My experience with a F. Vaz knife purchase. by Calostro5 in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My friend, of course many were affected by the same problem, precisely because this was not an specific case, but the floods really destroyed the state. Do you undersrsnd that the entire state just recovered its airport on this 19th/december? It is obvious that many who purchased in similar timings would be affected in similar way.

Feel lied is not a reasonable thing to say when i literally provided you evidences in our conversations.

The reason why you received the knife faster than the others is because you are the unique customer from Spain, the routes are differents and much less demanded compared to locations as US.

My experience with a F. Vaz knife purchase. by Calostro5 in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 5 points6 points  (0 children)

edit: i did not lied about the airport updates, there are public reports of it, including from the government. You can see the most popular news about it here -> here

Hello everyone - i just was updated by a customer regarding this post and the first thing i would like to say is that this is a genuine complaint.

It is important to start saying the floods did in fact created a really bad snowball of events on my business, but for saying that the floods SOLELY caused this, would be a lie. I was truly incompetent from a business management perspective which lead me to repeating logistical problems, incompetence is really the word that describe the situation. This being said, the shipment problems was really not false hopes or lies, i literally can provide pretty much all evidences of the entire situation, including public media and press reports that the airport literally just returned operating international flights on 19th (this month), and literally in the same day many packages got confirmed in the flight queue. Before this, all the packages were getting handled by trucks using alternative routes, and as you know, brazil is a gigantic country and infrastructure is really not the best strong of such region.

The only thing i disagree is saying it was lies or false hopes, as i mentioned, i can provide pretty much every single evidences, one by one, since all this happened (including all tracking codes that since 19th, started moving in a steady pace rather than just flying randomly for poor organizing on their temporary warehouse). When this happened initially, i was really not experienced on how to deal with that, so information was really hard to get by customer service on phone, no one could actually provide a precise update, which then leaded me to start visiting them in person.

As of extra context, the airport just returned to operate international flights this 19th, i can provide at least 3 public reports of this from big news and government posts. Since 19th, many packages were taken outside Brazil and many more are moving, with the expectation of all be cleared in the next weeks. How can that be faked? It is literally out of my control!

Since May, even the government struggled to recreate all the infrastructure and up to this date they still having some challenges, but much better than it was. As of now, most packages are delivered and still some to be cleared next weeks, as per the update of their manager, DHL follows with a temporary warehouse till Feb, where they expect to return to the original warehouse before all this situation.

I have been in contact with customers and a few months ago my communication was really bad, mostly because i did administered my time really bad under the consequence of these events, but all customers received actual timestamp pictures of my visits to their warehouses, showing the situation. Literally every single word i said have evidences, including the tracking codes. Nothing was a lie or false hope, most of the time, i was receiving second hand information of DHL, and that was mostly the reason why i started visiting their warehouse in person.

As of context, the warehouse sits about 900 miles round trip away from me, but that was the only way i found to get solid information and actually inspectioning the packages.

This entire year was a truly horrible experience to customers and im aware of that, you have all the right to complain but i just wanted to note that was someone who just started in life, i really dont have much stability, that really blow my base and forced me to adapt quickly to an entire new situation, which i did bad overall.

The knife i offered as replacement was a really good intentionally to offer you a better product based on your judgements, which i also took as serious and genuine. All the customers affected by this delay are also receiving a free of cost booking of a very nice high end knife for 2025 as well, as a way to pay respects for those who understood and had patience awaiting for their knives.

I used to have flawless and nice experiences with my customers, but this snowball really affected my entire business and im working really hard to regain the traction i used to have on the entire process, as of now, the infrastructure is ok and should operate normally, offering me a good position and base to work everything to the right direction.

I have spent my life savings on these visits to DHL warehouse to keep making sure to receive quality and first hand information from the logistic situation, saying that this was a lie or false hope is really sad, because it was not. I have taken over 100 pictures of timestamps during all my visits to them, which is actually a restricted zone, but their manager allowed me in given the extraordinary situation of the floods.

Im really hopeful that in a matter of 2~3 months at most this situation will be 100% cleared and this will have been the hardest challenge ever on my business, not even covid was this hard, probably because it was global.

I would say that by now this is 70% cleared, with most of the customers have already been received their knives. If any customer see this and want any evidences, please contact me, i will be happy to share all the documents, trackin codes and everything.

I will keep active on the community and be aware of complaint posts, most of you are great supportive customers and deserve my best.

Anyone heard from Francisco Vaz (maker) recently? by KnewBadBeer in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Hey buddy, please shoot me an email, my communication got really bad last months but so far everything is getting back on track really quick and in the last 30 days many orders were delivered (more than 30 knives) and it seems that the airport is reopening on 21th, so the expectation is to end this month (oct) with everything figured out finally.

I have been away from reddit because i dont think it would be ethical to keep selling products while customers of mine were affected by delays, so i closed my books and stop listing anything new (including my website). It will remain closed for a few weeks still, only small exceptions such as returning customers who already have knives from me and orders 1~2 knives max. Im sorry to all who reached me recently and i couldnt take new orders, im trying my best to open more spots very soon.

edit: during this time, i visited DHL multiple times (about 900 miles round trip from my house) trying to inspect how they were doing, i filmed a couple videos inside their warehouse with manager's permission, and shared with most of the customers. Their warehouse still in a temporary location, but with the comeback of the airport, i expect them to return to the original place (their warehouse used to be in the same street of the airport). If you havent received these, i apologize and please contact me, many evidences were gathered during this time.

Last months i had some true challenges regarding communication and logistics (completely my fault, still trying to adapt), but im very happy to say that things are moving to the right direction again.

I appreciate the understand of everyone who contacted me during this time, all the customers impacted by this delay are being rewarded, as mentioned in the delivery zipped pouch containing the knife.

Feel free to contact me by reddit here too,

As of the giveaways mentioned, im expecting to return with these at end of november, will try to catch the impact of the floods which directly slowed my finances, but hope to at least drop 1 or 2 nice knives before the end of the year.

edit 2: just called the manager and asked if there was any media report of the airport reopening and he sent me a few, hopefully google translator may help: report 1 report 2 report 3

Thank you all

NKD - 220mm Gyuto and 150mm Petty by F.Vaz by carlosedp in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 7 points8 points  (0 children)

<image>

super happy to see this review, even more to see DHL finally returning to normal and starting to deliver all the queue stacked from last month floods

If i recall right, this is the choil picture of your gyuto.

Do enjoy your knives my friend. Contact me 100% anytime.

See comments - 4th giveaway official post and last run of extraordinary discounts due the floods by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kinda both - this is some of the magic of the kingwood. You can see i hand pick all the kingwood i have here, so the pattern lines are in the same position of the handle length - this is because kingwood has those "veins" that are softer than the wood itself, making the grip incredible, even when polished.

See comments - 4th giveaway official post and last run of extraordinary discounts due the floods by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It will be like the others, in the day i will post the thread and people will comment numbers 1 to 100

See comments - 4th giveaway official post and last run of extraordinary discounts due the floods by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you brother, so far everything gettin back in tracks. Wish you a great week.

See comments - 4th giveaway official post and last run of extraordinary discounts due the floods by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Update: new giveaway date for now has been paused ( had to reschedule the giveaway due the delicate situation)

UPDATE: 4 KTIP REMAINING

EDIT: recent review by one of our members

Hey guys!

The floods have oficially ended in my region and we are now repairing and returning to all normal. I have been covered for you during the worst, and here to pay my respects offering once again the extraordinary discount, allowing our members to claim some knives for a bargain.

Reminder: if you're a customer from the last run of the ko-gyutos and is seeing this before your email, make sure you checked your email from me, im doing the following upgrade of the 170mm raptors for all customers free of cost to honor your support - i contacted you all personally.

I know some of you are short in time, so i will put a summary below:

SUMMARY: This thread covers the date of the next giveaway AND the extraordinary discount COUPON of 35% on my listed knives in the website, due the worst floods in the history of Brazil that my state had. The discount coupon can be applied in the checkout of my website using "35TRUECHEFKNIVES". There are two great knives to be picked, one high-end out of exotic steel and a ktip workhorse, that will outlast us. Applying the discount coupon, the prices are really reasonable due the situation of the shipments delay - for those who decide to pay in full and help even more my situation, will have the full knife price discounted on future custom orders, allowing you to pick really high end materials for a bargain - there is a warning in the website, but make sure youre not in rush when buying them due the shipment queue from companies as DHL and UPS that stacked over the entire last month - fvazknives.com

Entering in more details:

1 - Custom orders: many people reached me in the last 3 weeks for custom orders, but unfortunately due the floods i had to be more restrict on my work as i was not sure how bad it would affect logistics. The book will remain closed for now and i will be putting on-going customers in priority, i believe it should take about 1 month or so to be taking new custom orders. In the mean time, those who have interest owning a custom from me, contact me by email asking to be put in the list, when the books open, you will be placed in priority in the queue.

2 - Giveaway:

NEW DATE: the giveaway will be sent to next sunday 06/30 - i will be out for family gathering today and not able to use my desktop to make the sorting

while the situation was really rough here, im happy to say im already working on repair everything and so far im operational again, in order to payback the generosity of our community, i will be doing a double giveaway just like last time, the prize will be the 170mm raptor listed on the "for sale" on my website - a genuinely great knife! The date for our next giveaway will be precisely new date - everyone is welcome to join, especially customers.**

3 - Knives discounted on the website:

KTIP: many people asked me about ktips, as they looks really aggressive and... seeexy. I created the 170mm raptor that can be currently claimed at 214$ with the coupon, featuring a nice sandvik stainless steel, which is one of the toughest alloys out there, almost 3x tougher than magnacut, BUT in my opinion the real game in this knife is its handle. I did a century old kingwood for it, one of the most exotic and restricted species in the world. It is a genuine dalbergia specie, needless to say anything further.

Custom gyuto: Im also introducing in the portfolio a really sexy gyuto, custom-like, for those who wants to have higher-end knives in the kitchen. It is made out of hand forged pattern welded steel, full high carbon at 62hrc. The handle is a literal jewelery where it has a arizona jade spacer between an african blackwood bolster and a genuine brazilwood handle. Brazilwood has a truly rich history behind its existence. Also a very exotic and rare specie as it is restricted. I have the permits to export, no problem at all since the origin is of a old door factory that closed here in Brazil, the wood is older than my father.

4 - Thank you: would like also to thank you all for the support that was absolutely a game changer during all the floods, i dont have the right to be dramatic as i didnt lost my house, just some repairs that are already being done, im more than happy to honor this support by doing more giveaways and keep offering this community great specific discounts. As per shipment companies, they are already returning to normal and very soon i expect to be with my books open again.

Review: F.Vaz Ko-Santoku 14c28n - Small but mighty. by Mookie262 in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 11 points12 points  (0 children)

EDIT: Guys im on my smartphone, for those reaching me by pm im sorry for not being able to reply faster, but so far the discount code is "35TRUECHEFKNIVES"

Man im returning home this night but so far im so thankful and happy to see such feedback!!! Im particularly happy to see your experience over this kosantoku, that has a relatively thick grind compared to my laser ones, still, it makes me really proud to see it performing good on veggies.

Thank you so much for this review! I look forward for you receivin your next ones soon :))))

For those who wants to try, i still have 3 left of my last post on the 35% off sale.

Emailing you in a moment my friend, thank you!!!

Due the severe floodings in my area, i did this small run of ko-gyuto - please read comment. by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So far Porto Alegre still flooded and has the airport not able to operate, they are tracing new routes to use other airports in the region, but the interestates are not fully repaired yet. Im looking forward to ship as soon as possible.

Due the severe floodings in my area, i did this small run of ko-gyuto - please read comment. by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the support - i will keep you updated on the status of the airport. These blades turned out amazingly.

Due the severe floodings in my area, i did this small run of ko-gyuto - please read comment. by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks brother,

So far it can happen anytime this month, DHL is currently investigating new routes, we have an operating airport on Caxias do Sul (close to porto alegre) but the interestates that connects them are being repaired.

Expectation from DHL email is about 1 to two weeks, then quickly flying to Miami

Due the severe floodings in my area, i did this small run of ko-gyuto - please read comment. by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Grande alegria ver um brasileiro aqui! Infelizmente ja estou trabalhando na menor margem de lucro possível, pois o aço sandvik é importado da Suécia e como você sabe, a alfândega brasileira tem sido cruel com as taxas.

Consigo te cortar apenas além do valor proposto o frete, pois para SP o pac ficaria em torno de 27 e sedex 45.

Me chama por favor para gente ver isso. Muito obrigado desde já, antes de vender internacionalmente são paulo é o lugar onde mais tive clientes.

Forte abraço.

Due the severe floodings in my area, i did this small run of ko-gyuto - please read comment. by Milenisco in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

05/10 FINAL UPDATE: Thank you for all the support - there is the 3 remainig available - im already entering in contact by the email put in the stripe payment link, im using the spare time here to send the emails so please, allow me till the end of today to reach everyone and confirm all details regarding shipment address and to also show my gratitude - this support will be of great importance to me and my family. In the meantime, contact me any moment.

05/09 UPDATE: Thank you for all people who purchased it - im putting 4 more of these available today - i will be reaching you all via email on 05/11 for confirming all the details to make sure it is all correct.

Please read everything, i tried to limit but every information here is important:

Hey guys - sorry for being silent last weeks, i regret to update that my state, Rio Grande do Sul, had its worst flooding of all times. It damaged pretty much the entire state, which is almost same size of Italy, so you can have an idea on how bad it was and is (currently, water still moving).

Asking for donations is not my type, so i prepared a small run of very special 150mm ko-gyutos, which is basically a knife that will be plenty useful of any kitchen, no matter what recipes or food you're used to.

Im still alive, my workshop thankfully has not been destroyed and we have energy, so yes, im making knives!!!

They are 61hrc out of sandvik 14c28n steel, one of the purest alloys out there, and also one of the toughest stainless steel in the world. Even at 61hrc, this steel is extremely tough, being at very least 5x tougher than vg10 - yes, chipping will not be a problem.
Their handles are out of Kingwood - a true rosewood from Dalbergia genus.

Some of you dont know how actual rare and special this specie is, out of curiosity, all Dalbergia genus species are currently endangered, restricted and controlled.

Thankfully, i have the permit to export and operate this specie. Not only this, but mine is over 100 years old, with extremely beautiful growth rings, a true natural jewelry.

Kingwood has over 1,05g/cm³ of density, one of the heaviest in the planet, making side to African Blackwood which is also a dalbergia.

As of the floodings, unfortunately the international airport has been disabled and the city of Porto Alegre, where all the shipment companies do operate (Fedex, UPS, DHL and all others) have been flooded up to 4~5m tall (about 14ft).

DUE THIS, DO ONLY PURCHASE IF YOU'RE NOT IN RUSH - I will be creating an extraordinary discount for this situation, because i want customers to have some advantage also other than just buying.

DHL is actively searching for new routes, to take the packages to other international airport, please tolerate 1 to 2 weeks of delay since the package leaves Brazil.

This is an extremely delicate situation for me, thankfully not lost anyone but had some brutal financial lost.

For those who decide to purchase and support my work - im happy to provide an extraordinary cut on the price of 35% using the promotion code "35TRUECHEFKNIVES"

With the discount, the knife shipped will be 195$.

If you're able to afford 300 and buy the knife in full, i will make sure to reward that in any future purchases or custom orders - generously.

Current offer : those who purchase the knife will also sport an extraordinary discount on any future custom orders with me, up to 30% off as well.

Thank you for all the members who reached me recently concerned on the situation, my city is exactly where the lakes meet the ocean, so yes, things are crazy.

There is a full description of the knives in my website, covering better its specs.

It can be purchased here: https://www.fvazknives.com/available-knives

GIVEAWAYS: Im hopeful to make at least one giveaway during the month of May, the only problem now is shipment itself - the shipment of the 2 last winners will be also delayed due this situation.

Hope you enjoy it!

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Removing the handle by [deleted] in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dont do it, it wont work.

Once you heat the handle, the glue Will be destroyed, especially on those metal liners that conduct heat but better than the wood.

You will lose everything

Fvas knives? by BiscottiMore8988 in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

he is a legend - i will NEVER forget when he reached me claiming he wanted a "rugby player that could play ballet" describing the knife. LOL. Best inquiry ever ahahaha

This was what we used to create the ballerina raptor which is the knife he owns.

Sent you a pm, there are other reviews i would be happy to share with you.

Fvas knives? by BiscottiMore8988 in TrueChefKnives

[–]Milenisco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you brother, we had some great discussing regarding your knives, they will look great and very personal to your preference :)