I ordered a sharpening stone and it got hung up in the USPS system. instead of trying to be helpful they told me I had to wait two weeks before they could submit an insurance claim for a lost shipment. And I would have to wait even longer for the refund. I can't buy another stone from a place like Amazon because Bernal has a bizarre no cash refund policy (my plan would be to buy from Amazon and return the Bernal stone of it ever arrives). My only option now is to eat the cost of the original stone if it ever arrives. My only hope is that it is lost and I eventually get a refund as a result of the insurance claim. I've never experienced such lousy customer service in my life. And I buy almost everything online. Super small “businesses” like this little shop just don’t seem to understand that poor customer service experiences that result in bad public reviews and bad word of mouth are very costly in terms of lost business. It’s an old adage but the customer truly is always right even when they are wrong. I’ve posted a couple negative reviews and in looking through other reviews I am not the first person to be poorly treated in an insulting manner. I’ve also posted a comment in a chat room of sorts our firm maintains. I am constantly told that my comments about online vendors are very helpful and carry weight. That’s several hundred people that will think twice about buying from this shop. The item I ordered probably cost them $35-40. I’m sure my reviews and chat room comments will cause at least one person at some point to look elsewhere for knife services. For the price of a cheap lunch for two they could have gained a loyal customer with me. They have some fine knives and I was looking forward to purchasing a nice chefs knife. They actually sent me a insulting email rambling on about their problems with fraud. I have no idea what they were talking about but it has caused me to come back and add further to my review. I really have never experienced such shoddy customer service in my life. Just to give an example of good customer service I recently ordered some perishable items from a well known NYC cheese purveyor and FedEx lost my package. The cheese company immediately sent a reshipment which also was lost. And believe it not they tried a third time with the same result. They then immediately issued a refund. FedEx never admitted it was lost it just said the packages were en route. Needless to say, that cheese company has a customer for life. Amazon has permanently changed customer expectations regarding customer service. Amazon doesn’t ask the customer how high they should jump. They jump as high as they can and then ask if it was high enough. People now expect that level of service from all online vendors. Small, struggling businesses like Bernal have somehow missed the point. They will be in denial even after the power has been turned off and the doors are locked. I see it so often. It is rather sad and pathetic. You really feel for the employees who have to look for new jobs. As a matter of full disclosure I have terminal cancer with about six months to live. I wanted to sharpen our drawer full of knives for my wife so that she doesn’t cut herself when I’m gone. The amount of money I now have to spend on getting a descent stone from Amazon really should be used to pay for the long list of medications I take. But I want to make sure my wife is safe from cuts.