bad benchmade first impression

[cncpro11]

Bought a 810 contego today since they were on sale at one of the local sporting good stores. Took it home and it had vertical blade play AND the blade was off center so bad it touched the liner. I took it apart and reassembled it, now it's perfect. It sucks since the up until now all my benchmades were great, now the last three have had fit and finish problems. Guess spyderco and zt will be seeing more of my money in the future.

So you had the knife in your hand before you bought it and didn't bother to inspect it?
And that is somehow Benchmade's fault?

 

[mrdabble]

Regardless, the knife was in no condition to sell, which is what seems to be a possible trend.
If darkpatriot didn't end up with it another dissatisfied customer would.

Since when is getting a new knife like playing the lottery?
Its not. especially at the price point.

Maybe that's a bad analogy but currently I feel like if I pick up a new bench made there is a decent chance it may have something wrong with it.

As I've said before:
When you buy a nice knife, there is a chance you might get a bad one..
When you buy a knockoff or cheapy, there is a chance you might get a decent one...

That's not a fine line benchmade wants to walk I would assume

But what do I know.

 

[treeshaker]

the store most likely exchanged this knife for someone before and they are at fault. I see all brands with bad knives in knife store. Certainly the big box stores.They will resale returns. I have found actual names written under the lining of the boxes. Again Bad, but if you don't have knowledge of what the lockup, the scales, the blade should look like Google it. Then go buy. An uneducated buyer is no excuss.

 

[mrdabble]

For the price there should be someone checking every single one of those before they go. We are talking about one of the most well known knife brands here, where is the pride in quality work? Out the damn window with everyone else's in this country.

Maybe they make more money from people who don't know any better and all of us go through their warranties department when we know what to expect ( I don't need to look up Google to know a fucking blade should be straight and not wobble) and get dissapointed instead of paying someone to check them all.

Its the trend of every business, cut corners....so easy to do when your brands sells the product for you.

I've got a few different benchmades now, none of the others arrived in such poor shape as the other. In fact I've been carrying one regularly.

There is nothing, however, that will change my first impression. Just like the way my first quality pocket knife (Kershaw leek) felt in my hands when I held it for the first time, the absolute superior sharpness, those moments are everything. If not for that I might not be here (on this forum) today. So maybe benchmade will see this and change the future for some other individual who looks to them to purchase a high quality knife.

 

[DarkPatriot]

Cncpro, I bought the knife because I knew I could fix both problems and the price was decent enough to warrant the purchase. My comment was more towards the fact that I have bought benchmades for years and only recently (last 9 months) has it become necessary to "doctor" the knives after purchase. 3 different models (581, 551 special edition in s30v, 810) from three different sources (bladehq, REI, cabelas, respectively) all with similar problems. I have bought almost exclusively benchmades for the last 6 years and recommended them to friends, family and co-workers. I am simply chiming in on the comment that benchmade's quality control is slipping and my own experiences recently are in sync with that observation.

 

[PURPLEDC]

Cncpro, I bought the knife because I knew I could fix both problems and the price was decent enough to warrant the purchase. My comment was more towards the fact that I have bought benchmades for years and only recently (last 9 months) has it become necessary to "doctor" the knives after purchase. 3 different models (581, 551 special edition in s30v, 810) from three different sources (bladehq, REI, cabelas, respectively) all with similar problems. I have bought almost exclusively benchmades for the last 6 years and recommended them to friends, family and co-workers. I am simply chiming in on the comment that benchmade's quality control is slipping and my own experiences recently are in sync with that observation.

Honestly I think anyone who spends $100 on knives from a company and is consistently let down has the right to express their discontent. If you get a bunk knife here or there fine. Let the company fix it and move on. But if people notice quality slipping they have every right to let people know. I see no benefit in protecting a company. Reputations are earned. And keeping them has to be earned as well. And letting people on this forum know when quality is slipping with a certain product it brings awareness to possible issues and helps people make informed buying decisions. If the respective companies dont like it then I would recommend they do better. There is absolutely no benefit to the consumer or the company in people having blind faith and letting bad quality slide. I think the key is though that people speak up when both happy and unhappy with a product or service. That way it doesnt look like they only chime in when they have negative comments to be made. Still I dont think anyone should have to hide anything when they buy a luxury good (any knife over $50 these days is a luxury imho) and it isnt up to par. I would stress though to anyone that does buy a poor knife that they cant fix that they send it in for warranty instead of trying to return it to the company they bought it from. Sending knives in for warranty helps companies keep tabs on issues they may be facing. Many times problematic knives never make it back to the manufacturer when returned.

 

[DarkPatriot]

I agree with PURPLEDC. I've always thought benchmade was a great company, I'd like to see them continue to be a great company. If customers don't make problems known and express dissatisfaction, where's the incentive to fix the problem? I emailed benchmade about the problems I experienced. I'm sure my email won't do much, but a few thousand more, plus a drop in sales might help address it. Up until recently it didn't seem to be an issue for them, it shouldn't be too difficult to fix. It took literally 3 minutes to fix the problems on each knife. People who aren't as familiar with the products may not be able to fix the same problems without difficulty, and even if the warranty dept fixes the problem with no charge, it can be a six week turn around to get your knife back. Does benchmade need to do anything? No. If it would like to keep the customers who loved their knives for how well they were put together than it may be a good idea to return quality control back to its former levels.

 

[Valle]

All but the h&k are superb

[...]

Anyone have the same issues on their H&K knives?

The H&K line used to be on par with the Black Class models. Its flagship were the Snody knives. It was only much later that they begun to include lower quality pieces into the H&K lineup.

Originally, the HK line had some amazing model offerings, the Snody designed 14205, 14200, 14210 models were among the best ever made, IMO, and when they were discontinued the community lost some great knives.

I agree.

 

[loonybin]

The H&K line used to be on par with the Black Class models. Its flagship were the Snody knives. It was only much later that they begun to include lower quality pieces into the H&K lineup.

They should have stuck with Snody instead of trying to make the HK line a bunch of Red Class knives.

 

[Valle]

Yes. I believe the H&K line, nowadays, is Red Class through and through.

 

[cncpro11]

Regardless, the knife was in no condition to sell, which is what seems to be a possible trend.
If darkpatriot didn't end up with it another dissatisfied customer would.

Since when is getting a new knife like playing the lottery?
Its not. especially at the price point.

Maybe that's a bad analogy but currently I feel like if I pick up a new bench made there is a decent chance it may have something wrong with it.

As I've said before:
When you buy a nice knife, there is a chance you might get a bad one..
When you buy a knockoff or cheapy, there is a chance you might get a decent one...

That's not a fine line benchmade wants to walk I would assume

But what do I know.

Please explain how exactly is buying a knife in a real brick and mortar store and having the opportunity to physically hold it in your hands and look at it under bright light and see exactly what you are about to buy even remotely similar to playing the lottery?

I also agree with Purpledc, and I don't protect companies, but myself...that's why I try on clothes and shoes before I buy them and why I inspect firearms, hand tools, and knives before I buy them.

 

[DarkPatriot]

I also agree with you cncpro11, I'm not advocating buying things without inspecting them first. Like I said in my previous post, I looked at the contego first, decided the problems were fixable and pulled the trigger. My concern is the apparent decline in standards of a company I like. One of two things will happen, qc will improve again and all will be well, or they won't and I'll buy less of their product. I hope it's the former, but there are many other companies that put out comparable quality cutlery with less issues.

 

[Benchmade]

mrdabble,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Can you please contact me directly and I can help you with your knife. We want to make this right for you. Thank you.

Derrick Lau
dlau@benchmade.com

 

[DarkPatriot]

mrdabble,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Can you please contact me directly and I can help you with your knife. We want to make this right for you. Thank you.

Derrick Lau
dlau@benchmade.com

:thumbup: Right on.

 

[PURPLEDC]

Yes. I believe the H&K line, nowadays, is Red Class through and through.

Nope. While they do make lower end knives in the H&K line up they still make quite a few USA made knives. Most of them are automatics but they are still USA made high quality knives.

 

[PURPLEDC]

Please explain how exactly is buying a knife in a real brick and mortar store and having the opportunity to physically hold it in your hands and look at it under bright light and see exactly what you are about to buy even remotely similar to playing the lottery?

I also agree with Purpledc, and I don't protect companies, but myself...that's why I try on clothes and shoes before I buy them and why I inspect firearms, hand tools, and knives before I buy them.

I totally agree that people should inspect the products they buy if they have a chance too. I know if I buy a knife and it comes in anything other than a clamshell I ask to look it over before I agree to make a purchase. I like you will inspect anything I buy before buying if possible. But what upsets me is that I feel like the quality of many products has dropped enough that I have pay extra attention as im finding more issues than normal. I dont know if I got better at spotting problems but I remember knives like the Kershaw Titanium bump seeming more a kin to a finely finished custom. As early as 10 years ago I would get a knife with an issue every once in a while. Maybe one or two a year. These days I can find a scratch or ding on every knife I purchase. Maybe its extremely bad luck but I find myself returning more than I every have over finish issues. And I stopped returning them to the companies making them when one of them expressed that they felt I was expecting too much. Mind you this was a not a $100 knife. Nor a $200 of even $300 knife. It cost me $375. At that price I expect a centered bearing pivot and a lack of scratches. The knife in question had both. To me that seems like fit & finish is taking a backseat to features and materials.

 

[DarkPatriot]

On a (somewhat) related note, after its' tune up the 810 really proved to be an excellent knife and my new favorite folder, to the point I've stopped carrying a fixed blade. I feel like it can go toe to toe with any other hard use folder and hold its own. Certainly giving my ZT 560 a run for its money .

 

[Valle]

Nope. While they do make lower end knives in the H&K line up they still make quite a few USA made knives. Most of them are automatics but they are still USA made high quality knives.

I have checked the current H&K lineup, and indeed it has many new US made knives. I was under the impression, though, that for a time the bulk of the line was comprised of affordable imports, right after the demise of the Snody designed models.