The discount codes would not have helped you save any money on the limited edition models anyway, they never really have. I agree with supporting an American company, but that is not really what this whole thing is about. Again, there was no official statement, at all even now. We know there was a corporate restructuring that someone posted a link to (some some kind of new management think tank move).
Next thing you know, just before Christmas shopping commenced the coupon codes were cancelled across the board. Had Benchmade announced on their Facebook page or website a plan for this, it would have likely gone over much more smoothly than it ended up. It was a poor business decision, poorly executed. Sometimes good businesses get run by bad businessmen, or good businessmen make some God awful decisions, and the absolute worst times.
For example, saying something to the effect,"Starting January 1, 2014 coupon codes will be unavailable for our products. Our intention with this decision is to (fill in the blank with whatever rose colored glasses ideal you need to here). Thank you for your support." Customers got nothing at all, and the dealers got less money from those products this year for the busiest holiday shopping time of the year. If anything, the coupon codes should have been reworked a little and allowing brick and mortar stores to use them as well. Now it looks like sales may slow to a crawl across the board, rather than their implied reasoning to help smaller retailers become competitive.
Hell, I'll buy an occasional Limited Run or a preowned hard to find piece in good shape. But overall, unless I see something new that isn't a reimagined version of the same old patterns, my money is going elsewhere. For Heaven's sake, quit discontinuing the good models (Ruckus, AFCK, TSEK, Stryker, Skirmish). Again, just my opinions.
