@filobiblic , to be fair as this is posted in the General Discussion section and not the welcome room I think it's only fair to point out the main concerns that folks have with his products. Essentially
this and
this explain it - alas there's personal attacks and opposing fanboi defenders but the facts and questions remain - unless I've missed something, pretty much unanswered. And to be fair this was only last yr, not eons ago.
The public persona, antics etc - are IMHO neither here nor there they'll polarise some folks but if the product is good (and I write this as the owner of an 8oz tin of Synergy Shaving Soap who finds it performs very well) who really cares.
However, what really is highly damaging to
@D_Smythe 's professional integrity is what to an impartial onlooker appears to be a flagrant case of deliberately misleading or possibly false (placed in % amounts so small solely to get on the label) ingredients to get financial gain. Though the evidence is pretty damning I always try to give folks the benefit of the doubt & a chance to explain or atleast submit a mea culpa - but I've not seen that on the internet (and that includes what I consider a very evasive & off-topic reply in the YKW thread). So as someone who bought that product I have to say I have found the relative silence back to such evidence supported accusations rather deafening.
In the listed Forbes article he does admit to essentially sock puppeting, which isn't a crime but when you're caught in the act is somewhat embarrassing & does call one's decision making and business practices into question. And there's a bunch of other questionable tactics/practices listed in the Reddit article and others. Alas for me as stated the ingredients fiasco just takes this to another level all together as thats a serious matter and it was clearly done against the best interests of the people who bought the products and was driven by monetary gain.
When tabled overall it really appears to be a systemic practice of deliberately misleading consumers for monetary gain. I'll quote a rightly universally respected fellow P&C member,
@Leisureguy from the referenced Reddit thread:
So whilst I do think it's handy to have
@D_Smythe as a forum member whoever there'd have to be a significant amount of explaining specifically about the ingredients issue before I'd have the confidence to again purchase your products over those of your competitors that have had no such accusations made and evidence supported against them. If others feel those issues were just anomalies then thats entirely their prerogative but I do somewhat prescribe to the 'Fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me' school of thinking until given good reason to do otherwise.
Hey Folks,
Sorry for such a late reply...just stumbled upon this thread.
Nick the Knife, I have explained stuff and disabused, or made an attempt, over and over, in all the forums I can. I am extremely easy to contact if you have any questions or concerns. As for your This and This, The "ingredient" issue that you refer to and claim I have yet to respond to...if you in fact go to that post on B&B and check out page 4 of it you will see my reply, which came a day later...I'm pretty sure most folks don't read past the juicy bits or just choose to ignore it. this is ironic considering all the "detective" work folks claim to have done on me, yet they can't make it to page 4 for maybe a response, lol. Maybe this just doesn't fit the picture of me some seem trying to paint?
Michael Ham and I are friends and the screen shots you used was from the first days of this "bashing" on reddit. Since then he has made it very clear in other posts on Reddit that he believes I have been a target. As for claiming to be a vet, that absolutely makes me sick. I have never posed as a vet...I mean, really? I did help a member of the service start a facebook group, even though I really didn't have much time, but I did it none the less. The way that was twisted makes me have to second think almost every favor I do, it's sad. Here is a link to where it all began from the soldier himself to our initial contact:
http://imgur.com/a/jJG4t
These are just some of the many fantastic allegations made against me by the "ethics committee" of most of these hate forums, who never really treated us too nice. if this gives you any indication of the reliability of your sources. Again, if you have anymore questions and truly want to hear our side, contact me: PM me, Facebook, Instagram, G+, etc, Call....for someone who has been supposedly dodging the oh so many concerns I make myself really accessible. The drama and fiction is much more entertaining than the truth, I get it, but at the end of the day this is very mean-spirited and down right cruel to a persons livelihood as well as his GF/Partner (who is a real person. Sorry, another myth busted) and my employee, a single mom with 3 boys...this affects more than just the guy you hate for reasons unclear and inherited.
I have really tried to give back over and over to the community, but this FACT never seems to make it's way into the conversation. I have done podcasts jam packed with info, keep a blog with loads of tips & free recipes to create your own wet shave products (the bay rum recipe is actually very popular on reddit, ha! there are takers and givers in this world.), I do a live, weekly show aimed at noobs trying to learn WS, answer hundreds of emails a week, started a G+ community, given away thousands of dollars worth of product to meet ups, I promote forums, Interviewed many folks in the industry, even my "competition" on our podcast, supported the artisan community and nurtured it...and live , eat , and breathe wet shaving 24/7, we work our butts off here. I have never sold shoddy products or snake oil but high quality, unique, affordable software and hardware...and that's what I am guilty of at the end of the day. It stinks that I even have to mention this. Just further proof that most of the bashers were never really customers or followed what I was doing. Don't get me wrong I did make some mistakes in the beginning, but geesh, cut me a break. No mistake deserves what we were put thru. Another thing to mention is trolls/hackers shut down our site for close to 2 weeks too at one time....sigh. This explosion on the "soap scene" all happened very fast when all I originally set out to do was start a blog. In that rush there was bound to be backlash too, I just had no idea how wild/vicious it would be. I might mention, I am still learning as I go...like most of us in life.
Yes I approached things differently (
), but that's just who I am, a bit eccentric and "artsy"...maybe as an artisan should be expected to be? I believe this comes across, rather I hope, in all our new and unique offerings; DOC, Switchback, Mentholated Preshaves, Soap, themes, Label design, and some things/practices that have become standards now.
First penguin? lol!
The thing is, just when I think I have answered all the questions and concerns, someone starts smearing it into a new page of the interweb...sigh. So I hope this provides a bit more clarity. (sorry, I'll try to end here. ) I understand it's tough to wade thru all the confusion and even intoxicating to join in with a angry crowd, believe me It's even more confusing to watch this when it's about you...I love wet shaving and the community. Once more, I am here and always available...thanks for listening. I u
Sincerely,
D
More Of Us (Fran & I) Talking shop, things you don't hear in certain forums:
and
