Cabela's customer service...

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Reasoned1

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Kershaw customer service left a little to be desired tonight. Cabela's, on the other hand, came through with FLYING COLORS! I ordered twelve Kershaw Chills from Cabela's a couple months ago at $12.99 each (sale still going). Well, I understandably only discovered that one of the twelve knives has a small void that looks like a 1/8" crack in the flipper tip.

I called Kershaw about it, but they would not send me a shipping label and were adamant that I needed to spend $10 or so (tracked mail) to send this $13 knife to them. They would not accept pics of the manufacturing defect to confirm the issue.

I didn't really think it was Cabela's problem (they didn't make it and can't see it when they sell it), but I called them to see what they had to say about it. The nice lady at Cabela's didn't hesitate to arrange to send me a replacement knife and didn't ask me to go to the trouble of sending them the defective one. Needless to say, that made me VERY HAPPY!

Now, I know it's common for vendors to force the unhappy customer to ship a questionable product back but, when it can be shown to be a clear-cut case of a manufacturing defect and your company's reputation stands to be compromised, I just don't understand or respect that business decision. Cabela's, on the other hand, gets it right in my eyes.
 
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Interesting. Though I don't recall their policy ever mentioning covering your shipping to them, defective or not. I know they won't charge shipping TO you, and not the other way around. Considering they replaced the G10 scale and clip when I epoxied them together(clearly my fault, stripped screw or not), I don't have much complaints on my end. Well, only real complaint was that they put on the factory edge on all my knives, even ones I've convexed on the edge, which meant an awful lot of metal was removed, but I suppose in hindsight I should have added a note not to sharpen any of them.
 
I found Kershaw's response to my problem irritating but not unexpected. I'm sure their service is generally excellent (at least I've heard it is). It does make you think twice about the worth of customer service for inexpensive knives when you have to pay to ship the product back to the manufacturer for most of the cost of a new knife.

Rather than crucifying Kershaw, in this thread, I more intended to trumpet how satisfying Cabela's service was in the matter. The facts, however, are what they are.
 
I think it is a fair statement to say that any knife that you buy and return for warranty service, the return shipping in on you. In some cases the shipping both ways is on you. In this regard, Kershaw is already ahead of the game. The price you pay for shipping has what exactly to do with the price of the knife again? It would have been reasonable just as well to return a defective product to where you purchased it to begin with. Add the price of your time, driving back to the store, standing in line, then waiting again, and the all over again on the way home. Luckily, you got it online.

Kershaw does in fact have some of the best customer service, bar none. You strip a screw, bend a clip, break a torsion bar? They send them out for free. I do think that most people have reaistic expectations when it comes to what a warranty return entails, but then again there are the rest. What you might find as irritating is one thing, whether it is realistically worth the outrage is another. Glad it worked out though.
 
Maybe mentioning Cabela's in the title instead of Kershaw would lend some weight to that last post.
 
FLymon said:
Maybe mentioning Cabela's in the title instead of Kershaw would lend some weight to that last post.
Click to expand...

Kershaw did not impress me tonight but, given my main intention, your point was a good one--I've changed the title of the thread accordingly.

Regardless of what's customary, I'm not satisfied as a customer when I have to spend more money for what I should've received in the first place. I believe good customer service, for eminently good business reasons, should seek to turn an unhappy customer into a happy customer--within reason and the bounds of fiscal sense. I think my situation is within those bounds and, so, I think I'm justified in criticizing Kershaw over it.

Also, consider the following: Cabela's is Kershaw's customer (probably a pretty good one). So, Kershaw actually prefers I call their good customer, tell them how they screwed up, wouldn't make it right, and told me to bother them about it... not exactly what I would want to do in their shoes.
 
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thanks for the heads up - i've used Cabelas for many, many years.... (built all my fly rods using their blanks)... good to know that they still stand behind customers...
 
I have bought quite a few items from Cabelas over the years. do not ever hesitate to recommend them. They have good Q items, good prices and their customer service has always been a#1.
 
I've got to give Cabela's a thumbs up myself.I bought a set of midland radios with,charger base,and batteries,after a few months of use one of the batteries quit taking charge.I called Cabela's to see if they could send a replacement battery,or if I needed to contact midland.The lady said I'll send you a new charger base,and both batteries,and you keep the old ones.Best customer service I ever received.
 
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