Flaws -- when do YOU send a knife back?

KeithAM

KeithAM

Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
3,154
Today is my birthday -- yippie!

My wife got me 2 Queen knives from Cumberland. I told her to go to the site and pick 1 or 2 out from among the carved stag bone series. Anyway, she got me a Mountain Man and a Cattle King. Great choices.

Well, as luck would have it, both knives are less than perfect. The Cattle King has a very tiny amount of play in the clip blade, the springs of both the spey and sheepsfoot are on the weak side, and the action of the spey is pure mush - no snap in the opening whatsoever.

The Mountain Man is absolutely perfect in all respects EXCEPT for several hairline cracks in one of the scales. One of the cracks, near the liner, is about 1" long, and the bone on one side of the crack is much lighter -- almost looks like fatigued plastic.

Taking into account the price, do you think I should send one or both back? What kind of flaws cause YOU to send a knife back?

I also have a specific question about the bone: are hairline cracks merely cosmetic flaws, or with reasonable use (avoiding dropping it on hard surfaces) do they eventually lead to the actual splitting off of bone?

I really love the Queen designs and the D2 steel, but I've found flaws like these on all but 1 of the 5 carved stag models I've bought. :(
 
I have been struggling with this same problem.I bought a Case trapper in bone stag at a local store I picked it out of three that were in inventory.The one I picked is perfect in every way,except it has a very small chip in the handle.It is only cosmetic,but it bugs me,the knife cost me $50. I am interested to see what others think about our shared problem.
 
I would think cracks, chips, weak springs, mis-aligned blades would all be candidates for being returned. Flaws are really manufacturer defects, so it's a returnable condition. I'm like you guys though, if it's not that bad I generally suffer as I hate returning something I purchased on the Internet just to wind up with something that's basically the same or maybe even a little worse.

And Keith ..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Mike
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I sent in my Strider PT that I bought, because it rattled. The blade had lateral motion when it was open. They sent me back another new one that has rock solid lock-up.
 
Send the Cattle back, weak blade springs never get better, and will lead to a sloppy, sloppy knife. The other is a personal choice.
 
bob bowie said:
Send the Cattle back, weak blade springs never get better, and will lead to a sloppy, sloppy knife. The other is a personal choice.
Click to expand...

I agree completely with Bob. Cosmetics are a distant second to mechanics for me.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm really torn on the Mountain Man because it locks up so well and is otherwise perfect.

So you're saying that hairline cracks are cosmetic and won['t affect the durability of the scales?
 
Send them both in for repair. You will sleep better when they are right. Be it function or be it fit.
I have a Buck 532 that had a bad blade. (crooked and didnt hold an edge) and had several cosmetic flaws.( handle slabs not even close to matching, filings uneven, etc) I agonized a long time over this. ( about a year) and finally called Joe and asked his advise.( "Send It In!") I did and they fixed it right up ! should have done it long before.
 
Bill Horn at Cumberland just told me to send the knives back in, and he will replace them. He's going to send the new ones out Monday morning if I tell him that I've sent the two problem knives back. I think that's very superior customer service. :thumbup:

Since he's offered, I figure I might as well take him up on the deal and send them back. Thanks for all of your advice.
 
Keith, send them back. Bill is a good guy, Ive known him for some time. He will take care of it. If you do not want to send them back to him, you can always send them back to queen they will make it right (Ive bought queen knives and have had to send ones back to both Bill, and queen before).
 
With me, sometimes a knife becomes "mine" before I discover a defect or the defect begins to scream at me. I don't usually want a replacement because dammit it's "mine" already.

If you can stand to part with the knife for a few weeks, both Case and Queen are very good about repairing defects and returning "your" knife to you.
 
To follow up, Bill sent me replacement knives and both are excellent. Bill is an outstanding dealer. :thumbup:
 
Bill is a very nice christian man. He is the type of person that is always a pleasure to deal and talk with!
 
Without a doubt Bill Horn is a fine guy. He's very courteous and patient too.

:thumbup:
 
Keith, how are you my friend?

Im still unpacking, and trying to unpack knives.....this will take a while!!
 
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