Benchmade's reputation

I've been buying Benchmade knives since 2005. I've owned about 90 of them. I have had none of the experiences that you have had. Benchmade has gotten better over the years in just about everything. I prefer Spyderco but I still love BM as they were my first high end production knife. They used to let knives get out of the building that were not sharp, but not anymore. Now they are just as sharp as anything I've ever had. Benchmade is top notch IMO.
 
Lodd said:
If I should ever need to send a knife in to Benchmade for servicing or warranty, not only will it take very long, but I'll have to pay postage (and probably taxes on the return trip too). This can add up to a lot of money. I'm not blaming Benchmade (or any other company) for this. Short of establishing a service center in the EU, there isn't much they can do. However, it is part of the 'individual businesscase' I was referring to a few posts back.

Although establishing a service center in the EU does sound like a great idea, now that I mention it...
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I feel the same way. If I get a $250 knife with qc issues through bad luck and have to send it back to the USA then in my mind it's a $275 knife, because of bad luck. That's why I'm more likely to stick to brands with good reputation for qc. Just my opinion.
 
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I just bought a brand new Bugout and it was absolutely perfect. Grinds were even, blade was perfectly centered, and lockup was bank vault tight. Blade was extremely sharp right out of the box. I could not find a single thing to complain about with this knife other than I wish I had bought one sooner! Good job Benchmade!
 
I have had so many Benchmade and Spyderco knifes come through my hands that I will say QC issues are a problem for all companies. I have a sprint run M4 PM2 that has atrocious jimping on it. I have seen so many off center blades from both companies it bugs me when I look at them but when in use it’s hardly a deal breaker. I think my biggest problem for me with Benchmade is nothing in their lineup makes me want to buy anything. I feel they have cheated out recently with some models, axing good models and still asking a premium for a knife that is no better than a cheaper Spyderco.
 
shaztec said:
I feel the same way. If I get a $250 knife with qc issues through bad luck and have to send it back to the USA then in my mind it's a $275 knife, because of bad luck. That's why I'm more likely to stick to brands with good reputation for qc. Just my opinion.
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To give you an idea, here's what happens to the price of a $250 knife in the Netherlands:

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So, $250 becomes € 301.93 (or $372,28) to your door. I used about $35 for shipping in this example.

Now imagine shipping this knife back and forth one more time. I'll have to pay:

Shipping towards USA: $35
Repair under warranty: $0
Shipping Back to Europe: $35
Additional costs for handling/customs/taxes (again): € 70,79 / $87.28

Total: $157,28.

Granted, I'm not so sure about the $87.28 if you can prove you've already been taxed for the same knife once. But still, it's a lot of money.

So, in summary. A $250 knife becomes a $372.28 knife to your door in the Netherlands. Should I need to send it back for warranty once, it might become a $529.56 knife.

Do you understand now why I said the businesscase is different here?




AW43AjH
 
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I have been buying Benchmade knives since I was a teenager in the late 90’s. I’ll agree the MAP pricing can be a bit high and the QC can be off on some knives. However, I would like to say that Benchmade’s customer service and warranty are second to none IMO. Over the years on numerous occasions they have replaced a couple blades and in two cases replaced entire knives that really were my fault that they broke. About a year ago I sent in a knives to have the blade replaced just due to it having been sharpened a lot. This knife was purchased by me in 2000-2001 and had been out of production for 15 years. Since Benchmade did not have a blade or have omega springs in stock ( not that they were broken ) they gave me 2 options. 1 return the knife as is, or 2 give me credit for the original MSRP plus an adjustment for inflation. Since I owned 2 of the same knives I opted for option 2 and was given a $225 credit for a knife I paid around $150 ( which I got my money’s worth out of in use ) that I owned for like 16 years. Since the money was a credit and had to be used direct from the Benchmade store I bought a custom. I don’t know of any other company that would go to that extent to keep their customers happy.
 
I haven't had a single issue with any of my benchmades no grittiness, uneven grinds, sharp scales ever. I am also not super picky about getting a perfect knife because even at $300 and up they are tools that i use every day and at the end of the day its just money.
 
I’ve had 4 warranty claims in less than 18 months. I was supposed to receive my Benchmade AF02 today instead this is what I got. I’ve spent thousands of dollars with this company and I can say that I doubt I will ever again.CFC3BD56-3BFF-4809-86EF-D09CD93E5F54.jpeg
 
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angryirish87 said:
I’ve had 4 warranty claims in less than 18 months. I was supposed to receive my Benchmade AF02 today instead this is what I got. I’ve spent thousands of dollars with this company and I can say that I doubt I will ever again
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Don't look down on the Griptilian. Its a great knife.*



* - Yes, I am joking. That sucks that they sent you the wrong blade.
 
angryirish87 said:
I’ve had 4 warranty claims in less than 18 months. I was supposed to receive my Benchmade AF02 today instead this is what I got. I’ve spent thousands of dollars with this company and I can say that I doubt I will ever again.View attachment 919732
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Unrelated... you blacked out your address but not name and state. Anyone could search by your address or confirm your address with your order number. Black out your name or any reference of unique identifiers if your really trying to stay anonymous.
 
I’ve been wanting a BM Valet for a while now so I stopped in my local dealer last week intending to purchase one. The first 3 they brought out had very off center grinds, said they had 6 more in the back I was welcome to look at but I had to get back to the office. This was a $170 knife! Out of the 25 or so that I have owned this was my first experience with poor workmanship.
 
trailhunter said:
Unrelated... you blacked out your address but not name and state. Anyone could search by your address or confirm your address with your order number. Black out your name or any reference of unique identifiers if your really trying to stay anonymous.
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I thought about it and I’m not really that worried, keep guns around the house like tinker toys, and two 120lb German Shepherds Rome the premisis, thanks for looking out.
 
BEBrewster said:
Don't look down on the Griptilian. Its a great knife.*



* - Yes, I am joking. That sucks that they sent you the wrong blade.
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They made it right even though my knife was never recovered (some lucky bastard sent in a griptillian and got an AFO2) despite their R&D and engineering issues they’re customer service is really good and they always have tried to make it right, thanks for the reply..

Oh and I have 4 grips so I agree
 
I don't own any benchmade products thou they use alot of plastic handels and the prices are way up there. American made kershaws are a much better bet aluminum handels and good blade steel and a better looking knife in general and looking into highte quality pro tech especially autos. Microtech is also way above kershaw thou qc and customer service can be a problem. The shootout users plastic handels the live wire is aluminum and magnacut for 100 dollars less
 
B billwill we get it. You’ve taken every opportunity since you’ve been here to complain about Benchmade, a brand you have admitted yourself you have no experience with, because you apparently just don’t like plastic and high prices. Fine.

Please stop opening old threads to keep saying the same thing. This thread hadn’t been respond to for six years.
 
I don't think that Benchmade's rep has gone downhill. I don't think it ever was that good, they just used to have less competition. I liked most of the stuff made by Pacific Cutlery, but when they became BM it took a turn south. They still have some good models that are fine, like the 7505 series and the other Sibert designs. It is just that stuff like the plastic handle models look crappy and are not strong. I work in a store part time now that sells BM, and yesterday a guy was looking at the bugouts and turned it down because the just bend from side to side. Even the older Gerber LST's are stronger handles than these bugouts. And basically very few of their current lineup is impressive, new or unique.
 
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