CAREFUL when you return for sharpening

Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
12
FIRST: i love spydies. got about 10.

BUT:have to tell you this. about 5 years ago i talked to a cop who had a spydie and loved it. bought a delica (my first spyderco and true love). I had always liked knives but had never experienced anything like this knife. cut cans in half to create makeshift drinking vessel for my dog. it did everything. finally after about two years of steady use (and after i had about 6 more spydies to give myself somthing to carry while it was gone) i returned it for sharpening. sent the knife and my 5$. all i said in my letter was "please sharpen my trusty delica."

(NOW REMEMBER, I'M ATTACHED TO THIS KNIFE.)couple weeks later i get a NEW knife in the mail saying that mine had a "manufacturing defect."
well, i telephone of course and am told that the old steel was brittle (at-55)and lacked an indent for the pocket clip. i say, "no problem, just send my knife back." guy says, "well, it's been destroyed."

"destroyed?" i say. "yeah, it's broken if half and in a buried bucket of concrete." (i'm not kidding, he said this) i say ok, uhhhh, thanks.

now i'm angry. i email spyderco. get one of those automated responses (thank you for contacting spyderco...).send another message saying "forward this to the boss sal." no response. i let it go. now i'm sitting here and i'm thinking that i should AT LEAST tell people that they can send their most cherished knife back to spyderco and might not get it back. sorry to share what is probably a disappointing story with you about our beloved spyderco, but i think if you return your knives, you should make clear that you want to be contacted before they do anything drastic with your knife.
 
I have read several other accounts in BF of folks sending their knives in for sharpening or some other repair and getting a new Spydie in return. But the others all seemed to be pleased that they got a more up-to-date version of their knife and impressed that Spyderco would be so committed to quality and customer satisfaction as to not feel comfortable with returning a substandard knife to a customer. I don't mean to be insensitive to your plight but I think it speaks well of Spyderco that they conduct themselves in this manner. Sure maybe they could have called or emailed you first but that would become pretty time consuming if they had to do that with every knife. Within a month or so I will be sending my first Spyderco, an Endura SE, that I purchased back in 1991 in for some tweaking. If I were to receive a new one I would miss the old one but I have to admit that I would be very happy with the new one(no pressure there, Sal :D ;) ).
 
teeky, I can understand your attachment to the Delica that you sent back, but you must realize that it apparently had a defect that you may have overlooked. Spyderco wouldn't send a NEW knife as a replacement for your Spydie just because....:rolleyes:

I had an older model Civilian that had a crack in the steel on the pivot and received an updated version to replace the defective one. I don't understand how you can be angry over receiving a NEW Delica to replace an older version, even if you did have it for two years.

BTW, WHO did you talk to when you contacted Spyderco by phone? As we all may know, the Spyderco Warranty and Repair dept. is run by "humans" that can make mistakes, have bad days, etc., BUT for an individual to say that the defective Delica was destroyed by being broken in half and placed in a bucket of broken concrete is definitely an out of ordinary response. :confused:

I wonder......
 
Originally posted by KBR

BTW, WHO did you talk to when you contacted Spyderco by phone? As we all may know, the Spyderco Warranty and Repair dept. is run by "humans" that can make mistakes, have bad days, etc.
Yes yes yes, it's unfortunate, but the Warranty & Repair department are not run by gods, but often their service is like one. But they're damn HUMAN I tell ya, HUMAN!!!!! ;):D
I've sent in an Endura, in which when I got it, I've tested it, and it seems to hold up fine, but Spyderco manage to figure that it's not up to their standards. I understand that you have attachment to that knife and I could only advise you to write clearly for them to contact you before anything is done. I've sent in a Renegade for sharpening and I've written specifically so, cause it's discontinued and they are not likely to be able to replace it with the same one anyways.
But you gotta admit, I haven't heard of a company that are not satisfy with what they made, and test them when you only ask for a tune-up. I've yet to see another company that does that by themselves without being asked to.

BTW, it's broken in half likely because it snapped in the testing machine, I suppose if that did happen when testing, most people wouldn't ask for it back.
 
i was actually afraid that some of you might think i was being ungrateful. sorry, i respectfully disagree. if i drop my dog of at the vet, when i return, don't tell me he had a problem and give me a new puppy. the knife was my property. i ALREADY HAD a two new delicas (and a navigator, bill moran, wegner, two jess horns, and several others). i didn't need a new knife.

regarding the bucket of concrete thing, the gentleman said that if they didn't dispose of them this way, they were afraid someone would go through their garbage and pull out the old parts/knives.
 
I don't think the posters before think you're ungrateful. We understand that you may have some momentos with the knife and don't want it to be replaced. But Spyderco have testing machine for their knives, and if he said that it was broken in half, I don't think he broke it after the testing to protect people from snatching old and defective parts, but it was likely to be broken during the testing.
 
Originally posted by teeky
i was actually afraid that some of you might think i was being ungrateful. sorry, i respectfully disagree. if i drop my dog of at the vet, when i return, don't tell me he had a problem and give me a new puppy. the knife was my property. i ALREADY HAD a two new delicas (and a navigator, bill moran, wegner, two jess horns, and several others). i didn't need a new knife.

regarding the bucket of concrete thing, the gentleman said that if they didn't dispose of them this way, they were afraid someone would go through their garbage and pull out the old parts/knives.

I don't think that you are ungrateful in the least. I was just trying to point out Spyderco's position in the matter. Having said that, I'm sorry but a knife and a dog are two Very different things. I would have "a fit" (now that's a good southern expression) if the vet "replaced" one of our dogs. However, the vet didn't make the dog unlike Spyderco who made the knife. IMO they are the type of company that so wants to stand by their product that they feel a responsibility for it, on certain levels, long after it is sold. I can totally see your point but I can totally understand why they did what they did.
 
I also don't think that you were being ungrateful, teeky. From what I understand, Spyderco does test and evaluate Spydies that are returned for sharpening...just another courtesy to ensure that you have a top quality blade at your disposal. I hadn't even thought of that until calyth mentioned it, but it seems that your Delica may have broken in the testing process. It's good to hear, though, that you received that new Delica(VG10??) to replace the older one. :D
 
yeah, it's VG-10. nice knife. while we're on the subject of delicas, it would be my automatic response to the 10 posts a day asking "what's the perfect EDC?" only drawback is it's a little scary for onlooking sheeple. other than that, it's as good as i've owned.
 
VG-10 is a better steel than the ATS-55, IMO. It has great edge retention, is easy to sharpen, and is great at resisting rust and corrosion. Plus, you can really get a shine on that steel with a little metal polish.

Many SpydieKnuts do consider the Delica to be a great EDC, I used to carry one myself...it was my first Spydie. I can relate as to how that Delica can cut, mine was a VG-10 Delica w/full SpyderEdge. I'm sure that you won't be disappointed with your new Spydie. Give it some time, it will grow on you just like your old one. ;)
 
teeky, frankly it's hard to find a spydie that's people friendly. The radical blade and handles doesn't make acceptance easy.
And I use to dislike Spyderco because of their looks.
KBR: I remember Sal mentioned that they do have blade testing machines, so I suspect the knife was broken by the testing in the first place.
 
I would have to say it depends on the knife I sent in if I was mad or not, I have knives my wife or grandad have bought for me that if I sent in but got a new one back I would be ticked because that knife was the gift and had the memories where a replacement does not, I think anytime a company thinks it should replace a knife it should contact the person and ask 1st, I would rather have the screwed up knife my grandad gave me rather than a new replacement. I think it's great that Spyderco cares and pays enough attention to detail that they catch flaws or problems and rectify them but someone should ask 1st.
 
Hey Teeky. Sorry for your disappointment. If Warrantee sees a potential problem, such as a possible lock defeat or a crack in the blade, they must test. If in the test, the blade breaks or the lock defeats, it is now broken. We have on occaasion sent back broken knives on request, but it is not normal to send back a potential problem for possible liability problems.

We do in fact have to "concrete" them before discard as we have found people going through discarded knives. Again, possible liability problems.

Please try to enyoy your new knife and think about our concern for your safetly, rather than your loss.

We will normally check if there is engraving or some other distinguishing mark on a quesionable knife. I guess you might mention preferences when you send it in, but it is not normal practice to return a defective unit, unless the problem is a customer's fault and they do not want to pay for repairs.

sal
 
Originally posted by teeky
if i drop my dog of at the vet, when i return, don't tell me he had a problem and give me a new puppy.

ROFL :)

I know it would not be funny if something like that really would happen with your dog, but it was preaty funny when I read it in your post.
Also it is a good point you make.


Sal,
I can also see your point and I for one would not have a problem with getting a new knife sent back to me if my old one had a problem.
 
I have presently 2 knives at Spyderco for sharpening and repair: old Aluminum Civvy and a Native.
If one of them gets replaced by a new version (especially the civvie) I'll live with it, because it would be replaced for a reason (defect or wear), and I would not want that scary 4" blade closing on my fingers when I really need it to work perfect.
But then again, from reading these forums I was always dimly aware that my knife might be replaced if I sent it back, so I can understand the element of surprise when you get a new knife instead of the old trusted blade.
But look at the bright side, VG-10 is better, and it won't take long before this new blade is as old and trusted and worn like the old one.
That's how I'd feel about it anyways...
:)
P.S. I have a Ladybug that was my second Spydie, and I never left home without it for many years. Now if that one develops blade play or something, I'll frame it and put it on my wall. Wouldn't have the heart to let it go... :D
 
Well I feel your pain.I sent a AFCK into BM because the spacer had broke.Now this was an early Afck and as such had a silver butterfly logo on it not the black ones that they soon changed to.I liked the silver one, showed that I had this knife early on,before everone jumped on the bandwagon.

Guess what? Did I get a totally new knife? Did I get my old one back with just a new spacer like I thought would happen? Nope.I got my old blade back in a new handle complete with black butterfly logo.:(

Worst of all possible combinations.

Wasn't the end of the world,but I learned,if you send something in be specific in your request.That is what I believe your message is,one that others may learn from,thanks.
 
Well I've specified to Mike that if there was any switching done with the Renegade, he should phone me up first. Well I called him instead, and he told me the knife failed under testing, so he'll replace it with the same model (I suppose he still have some left lying around).
It was a blade that I love, but it wasn't a blade that I have attachments enough not to replace it, but it's better that you specify what they should do in case stuff like that happens. We as humans always make assumptions, and lots of times rightfully so, but we just can't predict each other's reaction. ;)
 
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