Benchmade's QC Problems.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Complaining to a minimum-wager at REI isn't going to help anything...
 
Joe's not shy. :) You simply misread what he typed.

CrialJLA, feel free to locktite whatever screws you want, just make sure its the blue stuff(242?), not the red stuff. Your warranty will still be intact.
 
My wife said the same thing, but there was nothing to do really. I decided the best course was to offer my thanks for showing me the knives and walk away. There have been plenty of times when I would pull a particular model out of my pocket fully tuned to show them what the differences were, but this time I didn't. And no, I'm not very shy. And yes, sometimes I will choose to be polite instead.
 
Cypress said:
Complaining to a minimum-wager at REI isn't going to help anything...
Click to expand...

Don't know about that. Last time I was at REI I had questions about whether or not a product was this or that. The sales representative didn't know a few of the answers, and went to go find the answers for me. REI is supposed to be a pretty knowledgeable place, and I typically get the pros and cons of a particular product when getting help.

jkarp_53 said:
My wife said the same thing, but there was nothing to do really. I decided the best course was to offer my thanks for showing me the knives and walk away. There have been plenty of times when I would pull a particular model out of my pocket fully tuned to show them what the differences were, but this time I didn't. And no, I'm not very shy. And yes, sometimes I will choose to be polite instead.
Click to expand...

I wasn't saying throw a fit, you can point out flaws of a knife without being rude. I almost bought a Caly 3 in SB until the sales representative showed me it was pinned together instead of screwed. He saved me a lot of trouble later, saved the store a return, and I walked out with a different knife that served me much better. It helps the customer if the guy trying to make a sale knows what he's talking about, and it helps the store.
 
thragdar said:
Yes, it's whining. If it's that bad stop buying the things and walk away. But we all know that you won't, because the fact of the matter is that every time I come back to this forum (which I have, very intermittently, under various screen names for about ten years now) it's the same crap. "Benchmade's overpriced!" "Benchmade's QC is bad!" "Benchmade's warranty is terrible!" "Benchmade changed their pricing!"

*EDIT* Actually, longer than ten years. A lot longer. Holy damn this place started in '98... and I was there not long after... o_O

Just search for "Benchmade price change" on Google and click the links to old threads in here. Marvel at how many of you weren't going to buy another Benchmade after they changed to MAP. Behold how many are now posting how they won't buy another Benchmade because of increased pricing. See the comparison in screen names and gaze in wild wonder at how many are the exact same.

In the past year I've been lucky enough to have been able to buy three Benchmade knives. A Mini Grip, a Triage, and a Contego. The Contego's blade centering was off so I took about three minutes and a six dollar tool and did what I do with ALL of my new knives which is adjust the pivot screw to MY specifications. A dab of Loctite later and it's perfectly centered.

This is not out of the realm of reasonable, especially for a group of people that are ostensibly skilled in the basic workings of a folding knife.

Do not worry your pretty little heads. I am hereby abandoning this subforum of weeping angels. If anything actually interesting is ever posted in here again, let me know. Or don't. I don't really care.
Click to expand...

If it bothers you so much, and you don't care, why do you continue to read the threads, when you know what you are going to find ?
Better yet, if you don't have anything constructive to add to the CURRENT conversation, why bother posting at all ?
This is all I'm going to say about this, because negative comments, especially written in the "tone" you use, is what causes threads to be closed...
 
Cypress said:
Complaining to a minimum-wager at REI isn't going to help anything...
Click to expand...

jkarp_53 said:
My wife said the same thing, but there was nothing to do really. I decided the best course was to offer my thanks for showing me the knives and walk away. There have been plenty of times when I would pull a particular model out of my pocket fully tuned to show them what the differences were, but this time I didn't. And no, I'm not very shy. And yes, sometimes I will choose to be polite instead.
Click to expand...

Yes - that was a situation with no possible upside. You would think that expressing concerns and dissatisfaction here would be more likely to come to Benchmade's attention, except that...there is little evidence that they care enough to participate here... :rolleyes:
 
dynamicmoves said:
I wasn't saying throw a fit, you can point out flaws of a knife without being rude. I almost bought a Caly 3 in SB until the sales representative showed me it was pinned together instead of screwed. He saved me a lot of trouble later, saved the store a return, and I walked out with a different knife that served me much better. It helps the customer if the guy trying to make a sale knows what he's talking about, and it helps the store.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with pinned knives. The maker of that specific knife uses pinned construction on about all the knives that come out the factory. Tens of 1,000s of them in the world with no issues. You missed a good one. Moki makes excellent pieces. My experience in REI has been mixed. One time it was smooth when buying supplies for a trip, found some upgraded gear for the same price as the stuff I had been looking at. The other time was going through 4 different clerks to get a yes or no answer, took about 20 minutes and was asked 8 times if I needed help. :confused:
 
RevDevil said:
Nothing wrong with pinned knives. The maker of that specific knife uses pinned construction on about all the knives that come out the factory. Tens of 1,000s of them in the world with no issues. You missed a good one. Moki makes excellent pieces. My experience in REI has been mixed. One time it was smooth when buying supplies for a trip, found some upgraded gear for the same price as the stuff I had been looking at. The other time was going through 4 different clerks to get a yes or no answer, took about 20 minutes and was asked 8 times if I needed help. :confused:
Click to expand...
Huh, weird. I almost always get good experiences when I go to REI. Had a 30 minute discussion about the PM2 (which I later traded for a BM 940) in my pocket, and the BM 530 in his once.
Pinned is fine, it works, I know, but in a modern folder I prefer screwed. Part of the reason I'm picky is so I can save money.
 
Of my 7 Benchmades bought in the last 2 years, 2 have centered blades when closed, the 950 Rift and 707 Sequel.
940, 943, 790, 581, and 586 all came slightly to well off center, though none so far as to touch the handle.

I've had limited success with adjusting the blade centering, and end up adjusting them to open and close quick, with as little blade play as possible, and the resulting blade centering or lack thereof is what it is.

I do think, BM being a self proclaimed producer of high quality knives, it is not unrealistic to expect a nicely centered folder for your hard earned. Particularly, for example, the 581/586. I mean, it's made from premium materials and has a real built in quality feel to it. But the blade is off to the side when closed? How hard would it be for BM to get that last bit right?

Having said that, I am pleased to own and use them all and the blade centering issue is really the only complaint I have from my relatively limited experience with Benchmade folders. Myself, I felt that over all what I paid was a fairish price for what I got.

But this price jump thing has changed that for me. I was going to get a Grip to add to my wee collection and was thinking of another 707 for the GF as well. I've changed my mind. The 707 in particular seems overpriced to me now. And at this jumped up price, I would be expecting a centered blade on all BM folders.

At this time, about the only BM I would consider a possible purchase for 2014 is the 940-1. Even then I may wait to see if a 943-1 will happen.
 
RevDevil said:
My experience in REI has been mixed. One time it was smooth when buying supplies for a trip, found some upgraded gear for the same price as the stuff I had been looking at. The other time was going through 4 different clerks to get a yes or no answer, took about 20 minutes and was asked 8 times if I needed help. :confused:
Click to expand...

Scheels is the same way, one day you'll get a rep who obviously knows A LOT about mountain bikes, the next rep will ask "what's a strop", yeah, actually had that happen, it's hit and miss nowadays...
 
KnifeyMcStab said:
So I shouldn't get a new benchmade? Are they really that bad?
Click to expand...

Even with the complaining that has been going on, in all honesty, they can't all be bad... I've owned a fair number of BM's, and maybe I am just lucky, but I have yet to have an issue with any of mine
 
Bushido185 said:
Even with their quirks BM is still a very well made knife.
Click to expand...
The two BM knives I got last year had no issues. I decided to give BM a try thanks to Mike and I had planned on buying several more this year before the price fixing policy.
 
Of the five most recent BM knives I've bought, four were exceptionally good (2x Forum Rift, 2x 2013 ShotShow Grip) and one was very good (730-1303). No true production company is going to achieve a 100% perfection rate - it's just not the nature of the product.
 
JNewell said:
Of the five most recent BM knives I've bought, four were exceptionally good (2x Forum Rift, 2x 2013 ShotShow Grip) and one was very good (730-1303). No true production company is going to achieve a 100% perfection rate - it's just not the nature of the product.
Click to expand...

I'll quote this as well. Of the 40+ I own most are exceptional. The others that have come to my mailbox needing repairs or adjustments were sent back and fixed, making them just as good. Only exception was a knife they couldn't fix, and what they did instead was offer to build me another model of my choice.

This phase of them coming to us in such need of servicing is out of character that I am sure will be resolved. But as long as their customer service remains so top notch and responsive, If there was a model you guys want I wouldn't hesitate to go and get it. If it's not labeled a Benchmade, I probably won't buy it even now.
 
Last year i purchased my my first 710 D2, i was so impressed with the knife that i wanted to get another one. This first one was centered, grinds were even, blade did not touch the back spacer. it was as it should be, being a long in production flagship model...
i posted about my experience about getting my second BM 710D2 back in August in another thread (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-About-to-buy-BM-710D2?highlight=omega+spring), but i think it is more relevant here, so here is what i posted back then:

"i liked it so much that i wanted to get a second one, the place i had picked up the first one was sold out, so i went to another retailer here who are registered dealers from the BM website. they had a total of 4 in stock, one was the display knife, which had probably been handled by any number of customers, so i skipped on that one. asked to see one that was still in box, so out come the three they had sitting in the back, on one the blade was touching the liner so that was out, second one the blade was a little off center and grind was uneven, the third one had an almost centered blade and even grind. so i took it home...however, on closer inspection i realized that one of the omega springs was some how stuck between the scale and liner on one side (pic).
So i took it back the next day, and ended up exchanging it for the second one, this was the one with the uneven grind and off center blade but not touching the liner. after a couple of days i noticed that the blade does hit the back spacer...since this was meant to be a user anyway, i don't mind too much...
As for sending it in...i have considered it, however, being in Canada, i am a little worried about axis lock knives going through customs...

Don't get me wrong. i really like BM products and i am sure that their customer service is excellent...however, i was very surprised that out of the three new 710s the dealer had just received that week all had problems...imho this model being in production for so long, the first axis lock and a flagship model for BM should have better QC....


When picking up your 710, just give it a good look over... it is a great knife and my most frequent edc..."

ERAlNNLl.jpg


How does something like an omega spring stuck between the scales & liner make it thru QC???

Still very much a supporter of Benchmade products, since then i have purchased a 530 and yet another 710BKD2...and both are good....
 
KnifeyMcStab said:
So I shouldn't get a new benchmade? Are they really that bad?
Click to expand...
They're good knives, just not necessarily worth the enforced MAP. You'll get a better value buying one on the secondary market. Lifetime warranty follows the knife instead of the "first purchaser" as some companies will do, so you can send in a used knife you buy to let them give it a once-over. The knife you get back will be practically new, save for scratches and such that it might have when you buy it. They'll replace any springs, screws, etc. with new ones.
 
Fascinating reading! After a few weeks of research, I just ordered a 550SHG. I have carried Spyderco for over 25 years, and needed something with a better finger guard. It came down to the Spyderco Native, and the 550SHG. It will be very interesting to see what comes in the mail. :) I even went so far as to call both Spyderco and BM customer service departments to get some answers about the current warranty philosophy. I WAS very impressed with BMs answers about being able to install a new blade in the case of my being dumb and breaking it. I am pretty excited to enjoy the new BM.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top