Hi People, so I am just posting to let y'all know that KenCO is selling remaining Kendama's. They're have been many poor choices leading up to and since the closing of KenCO. The official KenCO.com was under the control of one staff member - and that control has not been passed over. Thus, orders are no longer able to be processed through site, and sale ended premature. Original sale became under staffed quickly as well which is why some mistakes happened. KendamaCO.bigcartel.com is a temporary site to place orders until control of main .com is worked out. Anyone in Colorado can meet in person if they contact us. For a limited time **won't say how long ** any orders placed with DOWNSPIKE left in checkout notes will receive one of the last remaining kenco Girr dama's. Thanks ya'Il
Oh man, here we goooo! LOL. I'm not gonna lie - when the FKC discussion about this got very heated, I did lose sight of my "stay out of drama" rule on online message boards and posted a lot about it because my opinion on this issue was and still is very strong. Let's just say though, that KenCo was one of my absolute favorite companies, and I still have a lot of love for their old players and their old products. They made the most prime stuff for a really great price point (the OG zen stripes are money money!) and I think they had assembled not only some of the best players in kendama, but some of the nicest people. I have a really great experience with a number of those guys. Cazz and Troy Boy have been very personally encouraging to me while learning new tricks, giving positive vibes and tips. Sloth left me the nicest note on one of my orders. Chris Goon came up to me last OJO saying that he loved my art. Seriously, those guys are great - and I really want to emphasize that because I feel like THOSE guys - the team - are the people who made KenCo truly great. Note that all those old guys are still in the community, still slaying, and still showing the dama love. What happened to Sam and Lex? They sort of dissapeared, and the KenCo site is now a total scammer page. ^Above post might help someone with finding Co damas on the legit, but HUGE word of warning: Do not order from the old KenCo site if you don't want to lose your money. Ok, anyway. OP for this thread did a decent job of summarizing. But I'll reiterate that I am still in the belief that the owners of the Co did not have a good grasp on how to run their business and no sense of empathy for why people were upset over this. Ultimately they refused to take responsibility for it, shut down their company, and blamed the FKC. That's my take away. But I'll just say that I don't know them personally - they might be ok, but I definitely think it's stupid to put the blame on their downfall but on themselves. They made a bad business (and ethically questionable) decision at the end of the day. As for Girr? I know that it's easy to blame him and say that he was a whistleblower and blew up an issue that shouldn't have been blasted into the public eye as hard as it was, or made into as big of a deal as it was. But I absolutely will not believe for a second that he was "behind in his orders" and was therefore taking the company out to town over it. Because I know what it's like to be an artist, and if he was truly not doing his work - there'd be no Girr products on stock. The Co had them on back log and still have many Girr painted products probably even to this day. He has since collaborated with Sweets and KUSA, and if he was such a bad person to work with, I doubt those collabs would've happened successfully either. If you're not doing your work, there is no work to show. I do think the issue was put into the public eye in a way that was very unpleasant and probably unnecessary, but I will also say that if I had a daughter and the company that has hired me put her into contact with someone who had a past with minors, I would be equally fired up and upset. Anyone who actually has children should and would empathize with that. ANYWAY. Probably should not talk about this too much. Sadly it's over and done with. I will always have a fond spot for the days when the Co was big and selling great products and doing awesome. Definitely I think no one really wanted to see them taken out this way. But I'll just point out that the people who are truly passionate about kendama that were involved in that company are not only still around, but have taken their talents and influence to bigger and brighter places, and we should definitely not overlook or forget that! RIP Co, but honestly? It's ok - dama lives on.
BE VERY WARY OF THIS. @Chon phillips I'd like to see some sort of verification of your claims, to be honest this seems pretty sketchy to me. I could see a situation in which someone just sticks all the old kenco images into a new website, and scams people that think they're buying damas. I just attempted to purchase 590 OG ozoras, and the website took me all the way to the checkout page, without error. Obviously you do not have 590 OG ozoras in stock: this tells me that I'm correct in my feeling that this is sketchy, or you just don't know how to set up a website.
@Jenny Cho Lex is in thailand and Sam is in Colorado, working on new ventures. Yes, this was a company founded by two young guys and they recognize they made poor choices running the CO. They love Kendama though and wanted to spread the joy of it. The events, videos, etc always was more important than sales. KenCO was struggling because of this and choice to bring help to assist in turning the company around and profitable - lead to our issue with sex offender and in the end the closure of KenCO. Now, there's been issues since the decision to close up shop. The last sale became unorganized and under staffed quickly which is why some mistakes happened. Now the original site was under control of Lex which is basically not going to be given up. @noah I am working to simply get the last remaining Kendamas in fans hands. I have donated many of them as well. @htimSxelA i appreciate you're ordering 590 Ozora's and recognizing issue - I will admit it's an oversight that big cartel does not make easily managed. I am going to fix this asap. Obviously, though you would received message and refund for the 90 Kendamas I couldn't sale you. I have Only 500. Jk jk jk. What verification do you think would assist me in proving legitimacy? Do you live in Colorado?
I do not live in Colorado. I think that some background on who you are (Name? Are you being paid by Sam to do this? Do you/did you work for the co? etc), as well as proof that you have the kendamas to sell (a photo that shows a bunch of the damas, and your username and date written on a piece of paper), would be a good starting point. No offense, but the co crashed and burned pretty hard, and then during the liquidation sale there were a plethora of customers reporting issues with their orders, and that they were receiving zero customer service. Now (more than six months after their initial 'last chance sale!') a sketchy looking website pops up, and the reason it isn't the official website is that one of the company owners won't give you access to it? I mean you've gotta consider this from the viewpoint of a potential customer... seems like some risky business placing an order.
@Chon phillips be like Some ideas on having some credibility include: Including your name and a real contact in your account (not just the email provided), posting a picture of your inventory, and yourself, and not appearing out of nowhere and posting to FKC, Downspike, and BKA all in the same day. Also, this guy says he's in Colorado but his IP address is showing Chicago. I haven't banned, but be very skeptical!
Yes - many people have much to be wary about. So many people lost their money during the final "sales" on their site. Smh. I definitely think it's good that ^ you guys are warning people to be careful. TBH lots of people bought co damas during their liquidation. The easiest way to get one now would be to put up a ISO post on the FKC or DS and get it from a reputable seller.
@Cheech_Sander good catch on ip, that only adds to the sketchyness. Maybe a VPN is being used? @Chon phillips any response?
Why would people lose their money? Simply dispute the charge and your financial institution will investigate and you'll get your money back.
@Cheech_Sander I am in fact from Colorado, don't rely on your IP address to confirm that because I am not on traditional connection. I never did say I was living in Colorado though for the record - although it was a safe assumption from me asking if @htimSxelA did. @amagad is correct if you dispute charges then you'll get your money back. I am busy for the rest of the night, I thought I had already responded but tomorrow I will provide more information and proof to the legitimacy of my goal. Which is simply to inform you all of Ken CO sale being back up, and that orders will be filled accurately and timely. Look out for that tomorrow! Thanks ya'll!
Oh, I also forgot some additional steps aside from dispute charges - report online shopping fraud via www.ftc.gov/complaint - file a complaint with the states attorney general - report the business via BBB I had to do this once, works wonders getting those sketchy sellers outta the wood work.
@Chon phillips asking me if I live in CO is certainly not legitimate evidence that you live in CO. Regardless, we're awaiting proof of your claims, if it doesn't come soon then be advised the mod team may take action. Please understand that we want to ensure DS users are not exposed to scams.