Benchmade Customer Service, Impressions?

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All my experiences with Benchmade's customer service has been fantastic. Good communications and fast service
 
Two (direct) experiences with Benchmade customer service:
1) Sent in a very old 940 to LifeSharp. Came back in better condition than when I first bought it ~15 years ago; (smoother, and as sharp as the Devil himself.)
2) Sent in a Bradley Alias II for some elaborate/detailed lasermarking on both titanium handle slabs. Came back with truly superlative workmanship. Beyond that, the gentleman who did most (or all) of the work sent me pictures as the work was being done(!) Couldn't be happier with the results.
 
I like all of my Benchmade knives. A couple of years ago I bought a used knife that had a small part missing. The previous owner claimed no knowledge of it. I sent the knife back to Benchmade, they fixed it, and sent it back to me. No problems at all.
 
Never had an issue, and I've talked with them about personal knives a dozen times. Did another few dozen service requests when I worked for a knife shop six or seven years ago...no issues. They were probably my favorite to deal with.
 
Forgot to mention, they even rebladed two discontinued models for me a few years ago. Believe they charged me 25$. Don't think I've ever waited more than a month or so to get something back.

Autos were the only pain in the ass, but that's because they wanted to verify that the buyer we sent the blade in for was military.
 
Must have been an isolated experience. They've been top notch for me.

I sent in my Ritter Grip because there was some weird play with the SS liners in the scales. They basically replaced everything except the blade, and then they sharpened it better than it originally came. It was rock solid when I got it back.

I recently emailed them asking for a parkerized clip for my 555hg. Less than a week later I had both a parkerized standard clip AND they threw in a deep carry clip too! Exceeded my expectations for sure.

On top of that they are always super polite in their correspondence. Spyderco, on the other hand, has always been pretty terse in their responses to my questions. Although I've never sent anything in to be worked on with them.
 
Top notch! Rebuilt my 940 from the frame off. New scales, screws, etc a razors edge and back in less than two weeks. Had I known they were going to do it such justice I would have slapped a new blace on that puppy while it was there. The knife was beat, I sent it in pieces and came back near new.
 
My experience with them was counter to most all of these replies, and strange. I contacted them to purchase orange scales for my two Grips, I was told that I couldn't buy new scales, but if my original scales were defective they would replace them but only in the original black color. I repeated that I was willing to pay for the replacements, and was again refused. A strange business mindset ? and a lost customer.
 
Stickman said:
My experience with them was counter to most all of these replies, and strange. I contacted them to purchase orange scales for my two Grips, I was told that I couldn't buy new scales, but if my original scales were defective they would replace them but only in the original black color. I repeated that I was willing to pay for the replacements, and was again refused. A strange business mindset ? and a lost customer.
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Pretty much no company will let you buy spare parts just because you want to.
 
My two encounters with Benchmade CS were both excellent. They paid for my shipping and quickly replaced the glass breaker on a Contego, and sent me a free clip when I asked to purchase one.
 
I had a bad experience years ago with benchmade customer service,so the original Stryker is the last benchmade I ever bought. I want a new auto but that experience left a bad impression. Just goes to show you that some one in customer service having a bad day can drive away business. I branched out into spyderco and Chris reeve,never had a problem with either products. I may give them another try sometime.
 
Well, that makes sense. No company, as said above, will let you buy spare parts "just because" - that's a supply issue, and that's not really a CS problem. CS is for issues with your knife, not for a change of heart or boredom on your part. Pimpers make aftermarket scales you can buy.

Out of curiousity, what issues did you have with your auto, Matt? Are you active military, LEO, or EMS? I ask for frame of reference, as that makes a big difference here.
 
The issue I had was with the original Stryker,non-auto,so It had nothing to do with the automatic knife restrictions.My brother has carried and used benchmade automatic's for years with zero issues.
 
I have had only good experiences with BM customer service. I've used the LifeSharp and warranty service on many occasions with nothing but great results. I've ordered knives thru their Custom Shop and had good experiences with that as well. I'm sure others have had diff results but mine have been very positive.
 
I figured I was in the minority,but the experience was bad enough to make me stay away for close to 20 years. I'm glad others had better luck.
 
I've used their service only once and it was recently. I sent them my 913 Nitrous Stryker because the blade was way of center and rubbing the liner. I could not get that thing to center after trying every trick I knew. Sent it off. Got it back two weeks later. It was perfect. They replaced all the screws, adjusted everything, lubed, etc. It came back nicer than when I sent it in. They sent me an email when they received my knife and kept me in the loop. Their customer service is exceptional in my experience.
 
We have only had to use Customer Service one time in almost a year of being an authorized dealer. That alone says something about them. When we had to send the knife back their communication was great and we had the knife back in just over 2 weeks. Would have been faster but UPS had a problem during shipping!

Even the best restaurants can serve a bad meal each night, and the best car companies still make lemons from time to time.
 
I've had nothing but bad service from them. Sent out my Grip for LifeSharp, got screwed there, it came back duller than when I sent it. It also took 8 weeks for me to get my knife back. When I e-mailed them letting them know the problem I had, I got no response. In fact, I'm still waiting (a year and a half later.)
 
I don't know if this qualifies as "customer service," but about 4-5 years ago, I sent an email to corporate about some odd grammar in a few hard-to-read passages on their website. I am an attorney, and I write for a living, so I offered some suggestions on how to clean up the language. Not only did they use my corrections verbatim, but also they gave me a one-time 25% discount on any in-stock product. That was really cool! I can't recall what I bought, but I ordered something right away. That was very nice of them.
 
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