Peterson MFG is a retailer of lock picking tools, most of which they manufacture. Their quality is in the eye of the beholder but they are indeed one of the most expensive brands of mass produced lock picking tools.
Ken is the alleged (only because I'm not 100% positive) face of Peterson. He is the owner, the person in charge of operations, you get the idea. He is also the focus of our attention and the sole reason so many are turning away from his company.
Ken has a reputation among those who know him and are willing to speak out. He has a short temper, thin skin, and periodically lashes out on his customers.
There are many things said about Ken, most of which are strong opinions, but there is only so much you can say about a person which can be verified. With repeated attacks on former and potential customers certain individuals have made it a goal to keep it quiet, including the censorship or removal of posts that point out his attacks or otherwise shed light upon the nasty nature of Kens PR abilities.
The most recent debacle that has put Ken and Peterson in the spotlight is an ongoing problem of his tools breaking under light or normal use. I specify 'light' and 'normal' because any pick will break under more stringent use and we are not focusing on those cases. Given the cost of Peterson tools, having one break easily is a blow to your psyche. The first post (then a second, and a third, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and so on [ken stopped responding to new posts]) about tools breaking made it very evident that the reason it broke was because the tools have/had very deep etching on the most critical load-bearing spot. The etching was so deep it almost perforated what little material was already there. This causes a significant single point of failure.
Naturally people immediately started pointing out that the failure was due to the over-etching. Many suggestions were made on how to improve the process, or even move the etchings to another location if they were important enough to keep. In comes Ken to present his customer service. With repeated demonstrations of his lashing out, it was decided the public needs to know. The latest installment of the drama was another user with a broken pick. A photo was posted on reddit and the user also reached out to Peterson asking for help. The immediate response was disrespect and belittling toward the customer showing zero intention of actually helping and honoring the Peterson warranty.
Despite the claim that the affected tools were quickly removed, we're still seeing picks break in the same spot a year later.
There has long been suspicion that one or two moderators of /r/lockpicking have been receiving special benefits or compensation in exchange for censoring content that sheds negative light upon Ken or Peterson. There have been admissions in private mod chats that admitted to showing them favoritism and strong recommendations that other mods follow suit and do the same. Our own version of Regulatory Capture.
I, being one of the few refusing to censor content, as soon as the two captured mods caught wind of me not dropping this, I was immediately removed as a moderator and will probably soon be banned, further proving their censorship techniques. In fact, as I'm making this page, mods are busy deleting old posts and comments that pertain to peterson.
For legal reasons, I cannot post the email in its entirety, but I can post the relevant contents. I was given consent by the customer to post this content.
From Customer: Good morning,I hope you are doing well.
As you may have read on the lockpicking subreddit, my favorite Peterson tool has broken.
I have some pictures of the broken pick here : https://i.imgur.com/E4ldkGI.jpg And some shots I took this morning here: https://imgur.com/a/7r0OX
I am generally satisfied of Peterson products and I will continue to use them, but I am a bit sad that my favorite pick is gone.
I hope to hear from you soon.
From Ken: I am frankly not impressed with your game handling of this matter. You expected what from Reddit?
Thank you for writing me to tell me about your posting, but I am also a little sad for you, as you would also be if you examined yourself in a mirror.
Although I am generally satisfied with Belgians and will continue to deal with the adult ones.
So now you have heard from me.
From Customer: I am sorry if English is not my native language. I was attempting to write politely about my broken pick, asking what could be done.
I was not boasting nor bragging about anything.
If you read my reddit post, you will see that my only feeling is sadness. I did not expect anything from reddit.
Thank you for showing me the real face of "Peterson"
From Ken: Your actions only suggested that you desired a large audience for some purpose as you sent the pictures to Reddit instead of to me. Then within an hour you contacted me to point out your post. So it is actually humorous that you call me rude. I then chose to respond to your stated comments, and your strange approach - no more, no less. You had only expressed your sadness, which I also felt over your interesting actions.
In reading your message, in no place did you state that you desired to know what could be done. You seem to have a great skill in how to do things for your own convoluted reasons.
On my side I saw you express behavior that in our society should perhaps not be encouraged. And you had called up a large audience to teach them your behavior. As an experienced parent I have now had to privately counsel you, sadly in front of your large audience.
Games are for children, but it is best if people act adult perhaps. As a positive person I have attempted to share that concept with you.
If you do however need help with an issue, pull down your reddit posting and contact me directly. I will then ask you to send me another picture with the metal part of the pick cut into 4 pieces. After you do that we will send you a credit for half price. I notice there is a lot of bend on the tip, very well used. No problem.
Our customer service is excellent. Many tell us that.
The true face of Peterson is a very kind and nice person who suffers rudeness and game playing poorly.
