Nick Sekela's Outstanding Work!!

[Brumagin]

Friends,

I had the need for a few QUALITY products a few weeks back and contacted Mr. Sekela. He filled the order with a quick turn around time and great craftsmanship. Nick had some poor press a while back, but I have never had an issue with him. I have been ordering products from him for years and will continue to in the future. He is a true tailor with knowledge that far exceeds the norm. He has a line of goods that are not offered with many other vendors and products that are great.

If anyone has a need for quality items but have been scared by the things you have read, they are not true. He is a good guy with outstanding skills and products. Thanks Nick.

Brent Brumagin

[Rob]

When I bought one of his private-purchase (Bent & Bush) caps in September, he was nothing but supportive and accommodating. He got it to me within a week, despite the fact that the USPS routed the package to parts unknown.

(I remember thinking, "Is this the same guy who supposedly kicks small dogs and pulls the wings off butterflies?" I must have been misinformed.)

I can't wait to see those Union Army jeans...

[Footslogger]

There are those of us in the UK that have had dealings with Nick over the years, and we have never had any problems with his product line, or workmanship which has always been of the highest quality.
He may have taken a beating in the press but at the end of the day you can't knock a man for feeling passionate about what he produces, especially when he's right.
We can have our say when it comes to vendors, if we get a duff deal from a vendor we can tell the world with no come backs, unfortunately when its another vendor trying to warn us something out there is not all its cracked up to be then all **** breaks loose.
Keep up the good work Nick, actions speak louder than words, as people are beginning to find out.

Regards

[Provost]

Actually, Steve, it's not true that you can "tell the world with no come backs."

Our forum policies discourage negative posts about sellers because we are not able to fact-check them and it exposes the forums to a liability we do not wish to risk. If anyone has a problem with a vendor, they need to work it out with the vendor, not on the forums.

Imagine if you were the vendor and it was your reputation that was at risk. You'd want to be treated respectfully and that's the standard we set here.

Respectfully,

Provost

[tompritchett]

We can have our say when it comes to vendors, if we get a duff deal from a vendor we can tell the world with no come backs, unfortunately when its another vendor trying to warn us something out there is not all its cracked up to be then all **** breaks loose.

I want to re-iterate the point the Provost brought up about negative posts - attacks against vendors and "warnings" can not be tolerated for various reasons including potential liabilities as well as our inability to confirm or disprove any allegations made. In the past I have allowed posts to continue that should have been immediately shut down. My mistake and I will do my best to make sure it does not happen again. Also in the past we had a post that challenged the period correctness of a particular artifact upon which a particular vendor product was based. Again, that particular post was troubling because of its potential implication towards the vendor and consequently I had to keep a very tight rein on the thread to keep the focus of the discussion only on the original artifact and not on the vendor's product - even to the point of temporarily alienating parties on both sides of the issue.

Remember, we, as moderators, have to be totally unbiased, impartial, neutral (and whatever other appropriate adjective you can think of) in all our interactions in such disputes. As moderators we have no favorites, regardless of what our personal preferences may be, and we must zealously respect and protect the rights of all respective parties. Even if we personally think that one vendor's products are more historically correct than even the originals while another vendor's products are lightyears below the worst of the farbs, as moderators it is our job and obligation to treat each with the same curtesy and respect.

Have I personally always been able always to live up to high standards? Probably not, and for that I apologize to any that have been injured as a result. But that it the standard we all try our best to live up to.

Respectfully submitted,

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Out of curiousity, are posts about a vendor that are really positive okay? I reckon that some of those types of statements are also difficult to verify.

This is a serious question.

[bob 125th nysvi]

Out of curiousity, are posts about a vendor that are really positive okay? I reckon that some of those types of statements are also difficult to verify.

This is a serious question.

posts would be within the guidelines because even if unveriafiable they are well positive.

It is easy to develop a negative opinion because of either treatment or actual product a vendor may deliver to one individual. But that may be 1 in 1000.

A positive experience may help those of us who are considering acquiring items include that vendor on the list.

I mean if you believed up all the negative posts ever posted about vendors there'd be no one to do business with and we'd all have sheep in the back yard trying to grow wool for our hand made products.

Also a positive posting is more difficult to write because it (usually) isn't ignited by passion and it really has to float your boat in order to excite you enough to sit down and write the article.

What I'm wondering is would the ban include a "review" of a product. For example: "This replica 1861 Springfield shoots well and is easy to maintain but the modern manufacturers markings are clearly visible on the barrel and this may encourage some people to consider the pricing of "defarbing" this product as part of their total acquisition cost."

Real slippery slope here, what is a legitimate review and what is just vinegar? But not knowing the value or pluses/minuses about a product can make acquisition a real crap shoot.

I do understand the moderators positions on negative posts though.

And as a complete aside: Thank you moderators fo rth ework you do.

Bob Sandusky
Co C 125th NYSVI
Esperance, NY

[Provost]

Bob,

Valid point. The "How To" forum would be the proper place for those sort of reviews. I'd LOVE to see more done like that. It's what it's there for.

You struck the right note in your sample. It sticks to the facts and is forthright, yet respectful. Respect doesn't mean namby-pamby, "everything is ok as long as you have good intentions". It just means that if you were in the other guy's shoes, how would you feel if someone else said it?

As an old guy I used to know said, "You can tell a feller to go to **** in such a way he looks forward to the trip."

Provost

[Provost]

Kevin,

No one ever threatened a lawsuit over wild enthusiasm in praise of their product.

'Nuff said?

Provost

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Bob and All,

It is indeed a slipperly slope. If adverse experiences with "Vendor A" cannot be posted, then conversely isn't it also true that gushing, positive reviews are in a similar vein? These can, and at a few times in the past, have been, orchestrated by certain vendors. I also want to say that, merely because these questions are asked on a thread about a certain vendor in no way implies that this vendor engaged in such activities--I have no reason to believe that he has.

Also, what constitutes a "product review"? Quite a number of vendors' goods would not fare terribly well when compared solely against originals relative to accuracy. Quite a few "accurate repros" on the other hand may not compare terribly well with some consumers' expectations of durability merely because those repros are accurate even down to not being very long-lasting (few are like that; if anything, even the more-accurate repros are much more durable than many originals I've seen, particularly relative to things like haversacks, knapsacks, and leather gear).

If someone posts a review of Vendor A's products and nitpicks them compared to originals (and it can be done to the most exacting repros, because few items really pass well for originals), is that somehow disparaging Vendor A merely because no one did a comparable review nitpicking his competition? After all, the world of reenactor vendor politics is somewhat murky and, at times (so I've heard) not terribly pleasant.

Obvously, a person who posts a comparison of Vendor A's wares vs. originals cannot be expected by the forum management to review all similar items offered for sale at that time (and of course, the quality and accuracy of many vendors' wares change over time), so if a pesron posts a review of one vendor's product and Vendor B's product isn't mentioned but is "worse" in terms of quality or some other parameter a person cares to name, isn't that a defacto endorsement of Vendor B at the expense of Vendor A?

Finally, if a vendor provides poor customer service, shouldn't that too be communicated to the folks who read this forum?

Yep, it's a slippery slope to limit what can and cannot be said.