Benchmade service/warranty experiences?

Roger Ma · Jul 16, 1999

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone here has any experiences to relay about Benchmade's service. I have a satin finish AFCK that needs some cleanup on the handles, and the blade is no longer centered when closed and is slightly rubbing against the liner.

If you've utilized their service, what was the turnaround time?

This is my daily carry knife, so I'm mulling over this decision.....

Thanks!

Jackal · Jul 16, 1999

You mean you haven't heard about BM's service yet? They are great!!! Head on over to http://www.benchmade.com/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi and check it out. -AR

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322

- Intelligent men, unfortunately, learn from fools, more often than fools learn from intelligent men.

maddog2020 · Jul 17, 1999

Jackyl,

Sorry, but I have to disagree with BM's supposely great serivce. I have sent two 710 Axis back to them for repair. They have had my first one for well over 2 weeks ++ now, going to 3 weeks if I it doesn't get sent to me today like the BM warrantee guys said it will be. It will be interesting to see if the knife comes back RIGHT! It will also be intersting to see how long the 2nd one will take to get fixed. Granted the 1st knife was sent in to be sharpened AGAIN since the initial edge on it was poor.

I know BM is big and stuff, but I would have guessed 2 weeks door to door is MORE than enough time. May be they just have a poor QC department.....LOL.

BM is sitting real LOW on my list right now

710 is a good solid knife - too bad my two weren't right: blades were striking the plastic spacer. THe guy in warrantee department did make a comment of how BAD my 1st knife was! He had never seen one this bad go out the door....LOL. Remeber I posted that I had to dremel out the slot 1/8" deep over a distance of over 2 inches!

Roger Ma,

If your BM is your only knife right now, you better buy another one because it is gonna be a while even after you send it in. Just a warning. May be they can fix the washers easier/quicker than the spacers on the 710? LOL

Oh, yes - SPYDERCO and REKAT RULE!

[This message has been edited by maddog2020 (edited 16 July 1999).]

Corduroy · Jul 16, 1999

I recently sent back a brand-new 800HS AFCK for a number of problems, most notably an unchamfered blade hole on one side. The bad news is that this far from the frst problem I've seen in a brand-new Benchmade. The good news is that the turn-around time was superb. I figure that besides the time to USPS it to them and UPS it back, they had the knife a mere three days. They replaced the blade and lock-side liner, fixing most of my gripes. I'd rather they made the knife right in the first place, but the service was excellent.

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-Drew Gleason
Little Bear Knives

maddog2020 · Jul 16, 1999

WOW, Corduroy!

What the blazes are they doing with my 710 Axis?! I wish it only took 3 days in house - that would have made it 1.5 weeks MAX!

May be I pissed them off REAL bad and they are making me WAIT -- payback

LOL

Jackal · Jul 16, 1999

Check out my reply to your latest post on the BM Forum. My BM's only took about 4 days in house too. Not too bad huh? Their are many problems with the Axis and the Pinnacle's though. -AR

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322

- Intelligent men, unfortunately, learn from fools, more often than fools learn from intelligent men.

JH225 · Jul 16, 1999

I sent in a knife for repair on June 25, and as of today I still have not gotten it back.
3 weeks and counting.

Roger Ma · Jul 16, 1999

Hmmm....

Responses seem mixed....I was looking to buy an M2 AFCK online, but from the sounds of it, i'll be taking my chances with another knife that may service out-of-the-box.

Maybe I buy the M2, get that in my hands, send in the satin AFCK, and when i get that one back, send in the M2....=)

Too bad I like the AFCK so damn much...

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I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.

maddog2020 · Jul 16, 1999

Jailhack,

LMAO - I have you beat! I sent my 710s from afterwork on the 24th. Was you knife an 710 Axis, also, or ?? Let us have a race to see whose knife gets back first....LOL.

Jackly and Corduroy.....you guys lucked out BIGTIME 3/4 days in house would have been awesome! The amount of time JH and I have been waiting is a little long.

RJT · Jul 16, 1999

I sent a Mel Pardue Automatic back to the factory through a dealer.It has been 6 WEEKS NOW!! THAT SUCKS!!

JH225 · Jul 16, 1999

Looks like RJT has the record.

MD2020,
No it wasn't a 710, but I did call about a week ago and they said it was just about to be worked on. Guess that meant it will be worked on sometime this century.

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C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "

maddog2020 · Jul 16, 1999

RJT,

You have Jailhack, and I beat for waiting the longest! LMAO..... Hey, I understand it stinks, man! You would have thought they would take care of a dealer faster than they would us other 'ants'. RJT - unfortunately you are the winner thus far

. Let me know guys when/IF your stuff arrives in time for Y2K

md2020

MJS · Jul 16, 1999

dealers alot of the time are some of the last ones to get there knives fixed due to the fact that benchmade has many individual
people to deal with first hand. they have us caught we can't do anything but wait. you guys on the other hand can come in here and bitch and make them look bad so technically
they should take care of you all first to keep there name up in good thoughts at all times. but i would have to agree with the other member if the would build it right the first time you wouldnt be complaining anyway.
and this would cut down on alot of there work time envolved in fixing there knives. they could consentrate on the knives that just broke not the ones that were messed up to start with.

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mjsknives.com
knifeman@mjsknives.com
1-800-434-5073
good as the best and better then the rest.

MJS · Jul 16, 1999

another thing the bigger the dealer the worse it gets...........at least sometimes. the smaller you are the better your chance are of getting a quicker response time.

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mjsknives.com
knifeman@mjsknives.com
1-800-434-5073
good as the best and better then the rest.

GONESAILING · Jul 17, 1999

I live close to the Benchmade factory and the turn around time is same day if you get it there in the morning. When I sent my spyderco in for warranty work, it took about 4 weeks.
I agree with most others, 4 weeks seems too long for any warranty work. Evidently the demand is so great for new ones, the quality control slips and lets out some of these defective knives to the market. It must be expensive to run the repair and sevice division. In time, maybe that fact will drive the quality control back up on the new assembly line.
Jim

Daniel · Jul 17, 1999

Does anyone have a problem with paying to ship it to Benchmade and then paying them to ship it back?

Maybe I am missing something? If they did not manufacture it correctly, then why do I have to pay to get it to them and worst of all-pay them to return the knife that they didn't do right. If I have been doing this wrong, then please someone tell me how to get them to pay after I have already paid for a knife that is supposed to be right at the time of purchase.

Daniel

mcfg · Jul 17, 1999

Dan, I agree, it is odd to need to pay for their shipping, when it was their poor quality that caused it to be sent back.

I sent my 750 in the 25th of June, 3 weeks and still waiting. This one I showed at the SF South Bay Pizza get together to some of the guys. The long wait makes me wonder if Benchmade is for me.

I am pro-Benchmade too, they have Star CNC lathes, same as our shop.

Oh well, future purchases ride on quality control return fixes, and times...

Mark

Krumbs · Jul 18, 1999

Benchmade has great service. WHy? Fixed right the first time.
Back in the day when the "new" 970's came out, we started to learn about G-10 stripping out from dismantling. Fixed no problem, took 3 weeks, but fixed right. I have had mine for a few years and just recieved a 970SBT as a gift. Well I have been carrying it for a little less than 2 months, time to send it back, stipped out G-10 again. E-mailed, got a response, sent it away on 7-15, the clock is running. Included my 800SBT for a sharpening and inspection of its G-10. So we will see, but overall, they have done great. Two thumbs up. Great product, great service. Forgot to mention, no charge, only shipping, and if you can't or won't pay that, suck it up.

[This message has been edited by Krumbs (edited 18 July 1999).]

Professor · Jul 20, 1999

Personally I'm torn on this topic. I've got more BM's than any other brand since my collection consists of one of every model they make (and have made since the Pacific Cutlery days), and the fact that I sell and trade on the web. The older 970's were the primary source of my quality control gripes, though I've seen the occasional misaligned scales and liners, dud blade grinds, and screwy tolerances cross hands. My experience with the warranty dept. has been good, though I am forced to wonder if quality control hasn't suffered. I also wonder if we're not all just perfectionists, but then again I've seen some blatantly ugly stuff every now and again from BM. It used to be my thinking that as long as they'd fix whatever was wrong, hey, how could we complain? Sounds like they're having trouble maintaining consistency with repairs from the sounds of these posts.

[This message has been edited by Professor (edited 20 July 1999).]

Daniel · Jul 21, 1999

Can't pay shipping? No, I don't want to pay shipping on a knife that should have been right in the first place.

Won't pay shipping? Have to if I want it fixed.

Should I be required to pay? NO!

If everyone pays up without taking issue-then they continue to require it and their profits are intact. If people take issue to it, then they will change their policy.

All I know is that every internet dealer that I have dealt with makes good on the shipping if it is their fault. The same should apply to the manufacturer-even more so since they control the process.

Daniel