GEC Customer Service Question

Old & In The Way

Old & In The Way

Joined
Sep 1, 2013
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1,766
Background: I own several GEC's (15 Barlow, 72, 73, and a 42). I recently purchased a 55 Hounds Tooth with a wharncliffe blade as a birthday gift for my 72 year old father. A couple of my GEC's are on the stiff side when opening (7 to 8 on the scale), but the 55 that I purchased for my Dad is a solid 8.5 and much too difficult for him to open, and quite honestly, I'm a bit worried that it will bite him. I've read numerous posts on lubing and trying to weaken the back spring which I've tried with little success. I've also opened/closed the knife with a rag in my hand about 1,000 times trying to break it in - again, with little if any success, although I'm sure that I've substantially improved my grip. :)

My question for anyone that might have any experience dealing with GEC, is whether or not I could send the knife back to them to adjust the spring tension? Anyone here ever tried that, and if so, did you have any luck? Thanks in advance.
 
You can send it back but there's not much if anything they can do about it. Why not keep that one for yourself and buy your Dad a nice Case or other brand knife that you can look at at a hardware store and actually handle before you buy it. I know that's not what you want to hear but it's all I've got.
 
Return/reject it? If it's problematic as a product return it and ask for a replacement might be another angle.
 
I sent them my #42 trapper and they did something to it that eased the spring tension just enough to make it a bit more comfortable--especially on the secondary blade. Since then I've used it a lot, oiled it constantly, and left the blade in the open position over night regularly--that is, "open" between the closed position and the half stop--all of which seems to have helped with the tension. Even after all that, it still has serious pull.
 
I sent my Eureka back and they had it back to me in a few weeks. I don't know about spring tension, but you could email Chris at GEC and ask.
 
I still need to get in touch with Chris about my recent issue. I sent my 23s in to get the pull reduced. They worked their magic on the single blade 23, it is actually easy to open now. However, they didn't do anything to the two blade 23. It took them a while to get to it, and then the Rendezvous came up, but not the worst turnaround time I've experienced. I need to see what the issue was with the two blade 23. Great service on the single blade, puzzled over the two blade.
 
I ended up emailing Chris at GEC late last night and she responded first thing this morning. Told me to send the knife back to them and they'd try to reduce the spring tension. Impressed with the quick response and willingness to try to help with something that isn't really 'broke'. Great knives and customer service too. I'll definitely be buying more GEC's in the future. Makes me happy... my wife, not so much.
 
I have 4 GEC knives, models 65, 33, 25 & 68. Of the 4, only the 33 has a pull acceptable for daily use and carry; the rest sit in a drawer.
I DO have arthritis in my right hand but it's not bad enough to stop me from using any of my Case collection or the few other slipjoints
I have from Schrade and Buck. The pull on the 65 is so hard I have been tempted to use pliers...
This has pretty much soured me on the brand. As much as I admire the superior craftsmanship of these knives it is wasted if I can't
use them. This seems to be a common complaint about GEC. Don't they listen to their customers?
As far as returning for adjustment goes, why bother? This seems to be a featured design of the product. I don't expect
them to re-engineer the knife just for me.
 
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I received an email from Chris last night, that I need to address. She stated

With some of our knives there is only so much loosening we can do before the blades become too loose and you end up with blade movement.
Click to expand...

She said to send it back in and they could loosen it as much as I wanted. Going to have to mull this one over.
 
UPDATE: I received the knife back from GEC today, and am very happy with it. Less than a month door-to-door, but what I'm really ecstatic about is the fact that the initial pull is now a 5, and from half-stop to open a 7 - which is practically ideal in my opinion. Not only is the pull great now, but the blade is perfectly centered, and the back spring is flush at all three positions. Fit, finish and operation of this little knife is now as good or better than any knife I own. Think I'll keep this one as I gifted my Dad a Canal Street Half Moon Trapper when this wasn't back in time for his birthday. Kudos to GEC for the great customer service and the quality product. Definitely more GEC's in my future! :)

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I'm sorry I missed this thread earlier; I'm glad you found your way to a satisfactory conclusion with GEC.

(I have a #25 with a previously-cringeworthy, brace-yourself-non-easily-openable secondary blade that Bill Howard tended to while I was there for a Rendezvous, with the same excellent result that you are now describing. A sweet difference indeed.)

Beautiful knife! Thanks for the update. :)

~ P.
 
sounds like they are bending over backwards to please their customers and that is what will make them succeed in the long run. I love to hear stories like this. Thank you for sharing!
 
flylock said:
sounds like they are bending over backwards to please their customers and that is what will make them succeed in the long run. I love to hear stories like this. Thank you for sharing!
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
 
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