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Benchmade is a Class Act

R

rifon2

Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Messages
5,124
Recently bought a new 710, on first inspection out of the box it looked fine -
and it was fine - for about 99% of the people out there in the marketplace.

But as I was examining it - further, and more closely, under red LEDs and other lighting, I noticed a couple of very minor things about the blade that bothered me.

And I said,to myself "Come on, it's a Benchmade, but you're asking for custom, handmade fit and finish."

But, still...

I said to myself "...they might not even see what you're referring to, unless you're really super clear, maybe draw a picture..."

But, still...

So I handwrote a note, wrapped up the knife, and shipped it off to Oregon.

Less than 3 weeks later, I get it back, UPS.
(No charge, obviously.)

Now I give it a really good looking over and all I can say is:

What an amazing job Benchmade did, the knife is as perfectly turned out as anyone could possibly want or expect.

I am impressed, and want others to know how Benchmade treated a customer after the sale.

Benchmade is a class act.
 
A small area on the blade - about the size of a pinky fingerprint - looked slightly
and I mean slightly
concave

when the blade was held at one particular angle under some pretty intense lighting
 
That's great that they're willing to do that for customers. Really, it is. (One of the reasons I EDC a Benchmade).

But, with you being so picky (as you yourself described), all you're doing is driving up knife prices. You think it didn't cost BM to fix/replace that blade?

I understand wanting a functional knife, which you had. If the knife had a manufactures defect and was un-usable, by all means, send it in. However, if we all asked for such a perfect knife in production form, we'd be paying $200 for Griptilians.

I'm glad to hear they treated you well, but overall this type of return just hurts all buyers in the end.

Just my thoughts...
 
TFin04 said:
That's great that they're willing to do that for customers. Really, it is. (One of the reasons I EDC a Benchmade).

But, with you being so picky (as you yourself described), all you're doing is driving up knife prices. You think it didn't cost BM to fix/replace that blade?

I understand wanting a functional knife, which you had. If the knife had a manufactures defect and was un-usable, by all means, send it in. However, if we all asked for such a perfect knife in production form, we'd be paying $200 for Griptilians.

I'm glad to hear they treated you well, but overall this type of return just hurts all buyers in the end.

Just my thoughts...
Click to expand...
At the same time, this drives up quality as well, because BM won't want to spend the money to fix/replace so many blades. If they really are losing a lot of money from these kinds of returns, the money would be better spent upgrading their equipment or tightening their quality control and I'm sure Benchmade knows this.
 
TFin04 said:
That's great that they're willing to do that for customers. Really, it is. (One of the reasons I EDC a Benchmade).

But, with you being so picky (as you yourself described), all you're doing is driving up knife prices. You think it didn't cost BM to fix/replace that blade?

I understand wanting a functional knife, which you had. If the knife had a manufactures defect and was un-usable, by all means, send it in. However, if we all asked for such a perfect knife in production form, we'd be paying $200 for Griptilians.

I'm glad to hear they treated you well, but overall this type of return just hurts all buyers in the end.

Just my thoughts...
Click to expand...

I agree.

(message is too short filler line)
 
I am very glad that they replaced it. I however think that was a bit too small a reason to worry about at all.

Hey, your knife your choice. ;)
 
Yeah, no kidding. Glad to hear you got a flawless one back, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they just sent the knife back to you..:cool:

I mean, held at the right angle, under a red LED..come on :foot:
 
To me, it was the same thing as if the blade was not centered.

Or if the grind lines were off.

If Benchmade didn't even contact me, they presumably thought it was a significant enough defect to correct it.

If anything, maybe I minimized the problem in my initial post.
There shouldn't be, in my view, concave areas on the flat part of the blade.

Benchmade, without issue, readily agreed.
 
Glad to see they made it right by you. I myself would be upset if a new knife came with built in flaws and the company did not care enough to make it right. Yes It does make prices go up, but again thats why we buy Benchmades and spydercos instead of smith and weason
 
I don't think returns for cosmetic defects make prices go up.

Benchmade is a premium brand, they market themselves and their products that way, and they are priced accordingly.

It's like saying that Benchmade's nice website makes their prices go up.
Or that they pack their knives in velveteen little pouches makes their prices go up.
Or their LifeSharp service makes their prices go up.
Etc.

If you're buying a premium brand, you expect premium service.

And here Benchmade delivered.

------------------

Another member recently posted an experience he had with Al Mar about a Sere 2000. In the post, he described how Al Mar did not treat him well. And he let us know that Al Mar was not, at least in that instance, a class act.

And Al Mar is not giving away their product at bargain prices; they're a premium brand just like Benchmade.

In fact, is was that Al Mar Sere 2000 post that got me to thinking that I should mention Benchmade's class act here on BF.
 
rifon2 said:
I don't think returns for cosmetic defects make prices go up.

Benchmade is a premium brand, they market themselves and their products that way, and they are priced accordingly.

It's like saying that Benchmade's nice website makes their prices go up.
Or that they pack their knives in velveteen little pouches makes their prices go up.
Or their LifeSharp service makes their prices go up.
Etc.
Click to expand...

Really? So they dont budget those into their business plan and price accordingly? They just do all those nice things for free to us? Wow, what a company!

While you dont see them come out and say "Griptilian prices up 32 cents a piece to pay for our new web server," they most definately find ways for us customers to pay for it. It's called business.
 
i know the president/owner of benchmade a little bit and with my interactions and conversations with him i can honestly say that there is no one i would trust more than a company run buy Les, he is a great straight forward guy and his personality transcends into his product :)
 
TFin04 said:
Really? So they dont budget those into their business plan and price accordingly? They just do all those nice things for free to us? Wow, what a company!

While you dont see them come out and say "Griptilian prices up 32 cents a piece to pay for our new web server," they most definately find ways for us customers to pay for it. It's called business.
Click to expand...

You and I are in agreement on this; we're saying the exact same thing.
 
Did you inspect the the 710 they replaced the original specimen with under ambient infrared light with an electron microscope, wearing a high-end NVD?
If it turns out that the edge has some irregularities on the molecular level, you may want to consider sending it in to NASA for further thorough inspection.
 
Quiet Storm said:
Did you inspect the the 710 they replaced the original specimen with under ambient infrared light with an electron microscope, wearing a high-end NVD?
If it turns out that the edge has some irregularities on the molecular level, you may want to consider sending it in to NASA for further thorough inspection.
Click to expand...

That's cool; I knew I'd get flamed a bit - mostly for underplaying the problem with the knife - if you'd received this knife I'm sure you'd have sent it back too. With this; I'm now flamed internationally.:)

Next time I'll have to be clearer and not minimize the problem.

It's the same to me as if the blade was off center. It shouldn't be on a premium product.

I minimized the problem when I described it (at 2 in the morning), and I see now that's not the way to post.

I appreciate everyone's comments.:cool:
 
So much sarcasm on this post. Bottem line he bought a knife, expected it to be perfect...it wasnt so he got a new one. When you buy something you expect the fit/finish to be excellent especially on a knife your paying x amout of money for.

I would have done the same thing.

I never even post on this fourm just lurk, but i was so mad with all hte negitivity i had to come to the defence of rifon.
 
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