Al Mar Shrike Passaround Update...

Medic1210

Medic1210

Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Messages
1,801
Just to keep everyone on the list up to speed, Al Mar Knives still has the knife. Does anyone have their e-mail? I have looked on their site, and nowhere does it give any way to contact them. Kinda strange business practice if you ask me. JMHO. I will let you know when I get it back.

Mike
 
I was just starting to wonder about this. Thanks for the update and keep us posted.
 
No problem. Just got off the phone with them, and they are looking for the knife. I gave the lady my phone # and e-mail address and requested an update before the end of the day. The knife was shipped insured to them on 11/20. Will keep you posted.

Mike

Edited to add: She just called me back and said they got the knife on Friday. They haven't opened the box yet, but they pland to look at it soon. She said I should get it back some time next week.
 
Apparently Al Mar's CS department isn't as on-the-ball as others such as Emerson or Benchmade. I sent my Mini Commander in earlier last week, and already have a tracking number for it's return (even if it is with UPS Ground, which is slower than molasses on a cold day) USPS Priority got it to them in 3 days, they shipped it back on Friday and it won't be delivered back to me until this Friday. UPS sucks IMHO. USPS is much better value, and much faster (going off on a tangent here I guess).

Anyway, as far as the Shrike is concerned, I'll let you guys know something tomorrow. I'll call them and find out what the status is. I meant to call today, but got busy and completely forgot. Sorry.

Mike
 
I just got off the phone with Al Mar Knives. The guy there told me that all he can tell is that the knife was received, but he doesn't know what is being done with it or what was wrong with it. He said it should be sent back sometime next week (how he knows this if he doesn't know what is being done or what is wrong with it is beyond me). Anyway, this is the second time I've gotten the "should get it back next week" response. Sorry for the wait guys. I guess it's a good thing this happened to the passaround knife because everybody now knows how long a simple warranty repair takes. Just glad this wasn't a major repair.

Mike
 
Medic, are they aware of what this knife is being used for?? You would think they would go out of there way to make sure this got resloved fast. Why?? B/C several potential customers are watching and participating in this passaround. The purpose of this passaround is to evaluate one of there newer models. And we just so happen to be able to get a taste of there Customer Service as well. Hope this issue gets resolved soon. :)
 
I didn't tell them this was a passaround knife because I didn't want any special treatment. We need to know how every average Joe who sends his knife in is treated. I think we are getting a more accurate view of how they handle warranty repairs without them knowing what this knife is being used for. Wal-Mart hires people to be a "Mystery Shopper" to go to different Wal-Marts and just shop. They take notes of how they are assisted by sales associates, and how they are treated in general. This gives Wal-Mart an idea of areas they need to train their staff. If the associates knew that they were a Mystery Shopper, they would go out of their way to assist them instead of acting like they normally do, thus giving Wal-Mart the impression they were ok instead of lacking in certain areas.

Mike
 
Haven't heard anything since the last time I called, and that was covered in my post above. Sorry. I'll call again on Monday and give another update. They will probably tell me "next week" again though. That is what they have said both times I've called.

Mike
 
Well the wait is finally over! I came home from work today to find that the Shrike was delivered yesterday. The service receipt has a date written at the top of 11/29/02. I guess this is when they finally checked the knife in because it was shipped priority mail 11/20, and would have been received in about 2-3 days given their location. Anyway, there is another date that says Promised by 12/12/02. Don't really know where that date came from because I was never promised a date, only told "next week" twice:confused:. In their defense though, they did write on the slip, "Sorry for the slight delay. We had to wait for the next shipment of knives to come in." That's right. They replaced it with a brand new knife! Well, I'll tell you a little bit about this new knife, compared to what I remember about the "old" one. This one is a bit tighter than the first regarding blade opening. For anyone familiar with Al Mar knives, this doesn't mean hard to open. It is still smoothe as glass, just the blade doesn't beat your thumb to the open position, and cut you when your thumb catches up like it did me:eek:. Maybe they read my post about that the first time and tightened it a bit:). Also, the micarta lookes like it isn't finished as well as the first version. I don't know much about micarta or the characteristics of it, but, for a lack of better terms, the knife looks "dry". Almost like dry skin that needs a little lotion. Well, since I'm sending it off, I won't rub it down with the Eucerine cream;). Anyway, I have posted a few pics of what I'm talking about. Maybe you micarta experts can chime in, and say this is normal with micarta scales or not. You can also see some of the individual threads along the edges, and the thumb cutout looks the "driest", but this isn't as obvious in the pics. These pics won't win any awards, but I think they do give an idea of what I'm talking about. I'll be shipping the knife to fisherk today, so he should have it by Friday. Anyway, on to the pics:) .

Mike

This pic shows how the "texture" of the micarta isn't very even on the scale. You can also see the threads exposed around the edges of the screw holes.

Shrike.jpg


This next two shows the finish to be uneven along the side of the scale, and somewhat shows how light the thumb notch is. Also, you can see some threads along the left side of the thumb notch and along the screw hole.

Shrike%204.jpg


Shrike%206.jpg


This final pic shows how the threads are showing along the scale where the liner lock recess is.

Shrike%207.jpg
 
Glad you received the knife back. All in all a three week wait while a replacemtn comes in seems reasonable to me.

I imagine that if a knife takes more than 10 minutes to fix, it's cheaper to replace it.

Actually I think the new handle finish is an improvement, less slippery and more secure. YMMV.

:D
 
Thanks for the update Mike. I'm looking forward to playing with this baby this weekend. I agree with Dave, the scales do look "grippier". I'll post here when it arrives.

Ken
 
Just wanted to give everyone an update. It's Saturday night and still no Shrike! As a matter of fact, no one on our block received any mail today!! :confused: Looks like USPS has a hard time living up to its' motto - Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor... - but then again we didn't have any rain or sleet today. I guess it just got late, and they decided to go home!! :grumpy: I will post when it arrives - hopefully it will be before Christmas. :rolleyes:

Ken
 
Just so everyone knows I did like I said, and shipped the knife out on the 18th, here is a pic of the labels. Ken should have gotten the knife by today. There must be a problem with his PO. Sorry Ken.

Mike
 

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