GEC #15 What should I do?

J

joeC76

Joined
Oct 9, 2013
Messages
108
Just got one in yesterday (adding to my collection, 2nd #15,4th GEC). This knife has a considerable amount of blade play on the main blade, the secondary is fine.. This is the first GEC that has not been perfect out of the box. Will they fix the problem if I send it back? Do these knives develop play over time? I am new to traditional knives and these knives are all users

Thanks for your help
 
You didn't say if you bought it from a dealer but if you did, check with him/her and see if they'll swap it for another. It will save you a lot of wait time.
 
I waited awhile then sent the knife in at the beginning of September. This is the last I have heard about the knife and I have not received a response to my last email I sent 5 days ago

Chris,

Any progress? Getting antsy to have the knife back!

Joseph Cahill
SAMSUNG Galaxy S5

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On Sep 16, 2014 2:04 PM, "Chris Tucker" <sales@greateasterncutlery.net> wrote:
Hopefully they will have some time this week or next to do your repair, sorry it is taking so long but we do not have a actual repair department. Our assembly department does repairs when they are waiting for parts to come to them.



Chris

How does a company that has any form of quality policy not have a repair department?
 
The reason is that they have less than 30 employees. They just finished the biggest run of knives they have ever done. I doubt they get enough complaints/returned knives to justify the considerable extra cost of a dedicated repair/warranty employee, and that cost would be covered by increasing the prices of the knives.

I guarantee they will fix your knife to your liking, it's unfortunate that its taking longer than normal.
 
joeC76 said:
Chris

How does a company that has any form of quality policy not have a repair department?
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If you have a question for a Factory Employee, why not contact the Factory directly? Their contact information is readily available on their Website. Why post it here?
 
Suppose you only get three or four knives a week in for repair? A company that has ten or fifteen employees and that works on the kind of profit margins you find in the knife business cannot afford to pay a repair department that's sitting around doing nothing. Most cutlery companies work, (or worked) this way. This being the busiest time of the year for the industry would definitely cause delays in repairs as I'm sure order backlogs have them going bonkers. I'm sure it'll get done, they're a top notch cutlery company with an excellent reputation.

Eric

PS- Sorry ALLHSS, I was typing while you were posting pretty much the same thing :o
 
rma100 said:
If you have a question for a Factory Employee, why not contact the Factory directly? Their contact information is readily available on their Website. Why post it here?
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As I quoted in my post, I have been in contact with them.. The last post I made was a copy and paste of an email I have going with them.
 
I understand the limitations that GEC has as a very small firm, and I'm impressed that their QC level is higher than rivals' (it is...) but this kind of a situation is frustrating given their guarantee pledge.

As I've posted before, the day I got a 73 Tidioute in Ivory Bone I dropped it on the doorstep and cracked the pile side scale. I've been intouch with GEC several times about this, I have always offered to pay all the costs of replacing the scale (or both if it's easier) as it was my fault. They claim that they cannot fix it until they have a stock of those handles (Ivory smooth bone is pretty common offering on their patterns) I then said they can re-handle it at my cost in another smooth bone, again no action. The knife also needs tightening as it's my one GEC that displays play. This situation annoys me as it implies that if a set of scales cracks prematurely or is badly marked in some way it is more or less impossible ever to get it fixed even when you are prepared to bear the cost. Not a good state of affairs, looks like it will have to be re-handled andd fixed elsewhere but it is not easy to find people who will work with pinned shields. I would've expected the manufacturer to help me out given I will bear the costs, seems not though.

Regards, Will
 
I too have a knife with them for repair. I was told it would be done or looked at in a week. When I inquired again, Chris said they couldn't look at it for two weeks. After two weeks I sent another email asking if I could get it back for the fifteenth. Chris said they are on shutdown Monday and Tuesday and they are working on repairs now, but it wont ship until the fifteenth. We'll see what happens. The blades on my 56 had flat spots on the cam tang, the master blade felt a little gritty, and the pin started to move, so I contacted them to see if they would fix it. They said they would. We'll see how it goes.

willgoy said:
I understand the limitations that GEC has as a very small firm, and I'm impressed that their QC level is higher than rivals' (it is...) but this kind of a situation is frustrating given their guarantee pledge.
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I also asked them if it would be more cost affective for them to just replace the knife, but the question got ignored. I'm pretty sure someone from GEC will see this, and I hope their reaction is positive. It's not a bashing, but constructive criticism. Companies can have a great quality level but if their customer service is bad it will affect their reputation.
 
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Hmm, some disappointing stories here. Sorry to hear you guys are having trouble. While I'm sure a dedicated repair department isn't necessary for GEC, I do think repair work needs to be given some priority and turned around quickly. There is no reason someone who buys a brand new knife that has issues should then be without it for weeks waiting for it to get repaired. GEC does so many things right and so well, but sounds like they could improve some in this area.
 
Considerable amount of blade play? It's a no brainer, send it back for either repair or exchange.
 
While the only issue with a GEC knife that I've ever had was rectified by the dealer (received a new 73 with a cracked scale--replaced immediately), GEC has a very loyal and strong following here on BF. Stories/issues like this popping up here could be catastrophic to a small company (I've seen very similar things happen in other industries.) I hope it gets rectified asap with lessons learned.
 
slide13 said:
Hmm, some disappointing stories here. Sorry to hear you guys are having trouble. While I'm sure a dedicated repair department isn't necessary for GEC, I do think repair work needs to be given some priority and turned around quickly. There is no reason someone who buys a brand new knife that has issues should then be without it for weeks waiting for it to get repaired. GEC does so many things right and so well, but sounds like they could improve some in this area.
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Per the blade play: factories take time to find lulls and work on warranty. Even those that have repair personnel seem to take longer than we would think necessary.

As for the other stories, there are complexities with every situation that are hard to see from both viewpoints. They are doing equipment maintenance and repair this week, not knife repairs - I can't even get them to ship me knives they have in inventory until next Wednesday. If we find out they will put different slabs on a knife that shows up with broken ones, I will start slamming mine into the concrete just to get a handful of "short runs". Ok, I wouldn't really, but that is why they don't do that. When Bill puts pencil to paper and realizes he could not tear a knife down and replace the slabs (given the slabs were available) any cheaper than his cost on a new knife - how does he quote that repair work to a stand-up guy?

They are not the devil or the boogie man. They are a business with impeccable customer service trying to stay in the black as long as they can such that 21 families keep food on the table. Do they make mistakes, yes. Do they work on knives and never say a word that actually had no defect whatsoever to begin with - absolutely. Call up Chris and ask her opinion and ask what your expectations should be. There is nobody any easier to get along with.
 
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Nobody bats a 1000 average so send it back and give them the chance to fix it or replace it. They will make it right and you will be happy. :)
 
Cards94: He sent it back over a month ago. His only issue now is waiting for it to be returned to him repaired.
 
rma100 said:
If you have a question for a Factory Employee, why not contact the Factory directly? Their contact information is readily available on their Website. Why post it here?
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He did ask the factory directly. They have not responded. I completely understand GEC's policy on repairs. I would fully expect my knife to be out of commission for several weeks if I sent one in for repairs. I do not understand and cannot comprehend an email going unreturned for a week. There really is no excuse for it. Even if things are really hectic over there you can still sit down and type out a quick response that explains that. "We are experiencing some difficulties and I don't have an answer for you at this time. I will do my best to get that answer for you and get back to you ASAP." That took all of 5 seconds to type. I don't know if we're getting the full story here, and my correspondence with Chris has been fantastic. In my case I received responses to each of my emails within a couple of hours.

Having limitations is one thing, and it's completely understandable and acceptable to me, but ignoring a question or breaking a promised deadline without contacting the customer is not. With estimations that they get three or four knives a week for repair and the fact that shooting off a quick email will take under a minute a piece there's really no excuse for it. I understand being a small business. I grew up in the house of a small business owner, and I run a side business that caters to small businesses. I have never known a small business owner that wouldn't stay five minutes late to take care of their customers or send out a couple messages from home if need be. Like I said, I don't know the full story and what I've read here doesn't match up with my experiences. However, the explanations being offered up make no sense either.
 
I think the dealers should also examine the knives before selling them. I had 2 that I purchased on an auction site that both had terrible blade play. The other one I received in after I had been waiting on the knife I sent in so I looked around and found a way to remedy it myself. I stopped the play, but now the knife has no snap when it closes, so I have to guide it shut.. In the long run, that will probably work it's way out since I use my knives and over time it should loosen up (or I would think). I haven't heard back from GEC yet, when I do get the knife back I will let you all know. Kinda miss this one since it was my first and only wood handled knife
 
Cory Hess said:
He did ask the factory directly. They have not responded. I completely understand GEC's policy on repairs. I would fully expect my knife to be out of commission for several weeks if I sent one in for repairs. I do not understand and cannot comprehend an email going unreturned for a week.
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Again, let's look at the facts; and be optimistic in our assumptions. If he sent an email "5 days ago" on 10/8, then he sent it on the Friday before a week long FACTORY SHUTDOWN wherein a skeleton crew is coming in for cleanup and maintenance. I would not assume that part of this shutdown was to power up the computers and respond to emails; matter of fact I have a couple emails that have gone un-answered thus far this week as well.

I don't see a promise broken. They have been covered up with bull buster and bladeforum production for nearly a month; and now they are in shut down. OP says they told him they would try to get to it. OP wants his knife back - we all want turnaround asap. But when a company has gone above and beyond time and time again, let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
Just for the record they were closed on 10/6 and 10/7 so I'm sure they are a little backed up. I have a Barlow in the shop and I'm not expecting it back for a while. The more you think about the knife being away, the longer it will feel like it's taking to get the knife back in your hands. You've got to harness in the good energy and block out the bad. :D
 
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