Show us pictures. 110$ isn't bad pricewise if the heel knot is simply rubber dipped. it's a thing. if it's honestly melted, well I'm honestly confused, since I've never seen such a thing. Bobbi Holyoak used to talk about a "seal" on her fall hitches that she would not warranty if she saw the "seal" had been broken. What that seal was is beyond me. Also, Guy, I have never heard of the whipmaker that you are mentioning. Like I mentioned in another thread, there has been convo's in PM, but I think it is ok to discuss who made your whip. Gregory DeSay? Here is his website:
https://www.stockmansupply.com/copy-of-greg-desaye
Here is his facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/48913276144998 ... 49/?type=3
Looking at his whip pictures, I'm not seeing melted heel knots or fall hitches. I see a rather limp transition and obvious strand drops, however, but what does concern me a little are the descriptions:
Snake whip:
"Our snakewhips consist of 16 strands of nylon paracord braided over a shot-loaded nylon core."
What is he saying here? He shot loads the core with no binding and simply plaits an overlay? He does not mention bellies or binding. If you look at a photo, you can see the whip as kind of droopy? Regardless, one has to go back to the beginning of this thread where Robby talks about charging what you want. If someone is willing to pay the money, that is not a crime.
What is dishonest is if the customer is told the bellies are bound with sinew and they are coated in shrink tubeing. If they are told there are 2 full bellies and there are none. I don't see dishonesty here. He says there is a shot loaded core with an overlay. If you look at the photos, you can see it is a little droopy, like it hasn't been bound much, if at all.
It's not wrong, really, it's just not asthetically "perky." He makes no claim to perky, so I don't see a real problem personally. It's a beginner whip and the price isnt horrible. The plaiting is straight and I don't see gapping. You have a solid fall hitch. His popper is just a piece of paracord it looks like, that's...meh. But, not unheard of. A popper is easy enough to switch out.
These are working whips, so as long as they work, it's fine. The price isn't horrible, but if you get 300$ for a whip, take it. As long as you aren't lying to someone about what they are buying, it's on them to pay for it. Shit, if I could get 300$ for an art whip I would cry a little bit with joy. Unfortunately, I cant sell ice to a guy dying in the desert, so I have to take what I can get when I get it.
As for the knots, I am not seeing the melty anything in the pictures, so Guy, please take detailed photographs of your whip, nice and close, at the problem areas and we will look at it for you.
Lastly, I want to say that questioning someone's work or looking at it closely is not mean or slander. It's common business practice to study other's work. This is how we know what to avoid or improve on. Slander is defined as stating something as truth that is a proven to be a lie. Libel is writing and publishing lies as truth. I think customers unwilling to come forward are afraid of slander/libel charges. You cannot be sued if you claim something is advertised as bound and waxed and it obviously is not. A good merchant will take the product back and return it. If they refuse to warranty their work or back their own claims, THEN it's time to speak up and investigate. Again, there is nothing wrong with that at all.
Guy, as a member of the Ring, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, there should be no insults to the maker unless you feel that he lied to you. Personally, I don't feel that you were. You bought a whip and it could have been built better, but it works and you are able to learn on it. Now you have information on what you should look for in a good whip
(think shopping for a car and bought a brand new Geo Metro, which works for what it is, but is the same price as say, a PT Cruiser, which some would say is a higher quality car overall. The Geo is no longer even made because it was dangerous, but those that had one and didn't die driving them, loved them. They worked for what they were. The basic PT, same price but much better quality. Owners of those could say they made a more informed decision, but certainly can't go after Geo for lying, because they didn't).
You, from what I can see, bought a very basic whip for a price you agreed on. It plainly says it is a shot-loaded core with an overlay. There is no claim of a sturdy foundation in the form of binding or extra bellies. My only concern at this point are the melted knots you are talking about, that I would have to see. If they are a big melty mess, I would politely write to this whipmaker and ask what the reasons are behind the change and if you don't care for it, ask the maker to take the whip back and do the knots over. If he refuses, then we can look further into the story.
Sometimes, as whipmakers, we develop things as we go. I have taken to flipping from the traditional fall hitch, to a tapered twist or english eye. I haven't decided how I want to go, but I think I will do any and all of them depending on the cord I am using. 275 will have to end in an english eye or fall hitching because it is far too small to thread into itself. However, if I sell a practice whip and do an english eye and the pictures on my site showed a fall hitch and my customer disliked the eye, I would gladly take the whip back and redo it to reflect the advertised hitch if the customer wanted. If I refused, then I would be subject to the wrath of the Ring. That's how it goes in as wordy a way as possible, but there it is.