Documenting my experience with Microtech's Customer Service *full experience updated*

Misanthropia

Misanthropia

Feedback: +102 / =0 / -0
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
1,941
In the interest of the community here, I am creating this thread to document my experience with Microtech and their warranty department, in order to shed some more contemporary, factual experience about the company and to potentially dispel (or reinforce) the usual stories about how they handle their customers. We have all heard the horror stories before, but there appears to be a recent trend towards improving their CS.

The story so far:

August 13th:

Tonight I finally decided to take the plunge and send two of my knives back to Microtech to receive some warranty service. The two knives in question are a Socom Delta and a Whaleshark, two knives that I really quite love but am having a few problems with. The Whaleshark was my fault; as I was getting off of a bed that I was laying on, the protruding pocket clip caught on the comforter and ripped one of the screws loose. Unfortunately this is a problem I cannot rectify as I do not have the appropriate bit, so it must be sent in. $15 for return shipping is better than the $30 for a bit I suppose, as I never have any intention of taking these knives apart.

The Socom Delta, however, is more Microtech's fault. I bought this Socom Delta as a birthday present to myself a few weeks ago off the exchange here, and it was LNIB. After a few days, it began to develop a bit of lock rock, but was otherwise perfect. I found this especially odd since it has the steel lock insert, but nevertheless it appears it needs more lockbar tension. I'm a bit disappointed at this issue, but mine appears to definitely be the exception and not the rule.

As for receiving Return Merchandise Authorization's (RMA) from Microtech, that so far has been a breeze. I simply filled the form out on the website, and a few days later I had an email detailing the instructions for sending a knife back to Microtech, which are pretty standard. They ask you to include the RMA number on the box, check for return shipping, and on a paper that details the repair instructions. I am a bit leery of sending two knives at the same time; while there is nothing explicitly that says you cannot do this, I still feel a bit nervous about taking chances with Microtech's CS. Furthermore, one RMA is from much earlier in the year, which I never got around to using. I am probably going to place a call to them tomorrow to ask if this is alright, but I do not foresee this being an issue unless they choose to send the two knives back separately. Regardless, the knives will be going out to Microtech tomorrow and should arrive on Friday.

I will update this thread as I receive updates (if at all) from Microtech. Feel free to discuss any PERSONAL experiences with their CS. There's entirely too much hearsay on the topic already.

August 15th

Got a little bit lazy and mailed them out today. Hopefully not the last time I see these knives together. Should arrive at Microtech on monday, until then the story goes cold.
 
Last edited:
Last year, I sent back a Socom Delta for a way off center blade. I was quoted 6 week turn around time because it was the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when I contacted and got the RMA. I sent the knife back according to their instructions, along with a check for return shipping, and a note that included my name, address, phone number, RMA#, and the description of what I wanted. I hund a tag through the lanyard hole with the RMA# for good measure. Once sent, I forgot all about it, 6 weeks later, I received an email indicating the knife was on its way back. The knife was centered more than it was when I sent it in. It wn't and still isn't perfectly centered, but such is life.
 
RevDevil said:
Last year, I sent back a Socom Delta for a way off center blade. I was quoted 6 week turn around time because it was the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when I contacted and got the RMA. I sent the knife back according to their instructions, along with a check for return shipping, and a note that included my name, address, phone number, RMA#, and the description of what I wanted. I hund a tag through the lanyard hole with the RMA# for good measure. Once sent, I forgot all about it, 6 weeks later, I received an email indicating the knife was on its way back. The knife was centered more than it was when I sent it in. It wn't and still isn't perfectly centered, but such is life.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input RevDevil! My blade is offcenter sometimes but if I push it in the opposite direction, it makes a little clicking noise and then centers itself. I get the feeling this isn't a good thing, but it seems to work so I can't complain. I have to say I'm almost a bit relieved by how mundane your experience was!
 
Misanthropia said:
Thanks for the input RevDevil! My blade is offcenter sometimes but if I push it in the opposite direction, it makes a little clicking noise and then centers itself. I get the feeling this isn't a good thing, but it seems to work so I can't complain. I have to say I'm almost a bit relieved by how mundane your experience was!
Click to expand...

I did some research and asked around for how to best go about things on my end for maximum results. The woman that emailed me back, Laurel I think her name is, was very professional yet nice. No excessive banter, just clear communication. I guess once I decided to send the knife back, I figured it was out of my hands and it wouldn't have helped much for me to worry about it. It gets back when it gets back. On another note, the Socom Delta is a nice folder. I've heard a lot of reviews and such indicating centering problems.
 
Thank you guys for posting on this topic. I was recently bitten by the Microtech bug and picked up a Whaleshark that needed some work. That one I had to send back to MT for some up / down play caused by a lock bar that seems to move feely across the tang. I called and spoke with someone who directed me to fill out the form on their website and in 24 hrs i had my RA#. I just sent it off today with my letter stating the problems and my $15. I will definitely keep posting my progress here. (it also had the clip screw heads stripped) I said in the letter, I would gladly pay for those)

I spoke with a guy who makes the bits to remove the screws and I ordered I bit for my Whaleshark and another for a Troodon I have coming in (pretty reasonable I thought). I think the mini matrix i have has smaller screw heads.

Everything seemed pretty clear and straight forward....I am very new to Microtech, did they have a bad rap before?
 
dcmartin said:
Everything seemed pretty clear and straight forward....I am very new to Microtech, did they have a bad rap before?
Click to expand...

I have owned a Microtech LCC D/A since late 2002. A screw rusted badly and as I've become an obsessive knife-nut I noticed the centering was off bad enough to have worn a smooth spot in the DLC coating. Over the past 5+ years I have contacted Microtech maybe 6 times via email. During this time the customer service representative has changed twice that I have noticed. None of my emails got a response. Phone calls were never answered.
Anyway, since it is an automatic knife I will probably need to pay a Microtech dealer to deal with the warranty process on my behalf.

I am happy to see more and more positive news about Microtech's CS. I would love to have my knife fixed. :)
 
RevDevil said:
On another note, the Socom Delta is a nice folder. I've heard a lot of reviews and such indicating centering problems.
Click to expand...

I very much like mine, although most of the centering issues could be due to the fact that most of the blades are ground unevenly. If you look at the transition to the tanto tip, one side begins that grind a little earlier than the other. I'm not sure if this is something that has been fixed but it is apparent on mine.

dcmartin said:
Thank you guys for posting on this topic. I was recently bitten by the Microtech bug and picked up a Whaleshark that needed some work. That one I had to send back to MT for some up / down play caused by a lock bar that seems to move feely across the tang. I called and spoke with someone who directed me to fill out the form on their website and in 24 hrs i had my RA#. I just sent it off today with my letter stating the problems and my $15. I will definitely keep posting my progress here. (it also had the clip screw heads stripped) I said in the letter, I would gladly pay for those)

I spoke with a guy who makes the bits to remove the screws and I ordered I bit for my Whaleshark and another for a Troodon I have coming in (pretty reasonable I thought). I think the mini matrix i have has smaller screw heads.

Everything seemed pretty clear and straight forward....I am very new to Microtech, did they have a bad rap before?
Click to expand...

My Whaleshark did the same thing, which I didn't think was unusual until this morning when I saw a JDavis882 video about his experience with steel interfaces and from him, and many others in the comments, apparently they should not be doing this. Looks like I've gotta open my box up before I ship it out and include that in the note as well. Microtech has in the past had a pretty bad reputation when it came to CS, usually the issue being a lack of communication/very slow service. Unfortunately, as things tend to on the internet, the stories have spiraled pretty much to the point where it is difficult to get firsthand information anymore about MT.

Nullity said:
I have owned a Microtech LCC D/A since late 2002. A screw rusted badly and as I've become an obsessive knife-nut I noticed the centering was off bad enough to have worn a smooth spot in the DLC coating. Over the past 5+ years I have contacted Microtech maybe 6 times via email. During this time the customer service representative has changed twice that I have noticed. None of my emails got a response. Phone calls were never answered.
Anyway, since it is an automatic knife I will probably need to pay a Microtech dealer to deal with the warranty process on my behalf.

I am happy to see more and more positive news about Microtech's CS. I would love to have my knife fixed. :)
Click to expand...

Definitely contact Dave over at The Hollow Grind, even if you didn't buy it from him, he goes out of his way to help people with their issues with Microtech's, especially automatics and OTFs.
 
I never really thought to check how the blade was ground. That is an excellent point. I'm going to have to take a closer look at mine if I can dig it out.
 
August 19th

Knife arrived at Microtech today, at least according to the USPS tracking. I'm not sure if Microtech is going to let me know when it has arrived, but I'm sure they have the knives in their possession. Probably not worth calling them over. The quote from Microtech says 3-6 weeks so there's nothing left to do but wait!
 
I'm also in the MT RMA boat right now. Mines a brand new Ultratech OTF. It arrived at microtech 7 days ago. I hope they get it fixed quickly but I wouldn't be surprised if it took every bit of the 6 weeks.
 
They won't update, they will let you know when it's finished and when it's on the way back. No hand holding from them by way of status reports.
 
Well if Microtech has poor communication, you could have fooled me! I emailed them half an hour ago and they have already responded, which is the fastest I've ever heard back from a manufacturer. Here's their answer:


"Good afternoon David,

Yes we did receive your knives and they are currently with the service department. Once they have been serviced they will be given back to me and your return shipping and handling check will be deposited. I am required to wait 10 business days for the check to clear our bank. Once I have received confirmation that the check has cleared, I will ship them back to you. You will be emailed the UPS tracking number when they leave our facility. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me."

Really impressed with the expediency there. Obviously it would help if they took the time to email everyone for updates, but apparently they have no problem providing people with them if you ask.
 
00ChevyScott said:
why can't the cash the check now so the customer doesn't have to wait 10 extra days?
Click to expand...

Because of a recent conversation with the bank about cashing another bank's check, I know it is not so simple as you think.
The cashier at my bank said a check once took 3 weeks to finally bounce. There are laws about quick check bounce/cashing, but there are loopholes, like the delay between the time my bank ships to the issuing bank. A shipping mishap could cause that check to be bounced a month later when the issuing bank finally receives it, and it is kinda legal.

Checks suck.
 
what I meant was why don't they cash the check when they receive the knife that was sent in? I'm going to be extremely upset if they tell me they're waiting on my check to clear after they've had my knife 3-4 weeks already...
 
I emailed Microtech Sept 10th and still haven't heard back from them. They've had the knife a little over 4 weeks....
 
dcmartin said:
I emailed Microtech Sept 10th and still haven't heard back from them. They've had the knife a little over 4 weeks....
Click to expand...

left a phone message with them yesterday. if they're going to wait for my check to clear before sending me my knife back I'll never deal with their CS again. I think it's pretty low that they've had my knife for a month already and still haven't cashed my return shipping check....
 
00ChevyScott said:
left a phone message with them yesterday. if they're going to wait for my check to clear before sending me my knife back I'll never deal with their CS again. I think it's pretty low that they've had my knife for a month already and still haven't cashed my return shipping check....
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be mean or defend MT in the least, I'm sure Tony has that covered. I think that impatience is what's wrong here. Everyone wants everything yesterday. I see it all the time here (when is the Xyz knife going to be out?) and in daily life. Angry customers that don't understand possible delays when a part comes in, they get angry when we don't carry or have $700 parts/pieces of equipment at the ready, and most of the time they don't care why and probably can't understand even if it were explained to them.

If the company has a policy in place, who are you that they should break it? I've only dealt with the CS ne time. It took a long time to get my knife back, and I knew this going in when I bought the thing to begin with. Just relax and don't sweat these things so much. Getting all pissy and worked up over essentially nothing is a waste of time and energy.

Just my nickels worth of free advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top