Funny story at the knife counter

Yo Mama

Yo Mama

Joined
Sep 25, 2011
Messages
6,264
What I saw:

Employee takes Benchmade mini gip and spine wacks the living heck out of it (axis lock took it like a champ btw), then uses the axis lock to swing the blade in and out making the loud wacking. I thought what the heck is this guy behind the counter doing!?!?!

Turns out a 14 year old is with his Dad, looking at getting his first knife. Kid is dead set on a butterfly knife. Guy behind the counter was trying to do everything he could to talk him out of it telling him it's just not so safe, and he'll cut or chop a finger off. He showed him a Swiss Army Knife, and then was showing the mini grip, and the Dad smiles and said, "You're not going to talk him out of it, we'll just grab the butterfly knife."

As they were leaving the employee asked for the pictures soon. Dad and kid go what of? Employee goes, "the stiches" :p
 
The same guy will be suing said knife dealer once the cheap Bali breaks and cuts his kids hand. You can't win em' all:rolleyes:
 
I got a bali pre-stiff hairs on my chin... Promptly stuck it in my back pocket walked out in the parking lot reached in said back pocket and cut the dog snot out of finger. Tried to hide the cut/blood from dad on the way home so he wouldn't throw the knife in trash ( traditional guy).
It would be interesting to track the knife desires of that young man over the next half century.
He maybe carrying a balisong at 50 or he maybe carrying a case peanut, with a rainbow of stuff in between.
 
14 is the perfect age for the future Bali flipping champion of the world to start learning.

The employee should have said: "what you want is a pair of matched balisongs. One is the real deal, and the other is a trainer with blunt edges. I don't sell that so I will refer you elsewhere."

Eric
 
snippy said:
14 is the perfect age for the future Bali flipping champion of the world to start learning.

The employee should have said: "what you want is a pair of matched balisongs. One is the real deal, and the other is a trainer with blunt edges. I don't sell that so I will refer you elsewhere."

Eric
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I didn't even think to tell the dad that!
 
Bear and Sons! Noooooo! He should have whacked the spine harder! Hahaha
 
When you were talking about swinging it and smacking the spine, I thought NO!!

But being all flashy seemed appropriate in talking him out of it.
But Bear and Sons wasn't smart.
 
Another bad part, someone unsuspecting will buy the BM that was beat to hell and not know anything about it...
 
That employee sounds like a real d-bag. If I'd been the father, I'd have approached the manager and asked that he require his employees to keep their denigrating comments and opinions to themselves. That guy's job is to sell merchandise, not make judgement calls as to a customer's readiness for ownership of something his store sells. That employee had zero knowledge of this father and son. Maybe the father is the world champion of balisong spinning or whatever (or he's T-Mack LOL) and wanted to get his son started along those lines. So, they purchased an inexpensive balisong just in case his son tried it out and decided it wasn't for him. Employee guy should have kept his mouth shut, and that stitches line would have had me asking his manager to have him explain what he meant by that to my face.

I don't even LIKE balisongs. I like judgemental employees far less.
 
Quiet said:
That employee sounds like a real d-bag. If I'd been the father, I'd have approached the manager and asked that he require his employees to keep their denigrating comments and opinions to themselves. That guy's job is to sell merchandise, not make judgement calls as to a customer's readiness for ownership of something his store sells. That employee had zero knowledge of this father and son. Maybe the father is the world champion of balisong spinning or whatever (or he's T-Mack LOL) and wanted to get his son started along those lines. So, they purchased an inexpensive balisong just in case his son tried it out and decided it wasn't for him. Employee guy should have kept his mouth shut, and that stitches line would have had me asking his manager to have him explain what he meant by that to my face.

I don't even LIKE balisongs. I like judgemental employees far less.
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I agree. If the kid came in alone, but it was hypothetically legal in that area to sell him a balisong, maybe a few cautionary words would be in order. But that kid probably has friends who flip, and has already seen a thousand YouTube videos on the subject, so the preachy crap isn't going to do anything but annoy him. The fact a parent was with him means the employee can STFU and quit trying to play 'Father Knows Best' when the actual father is present. That's kind of insulting; it implies he's making a bad parenting choice that some knife-store clerk feels compelled to correct. Balisongs draw blood. So do skateboards.
 
Quiet said:
That employee sounds like a real d-bag. If I'd been the father, I'd have approached the manager and asked that he require his employees to keep their denigrating comments and opinions to themselves. That guy's job is to sell merchandise, not make judgement calls as to a customer's readiness for ownership of something his store sells. That employee had zero knowledge of this father and son. Maybe the father is the world champion of balisong spinning or whatever (or he's T-Mack LOL) and wanted to get his son started along those lines. So, they purchased an inexpensive balisong just in case his son tried it out and decided it wasn't for him. Employee guy should have kept his mouth shut, and that stitches line would have had me asking his manager to have him explain what he meant by that to my face.

I don't even LIKE balisongs. I like judgemental employees far less.
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I agree.

Heck, what I see in that story is a young man who likes knives, and a really cool dad who is willing to buy his son the knife he wants. How cool is that?

The knife community needs a constant influx of new members. And it's always nice to hear about young people having an interest in knives, instead of just the latest electronic, computerized offering from Apple or Google, etc.

For all we know the father might be a very responsible guy who has/will teach his son safe knife handling. And for all we know, the son might be a responsible young man. As for the brand of the knife, I doubt there are many on this forum who never feel in love at the sight of an inexpensive knife when they were a kid and just had to have it. All part of the journey.

As far as stitches go, I'm sure a lot of 14 year olds have needed stitches after cutting themselves on Buck 110's, as well as countless slipjoints over the past century. In fact, I'm sure that many people much older than 14 have cut themselves on "regular" knives and required stitches.

Two things that bother me about that story is how the clerk treated a knife that is supposedly for sale, and his smart-ass remark to the dad and his son. Private citizens can say whatever they want, but a store employee is supposed to be polite and keep their smart-ass remarks to themselves. For the employee to openly suggest that the boy is going to need stitches is an insult to the father as it suggests that he hasn't/won't teach his son safe knife handling.

A smart-ass clerk could very easily make the same smart-ass "stitches" comment about any knife. Imagine you're buying your son his first knife and some smart-ass clerk starts saying how your son is just going to cut himself and need stitches. I sure wouldn't like it.

I don't encounter smart-ass remarks from store personnel very often, in fact, I don't remember the last time I have. But if did, I'd make it a very bad day for that employee. I'd demand to see the manager, tell the manager about the employees rude behavior, ask if that's how they train their employees to talk to PAYING CUSTOMERS, and I'd threaten to take my business elsewhere and tell everyone I know to do the same.

If I had a knife store and an employee treated either a knife, or a customer in that way, I'd have one less employee.
 
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killgar said:
Two things that bother me about that story is how the clerk treated a knife that is supposedly for sale, and his smart-ass remark to the dad and his son. Private citizens can say whatever they want, but a store employee is supposed to be polite and keep their smart-ass remarks to themselves. For the employee to openly suggest that the boy is going to need stitches is an insult to the father as it suggests that he hasn't/won't teach his son safe knife handling.

A smart-ass clerk could very easily make the same smart-ass "stitches" comment about any knife. Imagine you're buying your son his first knife and some smart-ass clerk starts saying how your son is just going to cut himself and need stitches. I sure wouldn't like it.

I don't encounter smart-ass remarks from store personnel very often, in fact, I don't remember the last time I have. But if did, I'd make it a very bad day for that employee. I'd demand to see the manager, tell the manager about the employees rude behavior, ask if that's how they train their employees to talk to PAYING CUSTOMERS, and I'd threaten to take my business elsewhere and tell everyone I know to do the same.

If I had a knife store and an employee treated either a knife, or a customer in that way, I'd have one less employee.
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I couldn't disagree more. Employees are there to help a customer make an informed, not knee-jerk, purchase. You don't want an employee, you seem to want row after row of shelves where you grab what you want and go. That employee's entire purpose in that store is to provide guidance, advice and options-- and if experience leads him to believe a customer is making a poor choice, to advise against it. Were I the owner of the store, and you complained about that employee doing his job, I'd invite you not to shop at my business any more. The "stitches" line might have been a little excessive, but some people need a kick in the brain stem.
 
Yalius said:
I couldn't disagree more. Employees are there to help a customer make an informed, not knee-jerk, purchase. You don't want an employee, you seem to want row after row of shelves where you grab what you want and go. That employee's entire purpose in that store is to provide guidance, advice and options-- and if experience leads him to believe a customer is making a poor choice, to advise against it. Were I the owner of the store, and you complained about that employee doing his job, I'd invite you not to shop at my business any more. The "stitches" line might have been a little excessive, but some people need a kick in the brain stem.
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I disagree. The employee is there to offer those services if requested. It was clear to me that the father's comments that he had the situation under control. It was not that employee's place to continue to attempt to change the guy's mind, and it absolutely wasn't his place to try to make some snide comment to the father as they were leaving. If that is how you think business should be done, or that customers "need a kick in the brain stem", I can say I'm glad I wouldn't do business with your store. Some people DO need a kick in the brain-stem. However, it's not a retail employee's job to provide that, sorry.
 
NJBillK said:
Another bad part, someone unsuspecting will buy the BM that was beat to hell and not know anything about it...
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That was exactly what I was thinking.
Quiet said:
I disagree. The employee is there to offer those services if requested. It was clear to me that the father's comments that he had the situation under control. It was not that employee's place to continue to attempt to change the guy's mind, and it absolutely wasn't his place to try to make some snide comment to the father as they were leaving. If that is how you think business should be done, or that customers "need a kick in the brain stem", I can say I'm glad I wouldn't do business with your store. Some people DO need a kick in the brain-stem. However, it's not a retail employee's job to provide that, sorry.
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I agree. And for what it's worth there are people out there who don't give a hoot about flipping a bali but like them as a pocket knife. Like me. I'd love to have a bali but they're illegal to carry here. And because I'm not a flipper, there's no other reason for me to own one. So I don't.:(

I mean really. The guy doesn't know what he's talking about if he's beating a benchmade on his display case. HE'S the one going to get stitches. :D That's why I do my research before going into a store. So I don't have to rely on the knowledge of guys like this.
 
Shotgun said:
That was exactly what I was thinking.

I agree. And for what it's worth there are people out there who don't give a hoot about flipping a bali but like them as a pocket knife. Like me. I'd love to have a bali but they're illegal to carry here. And because I'm not a flipper, there's no other reason for me to own one. So I don't.:(

I mean really. The guy doesn't know what he's talking about if he's beating a benchmade on his display case. HE'S the one going to get stitches. :D That's why I do my research before going into a store. So I don't have to rely on the knowledge of guys like this.
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Yep! In point of fact, I have never actually met an employee at a store who knew more about an item I was specifically there to purchase than I did. But then, I tend to research my hobby-related discretionary purchases pretty exhaustively.
 
Yalius said:
Employees are there to help a customer make an informed, not knee-jerk, purchase.
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Employees aren't there to make smart-ass remarks. And who says it was a "knee-jerk" purchase? If a customer has made up their mind to but a specific item, it's not the job of any employee to talk them out of that purchase. If a customer asks the employee for advice or their opinion, that's one thing, but if I don't ask, I don't want to hear them. Some people, like myself, are capable of deciding for ourselves what we want to buy.

You don't want an employee, you seem to want row after row of shelves where you grab what you want and go.
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I don't want employees making smart-ass remarks. And I don't want them trying to TELL me what I should buy.

That employee's entire purpose in that store is to provide guidance, advice and options
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If requested. Again, it's not the purpose of a store employee to tell a person what they should or should not buy.

and if experience leads him to believe a customer is making a poor choice, to advise against it.
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I don't need any store employee substituting their experience or judgement for my own. And clearly the dad in that story didn't either. Just like I don't need any employee at Home Depot telling me that I shouldn't buy my son a hammer because he might smash his thumb with it.

Were I the owner of the store, and you complained about that employee doing his job, I'd invite you not to shop at my business any more.
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With your philosophy regarding customer service, I don't think your store would be in business very long.

The "stitches" line might have been a little excessive,
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So you AGREE that the remark was inappropriate. Yet you said "I couldn't disagree more".

but some people need a kick in the brain stem.
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It's not up to a store employee to make that determination. Nor is it their job to do the kicking.

Let's see, the store offered a particular knife for sale, a customer wanted to buy that particular knife, and the customer DID buy that particular knife. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Once a customer decides what they want, no employee should try to change their mind, much less make smart-ass remarks to suggest that the customer is irresponsible and will hurt themselves.
 
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