Bad Chuck Richards Knives

Jcsixx01

Jcsixx01

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Hey BF’s

I purchased a knife off of the exchange. A Chuck Richards Counselor 1.0 edition. I received the knife and it became very apparent that there was an issue with the knife. The pivot would loosen to the point of the blade becoming flush with the scale after a dozen flips. Clearly not normal for a lightly used/carried knife.

I contacted the seller whom has a sterling reputation. He offered a full refund no questions asked. I declined because I really like the knife. I opted to try to locktite the situation.

I have locktited the pivot giving the knife a full day to cure. It only slightly delayed the pivot failure. I repeated the process with increasing amounts of the blue goo two more times with the same result.

I contacted Chuck Richards directly on Instagram. He responded quickly proclaiming he doesn’t work on HIS knives purchased from any source but him directly.

I wasn’t asking for anything for free. I offered to pay for a new pivot. I also pointed out that the pivot must clearly be defective as there is no way to do that type of damage to such a lightly used knife.

The response I received from Mr. Richards can’t be described any other way than shitty.

I know the Blade Forums/Knife community has a pet peeve about sellers that don’t back their own work. That is why I am posting it here. I really like this knife and Mr. Richards work. I only have 6 followers on Instagram so that unfortunately may have played a role in his dismissive attitude.

Something is clearly defective with this knife pivot and I have no recourse. Mr. Richards is a wart on the community.
 
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What was his response?

Also, if your IG followers count did in fact impact his attitude and response to you, then it seems like the community has yet another clout-chasing, soup du jour, social media knife maker on its hands. What a shame.

Hopefully it works out. There are many service providers out there who would help you out, properly.

Good luck.
 
stuff_things said:
What was his response?

Also, if your IG followers count did in fact impact his attitude and response to you, then it seems like the community has yet another clout-chasing, soup du jour, social media knife maker on its hands. What a shame.

Hopefully it works out. There are many service providers out there who would help you out, properly.

Good luck.
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I'm sure a certain Patreon begging doctor probably has no issue getting knives or issues resolved. LOL
 
While I don't know the specifics of your dealing's with Chuck, I can say that I have dealt with Chuck on many an occasion and he has always stood behind his work and has always been a stand up guy. Just a great guy in general who is always willing to talk knives and fishing.

Again, no idea on your dealings but your experience is far from and totally the opposite the norm with Chuck. I don't know if I've every heard anyone say a negative word about him.

I do understand small knife makers not being able to warranty knives that are not bought from them and might have been modified in some way. Not saying that's the case here but a maker has no idea what has been done to a knife after it leaves his or her hands. CRK will not touch knives that has been altered in any way for example.
 
What kind of person refuses to try to reconcile a defective/broken knife that they made?

I don't get that, warranties issued to original buyers are one thing but what harm is done by trying to help someone who likes your work well enough to buy it on the secondary market? What's the downside of trying to achieve a positive end result?

All this maker has accomplished is losing a potential new buyer. Must be nice to be able to simply dismiss potential customers so easily.
 
That's to bad, because it significantly affects value of a knife to the original owner and on the secondary market. Even if a fee had to be charged, that's better than not having anyway to service or repair.
Edited to add: I think you should send a link to this thread to Mr.Richards so he can respond to your complaint and clarify his terms and conditions.
 
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Jcsixx01 said:
I contacted Chuck Richards directly on Instagram. He responded quickly proclaiming he doesn’t work on HIS knives purchased from any source but him directly.
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Then he might want to put that in his written "Terms and Conditions". Unless I'm missing it????

Terms and Conditions
Chuck Richards Knives LLC are designed and built for use as cutting tools. Use of our knives for any purpose other than cutting is considered abuse.

They may also fail to perform if not used or cared for properly. If your knife has been put to hard use for a long period of time, it is possible that the useful life of the Chuck Richards Knives product has been exceeded and Chuck Richards Knives will be unable to perform any work upon the knife that will improve the condition thereof.

By purchasing any item produced by Chuck Richards Knives the buyer assumes responsibility to ascertain and follow all applicable federal, state, local and international laws in having, owning, carrying, shipment, transporting, and use of any Chuck Richards Knives products. The buyer expressly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Chuck Richards Knives for all claims resulting directly or indirectly from the purchase, ownership, transportation or use of the item in violation of applicable federal, state and local laws or regulations. Chuck Richards Knives is not liable for misuse of any Chuck Richards knife or product purchased either directly or indirectly from Chuck Richards Knives. You must be 18 years of age to purchase a Chuck Richards Knife.
 
JD Mandrell said:
Then he might want to put that in his written "Terms and Conditions". Unless I'm missing it????

Terms and Conditions
Chuck Richards Knives LLC are designed and built for use as cutting tools. Use of our knives for any purpose other than cutting is considered abuse.

They may also fail to perform if not used or cared for properly. If your knife has been put to hard use for a long period of time, it is possible that the useful life of the Chuck Richards Knives product has been exceeded and Chuck Richards Knives will be unable to perform any work upon the knife that will improve the condition thereof.

By purchasing any item produced by Chuck Richards Knives the buyer assumes responsibility to ascertain and follow all applicable federal, state, local and international laws in having, owning, carrying, shipment, transporting, and use of any Chuck Richards Knives products. The buyer expressly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Chuck Richards Knives for all claims resulting directly or indirectly from the purchase, ownership, transportation or use of the item in violation of applicable federal, state and local laws or regulations. Chuck Richards Knives is not liable for misuse of any Chuck Richards knife or product purchased either directly or indirectly from Chuck Richards Knives. You must be 18 years of age to purchase a Chuck Richards Knife.
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His main terms and conditions when you go to buy a knife has the language that he will not work on knives bought on the aftermarket. Where did you get the above?

But regardless, if I'm buying a custom knife, I always check on things like this. I bought a Mayo a while back knowing it would need some work. I cleared it with Tom before I purchased the knife. I've researched this with any custom I've purchased. Custom makers are much different than big productions companies. Guessing if the buyer would have checked before hand with Chuck (he said he got a quick IG response from him), this could have all been avoided.

I guess my main problem with this is that Custom Makers can handle warranty and work on knives however they want. Maybe you agree or disagree with a particular maker's policy but in the end it's up to the buyer to do the research before buying a second hand knife. Especially a custom. I know I do. If you chose not to, don't start posting on forums bad mouthing a maker.
 
aleforme said:
Hmmm, When you add a knife to the cart, you get a disclaimer option at the bottom of the page. That’s where I saw it.
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All my personal opinions on after market warranty aside, placing the disclaimer about the warranty of secondary market knives (or lack thereof) at the check out page of the maker's website doesn't seem like the brightest idea.
 
Lance Leon said:
All my personal opinions on after market warranty aside, placing the disclaimer about the warranty of secondary market knives (or lack thereof) at the check out page of the maker's website doesn't seem like the brightest idea.
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If in fact that's where the disclaimer is located, then it would not be helpful when researching before a secondary market purchase.
 
aleforme said:
Hmmm, When you add a knife to the cart, you get a disclaimer option at the bottom of the page. That’s where I saw it.
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Hmmm...so only after one has decided to buy a brand new knife and is trying to order/pay for it does the maker claim that he's not responsible for and won't work on any of his knives if they're re-sold...

That's some sound marketing there. Very sound...I'm amazed the OP didn't go thru the steps required to buy a new knife in order to protect his interests before buying what he believed to be a used but allegededly a well made knife from a known maker...
 
If I was the maker, I'd want to know what went wrong to make the pivot act this way.

Seems like something is missing to this story.
 
craytab said:
If I was the maker, I'd want to know what went wrong to make the pivot act this way.

Seems like something is missing to this story.
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I definitely suspect there is more to this story than Chuck just rudely told me no. As I mentioned before, that doesn't sound like Chuck at all. Total opposite of my dealings with him and what many others have experienced.

I guess like someone said in this thread or the other thread the OP posted in, two sides to every story.
 
Would be nice to see Chuck come on here and tell his side of the story. Until then, who really knows? It's not comforting to know that he claims to not stand behind his knives if they are purchased on the secondary market, because that basically is what his policy says. That is a turn off for me. Additionally (if it's true), with the OP offering to pay for the repair - why would a maker at least not do that?
 
Out of boredom and tempered with touch of curiousity I went to his website and went thru the buying process up to the point of actually paying for a new knife and there were no disclaimers,disclosures, notices, or warnings anywhere that state categorically that the maker in question won't repair or service knives bought on the secondary market. I can only assume that he's falling back on his claim that his knives have a limited service lifetime and that he won't work on any that he deems worn out.

So much for researching the maker prior to buying a used knife...
 
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