Buck Quality Control

E

eah990

Joined
Aug 3, 2009
Messages
74
So I am going to tell everyone how it is. I know a lot of people will get there feathers ruffled, but I don't care. Buck makes a lot of great designs, but there quality control is not up to par. I recently spent a lot of money on three different knives that Buck produces, each of which has serious faults.

1. Buck 110---- Enormous blade play side to side. One of the worst I have experienced.

2. Buck Vantage Select ----- the blade hits the liner on one side so bad it has caused the edge to fold over and the knife is useless because half the cutting surface is gone.

3. Buck Vantage Pro---- the liner lock wouldn't even engage it was so cattywompus. And the very tip of the blade wasn't even sharpened, it was a blunt tip.

Absolutely ridiculous and infuriating. Everyone says no big deal, send it back. I DONT WANT TO SEND IT BACK. This is the third knife I have received in need of desperate repair. When I buy a knife it should at least function, and I shouldn't have to spend another $10 and two weeks to get a knife in good working order. I will give you guys pics within a day or two, as I know some of you wont believe until you see it. But this is horrible, I have never been so angry with one company and there blatant QC problems
 
If you are telling the truth and are unwilling to take advantage of Buck's warranty, there is nothing anyone here can say or do for you. Buck has a reputation for making good on its products and in mass production sometimes something will get through QC. But why did you even purchase a knife that had "serious faults"? Why not take or send them back to the store?

However, the tone of your protest makes me think you may be a troll. Why did you not wait until you had photos before you trouble us?
 
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I understand what he is saying,sometimes knives will get by QC,its going to happen with any company making lots of products,all we can do is hope for better QC in the future,and take advantage of the warranty they offer,they will take care of you as a customer.I can pick up any one of my 70's -80's and even 90's buck 110's and not one of them has any type of issue,the blades lock up solid,the fit/finish is beyond perfect as well.

I can go into any walmart today and pick up a 110 and find something not right about it today,as i actually did this in 3 different walmarts.Some have a bad grind,some have loose blades,some have bolsters ground down so uneven it looks like somebody fell asleep at the polish station.I have never seen a bad knife until the company moved to Idaho,not one,so why all these issues after the move ?I still love my bucks,but the quality seems to have dropped a few notches since the move.
 
Buck makes mistakes and they have also upset me in the past.

I think it's a function of the market place. They are trying to keep prices low enough to compete with overseas markets and in doing so make mistakes.

I don't even think they have raised their prices enough over the years to keep up with inflation. However, they know their market place better than I.

Did you see the knives first hand? Where did you buy them?

Have you tried to tighten the pivot screw? May fix some of the issues and is reasonable to turn a screw.
 
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wolfdog said:
If you are telling the truth and are unwilling to take advantage of Buck's warranty, there is nothing anyone here can say or do for you. Buck has a reputation for making good on its products and in mass production sometimes something will get through QC. But why did you even purchase a knife that had "serious faults"? Why not take or send them back to the store?
However, the tone of your protest makes me think you may be a troll. Why did you not wait until you had photos before you trouble us?
Click to expand...

wolf +1 here.. some of bucks knives are better then others..
some may have slipped through that should not have..
personal do change jobs and some times there is a learning curve..
but still he has a privilege to voice his concerns and
i know those at buck do read these with or with out picts
and will take a walk to the line to check things out..
i know as seen them do it when was there..
 
334dave said:
wolf +1 here.. some of bucks knives are better then others..
some may have slipped through that should not have..
personal do change jobs and some times there is a learning curve..
but still he has a privilege to voice his concerns and
i know those at buck do read these with or with out picts
and will take a walk to the line to check things out..
i know as seen them do it when was there..
Click to expand...

A lot going on here Dave . But I know your right as I've seen them do it as well when I was there . DM :)
 
The O.P. has just had a run of bad luck.

I don't consider myself lucky, but I've purchased about 20 Buck knives in the past few years and I've only had to take one back to the store and send one back to the factory.

I would have taken the second one back to the store, but it was a limited edition and no more were available so I sent it in to get it fixed. It came back flawless.

That being said though.......I do agree that Buck (along with most companies) could work harder at quality control. Making them perfect in the first place is the most efficient way to do it.

When I take something back I lose time and money.......always and without fail--I lose time and money.

That does not make me happy and people who sell things should take that seriously.
 
I do apologize if eah990 is frustrated from a run of bad luck.

I'm an early adopter of Blu-ray and when there was the great Blu-ray/HD DVD war, on the Blu-ray forum we'd get trolls from the HD DVD camp complaining and complaining about how everything is wrong with Blu-ray.

Marketing is in a cut-throat competition arena these days. I have a friend who is a customs agent and inspects container ships as they come into the Seattle and Tacoma ports. From China he sees all sorts of products tagged with prices like sweaters @ $.37 (thirty seven cents) each. These eventually go into Seattle stores and sell for $40. - $50. That makes competition very stiff for American manufacturers.

That, with a sour economy, employee lay offs, trying to keep up production with a less than ideal number of staff - creates a less than ideal marketing environment.

One plus. If you do get a knife that is sub par, the warranty dept will give it personal attention. I have faith that people at Buck will do their best to make it good. That in the long run is a big, marketing and business plus.
 
Buck_110 said:
The work ethic in this country is almost non-existent. Add to that the attitude of why treat something like yours if it's not yours, and a total flight from quality runs straight across the boards. It's sad, but it is 100% true. The manufacturing days of wine and roses in this country have been over for a long time now. I will bet my last penny that those days are gone forever.
Click to expand...

The work ethic in this country is what the companies want it to be. With the total lack of company loyalty to their employees, layoffs that only serve to increase exec. bonuses, and the ridiculous idea that productivity can increase endlessly and in an ever steepening curve. Add to that "unpaid overtime" and any number of employer abuses, and it would be unreasonable to expect anything other than what you get now.

Did you know that even though labor charges are routinely $100 or more an hour for auto repair, that the average auto tech gets less than $11.50 an hour? Is it any wonder nobody can fix your car?
 
There is a reason I buy as many new old stock 110's on the bay,along wityh 440c skinners/119's,there is no comparison to the quality of those knives,todays just don't compare on any level,not trying to ruffle feathers or anything else,its the way it is ..
 
Gosh, RAZ......I recently got two of the new Buckscripts. Both were sharp, bright, tight and beautiful.

Five new Founder's Editions.....I only checked one. Flawless.

Maybe I'm just living right, but I sure haven't had any quality problems lately.

If they, as you say, "can't compare on any level" with the older knives, I'm just not seeing that at all.

I also disagree with Buck 110 that today's employees are "lousy" and "don't care."

Not true. Lots of them are good and they try to do a good job. And today's employees DO get asked to produce more for less than ever before.

I buy old knives because they are discontinued models that will never be made again, not because they're superior to today's knives. Sure, some may be, but most of the new ones are fine quality knives that will last a lifetime.
 
joe-bob said:
The work ethic in this country is what the companies want it to be. With the total lack of company loyalty to their employees, layoffs that only serve to increase exec. bonuses, and the ridiculous idea that productivity can increase endlessly and in an ever steepening curve. Add to that "unpaid overtime" and any number of employer abuses, and it would be unreasonable to expect anything other than what you get now.
Click to expand...

+ 1

Exactly. :grumpy:
 
Why do some of you want to act like Knotheads and make this thread a management/worker argument!!

The O.P. said he's bought three knives from Buck and they were poor in fit and finish. I think that noone will argue much that the move to Idaho has had some negative impact on fit an finish. Personally, I think the Buck family is doing everything they can to compete in a market dominated by small companies producing limited numbers of high quality and expensive knives and by shell companies importing Chinese made knives for peanuts (due to a fixed exchange rate advantage of the Chinese).

Talk about Buck's position in the market and why they are there! Competative pressures! Poor Decisions! or anything related to Buck Inc. But picking a Blue collar verse White collar fight is a bunch of hoooeeeyyyy!!!

Edit: Personnally I think the thread was started by a troll but maybe not. He hasn't come back and commented or posted any pictures as promised.
 
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eah990 said:
So I am going to tell everyone how it is. I know a lot of people will get there feathers ruffled, but I don't care. Buck makes a lot of great designs, but there quality control is not up to par. I recently spent a lot of money on three different knives that Buck produces, each of which has serious faults.

1. Buck 110---- Enormous blade play side to side. One of the worst I have experienced.

2. Buck Vantage Select ----- the blade hits the liner on one side so bad it has caused the edge to fold over and the knife is useless because half the cutting surface is gone.

3. Buck Vantage Pro---- the liner lock wouldn't even engage it was so cattywompus. And the very tip of the blade wasn't even sharpened, it was a blunt tip.

Absolutely ridiculous and infuriating. Everyone says no big deal, send it back. I DONT WANT TO SEND IT BACK. This is the third knife I have received in need of desperate repair. When I buy a knife it should at least function, and I shouldn't have to spend another $10 and two weeks to get a knife in good working order. I will give you guys pics within a day or two, as I know some of you wont believe until you see it. But this is horrible, I have never been so angry with one company and there blatant QC problems
Click to expand...


So let me see if I got this strait.

You buy a Buck knife and its got the worst side play you've ever seen. Your words; 'the worst I've ever experienced'.

So instead of complaing to Buck, you go out and buy another Buck knife. This one too is a looser, takes off half the cutting edge when you close it because of poor construction. Yet you still don't call Buck. But...

You go out and buy a third Buck knife which you say is as lousy a knife as the first two. Yet you don't call Buck, or consider giving them a chance to corect the situation.

I started using Buck knives over 40 years ago. I have met members of the Buck family at the blade show in Knoxville, and found them to be the most honest God fearing people I've ever met. Only last year I called up the Buck company and complained about the loose fit of the sheath of my Hartsook, and was told by a nice sounding young lady that they have redeigned the sheath for better retention and if I send in the old sheath, they will send me a new one. They did. The people I talked to were professional, and eager to see the problem solved.

You sir, need to man up and act like one, and give the Buck comapany a chance to do right before trying to smear their name on the 'net by your petulent ranting. Things in Idaho may not yet be up to El Cajon standards, but they are getting there. They don't know if there is a problem unless you tell them. And I've never known Buck NOT to correct a problem.

If the first knife was so bad, why did you buy a second, let alone a third?

It's true there are some people who just like to b---h.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the O.P. is scared to come back

:D

I regard this thread as much ado about nothing. Buck is struggling in a tough business. If they're going to survive, they have to be a little tough on the employees, just like everybody else. The younger generation of employees has a little different work ethic.

But......the knives are getting produced, they are mostly excellent knives and buck will fix the mistakes that slip through.

Gosh.....things ain't all that bad.

;)
 
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