First experience with Spyderco customer service...

cpirtle

cpirtle

Leathercrafter
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Mar 28, 2001
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Last week (Thursday) I sent my Titanium Salsa in to Spyderco for repair. (vertical blade play) UPS says that it takes 3 days to deliver to Denver so today I called to confirm they received the knife and get an estimate on when it would be sent back.

I left a voicemail for Mike (as requested by the message) and gave him my work phone number so he could call me back.

This afternoon I get a call back from him and he says something to the effect of;

"Yes we got the knife, I tried to call you before but got put on hold and I don't wait on hold. I called you on my dime and shouldn't have to be stuck on hold"

What am I supposed to say? I work in a building with 200 other people and I'm not a receptionist... So I changed the topic and asked him when he thought it would be done and his response was something to the effect of;

"It should be out of here in a couple of days, like I said, I would have let you know sooner but I got stuck on hold and I'm calling you. If you were calling me on your dime it would be one thing but at least I have an 800 number...bla bla bla..."

So I told him I didn't know what he wanted me to say, thanked him for calling me back and exited the conversation. What was I supposed to do, he still has my knife...

The more I thought about it the more it made me angry. I mean WTF does this guy think; I should be sitting at the phone all day waiting for him to call me back?

I'm in a customer service type position as well and if I ever talked to a client that way I probably wouldn't be around long.

I can appreciate that everyone has bad days but I feel he handled himself in a completely inappropriate manner, even for a bad day.

You guys are more than welcome to post saying how good Mike was to you and that you've never had that type of experience but I'm just here to tell you that despite all of the positive comments I hear about Spyderco service my first impression was not a very good one.

Sure, there's two sides to every story but as far as I can tell I left a voice message with my name and number and when he called me back within 5 seconds of the conversation he was berating me about being stuck on hold the last time he called...

I still like each and every Spyderco I have with no intentions to get rid of them all over this, I will also continue to buy Spyderco's, but I'm just letting you know that it's not all peaches and cream dealing with their service.
 
Wow - my experiencew was so much different. I emailed customer service. Mike called me back, left a message. I got back to him a week later, we had a great talk, he was friendly, and coureous, and helpful.

Chuck
 
man that sucks, sorry to hear that. I wonder what what his problem?? The only time i had to deal with him was when i needed a new SS clip for my standard. I emailed him about how much it would cost etc. and he called me a week later and asked me what kinda knife i had etc. And he said he'll send out some new screws and a clip the next day, few days latter i got the clip and 6 screws. and it didnt cost me anything. He probably was just havin a really bad day. probly had alot of $hit to do and he was going crazy, i know how that is. :rolleyes:
 
I've been wanting to call Mike and ask him about the possibility of having Spyderco move the clip on my SS Police to the other side so I can carry my Police the way a "lefty" should...On the left side. Now I don't know if I should make that call, as I wouldn't want to hear "no we can't/won't/don't want to do that for you"...:(.
 
That's rather really out of character for Mike.
I've plenty of chat with him on the phone and he's always courteous. He've left messages on my cell phone and he may call me back again and he doesn't sound any worse than any other call.
Perhaps he's really having a bad day...
 
DocDean, glad to hear I'm not the only one.

Glockman, I'd hate to see you pass on having something you wanted done because of my thread. Based on their service departments history I would have to think odds are in your favor to get good service.

The reason for my post was not to get people to stop using Spyderco service or from buying their products. I have purchased 2 Spydies since I posted this thread (Navigator and Delica). My only reason for doing it is to let people know that they are not perfect. I'd also like to bring the situation to Sal's attention and this is my only venue to do that.

One thing that was overlooked by Mike is that I bought a $100+ knife, paid to have it shipped to me, then had to pay $6 to ship it back to Spyderco to correct an issue that arguably should have been caught at the factory. He's mad about spending a few cents waiting on hold and paying long distance charges when I'm already spending more money than I have to so that they have an opportunity to correct their mistake.

Something I can live with, but I certainly don't need to take crap about sitting on hold for a minute.

I could have very easily just sold or returned the knife and never bought another one thinking they were all this way and it's just a bad knife....

I'm the Technical Services Manager at my company, I'm in charge of all voice and data systems. Our phones are programmed so that people do not sit on hold for more than 90 seconds or they ring back to the operator. So 90 seconds is the longest time he could have possibly sat on hold...
 
Yeah. I think Sal should read this, but I think they're doing quite a good job. They're doing an excellent job, but because we're human, we never can be perfect. Improvements can be made all the time.
 
Hi Cpirtle. Apologies for your uncomfortable experience. I would have to say that this is out of character for Mike. Perhaps he is only a mere human and was having a bad day? not an excuse, just an observation. Warrantee & Repair personnel must be perfect, even if they are not. I'll forward this thread to Mike.

sal
 
Mike at Spyderco,

IF you by-chance DO read this thread, WOULD Spyderco move the pocket-clip on my (right-handed) stainless Police model to the other scale for me? (I'm a "lefty"). If so, what is the charge, and "turn-around time"?
 
Thanks for the reply Sal, I appreciate the sarcasm.

"perhaps he is only mere human"....:rolleyes:


"Warrantee & Repair personnel must be perfect, even if they are not"... no, but they don't need to try and pick fights with their customers either.



Mike;
Just fix my knife and send it back to me, you don't have time to sit on hold? I don't have time to fix your bruised ego because you had to sit on hold, see your Human Resources department for that.
 
Sorry, I didn't mean to appear sarcastic. It was an apology. I know Mike and I know the daily problems he deals with. Most are unhappy....day after day....he's unusually patient. Pobody's Nerfect.

sal
 
Seems to me that this is just a misunderstanding.

Every day, people face frustration at whatever job
they perform. Particularly in customer service,
because almost by definition, a customer service
job means you're dealing with someone who is, to
whatever degree, unhappy with whatever product or
service one has provided.

I don't have experience with Mike -- but I do
have to sympathize a little with him, because
if he had to stay on hold for even more than
15-30 seconds long distance, it costs Spyderco
money. If you bought a $300 custom knife, and
were unhappy for whatever reason, then perhaps
the manufacturer should be more liable for the
costs of correcting the problem. Spyderco is
high volume, high quality. And, low cost in addition
to those first two nice attributes

They couldn't deliver on those first two attributes
if their costs were high, which would be the
case if they spent more than necessary on phone
bills.

My only experience with Spyderco customer
service was great! Sent back my Delica
because it wouldn't close very well, despite my
attempts to clean and lubricate it (spent too
many months deep pocket carry in my jeans, so there
was probably too much lint in the hinge). I sent it
registered mail to Colorado (won't do that again,
too expensive, UPS would be cheaper). Got my Delica
back 10 (? - something close to that) business days later,
in brand-new working order, and sharpened.

Kudos to Keith in Warranty and Repair - nice job!
Wondered why I couldn't fix it myself, but Keith did!

By the way, Sal (if you read this) -- is Spyderco
going to be represented at the Marlborough, MA show
on 11/24/2002?
 
Gotcha, thanks Sal, I'm not trying to be argumentative and I appreciate your response.

Hi EDB, I appreciate your thoughtful response, although I don't agree with it.

I received a new knife that was defective from Spyderco. The knife was sent in for repair at my expense (I don't care about that part, it was only $6). Spyderco has a warranty as well as a great reputation for supporting their customers which are some of the reasons I buy their knives. What is the problem if they are expected to sit on hold for 30 seconds to a minute to process the repair transaction? (a whopping 50 cents on even the worst calling card!)

I'm willing to accept that he may have been having a bad day, in fact I mentioned that in my original post. But the bottom line is this was my first experience with the service department of a company I have long held in high regard and have purchased thousands of dollars in products from. It left a very bad taste in my mouth and deflated my "Spyderco bubble" quite a bit.
 
Chad,
I know a lot of times that first impression counts, and I guess Mike just had a bad day at the wrong time because you're calling them for the first time.
It doens't help him when bastids like me send in knives for him to check for :p . I've sent in an Endura for sharpening (which end up swapped because of a bad lock), a Native because of blade retention, and a Vesuvius because of very funky closed blade play. And certainly, as anyone in customer service and customer handling can tell you, sometimes thye could be a pain.
Oh well. I hope that next time when you need to have a knife checked out, this experience would not be repeated.
 
Well.... I got the knife back and am sorry to say I'm not pleased in the least.

There is a letter in the mailing pouch stating that they are glad to see my knife has been put to such good use and that's it's been sharpened and refurbished to the best of their ability. :confused: :barf:

The knife in fact was brand new when I sent it in and had cut up an apple, which I highly doubt dulled the edge much.

As for the blade play (the reason I sent it in the first place...), it's exactly the same as it was when I sent the knife in, nothing was done to correct the problem and no mention of it in the return letter.

:mad:
 
Originally posted by cpirtle
Well.... I got the knife back and am sorry to say I'm not pleased in the least.

There is a letter in the mailing pouch stating that they are glad to see my knife has been put to such good use and that's it's been sharpened and refurbished to the best of their ability. :confused: :barf:

The knife in fact was brand new when I sent it in and had cut up an apple, which I highly doubt dulled the edge much.

As for the blade play (the reason I sent it in the first place...), it's exactly the same as it was when I sent the knife in, nothing was done to correct the problem and no mention of it in the return letter.

:mad:
Click to expand...
Are you sure that it's the SAME knife that you sent in that they sent back? Maybe there was a mix-up?.:eek:.
 
Yep, still traces of my White Lightning on the blade and the slightly crooked screw that holds my Cobra Hood in place.

That would be the closest identifying marks I could come up with on a virtually scratch free, new knife.

It's definitely not a replacement though.
 
This is a hell of a thread, I can relate to cpritle, Sal and responders.

This is very insightfull... I always wandered wether Spyderco was as good as is said because it just seems to good to be true. This makes the whole Spyderco-myth a bit more credible.

By the way, I have one Spydie: -a Viele SE in VG-10 but I plan to buy more Spydie's, I trust Sal and his company quite a lot. And no, I did not doubt for a moment that he was not sarcastic in this thread ;-)

Nice to read something different.
 
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