Not really In Stock...

[RevMike]

Is it a common practice for dealers to post knives "in stock" when they don't really have them and can't get them?

Never encountered this before but I heard this knife was trickling into dealers and only found one that had it in stock. Placed my order and 6 days later got this email.



I'm sent a cancel email and I'm sure I'll get my money back since it is a reputable dealer that has even done their own exclusives before. Just seems an odd practice.

[apollo]

Not here in Europe.

Here about 75% of spyders say not able to deliver.

[David from NC 2]

I know it's become "acceptable" for companies to show "in-stock" but mean "it's in our 'warehouse' " (but in actuality mean a wholesaler/distributor/etc.) I'm sure some will say this is okay but IN MY MIND and for MY MONEY I think this is wrong. I have ran into this problem you mention before. I really appreciate sites/companies that offer "live" inventory on their website. I know several that do but New Graham knives has been doing it the longest of anyone that I know and use. I think Olde Towne Cutlery is "live" also, and possibly NC Blade (I just made an in-store purchase there a few weeks ago) and SMKW (?). I'm sure more are but these are off the top of my head.

[JRinFL]

I favor dealers who have a live or near live inventory updates on their websites. That said, I do still shop occasionally from some who I know are drop shipping from the wholesaler if the price is good enough. The term "In-stock" should mean ready to ship today.

[Ramonade]

Most EU dealers I use have a updated inventory as soon as you buy something.
If you had several of a same model to your cart, like the S90V Yojumbo for example, it even tells you "Sorry, we only have 2 units for this model".

I only have heard of one french cutlery sending an e-mail to a fellow forumite to tell him the discontinued Spyderco fixed blade he ordered wasn't available anymore. And they corrected it on the website by removing it as soon as they tried to fullfil his order.

So no, it's not something I'd find normal to be able to pay for something that is indicated as in stock, when it is not. But eh, mistakes do happen. However, if these mistakes are repeated, there's a deceptive pattern starting to show.

[DLTJordan]

Any of the major dealers should be running live inventory - ours is. However it is still possible to have inventory errors, so that may have happened to you unfortunately.

[JRinFL]

FTR, I've never had an issue with DLT's inventory. Always good to go.

[ykspydiefan]

I've been caught out like that in the past. Give the choice, I requested a return of money, thanks. They ended all contact would not return calls or emails. I had to go through my credit card company to get a charge back. It took several weeks. It was a physical shop, I googled it but I did not search the shops reviews. Once I did.... well I felt silly for not checking first.

[apollo]

Most EU dealers I use have a updated inventory as soon as you buy something.
If you had several of a same model to your cart, like the S90V Yojumbo for example, it even tells you "Sorry, we only have 2 units for this model".

I only have heard of one french cutlery sending an e-mail to a fellow forumite to tell him the discontinued Spyderco fixed blade he ordered wasn't available anymore. And they corrected it on the website by removing it as soon as they tried to fullfil his order.

So no, it's not something I'd find normal to be able to pay for something that is indicated as in stock, when it is not. But eh, mistakes do happen. However, if these mistakes are repeated, there's a deceptive pattern starting to show.

In the EU some sites even give the possibility in they’re shopping card to see how many they have. K&T is very good in that way.

[wrdwrght]

The shading of truth is the death of us. Change my mind.

[James Y]

The few dealers that I deal with always list anything they don't currently have as out of stock. I'm extremely picky about which dealers I do business with. I wouldn't trust a business that says they have something they don't.

Jim

[aicolainen]

Even the best system, with the best procedures and highly trained people will at some point experience that their actual inventory isn’t 1:1 with their ERP system. That’s just human nature.
Unless it’s a repeat problem, there is no problem here. IMO.

[Manixguy@1994]

I only do business with a select few some have even been mentioned here and have never had this ever happen . I can tell you when I ordered the Stretch XL , the dealer had it listed coming soon . I called on a whim and they said Spyderco order was sitting to be opened with XL knives .I laughed and ordered before they were actually listed available on site . Timing worked for me that day thanks to a heads up from a member on Forum alerting availability. MG2

[RevMike]

Unless it’s a repeat problem, there is no problem here. IMO.

Unfortunately, even though I didn't want to toss a name out there hoping it was an isolated thing, some folks already knew what dealer it was and I heard a couple other stories from respected members here. It seems it's not an isolated thing.

[max808]

Happened to me a couple of times from a French reseller on eBay where a hard to find spydie was listed at a great price with several in stock, an order was placed and paid for only resulting in a cancellation and refund. The next day the same one with the same pictures was listed at a slightly higher price from a more reputable parent account. Just the way some people do business these days I guess. If it happened once or twice with the volumes you're buying Reverend I'd say that's a pretty good track record Sir.