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BladeHQ Bad Customer Service

L

lambertiana

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I was looking at the Bear & Sons damascus executive lockback on Blade HQ's website. The item header and description both said it was mastodon ivory, but the item detail said it was bone, and the picture looks like bone. So I asked BladeHQ if it was bone or mastodon. Here is their first reply:

"Thank you for contacting us. I suggest visiting BladeForums.com for more articles/information."

I responded, asking how people on Bladeforums would know the details about a knife they were selling. Their response was this:

"Thank you for your response. I am sorry about that. It shows that this knife is Mastodon Ivory.

Please let us know if we can help with anything else.

Keep safe always!"

Still not completely sure, and not wanting to go through the hassle of returning a knife if it turned out to be the wrong handle material, I then asked if it was just their web listing that shows it is mastodon, or if the packaging material with the knife said it was mastodon. This was the response I got:

"Thank you for contacting us. I suggest contacting the manufacturer just to make sure or please give us a call at 888-252-3347 Monday - Friday 7;00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. MST and we can assist you further."

At this point I just gave up. The manufacturer has offered this knife in both handle materials, and they would not be in a position to know what BladeHQ has in stock. If BladeHQ Customer service can't be bothered to even look at the knife in question to see what the packaging says, then I can't be bothered to ever buy from them again.
 
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Danke42 said:
Can you highlight where it says "bone"?

https://www.bladehq.com/item--Bear-Son-Damascus-Mini-Trapper--39460

Also it's not in stock.
Click to expand...

Ooops, my mistake. I meant to type executive lockback, and somehow had a senior moment and substituted mini trapper. I fixed the OP. This is the one, note that the title and description say mastodon while the specifications say bone, and the picture looks like bone:

https://www.bladehq.com/item--Bear-Son-Cutlery-Executive-Lockback--39461
 
was this over the weekend? they may not have anyone live answering until
monday. sounds like you just got an automated system
 
that looks like some of the mastadon I've seen but that does seem a bit affordable for that material.
 
Sorry, so what's the issue here? They didn't answer your question fast enough and pointed you to the largest knife forum?

Also, you do understand that ivory is bone, right? It's very possible that their inventory system didn't have a specific ivory option.
 
It has been said here many times that ivory is not bone.

"Introduction
Many museums have objects that are made from ivory, bone, horn, or antler. Proper identification of these materials is important, as it may determine the type of care required for the object's continued well-being.

Identification
Ivory and bone
Ivory and bone are very similar in chemical make-up, but their physical structure is quite different. Both consist primarily of inorganic materials (which provide strength and rigidity), and both have an organic component to provide the capacity for growth and repair. The main structural difference between the two is that ivory has no marrow or blood vessel system. It is essentially tooth material. It is usually whiter, harder, denser, and heavier than bone. Bone, on the other hand, has a spongy central portion of marrow from which a series of tiny blood vessels extends into the more solid areas. These vessels appear as tiny dark spots, pits, or lines on the surface of bone objects. There is generally a larger proportion of spongy material in the bones of sea mammals (extensively used by coastal peoples) than in the bones of land mammals."

Always eager to learn more and to correct my misunderstandings.

Does mastadion ivory have the same value as "bone"?
 
Thomas Linton said:
It has been said here many times that ivory is not bone.

"Introduction
Many museums have objects that are made from ivory, bone, horn, or antler. Proper identification of these materials is important, as it may determine the type of care required for the object's continued well-being.

Identification
Ivory and bone
Ivory and bone are very similar in chemical make-up, but their physical structure is quite different. Both consist primarily of inorganic materials (which provide strength and rigidity), and both have an organic component to provide the capacity for growth and repair. The main structural difference between the two is that ivory has no marrow or blood vessel system. It is essentially tooth material. It is usually whiter, harder, denser, and heavier than bone. Bone, on the other hand, has a spongy central portion of marrow from which a series of tiny blood vessels extends into the more solid areas. These vessels appear as tiny dark spots, pits, or lines on the surface of bone objects. There is generally a larger proportion of spongy material in the bones of sea mammals (extensively used by coastal peoples) than in the bones of land mammals."

Always eager to learn more and to correct my misunderstandings.

Does mastadion ivory have the same value as "bone"?
Click to expand...

Huh. I stand corrected. Thank you. I learned something today.
 
How did you ask them? Was it with the chat feature on their website, or via email? Did you follow up with a phone call like they suggested?

It sounds like you were getting automated responses from their chat feature. You should try to contact them another way, as they suggested. They also have at least two warehouses, so they may not have that exact knife in the same place their customer service people are.
 
Silent H said:
How did you ask them? Was it with the chat feature on their website, or via email? Did you follow up with a phone call like they suggested?

It sounds like you were getting automated responses from their chat feature. You should try to contact them another way, as they suggested. They also have at least two warehouses, so they may not have that exact knife in the same place their customer service people are.
Click to expand...

It was by email, not chat. It would have been fine if they had just said that they were not sure, or if the responding person was not at the same location as the knife and couldn't check. I would understand that. It just felt that the person responding to my emails was not terribly interested in giving an answer of any kind other than a boilerplate referral to bladeforums or the manufacturer.

I have worked as a customer service rep, and I know what it takes to do the job correctly. If I couldn't immediately give an answer, I would tell them that I would investigate it, and then I would get back to them with the result of that investigation; I wouldn't just pawn it off. I guess I was wrong to expect the same level of service from BladeHQ.
 
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It is perfectly OK to say, "I don't know, but I will do my best to find out and get back to you." IF that is the truth. That is seldom the response - public or private - the boilerplate brush off prevails.
 
One of the problems with email, is it real or automated? Half the time it doesn't work like it is supposed to. No one ever takes responsibility for results. Small wonder people are peeved all the time.
 
Thanks to everyone here for participating in this discussion and I apologize for the lack of a response yesterday. First I'd like to address the confusion about the item as the conflicting information is certainly confusing. After inspecting the item myself and speaking with our Products team we have confirmed that the handle material on this Executive is bone rather than ivory as listed previously. We are unsure how this originally got listed incorrectly but our Products team is investigating the matter further.

As for the Customer Service you received I would have to agree that those messages are subpar, to say the least, and I apologize for the frustration these lackluster communications have caused. While we do not currently use automated messages to respond to emails we do employ the use of email templates to help address customer's concerns more efficiently. Incidentally, we have recently noticed that our current protocols in regards to templates have caused QA to suffer and have instituted changes in that system just last week and it seems the contact you had was during this transition. Going forward I can assure you that our email communications will be much more thoughtful, effective, and personal as that has always been something we have worked to achieve when communicating with our customers. Of course, we always encourage the community to share feedback as it helps hold us accountable and improve our industry as a whole.

- BHQ
 
BladeHQ said:
Thanks to everyone here for participating in this discussion and I apologize for the lack of a response yesterday. First I'd like to address the confusion about the item as the conflicting information is certainly confusing. After inspecting the item myself and speaking with our Products team we have confirmed that the handle material on this Executive is bone rather than ivory as listed previously. We are unsure how this originally got listed incorrectly but our Products team is investigating the matter further.

As for the Customer Service you received I would have to agree that those messages are subpar, to say the least, and I apologize for the frustration these lackluster communications have caused. While we do not currently use automated messages to respond to emails we do employ the use of email templates to help address customer's concerns more efficiently. Incidentally, we have recently noticed that our current protocols in regards to templates have caused QA to suffer and have instituted changes in that system just last week and it seems the contact you had was during this transition. Going forward I can assure you that our email communications will be much more thoughtful, effective, and personal as that has always been something we have worked to achieve when communicating with our customers. Of course, we always encourage the community to share feedback as it helps hold us accountable and improve our industry as a whole.

- BHQ
Click to expand...

Thank you for your input.
 
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