Feedback on A.G. Russell Knives

AG, I think that is one problem with the internet. It is easy for somebody to say "AG refused my warranty issue". At face value that is bad. So many times though in similar complaints it comes out that there is another side to the story...such as you described. I dont doubt for a second that you stand behind your product...if I had any doubts then you would not get any more of my money.

However I have felt comfortable in the past dealing with you, and will continue to buy from your shop whenever I am in the area. And besides you have Robert (Maurice) working there....what else could one ask for? :p
 
PLEASE show me ANYONE with better service or a better guarantee than ours.
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-Benchmade
-Spyderco
-Brusse
-Swamprat
-Camillus
-Microtech
-Buck
-Strider


I can't speak of A.G. Russell's Guarantee first hand, only from reputation. But I can attest to the above listed makers first hand and it's impossible to beat them. The best you could do is tie :)
 
Well let me start by saying I have been hanging around BF, KF and USN for a while, so I am not a fly-by-night whiner. I have tried to cultivate a reputation for being fair by trying to stick to the facts. I have in the past and still purchase items from A.G. Russell and The Cutting Edge.

The Facts:

Last year, I won an auction at The Cutting Edge. The auction was for an A.G. Russell Strike Force Tanto blade knife. The condition was described as new. I got the knife, handled it a bit. I wasn't keen on the placement of the thumbslot (relative to other knives I have) but overall, a pretty well made knife. I never used it, I just put it in my display case. So after some time, maybe a month or two, I put it up for sale on the Exchange here. A long-time and well respected BF member bought it from me (He shall remain nameless unless he wants to chime in). He got the knife and was quite pleased with it except for a crack in the metal above the thumbslot. Well clearly, I made a big mistake by not noticing it myself and I offered immediately to take the knife back. Instead, this forumite chose to send it to A.G. Russell for repair or replacement of the blade. Someone in the A.G. Russell organization did some internal research (apparently) and returned the knife to the buyer saying "It was bought from the Cutting Edge - we can't repair or replace it."

So I contact Amy Hinchman at the Cutting Edge. She tells me that since I kept the knife beyond the 14 day return period, that I cannot return the knife. However, she did offer to put it up for sale on consignment at the Cutting Edge. It was at this time that I discovered that A.G. Russell has a customer satisfaction guarantee, not a product warranty.

I reimbursed my buyer money for his postage to you, and then postage to send the knife back to me, and IIRC, threw in a few extra dollars for his trouble.

I later sold the knife on Ebay with a very large "as is" disclaimer with detailed scans of the crack. I got about $20 bucks for it.

The bottom line here is that no one asked me if I damaged the knife (I didn't), and no one questioned if my buyer did it (I can't believe he would have done such a thing). I was presented with a technically accurate description of my failure to notice the problem before my 14 days were up. The fact that The Cutting Edge and A.G. Russell share the same building should have made the problem easier to address, not more difficult.

I have very few problems with factory or handmade knives. On the three other occasions that I have had a problem with a second-hand knife - the companies (Spyderco, Camillus and Chris Reeve) resolved the problem free of charge, no questions asked. The only time I returned a second-hand handmade knife for a problem, it was done happily and expertly and quickly (by Kit Carson), no questions asked and he refused to let me pay the return shipping.

Needless to say I was surprised at the response I got from A.G. Russell/Cutting Edge. But hey, everything was written down, and it was clearly my fault for missing the crack in the first place, I am very clear on that.

It hasn't put me off from buying other A.G. Russell knives on the secondary market - I don't expect quality control problems.

Just the other day, I bought a used, small, A.G. Russell One-Hand knife off Ebay. A very cool knife and a great design. Does not having a warranty on the item bother me? NO. I have had very few problems over the years with folding knives of quality.

Posion? No, no poison here A.G., just the facts. I learned my lesson (do a better job of inspecting my knives). I just think it is very important that people understand the difference between a customer guarantee and a product warranty.

If I am somehow mistaken in understanding the difference - well I got it straight from at least two people in your organization. You better talk to them about it.
 
I do not want to participate in the controversy going on here...just want to share my experiences dealing with A.G Russell Knives...and that is that they have all been positive. I have purchased AG's knives, other production knives, and knives made by custom knifemakers from AGR Knives. All have been quality knives...even a couple "seconds" I've bought.

AND , there are some knives A.G. Russell has you just can't get anywhere else!
 
Friends;

That fellow may, MAY have a point, I will have to research it Monday and what ever the answers are I will post them here next week. To think that we cn process almost 100,000 orders a year and not screw up some of them would require even more arrogance than I have.

Even if we screwed up big time, I still say that we have the best service and guarantee in the business.

Monday or Tuesday.

A. G.
 
Good thread :)...thanks to all. I've always thought Russel was a good company to deal with.., and never been dissatisfied...
 
Goldie helped me get into the computer so I can tell you this much.

Architect is a good customer, has bought several times since last years problems. He bought the $99 Strike Force for $30 sold it for ?? His customer (and ours) sends the knife back and wants the $30 A paid. If the knife was not a second and I have no reason to think it was, we should have settled with the customer, who, by the way has come back to us and bought a Strike Force at full retail.

A by the way has bought (as he says) several times since then. I can only think that he feels that if he warns enough people away from us we will be able to better care for his orders.

PLEASE, if a problem of this kind ever happens to you or anyone you know; either email me direct at agr@agr3.com or tell the customer service rep that you want to talk to me. You may not get just what you want but at least I will know what is going on.

I am glad to have both customers and sorry for the stress involved, including mine. Perhaps A will talk to me and let me know what it will take to make him whole.

A. G.
 
Just wanted to comment - the woodswalker looks great.

Exactly what I have been looking for to use as a paring knife.

AUS 8, and only $10 without a sheath. Seems like a great deal.

-- Rob
 
Originally posted by Architect
..A long-time and well respected BF member bought it from me (He shall remain nameless unless he wants to chime in)
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That would be me... although I'm not so sure about the well respected part ;) :p

I suppose I can shed an interesting light on this topic.

What Architect says is 100% accurate and passed along with amazing detail after all this time. He's a stand up guy and took care of me all of the way on the problem.

What I can add is that the reason the folks at AG's place found so much information was that they were bending over backwards to find out who the original buyer of the knife was so they could take care of things for me, I told them up front it wasn't me and they were still going to cover it.

Finally after a day they called me back to tell me the details about it being bought at auction and therefore not covered under warranty. They shipped it back to me at no charge with an apology.

I personally was satisfied with their answer and Architect and I worked out the details of the return with no hard feelings.

I have since bought several more knives from AG, including a spear point Strike Force. Also just ordered one of their rope knives (can't wait ;)). I would/will buy from Architect again as well.

Although the problem was not resolved (and I was satisified with the answer I got), I can say that my experience with AG's crew puts my Spyderco service experience to shame, was better than SOG, and is equal to the courtesy I got from Benchmade (turn around was faster from AG but they didn't fix anything...).

This is one of those rare occasions in life when I can say I truly experienced both sides of a story and I completely understand where both parties are coming from.

Normally I'm not a fence sitter when it comes to my opinion but in this case I think that's what I'll have to be ;)

The bottom line here though is that despite the written word of their guarantee AG's people were going to take care of me even though I wasn't the original purchaser (having only bought one knife from them at that time I wasn't even a good customer..). The road block was that it came from the auction which sells everything As-is with a 14 day inspection.
 
Glad the problem with Architect and AG seems to have worked out.

I want to address the Bad Guy's assertion about the superior service and guarantee from other knife companies compared to AG's. AG sells many of those brands. And when you buy from him, not only do you have the coverage of those manufacturers as you would if you bought it from another dealer, but you have on top of that AG's customer gaurantee that if you're not satisfied with the knife, even after 10 years of use, you can return it for YOUR MONEY BACK. Caveats of course about original ownership vs. flea market second hand buying as posted in the previous threads. I doubt if the other manufacturers or dealers will give you your money back after you've used the knife for years then decide you're not satisfied with it. Not even Busse.

Busse will replace the knife, but they won't refund your money, at least not in their written guarantee. Now they might actually refund in many cases since their service seems exceptional, but judging from the fact that there are resale ads for Busses on BF's Exchange forum at or below the knife's original price, I would have to assume that those knife users aren't confident that Busse would refund their money after all that time.

Some may prefer Busse's replacement gaurantee if they were trying to take advantage of the company by swapping an old knife for a new. But a customer who is HONESTLY not happy with a knife wouldn't want a replacement anyway. That's where AG's gaurantee is superior in my book. If I'm honest about my disatisfaction with a knife, AG's guarantee is the best for me.
 
If the knife was described as new in the auction and in fact it was flawed, the answer is simple. The knife should have been replaced even though the 14 day return had long since expired and even though the knife was auctioned for someone else. If we missed a flaw and sold the knife as flawless, we are responsible.

I wish that this had happened to someone else, but it did not. We will send Architect a merchandice certificate for $35 to cover his expenses less whatever he recovered on e-bay, and the other gentleman, also an A. G . Russell customer, the $70 difference between what he paid for the auctioned knife and the full price he later paid for the same model knife from our website.

If that knife shows up at some later date, it will be treated as a second It has been fully warranted and will not be covered again.

A. G. Russell
 
I've been an AG Russell customer for most of my life. I think I bought my first Sting w/rosewood handle when I was about 14 years old;) (the local gun shop owner knew my father and things were different "back then"). Anyhoo, never had a problem with them in any way. Paul and Amy at the Cutting Edge are very friendly and helpful. I sold a lot of knives through the Cutting Edge before I discovered Bladeforums. Great service!

Leo Gilbert
 
If you buy one of their knives second-hand, and later discover a defect, then they don't care - it's not covered.
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AG, ya done good, but I would like to make this point. I bought both an Outdoor Edge Magna and a Spyderco Ti Salsa second hand. The lock didn't hold on the Magna and the Salsa needed adjustment. Both where taken care of by their respective manufactuer.

So provided I understood correctly what you're saying, in these two instances you where/are incorrect.
 
The Cutting edge is one of the few place in the world where you can buy a handmade knife with NO FEAR.

I have purchased (and sent back) handmades in all price ranges.

They are a great company to deal with and Amy especially rocks!
 
I think that good service comes from guys like AG RUSSELL and SAL GLESSER is because they can take it on the chin and come here on the forums to set the record straight.

If there is a problem with their respected companies they come here to let us know how we can fix it.

As to the original post I have a couple of AG Knives and not dissappointed.

S/F,
Ceya >.Ceya Knife Designz
 
AG, I think what you are doing is great and I really appreciate the excellent service, it goes way beyond the call of duty.

I will always be an AG Russell customer.

Chad
 
Folks, I think we have an excellent example of A.G. and the way he does business. I do not have a lot of his knives, but I do have a few. All are excellent. When I think of folks in this business who have contributed to knives and people a handfull of folks come to mind and A.G. and his crew are in that handfull.

I would have no problem in trusting and dealing with A.G. on a personal or business basis, I know he will always do what is right and fair without exception.

I do not buy many production knives these days, but I still follow what is going on out there. A.G. would be one of my main sources for quality production cutlery.
 
A. G. Russell :

PLEASE show me ANYONE with better service or a better guarantee than ours.
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Lots of makers have warrenties on the blades irregardless of who is using it or how they came to own it. All of these offer a superior guarantee of performance for knives bought in the secondary market than a company whose warrenty is one in which the service is limited to "the customer". The above quoted material from your webpage clearly seperates a "customer" as distinct from someone who simply owns your knife. This is a clear reduction in support.

There is also not a clear defination of what exactly how a customer is defined. You clearly state the the person who buys the knife from the flea market isn't a customer. Which brings up the obvious question how is this different from simply buying a knife on the secondary market in general. You seem to imply that it is act of asking for a replacement that removes him from being a "customer" this of course completly removes the meaning of the term from the known defination of the word. Now you are defining a customer as someone who by your viewpoint who has unreasonable demands .

This brings up the further debatable and subjective issues of what is an unreasonable demand as it is also not definate that the only particular demand which is problematic is the specific one you list. It could easily be argued that was simply an illustrative case, as an example of such a viewpoint. None of this legal mumbo-jumbo is necessary if the warrenty is on the knife. Those guarantees are more complete for purchases made on the secondary market.

Now you can argue that you are not as limiting as what is written on the webpage. This is a common argument for those with restrictive warrenties. However, if you can't stand behind it in writing - why would you expect some unknown individual off the street to know what it is supposed to be - let alone believe that it will be held.

-Cliff
 
I am going to close my participation in this thread by simply stating that I have traded private emails with A.G. and I will leave it at that.

I had no intention of staining A.G.'s or his companies' reputation. I stated in a later post on this thread that I have recently and will continue to do business with them time to time.

I was trying to clarify what I thought (and still believe) is an important distinction in the broad policies of major knife manufacturers.

However, as I reviewed a sentence in my original post

If you buy one of their knives second-hand, and later discover a defect, then they don't care - it's not covered. I know this all too well.
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I would like to retract the statement "...then they don't care...". Un-necessary and a poor choice of words on my part.
 
Obviously I'm late to this party.
I just want to say that I always have had excellent customer service from AG. Even to the point of selling me 2 sheephorn handled Benchmark feathermates around 1994 or 95 that had a printing error in their catalog. The price with a wood handled one had been switched and was about $30 lower than it should have been, but he honored the price till the next catalog came out.
 
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