Bad KnifeCenter experience

C

Coastie

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Jun 20, 2006
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I recently bought two Ontario RAT-3 knives from www.KnifeCenter.com and had a minor, easily correctable, situation occur -- but they chose not to help me out and instead told me to take it up with the manufacturer. To explain better, here's the e-mail and I sent to them followed by their reply:

> Hi <name_removed>,
> I received my order today and everything looks good
> except for one minor thing. The threaded "nuts" for
> the TekLok on one of the two Ontario RAT-3 knives I
> ordered are "bright" steel/aluminum instead of black
> like the other screws and washers that come with it.
> The other knife came with all matching black parts
> (which match the black sheath). These are supposed to
> be gifts and look pretty cheesy. Would you please
> send me a replacement/exchange packet of mounting
> hardware (or just the two threaded "nuts" is fine).
> Thank you.

the reply:
>> The best place to ask for replacement nuts would be
>> Ontario Knife Company.
>> Their website is: http://www.ontarioknife.com

>> regards,
>> Knifecenter.com

Am I expecting too much here? I don't feel that I am. I know that they don't make the products they sell, but they should stand behind them. I'm only talking about two small parts that could have been mailed to me for less than a buck! In a similar situation, I bought a flashlight from LightHound.com a few weeks ago and found that the tailcap clickie didn't work once every 15-20 tries, and that the o-ring had a tear in it. I emailed them and they promptly mailed me replacement parts -- that's great service!! I also bought a Surefire 9P from my local cutlery store and the bulb went out within five minutes of use. I went back the next day and they replaced it with no questions asked. The second bulb also popped with less than five minutes of burn time so I ended up returning the light altogether, but my point is that they made things right with me, the customer, and took the quality issue up later on with Surefire.

I've searched the forum and found mixed feelings about KnifeCenter, but thought I should add my (bad) experience. As far as I'm concerned they lost me as a future customer with their "it's in your hands, your problem now" attitude.

BTW, this is my first post to the forum, so if I've made a breach of etiquette (wrong forum, bad manners, etc.) please let me know.

Oh and, putting the sheath issue aside, the RAT-3 knife rocks :)
I'll call Ontario Knives tomorrow and I'm sure they'll take care of me...
 
I hate to say it, but it the manufacturer is usually the only place you can expect that kind of service from. Knifecenter should have told you that they would contact Ontario though.
 
I think it'spretty minor.conatct the manufacturer. in the mean time you can implement the magic marker fix.
 
Knifecenter wouldn't have the extra parts laying around.
They get complete knives and sheaths from the manufacturer, each a set.
In essence you were asking them to open another knife package and remove the pieces.

You could ask to exchange the entire knife/sheath package.

That may be easier for them to do.

Or contact the manufacturer, I've had good experiences with the manufacturers that I've dealt with.
 
You're the customer. I think Knife Center should have offered to exchange the knife or contact the manufacturer for you.
 
A retailer isn't going to have parts.

Also, a retailer isn't responsible if a manufacturer changes its parts on whim.

That being said, the Knifecenter folks are usually pretty friendly (at least, they have been in the past.) If it bothers you that much, ask for a return and see whether or not it's even possible to get the black bolts. If Ontario doesn't make black bolts... well, sorry, you're SOL unless you want to replace it yourself.

-j
 
I would think 18 cents at Home Depot would correct this.

Just one of those things the Manufacturer should address....
 
wolfmann601 said:
I would think 18 cents at Home Depot would correct this.

Just one of those things the Manufacturer should address....
Click to expand...

Same thing I did, just go to your local hardware big box or mom and pop store. It's not the responsibility of the Knife Center to have those screws on hand, maybe Ontario just changed them recently.

Didn't look at the post date.
 
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