldn't send or buy anything from RE as in the past his character speaks for itself as @luvmysuper has graciously pointed out!!
I like how rhodium and gold look is all
 
I just wanted to contribute to the op story. I was the one that blasted Razor Refresh ( Dan Varga ) i sent him 8 razors to have replated. I own my role here in sending a person i knew nothing about $700 worth of razors. I saw his listings of replated razors and people seemed be buying them and I didnt see any negative posts. I gave him approx 20 razors in exchange for his services. This started in April and he gave me a lead time of 3 weeks. Every month i checked in and every month there was a new excuse. Wife is sick, contaminated solution, lost solution, issues with someone elses order and a death in the family. In october i asked him to send back whatever was finished and he agreed to send me 6 razors back. A shipping label was created but the package never sent. He stated the only razors left to do were 2 psycho techs. The package never arrived nor was it ever scanned by usps. According to Dan usps picked it up and lost it. Matt ( Razor Emporium ) stepped in to help the community and it was to assist Dan to finish his backlog which Dan claimed he had and Dan sent him some razors. There were instructions from Dan for razors to be sent back to Dan and Matt’s team followed them. My razors initially were never sent to Matt. Matt had to personally call Dan and ask for them. Matt told me he received them and it would be 3 weeks. After a month i asked for an update and matt stated they were done and shipped back to Dan as instructed. I just received a package from Dan today with 2 razors which are not my Psycho tech's but my 2 populars which were part of the bundle the usps supposedly lost.
 
Nothing but good praises for RE from my experience. Getting a brand new shiny Gillette Adjustable that you know have the right mechanics and blade gaps is an experience that I will always enjoy.

some of the issues with RE happened nearly 10 years ago, but some people here seem to hold some grudge and are never able forget, or forgive… too bad for them
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Nothing but good praises for RE from my experience. Getting a brand new shiny Gillette Adjustable that you know have the right mechanics and blade gaps is an experience that I will always enjoy.

some of the issues with RE happened nearly 10 years ago, but some people here seem to hold some grudge and are never able forget, or forgive… too bad for them
Some of the issues with RE started 10 years ago. Some of the issues have happened as recently as last year.
Use whatever service you like, that's your right.
Don't expect that disgusting behavior will be swept under the rug and not exposed.
 
some of the issues with RE happened nearly 10 years ago, but some people here seem to hold some grudge and are never able forget, or forgive… too bad for them
I was raised that a dishonest person will always be dishonest!! Some things the man has done are unforgettable and unforgivable hence why a lot of folks have a nasty disposition towards him!! Just ask a few of the guys that purchased an Ambassador that they can't use because he thinks nothing is wrong with them and sends them back unusable... That's just in the last what, 2yrs? I don't need to go back 10!!
 
Some of the issues have happened as recently as last year.
Yeah, he’s the only vendor out there who occasionally has issues. I get it. Others are perfect.

Use whatever service you like, that's your right.
I do and I will continue to do, thank you very much. And I will come here and speak about my own experience as I please. I know many here in B&B have a lot of grudge against a lot of people for good and bad reasons.

I just prefer to think for myself
 
I was raised that a dishonest person will always be dishonest!! Some things the man has done are unforgettable and unforgivable
Did you even read the OP? RE came to the rescue of a dozen people who were fooled by someone else, did a perfect job and didn’t even charge a dime. How dare they be so dishonest!!
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Did you even read the OP? RE came to the rescue of a dozen people who were fooled by someone else, did a perfect job and didn’t even charge a dime. How dare they be so dishonest!!
Did you even read the problems people have had? He screwed a dozen people who had to go to someone else for what they paid him for and didn't get a refund. How dare he be so honest!!
You can have your opinion to your hearts content, snarking at another member because of his opinion won't fly.
Knock it off.
Let other people think for themselves, or are you the only one that has that right?
 
I'm waiting for a bunch of vintage razors to arrive by the end of this month and some of them might need either fixing and/or replating. From what i've heard so far the Back Roads Gold is the best option. I kinda wish we had such services here in Europe, since it would be both much faster and probably cheaper as well.
 
My 2 cents: I only use razorplate.com for replates and have never used anyone else - Chris Evatt is a replating magician with a customer service and communication level like noone else. And on top, he is one of the nicest fellows around. Just sayin’.

Here’s a couple examples of his work for me.

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I'm waiting for a bunch of vintage razors to arrive by the end of this month and some of them might need either fixing and/or replating. From what i've heard so far the Back Roads Gold is the best option. I kinda wish we had such services here in Europe, since it would be both much faster and probably cheaper as well.
You'll be pleased. I've had two through Back Roads (gold '34 Aristocrat, platinum Bulldog, with a weld-seam), and they are gorgeous. I've never heard anything but good about RazorPlate, also.
 
I've had 4 razors replated by Chris at Back Roads Gold and have been delighted. His communication is faultless as is his workmanship. Plus he is an excellent photographer and I use his photos of my razors rather than my own. Best example of the service was an American Aristocrat I had sent it for gold plating. There was a missing end cap and some performance issues. Chris sent me detailed photos of what could be done to correct the problems and asked for my approval before proceeding. This is now one of my favorite razors particularly when I'm on the road.
 
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