camillus service

My uncle is caught in the strike, I can tell you from the inside track that the knife works has been on a downward slide for a while, very little money has been re-invested in the last 20 to update or even maintain things in the Camillus works. They usually do cost analysis and if it makes more sense to import then they do. The entire shop has watched as less and less work came down to the floor. 5-7 weeks of mandatory complete plant shutdowns per year (with no pay of course). We've been telling my uncle for over 5 years now he needed to look for a new job, but he's stuborn and he's also 3rd gen doing the same job, he got it when his father passed away, who got it when his father lost a hand in a machine and couldn't do the hard machine maintance work.

Best thing that could happen in Camillus would be to either close and force the owners to retrain all the workers, or the banks to step in and reach a deal with the workers to run the plant. Camillus made knives that served in every branch of the armed forces in every war until Iraq (those are imports now). Its sad, sad to see a real american company that used to really care and want to produce only the highest quality of product, that is filled with hard working people who know nothing other than how to make some great knives, just get boned over because their wages just don't fit into a cost analysis.

As to why it takes weeks instead of days to get repairs done, well that's because they wait until theres a full days work of repairs before they do them. That and parts are very hard to come across even inside the company, you need to disassemble a kinfe to get parts, that or they have to make the parts, sometimes they have to be handmade, one offs from prints to get your parts.

Wish I could get knives back for people, if the strike wasn't happening I could speed things thru (my uncle was doing repair work behind peoples backs in his spare time to keep busy)
 
Thanx for the scoop NY...it was very helpful. Also want to mention that I can't help but respect a man like your uncle. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
 
All the best to camillius. Hope they don't declare bankrupt! Their knives are really great and the people in my country really like their knives too. Great quality, equally great price.
 
shocking to hear the military, whose's infamous for +$200. hammers
would import the blades our best carry into battle...with just a small contract from the military, camillus would still be afloat. i'm sure the guy making that decision was try to save us all some $, but the unintended consequences are now very evident. i guess i should'nt be too shocked.
i pray for the solution to be quickly forthcomming.
 
our govt works on no levels anymore-

wtf are our american personel doing equiped with non american made stuff-
the overseas folk must have figured out payola also-
 
i know rosconey, it's sooooooo frustrating...i'd better not get started.
i won't carry chi-com stuff in my pocket and i put stuff back that's made there, when possible. that's why i bought from camillus.
 
nydiver, thanks for the scoop on whats happening. does your uncle have
a shop at home that he can adjust the blade, in the frame, of a dominator?
i'm concerned that i could loose my knife altogether, if bankrupcy is declared.
it's presently in the hands of warranty repair. i know it's selfish, but, it needs to be in my pocket.
any progress today with the strike?
 
hey ulua -ill buy it at the bankruptcy sale-lol

i know its not funny but i thought some humor would be good right about now-granted its not funny to you but others might get the ball bust-

if they wont or cant fix it or reship it back ill be glad to go pick it up and see you get it back-

with that inside repair scoop from the shop -i wonder if my polished blade a g russell dominator is a one off they sent for a repacement-
might go ask over at bf about that at the ag forum-did they ever have polished blades or are all stone washed
 
rosconey, i laughed out loud! thanks for the pick up offer, i hope that's
not gonna be necessary. i called ccs (camillus customer service) today.
they don't know when, but repaired or not repaired, i'll get my blade back
guaranteed. i'm told it's a minor adjustment (in expert hands) and the side of the blade will no longer touch the side of the frame. what was wrong w/ yours, that you got a virgin?
 
A light machine polish was possible at the factory, but a real chrome like polish was not, if its that shiny then it is nickel plated and that is imported.

The military items mostly are imported now, the K-bar is still from Camillus only because it is overly produced and simple for the shop, They are (were) pros at them.

Only management can get a knife out of the factory right now, and seeing that none of the repair people are working I don't hold much hope that your repair will happen in Camillus, they'll probably have them repaired at an outside source to keep people happy.

I feel bad for anyone who sent their beloved blades to Camillus for repair, for there is no telling who is going to repair it, at least a month ago there were only 2 women who would have been fixing it up (maybe with some help from a machinist to make one offs to fix it up) but at least they took pride in fixing even the crapiest of the imported blades to make them truely american-like made. There wasn't one repaired knife that didn't leave without working flawlessly before it was returned, I can't say that will return even if the strike ends.

Its a sad time for a great american knife works.
 
Hate to break the news, but ALL Cuda and Heat are import parts assembled in the US, some were assembled in Camillus and alot were assembled elsewhere. I have several cudas and heat that I can easily tell which were assembled by hand in NY for me and which were slapped together elsewhere and sent to me mailorder (some knives were hard for even employees to get their hands on, hence even internal people ended up having to mailorder to get knives)

I really thought that the Lev-r-lok would turn Camillus around, but they just never seem to market it. Next time I'm home I'll have to post my one off lev-r-lok collection, I have over 25 different lev-r-loks, as you can figure most never went to production. Its a shame....
 
i guess you cant even believe "made in the usa" anymore

i took it ouside and compared to a nickle plated blade i have -its not plated

original cuda box said-cuda and made in the usa-
new one just has camillus and the address-

btw its a dominator
 
day 15 with no end in sight...no dominator in my pocket!

does any one know what goes out of wack, on a dominator knife,
to make the blade touch the inside edge of the frame? should i just get it back and do it myself?
 
there's one vote for get it back. anyone with inside info wish to weigh in?

day 16...no knife
 
ulua, with the strike and all, if there is no one to fix your knife, there is no one to send it back to you either. I can imagine what that factory is like right now, all available hands working on filling orders to keep the company in business. Your knife is the last of their worries. Please, let's stop the daily countdown, huh?
 
Hello everyone.......

I would like to introduce myself to all of you, especially any of you that have sent your Camillus knives for our professional repair service. My name is Maureen and I am a customer service rep here at Camillus Cutlery Co. I am also in charge of receiving knives for our repair department. Inspecting and logging them into our system before tagging and sending them off to the repair department. I have read all of the posts regarding customer service and the concerns of what our company circumstances are at this time. I am hoping by posting this, if anyone has any other concerns with the fate of their knives they have sent in for repair, that you will feel comfortable enough to contact me through here (I will be checking BF as often as I can to answer your questions) you can also email or phone me anytime Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm EST. Our repair process turnaround normally takes 3-4 weeks after I receive your knife. However we run into some delays at times. Let me explain: We have 1 professional repair person in our CUDA department (which is out on medical leave), and 2 in our Camillus/Western department. We utilize these professionals to do repairs only when they can be spared from the jobs that they are needed in fulfilling our customer accounts and thier orders. We receive much positive feedback from very satisfied customers regarding the repair of thier knives. I do apologize for the length of time taken for repairs that were scheduled to be done this month however, we are going through a situation that I cannot control in order to get your repaired knives returned to you in a timely manner.

Our factory employees are union and they are on strike at this time. Unfortunately due to this, it will extend the repair time to any knives I have received and continue to receive for repair work to be done. I do apologize for the inconvenience. We will continue running the factory with our managment personnel with the exception of the repair department. We will also continue to do the best we can to satisfy all of our customers.

Camillus Cutlery Co. appreciates your understanding and patience during this time.

I thought I would share something that was emailed to me today:

"To dispel the rumor and get to the heart of the truth – seek it from the source. If we were to all believe in rumors there would be no world in which we dwell"



Camillus Cutlery Co

Maureen Drake
Customer Service Rep
315-672-8111 x228
mdrake@camillusknives.com
 
Very nice gesture, Ms. Drake. Thanks for dropping in. And that is a fine, fine quote for all of us to reflect on.
phil
 
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