Bokalo's Armoury

[ramses2003]

I really hate to do this, i really do. in fact its taken weeks of my friends arguing with me telling me that i need to post something on AA, so here it goes.
Few months ago i ordered a pair of the #430A manatee gauntlets from Bokalo's Armoury, sending with my order a request for measurements, and sending a few measurements (including my glove size) along with the first email. shortly thereafter i recieved an email asking for additional measurements, which i promptly took, and sent back.
i got the gauntlets in good time, i was thrilled and excited to get them as i finally would be able to fight with two handed weapon (something ive longed to do sense becoming a fighter) i padded them as best i could, with just a quarter inch of foam, strapped them so they fit my hand nicely, and this is where the problem started, i picked up a weapon and my finger tips showed, but more than that the cuffs were so small that my hands actually and quite literally rubbed across them as i put them on, and they bit into the back of my thumbs. i sent an email and was told to send them back, provided i could send pictures and leave them strapped and they would be fixed.
then things in life happened, i wasnt able to send them for a good amount of time, i ended up having to move, all of which i informed Bokalo of in later emails, but i kept them, fiddled with them, took them to practice, and had a local Knight help my try and fix the problem, and discussion with other people came up with a solution. i would, instead of sending them back as i was currently unable to do, i would add a plate to them give them a little extra coverage and call it good. it didnt work. so i HAD to send them back. i did so, and explained in an email that i was going to send the pictures via email shortly, as i did not have a printer available and internet was spotty, i assumed i would have time to send the email with the photos before he got the gauntlets back in the mail (as we know it is called SNAIL mail for a reason) again, i was wrong and this did not happen, i got a snarky email from Bokalo, asking why i padded them so poorly, and because i didnt send pictures was he supposed to just guess on what to fix, and that with the hand tracing i sent the gauntlets *should* fit, again, i politely explained my position, and that even though they *should* fit, they simply did *not*, i also explained the holes added to the fingertips of the gauntlets in an attempt to add extra length to them and that i would be more than happy to replace them, all he need to do is bill me for them... and then he got the picture email. he replied that i needed to learn to use contact glue, and that if i would learn to pad these gauntlets properly i wouldnt have such an issue. he also explained that because these gauntlets are leather articulated in the cuff, there is no way possible for them to bind and affect range of motion in the wrist (never mind that my hand hardly went through the damn bell, let alone worked around my vambraces). the reply i got back was that because i bought cheap gauntlets, i couldnt expect everything to flow and move (articulation wise) and that perhaps i should turn my tumb in to my palm when attempting to put gauntlets on...you know, because im a bloody fool and couldn't figure that out on my own could i? so after another snarky email back, offering to explain the *proper* use of contact glue, and the extra time spent instructing me how to *properly* pad and strap gauntlets (i wouldnt have minded the instruction on the padding and strapping), he could send me the next size larger, could modify the gauntlets i have, or offer a refund. i am happy to say i took the damn refund.
but the adventure doesn't stop here.
he tries to refund the gauntlets directly through my card, and i will admit, it had been more (just more, but it still more than counts) than three months and he couldnt just credit my card, he had to cut me a check. now i mentioned i moved, and sent a box with my new address on it, and mentioned moving several more times, he sent it to the wrong adress, and was snarky about how i should inform him of a change...and i suppose its my fault that i didnt inform him, i only talked about moving, he only had a box with my change of address, and because i bought such cheap gauntlets i didn't deserve his time or attention to detail.
now to the Freiman Scale:
Price: 3.5
Quality of gear: 3
Customer Service: 0
On Time shipping: 3
Overall Experience: THUMBS DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!
i will never, in my life order from him again, nor will i send any new fighter to him, nor will i recommend anyone else in his direction, for as long as i live.


now having said all of this, im sure he is reading, no, i do not have the emails sent back and forth, i know documentation or it didnt happen. but to be honest i deleted the emails when the refund was *supposedly* issued because as far as i was concerned my buisness with this man is done. now its been eight days sense the refund, and still no check, but again was sent to the wrong address, so we will see.

i didn't want to write this review. i don't like slinging mud. almost all of the fighters in my local group have used him in some way or wear/wore his armour at some point, he was highly recommended. thank you for reading, and again i'm sorry i had to write this.

[PatternWeld]

Ramses,

Sounds like a lot of errors on both sides of the fence. Honestly as soon as you attempted to modify the item the merchant's responsibility to remedy went bye bye. No one needed to get snarky but once that happens no good can come of it.

That said... go get yourself a set of Andy Ward guantlets, a pair of Mylec street hockey gloves and go hit people.

Grimr

[Cedric Adolphus]

I have never had anything but excellent dealings with Bokalo

[Dedric]

Personally I have never had an issue with Bokalo's Armoury. I have a hemlet, the same gauntlets (more further) and I have an order in now for some custom arms.

Personal experience with the #430A manatee gauntlets. I found it best to use plain street hockey gloves and "not" pad them, their was a minor issue of my fingertips showing though the front after fighting for a while, however that was easily remidied by punching 3 holls in the front lam and riveting in a strip of leather to act as a "stopper". 2 of the 3 local knights in my area also use this style gauntlet with no modifications.

My suggestion: pull off the padding you added, and use plain street hockey gloves. Lace the glove in tight with your hand in it, personally I used 550 para cord but lace will work.

Best of luck.

-Dedric

[Jestyr]

I understand your frustration, but I don't know how fair your assessment of the situation is.

This is how I am reading the order of things:

1. You ordered something you were not happy with.
2. Merchant told you to send them back and he'll replace/fix/refund
3. You didn't send them back for a while
4. You tried to modify the gauntlets instead of doing what the merchant asked you to do
5. You finally did send them back to him, but it was after 3 months
6. You did not include photos as requested
7. Merchant still offered to replace, fix or refund
8. You opted for refund, but did not expressly inform him that you had a new address (even though it was implied, with secondary evidence of the move)
9. Merchant sent a check to an old address
10. Instead of waiting for a new check you post a bad review

I don't know many SCA armourers that would refund after the length of time or the modifications.

I am not justifying any rude (or perceived rude) behavior from anyone, but it seems to me that you are very significantly to blame in the transaction. You mentioned delays or mistakes on your behalf, but do not take into account their impact on the transaction. All in all, while I understand you are unhappy, at the end of the day, the merchant did something very few merchants in or out of the SCA would have done with the refund.

We as consumers don't like to accept it, but the size of the purchase does change the behavior of the merchant. Having owned a number of luxury cars, I can tell you that I am treated significantly better at the Audi, Acura or Lexus dealership, than I am at the Honda or Nissan dealership. That's just the way of the world.

[Hamish Nisbet]

Like Many Others on this list, I have had the exact opposite with Him.

6 yrs after he sold me a leg harness at an event, and I was having problems with it do to the with of a new knee brace. He said he would but back the old one and sell it at an event( obviously at a discount) and make me a new set, for the difference in cost, or he would try and bend out my current one. to fit.

I ordered a new one, and gave the other set to a friend.

Sorry to hear things went bad for you.

[Jonathan Baird]

I have owned quite a few pieces of Bokalo armor over the years and bought from him directly and over the internet. i have never had a problem.

[Loegaire mac Gilray]

I have never had anything but excellent dealings with Bokalo

This.

Also, virtually no other retailer on the planet would give you a refund after altering the item yourself, much less after 90+ days. Try it with Amazon, Target, or pretty much anyone else. The fact that he did speaks volumes about his character.

[thunderwinde]

I reckon the thing to ask yourself here is, how many times did you tell Bokalo you would do something and then did something else? He sounds incredibly patient throughout this whole thing, not to mention extremely accommodating in a situation most other vendors would not be.

[muttman]

[quote
Also, virtually no other retailer on the planet would give you a refund after altering the item yourself, much less after 90+ days. Try it with Amazon, Target, or pretty much anyone else. The fact that he did speaks volumes about his character.[/quote]

This.

You broke even so considering all that time before you sent tham back and the fact the you tinkered with them I'd say you came out ahead all things considered.
I have never had any personal dealings with him but I have a number of friends who have and are very happy with both the gear and the experience.
Sorry you had a bad go of it though. Sounds like just bad luck I guess
John/Drefan

[Leonardis]

I need to reinforce all of the above as well as this:

now having said all of this, im sure he is reading, no, i do not have the emails sent back and forth, i know documentation or it didnt happen.

Bokalo has always been one of the most understanding and informative guys I've spoken with. I'll note that his e-mail sentence structure and grammar can be a bit strange, so it might be possible some perceived snarkyness might have been a communication error? It just sounds like he tried to do the right thing over and over. If he comes across as a guy that's trying to tell someone he knows what he's talking about...it's because he seriously knows what he's talking about.

[Tally]

I bought some gaunts from him last year. When I made a mistake in the measurement, he corrected me. I am sorry the OP had a bad experience, but I recommend Bokalo every chance I get.

[Guy H.]

We as consumers don't like to accept it, but the size of the purchase does change the behavior of the merchant. Having owned a number of luxury cars, I can tell you that I am treated significantly better at the Audi, Acura or Lexus dealership, than I am at the Honda or Nissan dealership. That's just the way of the world.

+1 Spot on.

[Cisco]

Yep, I'm on Bokalo's side here. Lots of armorers have screwed up but he hasn't in this case.

You didn't follow his refund procedure, modified his product, didn't do what he asked *after* modifying his product, delayed over 3 months from purchase to get the stuff back to him...and ANY of this is his fault? Dude how much ass kissing do you want?

Grow up. The customer is not always right. He went above and beyond to help you out. You should be thanking him for refunding your money AFTER you didn't follow his instructions AND didn't get the product back to him in time AND destroyed his product so he couldn't resell it AND moved during the process.

He lost money in the process from the credit transaction, and was going to refund you the whole amount, and lost the time and money from making a product that he can't now sell.

He's never screwed up anything with me before. I hope, if he does, that he treats me as well as he did you.

[Syrfinn]

Not going to pile on, enough have already done it.

But just got a pair of Manatees from Bokalo last Friday, before he sent them he wanted to double check, cause I had ordered Large and he wanted to make sure the sizing was right, and told me if I need to go down to the smaller size after trying them to send em back and he would send a 6 to me.

[Samuel]

this review should read : " I ordered some stuff and it didnt fit like I wanted it to, I talked to the armorer about it and was informed I could send it back for a refund or exchange or get it fixed how I like it ( it looked just like it did in the photographs) I decided to drill holes in it and "FIX" it.. when that didnt work I sent it back some months later and the armorer now has a POS chunk I fucked up and refunded me my money but sent it to my address, I didnt give him a new one and was most likely pissy on the phone with him.. so since I have to wait for the refund to be returned to him and then he will send another to my NEW address I decided to bitch to everyone about him.. its not enough that he has a peice of armor he could have resold but now he cant, nor is it enough that hes out X amount of money because of me, I want to bitch and be heard.. cause apparantly refunding me money LONG after I trashed the peice of armor isnt enough"

about right??

welcome to MY " dont sell to that guy" list..

[Gunthar]

Yeah, Bokalo's is one of the few "trust without seeing" armorers. I am willing to buy
armor from him without trying it on first and am pretty confident of getting it on time
and just as I ordered it.

[tke173]

Wow, sounds like he bent over backwards to make things right and you craped on Bokalo. Most people would have not done anything after 3 months. All I know is Bokalo has done anything to make me happy when purchasing epuipment from him and dont understand your comments on his rude e-mail. Not his nature. And please dont order from him again so you wont waist his time or money.

P.S I have his crappy gauntlets and they are great to me.

Michael
Squire to
Killian the Bruce

[Magnus de Lyons]

I'll hit this band wagon. I just bought the same item about a month ago and it was a great experience. I would buy again in a heart beat and recommend him to my friends.

Bokalo is a great merchant.

[ramses2003]

To clarify, I never said they were crap, I said they were too small for me. I didn't say they didn't fit how I want, they didn't fit...
He said they were cheap. And they are inexpensive, not shit. I also stated that the gauntlets you all are ragging on me about "destroying" I offered to pay him for the alterations, and for the "damages" without having to be asked, without having to be threatened, I emailed and told him what was up, that I was willing, more than willing I was happy to pay for the repairs and for the alterations. I did NOT ask for a handout, and I did not ask for ass kissing. As I said in my review all I wanted was customer service. A little politeness goes a long way. *some* of you could think about that, and should have thought about that before you started ragging on me. Just saying.
Had he been less rude and condescending, I would have happily kept the gauntlets and given him a great review...and even paid to fix the gauntlets. I didn't get any of that.
And Bokalo, I was told, numerous times, is a gentleman, a business man, and an all-around standup guy. That is not what I got. I got a condescending ass.

I realize I am partly at fault for the poor transaction, come on, I was honest with my faults in this; I’m the one who told you all.

[Maelduin mac D]

To clarify, I never said they were crap, I said they were too small for me. I didn't say they didn't fit how I want, they didn't fit...
He said they were cheap. And they are inexpensive, not shit. I also stated that the gauntlets you all are ragging on me about "destroying" I offered to pay him for the alterations, and for the "damages" without having to be asked, without having to be threatened, I emailed and told him what was up, that I was willing, more than willing I was happy to pay for the repairs and for the alterations. I did NOT ask for a handout, and I did not ask for ass kissing. As I said in my review all I wanted was customer service. A little politeness goes a long way. *some* of you could think about that, and should have thought about that before you started ragging on me. Just saying.
Had he been less rude and condescending, I would have happily kept the gauntlets and given him a great review...and even paid to fix the gauntlets. I didn't get any of that.
And Bokalo, I was told, numerous times, is a gentleman, a business man, and an all-around standup guy. That is not what I got. I got a condescending ass.

I realize I am partly at fault for the poor transaction, come on, I was honest with my faults in this; I’m the one who told you all.

You still dont get it. There is nothing that says a vendor has to kiss your ass over your screwups. Further there's nothing that says he cant be an ass right back to you. If you never buy another thing from him, he'll probably be a happier man. In addition (judging by your efforts here) I doubt your word of mouth is taken seriously enough to hurt his business.

Conclusion: Quit while yoou're behind, mate.

[PatternWeld]

Ramses you got your panties in a bunch. Go take a few deep breaths and a few grains of salt.

Every merchant or artist has shit happen or go south through their own fault or a combination of things. When it goes wrong, everyone gets to know. When it goes right... one in 10 maybe one in 20 will even bother to post a review.

People rub each other the wrong way sometimes but it sounds like he went far beyond what was required and you still give him a bad review because you didn't get exactly what you wanted, exactly when you wanted it. The reality of the situation is that you screwed up a lot worse than he did.

Just Sayin.

[Cryptos]

Bokalo,

If you are reading this and haven't tossed the gaunts, let me know how much you want for them. I'd like to experiment with a pair of clam shells for a steampunk project.

[archibald]

Odd but this "complaint" has me on Bokalo's site with the thought of buying a pair of arms from him.

[brewer]

Seriously. I don't even fight SCA heavy! I can always use a loaner gorget for rapier...

Speaking as someone who supplies this market, the above "review" is why supplying this market is both a blessing and a curse.

Bob

[Effingham]

^^^ Ditto.

Oh, for the record:

[GunnarUlfson]

I really hate to do this, i really do. in fact its taken weeks of my friends arguing with me telling me that i need to post something on AA, so here it goes.

now to the Freiman Scale:
Price: 3.5
Quality of gear: 3
Customer Service: 0
On Time shipping: 3
Overall Experience: THUMBS DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!
i will never, in my life order from him again, nor will i send any new fighter to him, nor will i recommend anyone else in his direction, for as long as i live..

A couple of things stand out here. It took your friends telling you to do this for weeks in order for you to do so. That says, you were not truly convinced that this was in fact the merchants fault. You later backed this up with your explanation. Perhaps listening to that inner voice that was telling you not to do this would have been the best course of action....

As for your Freiman Scale

Price 3.5 ?? At under $150 for a pair of gauntlets I would say you are off by at least .5 for a new set of hand protection.
Customer Service: 0 - seriously... a zero? You need to rethink this situation.....

[InsaneIrish]

Just a "no dog in this fight" observation.
But, if the general attitude of the AA is to pile on someone's review thread with "I've had nothing but great experiences from him" and "You're just bitchy because you want something unwarrented" and "He is a standup guy, you douche" type responses.

Then we will no longer get any "True" reviews of merchants. We will only get "I bought from XYZ and it was GREAT!" type reviews. Which will lead to more people buying from the unreputable merchants.

[Paladin74]

I'd settle for a true review, Insane. But I don't take issue with the others who have come forward to defend Bokalo's...its refreshing, to be honest. I've seen where a merchant gets dog-piled for an admittedly bad transaction and business suffers as a result- when the merchant is at fault, that's how it goes.

I don't get the impression that he was at fault in this instance; the OP admits to going outside of the 90 day warranty- that should have closed the issue right then and there. He also admits to altering them- which in any other instance would invalidate any warranty held. But Bokalo decided that he would honor the refund request anyway- he certainly didn't have to, and is probably sorry he did now- I know I would be.

I also know that if I were Bokalo, I would have been more than a little pissed to have to jump through hoops he's had because this guy's life got in his own way...business is business. He tried to do a good thing, rectify the situation and subsequently gets this. You think that's fair? I would disagree.

[InsaneIrish]

Again, No dog in this fight.

Just making an observation. And this is not the FIRST thread that the Denisons of the AA have dog piled to protect "one of their own".

I'm Just Sayin'

[Pa'gan]

I also have had good results from Bakalo's. I have only done face to face sales with him but I am highly satisifised with his products

[Gunthar]

I honestly don't think it is "dogpiling to protect one of our own". There are a heck of a lot of
comments about bad merchants on other threads. But when someone comes on with a bad
review of a merchant that has done nothing but good service to a large portion of this list,
and the reasons listed for the bad service are questionable at best, then people will come
to the merchant's defense. It really doesn't matter if the merchant is a member of this list or
not.

If the complaint had been what most of us consider a legitimate complaint I'm sure most of the
responses would have been something like, "That's weird, he's always been good to me and the
people I know who have dealt with him. Hey, Bokalo, what are you doing to fix this?"

[PatternWeld]

Your Grace,

I must disagree. Case in point. With the BotN fervor, Kerry Stagmer of Baltimore Knife & Sword has recieved rave reviews and the fact that he massively screwed one of our fellow archivers (and has refused to handle it for years now) has been neatly swept under the carpet.

His Grace Icefalcon promised to interceed since he is carrying BKS gear but as far as I know, our fellow archiver, whonew is still out in the cold.

So it doesn't quite work the way you might think. Brand was able to screw so many because he had cover of lots of folks who would exert negative social pressure on those who complained.

Just Sayin

Grimr

[thunderwinde]

Another person with no dog in the fight, but I don't actually think that's what we are seeing here. I certainly am new to the AA and could not be said to be 'defending one of my own', as you claim. It just seemed from his own story that Bokalo did not deserve the bad review and it is actually a bit refreshing to see that while there is plenty of warning people away from bad armourers here, there is also this sense of pointing out when the customer is in the wrong. Especially in a setting like this forum, the same people will be vendors and customers at different times and it is good to see both sides of the coin when looking at these situations. I think in the long run it will help us all become better customers and better vendors, whenever we find ourselves in either role.

[Halvgrimr]

Holy Jesus.....what a wall of text.