Esee lost a customer today

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MikePerrin said:
Yep I stand by every word. Anyone that knows us knows we will replace any broken blade no matter how it is broken. The warranty has never covered coating, edge going dull or rust from day one. If the coating had been coming off, blistered when he bought it then you bet we would have replaced it. That is defective coating. But wear isn't a warranty issue (JP8 (jet fuel) did not take the coating off.
And yes I can be 'snarky' in my replies-- read his immediately before, he merited what he shoveled out:)
I like Jerry Busse by the way. Buy that next time:) Mike
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Wow, now there's some quality PR right there. Until this post, this thread was just a story of a guy that didn't receive warranty work....right, wrong, or indifferent. But now it is about a company who mocks and ridicules it's loyal customers. So the coating is not covered, regardless of how it comes off. But according to the above, ANYONE who wants warranty work must snap it in a vise and it will be replaced, no questions asked. Is that what I'm reading? Or is that bull too? My guess is that would be rejected also (save for a very few heavily followed youtubers for cheap advertising). Call me crazy.

I have a bunch of Esee's now, and "had" many more on my hit list for the near future. Also have recommended them to many. But will not ever again. There are simply too many good options out there. Well... Actually now verified that there are simply too many BETTER options out there.

Out of my many hundreds of knives, I've attempted a warranty claim exactly once. It was not covered (for whatever reason). But have since purchased approximately $3k more of their product, because they have good stuff AND didn't treat me like crap when I did communicate with them. I think this thread has lost esee more than just a few whiners as Mr. Perrin alluded. But also many possible future loyal and vocal free advertisers. Any press is good press? I guess it depends on what actually comes straight from their core representatives.

Wish the OP luck in finding the BETTER replacement. At this point it looks like pretty much anything else fits that bill.
 
Add me to the list of folks who won't be patronizing Esee after reading those responses. Sticking to your guns and telling it like it is, those are both fine qualities to have as a business owner. What's not a fine quality is being a snarky asshole to a customer for no reason.

Niddhogg said:
Busse all day. Little on the pricey side, but if I had to carry one blade, it'll be INFI. My HG55 lives on my kit in a spec ops sheath, and has been used to veg up hides, trucks and BFV's. It's been used to chip at rocky soil to loosen it enough to dig a Hasty FP. It's been used as a make shift hammer, and has actually cut some thin metal with the aid of a baton, trying to fix up some range crap. It'll hold an edge (Has about a 42 degree inclusive edge on it now, pretty obtuse for my tastes, but it hasn't needed sharpening since I got it, and have put it through the Army wringer), and if there's any deformation, steeling the edge on the barrel of my M4 will set it back right.

Close second would be a Swamp Rat Ratmandu. SR101 is a helluva steel, which will also keep a good edge (Mine is sharpened to about 20 degrees inclusive... which is scary sharp for me!), and still go. I used mine for about a year before switching for the HG55. It'll also fit a Spec Ops sheath, and is covered by Busse's excellent warranty (Which isn't just lip service as it appears ESSE's is...). Mine has been used mainly for field craft, notching logs constructing a prepared FP, notching logs for various traps teaching field craft, cutting wire and prying open ammo boxes and the like. This one is still in production, and is extremely reasonable for such a good knife. three guys in my unit started carrying RatManDu's after I started playing around with mine in the field.

If you didn't know already, Busse has a no questions asked sort of warranty, which covers the knife completely (Perhaps minus the coating... but INFI is pretty well rust resistant on its own, and SR101 takes a good patina IME). They pride themselves on never rejecting a warranty claim regardless of the cause.


HG55



Don't have any pics of the RMD for whatever reason on Photobucket, and am too lazy to go dig for one, but it's a solid knife.

Hope this helps
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Hey do you carry that in a large or medium Spec Ops sheath?
 
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Ratman79 said:
The response from mike perrin was rude and unprofessional
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Exactly. And the posts in his favour here are amazing.

Also, the smaller the knife, the more the kind of uses it will see make the coating a major issue...

I think they could also choose a carbon steel that is not quite so rust-prone...

Gaston
 
The Esee owner doesn't have to respond like such a rude idiot. We like to support made in USA knife companies, and it wouldn't hurt him to bend a warranty issue, just a bit to show respect for an armed service member, while gaining praise from the knife community. Mike just made himself look like a fool, instead of a hero.
 
scotchleaf said:
"we will replace any broken blade no matter how it is broken" Well, there is the Marine's solution! Just 1. Get the knife back, 2. snap it with a vice and sledge hammer and 3. get a new knife! Simple.
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:thumbup:

I would have no shame at all in snapping it as soon as I got it back and send it straight back to em for a blade replacement. Like I said, if they refused to cover the coating under warranty, so be it, politely inform the customer and return the knife, no need to puff out your chest and "tell it like it is".
 
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I really don't have an issue with their reply or not covering the coating. It does state that the coating isn't warrantied. Why does everyone want someone to sugarcoat everything? I mean he was speaking the truth
 
gpewett said:
I carried my esee 3 with my for 2 years in the Marines.
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Hey--

I have a couple things to say. :)

First, thank you for your service. We are all safer for it.

Second, there is nothing wrong with ESEE not warrantying the coating. That is normal.

Third, I wish they had handled things better.

Fourth. ESEE makes good knives and are a good company. They stand behind their stuff. I don't like how this was handled, but it really doesn't change things--they just stated their warranty in an unflattering way.

Lastly. We used to sell ESEE knives and I loved the product and, frankly, the people. Mike and Jeff are both good guys. We ended up discontinuing the line simply because it didn't work with the direction our company was going.

I have one stainless ESEE 4P left. I am not 100% all the parts are there, but they appear to be (it was a customer return for no particular reason). I would like to send it to you and you can use it how you please. It should serve you well.

Shoot me an email at sales @ KnivesShipFree.com and we will get it on its way to you.
 
Why even buy an ESEE when you can buy custom fixed blades for so cheap?

HxgJy0h.jpg
 
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If you really like the knife, why not look in to getting a 3rd party to powder coat or Cerakote it for you? We have folks here that do it if I'm not mistaken.

EDIT: Or take Derrick up on his offer. :) Good stuff by the way and thank you.
 
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Derrick is AWESOME people and proves it again here. He brings yet another option to the plethora you have for seeking another knife. Derrick, you are a class act, way to go!
 
okbohn said:
Hey--

I have a couple things to say. :)

First, thank you for your service. We are all safer for it.

Second, there is nothing wrong with ESEE not warrantying the coating. That is normal.

Third, I wish they had handled things better.

Fourth. ESEE makes good knives and are a good company. They stand behind their stuff. I don't like how this was handled, but it really doesn't change things--they just stated their warranty in an unflattering way.

Lastly. We used to sell ESEE knives and I loved the product and, frankly, the people. Mike and Jeff are both good guys. We ended up discontinuing the line simply because it didn't work with the direction our company was going.

I have one stainless ESEE 4P left. I am not 100% all the parts are there, but they appear to be (it was a customer return for no particular reason). I would like to send it to you and you can use it how you please. It should serve you well.

Shoot me an email at sales @ KnivesShipFree.com and we will get it on its way to you.
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Outstanding offer! My next knife purchase will be from KSF. Probably the Fiddleback Duke.
 
This post has gone crazy. Derrick that is extremely thoughtful and reminds me of why this community is so great. I just don't think I can accept the knife and then trade my old one when I get it back from esee. It doesn't seem fair to get two working knives out of this ordeal. I will be posting a trade whenever I get the knife back from esee for another fixed blade. If you have interest email me at pewett@gmail.com but it took them 20 days to respond to the return so it may be a while before I get the knife back.

I wanted to clear a few things up on my end. I sent the knife in because it had become unusable to me. I removed the rest of the coating because the bubbling trapped water and taking off the entire coating seemed like the right thing to do. When i sent it in I knew it was a grey area but I thought they will understand a 1095 blade with no coating is useless to a lot of people who work in adverse conditions. I spent a lot of time trying to fix the knife so that I could use it again without bothering customer service( applied several different finishes, forced patina, etc). A return was my last resort and was expecting getting a used knife back or mine re-coated. The coating and both holsters failed (although I fixed one of them) in two years of millitary use. When I bought the knife from smokey mountain knifeworks the dealer went on and on about how esee is famous for replacing anything no questions asked. I just wanted to clear up for the people in the forum that a no questions asked warranty is different then I thought it was. That is why at the bottom of my first post I stated that the company did nothing wrong. I have a strong attachment to the stuff I carry and i feel as though I am a walking billboard for the things on my body. I have told over 2 dozen Marines about how this knife company will replace anything and how the showed me a knife had been shot on purpose and they still replaced. Anyway, thank you for all the advice on alternatives, hopefully I can get one in trade.
 
Seriously--I have the knife and don't have a use for it. I would love to send it to you. (Fair or not!) :)
 
To the OP, thank you for your service.

“It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.” -Will Rogers

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffett
 
At one time I considered myself very much an ESEE fanboy.

I have owned/purchased 15 various ESEE knives, most were for myself some were for others as gifts to friends and family. Out of the first 13 ESEE knives I had no problems with them. The 14th was an ESEE Izula II which the quality could only be describes a second or reject, which I will elaborate on in a moment. I was gifted an ESEE 3 by a friend, my 15th ESEE knife which the quality was also acceptable, after my ordeal with the Izula II.

I purchased an Izula II around a year and a half ago from a well known authorized ESEE dealer with the following warranty as shown in this screenshot which is still on his website as of this post.

ESEE Knives warranty Information: If you screw it up, break it, or cut it in two with a cutting torch, send it back and we'll replace it. Warranty is transferable. In other words, we warranty the knife no matter how many times it's been traded, sold or given away. We don't ask for a sales receipt, date of purchase or where you bought the knife - No fine print and no hassles. If you have a problem, contact us.
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The Izula II had two major defects. The blade came to me with an extremely bad irregular off center grind. And the scales would move around on the blade no matter what I did to attempt to fix the problem (tightening the scales, lock tite, and so on).

I ended up contacting one of the co-owners of ESEE through another forum. He informed me to send the Izula II to Rowen and assured me that they would "FIX" the problem.

The Izula II was returned from Rowen with a half ass sloppy uneven regrind on the blade. The scales still had the same issue.

Voicing my discontent of the quality of the warranty work from Rowen with the co-owner of ESEE, I requested a new replacement Izula II knife. The co-owner's response was to send me a money order for the replacement value of the knife along with this statement, "Thank you for trying our knives :)" So after spending between $1,500 and $2,000 on ESEE knives, I was basically told they didn't want me as a customer and ESEE refused to stand behind their warranty.

I have no confidence in ESEE as a company nor their warranty.

The likelihood of me buying another ESEE knife is near to none.
 
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Excellent post, Derrick.

I think I will rotate my KSF Exclusive ZT0770CFM4 the rest of the week - it is one of my favorites, and you and your company are great reasons to patronize your business.

My last post in this thread goes like this:

I loved my ESEE Izula, it is a great knife, and the knives that ESEE sells will not let you down. They are great knives particularly for the money.

The op had no claim whatsoever for the coating and or rust, the warranty is clear on that and I would not have tried to get service based on those issues.

The ridicule and rude treatment of some customers is regaled by some as heroic whereas I find it distasteful and out of the norm for the many fine people I have met and done business with in the knife hobby. It is a shame that one abrasive individual could negatively impact the many other people in an organization that otherwise make a fine product right here in the USA.

"You pays your money and makes your choice."

best

mqqn
 
Those were the words I was sold the knife on I was looking at an Ontario when the rep came over and asked what I was using it for I told him I was going to Afghanistan. He said Esee will ensure anything, even if you mistakenly run over it. Maybe the warranty wording has changed since then(I bought mine a few years ago). This is in response to the post #118 I just replied wrong.
 
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