Disappointing Spyderco Warranty Experience

razorburn

razorburn

Gold Member
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Mar 26, 2007
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I recently returned two items under warranty.The first item was a sharpmaker base,the two half of the base would pry apart when a sharpening rod was placed into the side hole for sharpening scissors.The second was a native for a worn lock just after a few months.

Now here's the problem, a week after receiving it and having had a good look at the two items.I noticed a new issues(the two rod in the position below would rock up and down when in use) but when I called the spyderco repair dept to inquire about the new problem with the shapmaker,I was told to forget about it. Here's a few pics




The two ends of the rods do not rest on the two end of the base
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The left side: notice how it does not rest at the end.

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The right side: it rests right on the end.

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In these pictures,it look like the rods are bent.I can assure you it is not such.

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On top of that,when putting the rod away into this new base at the side,the rods would always fall away from the base at the slightest movement,left or right. Which is the opposite of the old base which would hold them firmly in place.Making the placing of the cover on, much harder. I should also mention, I seems with this new base,they glued the two halves to solve the problem of them being pried apart.




With my new Native,the one I recieved has a deep scratch on one side.Am I being to picky,when I mentioned it ,their response was they had QC.

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Looking at your pictures and reading your descriptions, I'd say yes, you are being way too picky. That Native isn't a $400 custom, it is a production line piece cranked out by the thousand.

As for how the rods fit in the storage position, who cares? If they stay there long enough to slap the lid on, that's all that functionally matters.
 
yablanowitz said:
Looking at your pictures and reading your descriptions, I'd say yes, you are being way too picky. That Native isn't a $400 custom, it is a production line piece cranked out by the thousand.

As for how the rods fit in the storage position, who cares? If they stay there long enough to slap the lid on, that's all that functionally matters.
Click to expand...

yep........
 
Don't know about the scratch mate, but for the sharpmaker, I think you're being a bit anal about it. When stored in the sharpmaker, does it really matters if the rods touch or not the rest. It doesn't affect its performance what so ever. I just had a look at mine and they don't either and it never bothered me the slightest. Just my 2p
 
My sharpmaker does something similar. I have a very high tech answer a big rubber band to hold the lid on, it works perfect. Regarding the Native, like Yab said it's not a fancy custom, and not even particularly collectable, so why don't you use it and in a couple of years you wont notice the scratch.
 
Don't worry about the sharpmaker, my stuff rattles around in mine too. Just put the lid on it and you'll be fine.

As long as the stones seat firmly when sharpening, then you're ok.

I wouldn't worry about a scratch on a $50 knife, the Native is a beater knife anyways. Abuse the heck out it.
 
I think when we turn something in to them for warranty replacement, we sometimes expect a hand picked perfect knife in return. In actuality, is sounds like they send a knife off the shelf which are susceptible to the same QC standards as the original knife was.

I think you are being too picky as well with both of these. The Sharpmaker is a piece of injected molded plastic, and you will always be disappointed if you expect absolute perfection from an injection molding. The scratch in the Native appears on a lot of my knives that don't have secondary finishing processes like bead blasting and stone washing.

I think we (knife collectors) sometimes confuse collectible knives (Sebenza etc. which are held to a higher visual quality) with knives meant for work (Native etc. which are held to a functional quality). I know I have caught myself holding two knives with drastically different price points to the same standard. It's awesome when $50 knives are able to be built to a high standard, but I think this has heightened our expectations for what we deserve from a $50 knife. I know we want the best quality on every knife we buy, but I try to only get fussy about stuff like grind marks, bent blades, etc. on knives that were obviously designed for more than work. If a knife has a FRN handle, you can assume it was designed to cut stuff. If a knife has upgraded materials like polished micarta handles, unique design, Super steel, (and a higher price to reflect the upgrade) etc. I think you can be allowed to expect a higher quality standard.

I do want to also note that I'm saying I don't sympathize with your desire to get a perfect product back when you got a dud on the first try.
 
yablanowitz said:
As for how the rods fit in the storage position, who cares? If they stay there long enough to slap the lid on, that's all that functionally matters.
Click to expand...

IN his defense, I will say that this would be important to me. I can not sharpen with the stones in the bottom of the base b/c the handle contacts the edge of the base, so I frequently use the base as he shows and sharpen on the stones as he has shown.

BUT, the device was not ever represented to be usable this way as far as I know! It does work (IMO) far better than inverting the base and using the slots.

To discuss on the side of Spyderco...WTF was being done to make the base separate in this manner? I fear that it may have been used improperly and that use lead to this breakage.

That said, there is a simple DIY fix. Get a couple rubber bands (thick ones) and cut them into strips about 1 inch long. Use these strips under the ends of the rods in the base. This is BETTER than using a "perfect" base because it prevents the rod from sliding back and forth in the base (which is longer than the rod by design). Ghetto fixes are often the best (I should know I have a list of /em I use daily).

Regarding the scratch on the knife? I must agree with others, this level of expectations is not in line with the use design of the knife. It is not art, it is a knife, it should be used and scratched up accordingly. If the scratch impacts its ability to perform what the knife was designed to do, you have a worthwhile complaint in my book.

I hope this does not come across as coarse or offensive. Knives and stuff are easier to appreciate once you personalize them to your taste. This is a great opportunity to do just that! Plus anytime people see you pulling out your rubber band strips, you can proudly state that you figured out a way to customize/improve on the system that thousands of knife guys think is already great as is (stock)!

EDIT TO ADD. My rods also want to fall out of the lower slots when I put them away for storage. Same solution can be used to secure the rods by laying the rubber bands flat in the bottom of the base. Perhaps Spyderco did not intend for this to happen as the base wears, but the kit saves me so dang much time on my touch ups that taking 5 extra seconds to mod it to hold the rods better is hardly a problem.
 
April fools :confused:

All sharpmakers are like that and nothing is wrong with the native.
 
Sharpmaker base can probably be fixed with some superglue. And the rod holder is the same on mine as well. I wouldn't worry about it.

Regarding the Native, I don't worry about cosmetic issues on a user but it would annoy me a tiny bit. After all, there are plenty of Natives with perfect grinds but that's pretty minor.

I'm not belittling your concerns, just suggesting that your expectations may need a little adjustment. I have had a few blemished knives that were exchanged as a favor by the retailer but I've always been prepared to be denied and absolutely no hard feelings towards the retailer.
 
The biggest problem I see in the Original Posters thread is that his rods are in terrible need of a good cleaning.

As to the fit of the rods in the base, that's pretty much how it is in the three sharpmakers that I have.

As for the knife, the guys above pretty much got it right.
 
Too picky. If you are that type of person, go buy a custom, drop the $300+ and put it in a felt lined case. Make the knife your own. Go get it bead blasted or something to set it apart. As for the sharpmaker it does not matter as long as when they sit on the underside as to use as a benchstone they are flat. Mine rattle around but once i put the top on they don't really move around at all. My delica4 had the same little issues and i am just as picky. But i just got out the files and went to work. Cleaned up all the little imperfections and now it looks amazing.
 
My 204 does the same thing,works perfect.
Is it just me?I do not see a scratch on the Native.
 
u812 said:
Is it just me?I do not see a scratch on the Native.
Click to expand...

I think I see the see the "scratch".....maybe. ;)
From the pivot side of the 'Spydie hole' go about 2/3 of the hole forward, look down and see the small grind line from the top of the grind down to the edge.

That is all I can barely see that he could be talking about?????

IMO..... much, much too picky for this knife.
Same for the Sharpmaker.....
 
I looked through the pictures a few times and still can't figure out what's wrong with the sharpmaker. Am I missing something?:confused:

The scratch on the native blade is visible, but who cares? Is it some expensive, exotic collector's piece where it might hurt the value? I'd hope it's a user, as they made about 700 bajillion of those, so not much of a collector's market...:jerkit:
 
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