how would you handle this?

[s mcfall]

got a phone call one night form a guy that bought a knife of mine at a gun show (my card was with it) described it to me - 8" drop point ,nickelsilver bolsters dovtailed to white micarta with red spacers, decrative pins and s.s. thong tube....asked him what he paid..."50.00" ,i told him he got himself a good deal that knife sold for around 200.00. he asked that if i find anything about the knife to let him know, he even sent me pictures of it...well come to find out i made that knife for a friend of mine that he and his wife bought to give to her father for a christmas gift...he was thrilled...that was in 1996...soon after the mans druggie son took it and sold it...they knew who did it but could not prove it...i e-mail the guy and told him the deal thinking that he might return it to the rightful owner and my friend would reimburse the man what he paid plus shipping.....the guy said he would return it if they give him 200.00 or if i made him a new one...i cant do that becouse i got out of the knifemaking and sold my equipment....he has a hard time with it becouse of my card being with the knife.."why would your card be with it if it were stolen" yes the kid was not a smart theif....so how would any of you handle this?

thank you,
stan mcfall

[Steve]

Alert the police? I don't know, it is apparently stolen property, though can it be proven?

[s mcfall]

after pleading to his humanity and a little guilt trip about people wanting to get paid for doing a good deed....he has agreed to send the knife back for the money he paid for it plus shipping.....there is some good people out there after all and a guy gets his knife back that has been missing for about 10yrs.

thanks for the reply though,
stan

[TexasJack]

I don't know, Stan, the lesson here might be: If you get a great deal on a knife, don't brag about it!

It is nice to hear that - after he thought about it for awhile - his sense of right overcame his sense of greed. Interesting dilemma.

I walked into a knife shop a couple years ago and the owner had a bunch of cases of pocket knives. Very neat knifes - all different. I asked how he got them. He said a young man came in and wanted to sell some knives. He went out to his car and the trunk was full of these cases. The store owner immediately figured they were stolen. He did some investigation and found out the story was true - the guy had inherited the collection from his grandfather who had just passed away. The store owner asked him if he didn't want to keep some to remember his grandfather. "Nope. I need a car." So the store owner bought them and made a nice profit. We both agreed that we really felt bad for the old man who spent a lifetime putting together this nice collection and passed them on to this worthless grandson who just wanted cash.

Good people outnumber bad ones by a pretty large ratio, but it's guys like these that make it seem the other way around.

[Steve]

That made my day. I was obviously too hasty in my suggestion. Great job in handling it the RIGHT way!

[NJStricker]

Regardless of who originally took the knife, if the knife was reported stolen, then the person who currently has it is in possession of stolen property. It does not matter how he came about the knife, even if he paid for it and has a receipt. Stolen is stolen, and as long as its theft was documented and reported to the authorities, the guy is breaking the law by keeping it.

[SharpByCoop]

At this point in time, where is the 'druggie son'? THAT'S the one who is ultimately responsible: Not you, the original owner, OR the new buyer.

Frankly, now the onus is upon the old owner to pay the premium. The unfortunate fellow who purchased this, and had the wherewithall to research a fine knife is now the victim. He just wants this knife, and if it costs $200 to replace it, so be it.

I understand that you can't do that anymore. But the problem isn't the buyer's problem. It's the old owner's problem.

All that said, I am glad the buyer let it go. There is good karma. I wouldn't enjoy owning that knife either.

Coop