Avoid Swiss Knife Shop

P

protodoc

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Joined
Jan 7, 2001
Messages
341
I wiil stay away from them based on my experience!

Ordered a Swiss Spirit Plus several months ago for $45.95. Got a confirming email and everything looked fine. Now after several months of having my order on file they contact me with some BS story and are pulling the plug on this deal:


Dear protodoc,

We have a longstanding order on file for you for the SwissTool Spirit Plus. The good news is that the tool is finally available.

However, Victorinox Swiss Army has upgraded the Plus (the ratchet is an actual working ratchet rather then just a solid piece of steel) and increased price of the tool which now retails for $107.95.

The part number you originally ordered was discontinued by Victorinox before the Plus actually shipped. However, with the new part number came a substantial increase in price. Therefore, we are unable to honor the original price we were told the tool would be available for.

What we are able to do at this point is offer you a new Plus at a substantially discounted price of $75.50. Or, you can order a plain Spirit for the price of $45.95 (the original price for the Spirit).

We will hold your order open awaiting your reply to this email. If we do not hear from you within the next three days we will automatically cancel your order.

We thank you for your business and apologize for the inconvenience.
Swiss Knife Shop



My response:

That is pure and simply very bad business practice.
The are no two versions of the Spirit Plus.
You took my order for the Spirit Plus and sent a confirming email:

Code Name Quantity
Price/Ea. Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPIRIT Victorinox SwissTool Spirit 1
$34.95 $34.95
Model: 53802-SpiritPlus
$11.00 $11.00
Shipping: 1. First Class
Mail: $0.00

Sales Tax: $0.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total: $45.95

This is a binding contract. I expect my order to be filled as per our contract.

Even your email is deceiving: As you can see, the original price for
the Spirit was $34.95 and not $45.95.

There are two things you can do:
1: You can do the right thing and honor the original sale.
2: You can break your contract.

If you chose to do the later, I will do two things:
1: I will contact the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint against you
2: As an active member of Bladeforums, Knifeforums, and Usual Suspects
I will post an explicit warning against purchasing from you based on
your decision. I would estimate that these three forums are read by
95% of people purchasing knifes from a web based company.

I am looking forward to resolving this issue amicably.
Best, protodoc


Their reply:

In response to your email, I would like to refer you to the original email
we sent , explaining the reason for the price increase. The knife you
originally ordered is not being made by Swiss Army, instead they have
manufactured an upgraded model of the knife at a higher cost. We are
offering a discount based on the fact that you have had a longstanding order
with us, but cannot sell it to you at the price the old knife was offered
at. We do apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused, and will be
happy to ship the knives at the prices we offered in the email. Thank you
Swiss Knife Shop


As far as I see this: They are breaking a contract they entered when they took my order.

Any opinions?
protodoc
 
I'd say it is not a binding contract and I'd say they were pretty good about it and I'd say you are being unreasonable. It is unreasonable to expect someone to sell you something below cost. The Spirit did change and did go up in price before it was released. What they told you is true. Their error was in trying to take preorders too soon. Nevertheless I side with them in this situation. I think they handled a tough situation as well as could be expected.
 
I can understand what they are saying, the spirit plus was "upgraded" which to them meant it it a totally new model, even though it may have the same name. (DO the part #'s match?)

What you're saying is that you order the spirit plus by name at a certain price, so if it got upgraded and the price change, that's their problem not yours.

So I'd say I can understand thier position, and yes they did hose it up a bit by accepting orders/not getting the correct price.

It's good to know they are a bit incompatant, but is saving the amount of money, around $40 right, Worth making yourself look like an arse?

Still want the tool? Accept the discount price and move on, and the rest of us will know not to pre-order from them.
 
Why would you pre-pay for something that has not been produced? ASMALL deposit?MAYBE. Never,never,never pay in advance for something that is not instock.

At most, most places that let you pre order only let you get on the list with no money down accepted.

I understand they remade/upgraded what you wanted but, what if they decided to completely end the project, would you still demand ONE be made for you? :D
 
I presume this was a credit card transaction, but he does not say that they took the money from his account.

Confirming an order may not be acceptance of your offer to buy depending on the actual language used (Watch for fine print!).

If the item sold (cheaper version) never was made, they are excused from performance in my state.
 
It is also how companies pull bait and switch scams.Not saying this is the case in this instance,especially since it took several months to come with a price change.I wouldn't get myself to worked up about it.If it bothers you that much, don't ever do business with them again.I think it is a bad practice to take pre-orders just for this reason imho.If ya do,expect people to hold you to the original price as in this case.
 
This was a credit card order, so I didn't lose any money.

What bothers me is that they are not standing up to their end of the deal.
Their price for the Spirit Plus when they were taking the order was much less than other places that were taking pre-orders at the time. Maybe it was a pricing error on their side but they are not coming out and saying that they made a mistake. Instead they are trying to lay the blame on Victorinox.

As you can see from their email even the regular Spirit was initially offered for $34.95, by far the best price that I have seen anywhere. Now they are claiming that the price for the regular Spirit was $45.95, so they are not standing behind that price either and there was certainly no change in design by Victorinox of the regular model.

The whole interaction just leaves me pretty dissatisfied. If you make a mistake, come out and say so and work with the customer to resolve the issue.

I won't order from them again.
 
FYI a dealer price on a Spirit is 38.32 and retails for 58.95 and Spirit Plus is 50.02 and retails for 76.95.

This particular distributor does not have any in stock either.
 
Seems like my outrage is not really met with general approval.
Well, I am feeling better now. Time to let bygones be bygones.
Thanks for letting me bend your ears. :)

protodoc
 
If you let something this insignificant get you bent out of shape, you're gonna give yourself an ulcer.
 
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