I just hung up the phone after speaking with Gary Fadden of Al Mar knives. The first thing that impressed me was the fact that the man answers his own phone. That's rare in a lot of businesses these days. I had to talk with him for a few minutes before it finally kicked in that this was the CEO of Al Mar that I was speaking with. He hasn't lost his down to earth, real world operator roots.
I had called to find out what I needed to do to replace the clip on my SERE 2000. The first thing he was interested in was what had killed it. "That would be my own stupidity" I told him. I had been polishing out the G-10 and decided to shine the clip up on my 400grit belt. I thinned the clip in the critical bend and weakend it enough to bend it out completely while in the field this weekend. 100% my fault. Garry then got my address and name telling me that he would get a new one out to me. When I asked him how much I needed to send him for the clip, he said "Don't worry about it, it's on me".
I am totally impressed. I could understand a company doing that if their product failed, but the fact is that I &^%&@# the thing up and admitted it openly.
After that, Gary spent a while longer just BSing with me about their knives and what I liked/disliked about them. He listened to me complain about the new SERE Operator fixed blade not being VG-10 and then explained that, unless the knife is made in Japan, you can't get VG-10. The SERE Operator is made here in the states from 154CM.
Overall, this has to be one of the most enjoyable customer service calls I have ever had to make. Gary seemed genuinely interested in my opinions of their product and the opinions of my fellow Recon Team members that had been voiced to me during field time.
I'm looking forward to picking up another Al Mar knife in the future. Mr. Fadden teased me by saying they had some new fixed blade designs in the works for "the near future". I look forward to seeing them and don't hesitate to depend on them in the field if my SERE 2000 is an indication of the quality that they will have.
Thanks Gary.
Doc
I had called to find out what I needed to do to replace the clip on my SERE 2000. The first thing he was interested in was what had killed it. "That would be my own stupidity" I told him. I had been polishing out the G-10 and decided to shine the clip up on my 400grit belt. I thinned the clip in the critical bend and weakend it enough to bend it out completely while in the field this weekend. 100% my fault. Garry then got my address and name telling me that he would get a new one out to me. When I asked him how much I needed to send him for the clip, he said "Don't worry about it, it's on me".
I am totally impressed. I could understand a company doing that if their product failed, but the fact is that I &^%&@# the thing up and admitted it openly.
After that, Gary spent a while longer just BSing with me about their knives and what I liked/disliked about them. He listened to me complain about the new SERE Operator fixed blade not being VG-10 and then explained that, unless the knife is made in Japan, you can't get VG-10. The SERE Operator is made here in the states from 154CM.
Overall, this has to be one of the most enjoyable customer service calls I have ever had to make. Gary seemed genuinely interested in my opinions of their product and the opinions of my fellow Recon Team members that had been voiced to me during field time.
I'm looking forward to picking up another Al Mar knife in the future. Mr. Fadden teased me by saying they had some new fixed blade designs in the works for "the near future". I look forward to seeing them and don't hesitate to depend on them in the field if my SERE 2000 is an indication of the quality that they will have.
Thanks Gary.
Doc
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