Buyer Beware

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tjweeks

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I very rarely buy a used knife-maybe 3 times. I guess I just am not the trustful kind. Anyway about 2 months back I saw a Spyderco Southard with some nice extra's at a good price. I have always really liked the looks of the Southard. I have I black but this was originally a tan with satin blade. The owner had swapped out the stock scale for a carbon fiber and it looks good. I got it pretty quickly and started working it. Open--Close-----. It seemed to be ok. Blade was centered. After too much longer though it started getting less smooth flipping and closing. Then it struck me, this must be one of those Southards with the screwed up washers. I guess the seller figured this was a good time to get rid of it-thus the good price. Anyway, I sent it back to Spyderco thinking maybe they would make it right because it is a known problem. Where I screwed up was leaving the carbon fiber scale on it. Thanks to that it cost me 20 bucks. Spyderco is serious about not modifying your knife. Oh well, at least I will have a kind of new knife. It ism a little disappointing though that this guy sold me what he knew was a problem knife. I don't think I would ever do that.,
 
If the knife flipped fine when you got it and then got worse after you continued to flip it, I don’t think the seller sold it to you knowing the washers were bad. I’m speaking from experience, because I had the same issue with my Southard. It flipped fine at first and within a short time began to degrade.

Also, I sent my knife to Spyderco and they claimed it had been disassembled, even thought i bought it new from an authorized dealer and never disassembled it (I knew better not to).

In the end, you got a great knife at a great price. Enjoy.
 
sabre cat said:
Did he state that the knife had problems?
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No and from the pictures and descriptions you could not tell. I thought I had just run into a great deal. It had a custom Carbon Fiber scale with original scale included. A custom titanium clip and the knife was impeccable. He had taken great care of the knife that's why I thought I had gotten a great deal. I can't say for sure he knew about the problems involved with the Southard washers and bearings but I think he did and was going to get rid of it while the getting was good.
 
LastRodeo said:
If the knife flipped fine when you got it and then got worse after you continued to flip it, I don’t think the seller sold it to you knowing the washers were bad. I’m speaking from experience, because I had the same issue with my Southard. It flipped fine at first and within a short time began to degrade.

Also, I sent my knife to Spyderco and they claimed it had been disassembled, even thought i bought it new from an authorized dealer and never disassembled it (I knew better not to).

In the end, you got a great knife at a great price. Enjoy.
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True that. Thanks.
 
Peter Hartwig said:
How do you know he purposely sold you a knife that would develop problems? It didn't seem to have them when it arrived.
We in the secondary market try to disclose problems, but we don't warranty the item.
Maybe he knew maybe not
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That may be true but he sold a knife worth $400 (with customs) for $129 (so how dumb am I?). From what I have read about the Southard problem, most owners start torqueing down on the pivot screw when it first starts acting up and it is a temp. fix. But after you torque down on them it will work ok for a while and then it starts grabbing. I had only flipped it a half a dozen times when I first got it and it seemed fine. Then I put it away until a couple of weeks ago and took it out to oil it and noticed it would no longer flip all the way. I would flip it hard and it would go a little over half way open and stop. It also would not close well. I guess it is not a big deal because Spyderco has it now and they are only charging $20 to fix it and it IS a beautiful knife. I was just put out because the seller snuck it in on me.
 
tjweeks said:
No and from the pictures and descriptions you could not tell. I thought I had just run into a great deal. It had a custom Carbon Fiber scale with original scale included. A custom titanium clip and the knife was impeccable. He had taken great care of the knife that's why I thought I had gotten a great deal. I can't say for sure he knew about the problems involved with the Southard washers and bearings but I think he did and was going to get rid of it while the getting was good.
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Since you haven't named the seller, no harm done, but - you have no evidence that the seller had any idea that there might be a flaw in the knife. To the contrary, the evidence (the problem didn't reveal itself until after you'd had the knife for some period of time with no sign of a problem) strongly suggests that the seller did nothing wrong. I'm sure you're a fine human, but this is a ridiculous post.
 
I'm sure in retrospect, knowing what he knows now, he wouldn't have started the thread. We are all here to learn and share knowledge. No harm done imo.
 
HappyDaddy said:
this is a ridiculous post.
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My thoughts as well, tho I wasn't going to be so kind with the fine human part. The op sounds like a nightmare to do a deal with. $129 for a Southard and he's complaining about a known problem with this model. Why is he not blaming spyderco for making a flawed knife or the design in general? The op even stated the knife was great when he received it, why wouldn't seller think the same when sold it. Laughable the delusion here.

Sorry, but op is going on ignore. Won't deal with people like this. Crazy.
 
If he knew he should have revealed the fault, but it likely would have sold easily for $129 with the fault.
$129 +$20=$149 for what you say is a $400 knife. That is still a fantastic deal. I wouldn't complain even if the seller was at fault. If I said anything it would be privately to him about full disclosure and not a GBU thread.
You could have always asked -Why so cheap, but likely didn't won't to.
 
A) There's no free lunch.
B) Taking apart a Sypderco knife does not void the warranty. Sal has clarified that and so has Michael Janich. If you loose, break or maladjust stuff that's on you though.
C) Weird how my Southard just keeps on fliping. I must be doing something wrong.
 
Can you even adjust the pivot on a knife with bearings? I'm asking sincerely, as I didn't think you could.
 
HappyDaddy said:
Since you haven't named the seller, no harm done, but - you have no evidence that the seller had any idea that there might be a flaw in the knife. To the contrary, the evidence (the problem didn't reveal itself until after you'd had the knife for some period of time with no sign of a problem) strongly suggests that the seller did nothing wrong. I'm sure you're a fine human, but this is a ridiculous post.
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I don't even remember the name of the seller. If I did I would have gone to him and not aired my dirty laundry in the public. Why is this this (in your opinion) a ridiculous post. Is this whole BladeForums not a place for like minded people to share stories. I have neither slandered nor said anything angry or wrong about the fellow who sold me that knife. I do know that now that the whole issue of the cupped washers on the Southard, Positron, and two or three other knives by this maker have ended up with the same problem. I wondered back when the Southards price dropped a huge chunk and I bought my first one I thought it was just pure dumb luck because I really had liked this knife but could not get myself to go over $250 for one. All of a sudden they dropped to $179. Now as to whether or not I'm a fine human I neither know or care but I do take offense with my very valid story being called ridiculous. You are making assumptions that you are just totally throwing out there with no proof makes your comment the ridiculous one. Good Day
 
tjweeks said:
I don't even remember the name of the seller. If I did I would have gone to him and not aired my dirty laundry in the public. Why is this this (in your opinion) a ridiculous post. Is this whole BladeForums not a place for like minded people to share stories. I have neither slandered nor said anything angry or wrong about the fellow who sold me that knife. I do know that now that the whole issue of the cupped washers on the Southard, Positron, and two or three other knives by this maker have ended up with the same problem. I wondered back when the Southards price dropped a huge chunk and I bought my first one I thought it was just pure dumb luck because I really had liked this knife but could not get myself to go over $250 for one. All of a sudden they dropped to $179. Now as to whether or not I'm a fine human I neither know or care but I do take offense with my very valid story being called ridiculous. You are making assumptions that you are just totally throwing out there with no proof makes your comment the ridiculous one. Good Day
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In three separate posts you’ve accused the seller of knowingly selling you a defective knife when there’s no evidence that he/she had any reason to know the knife was defective. That this mysterious seller intentionally ripped you off is the whole point of your OP. Since the evidence you give suggests precisely the opposite, I think it’s a ridiculous post. Not the first here, and won’t be the last.
 
LastRodeo said:
Can you even adjust the pivot on a knife with bearings? I'm asking sincerely, as I didn't think you could.
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Of course. Why wouldn't it work the same as washers? There's just more lee-way on how loose/tight you can get with bearing pivots as compared to washers, since a torqued down bearing will still roll while a washer will become essentially friction-sealed shut.
 
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