GEC warranty experience

11tonytiger

11tonytiger

Feedback: +5 / =0 / -0
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
100
Talked to Joan over at GEC about a 92 and a 14 that were nail breakers ,she said to send them in for them to check out. I explained to her that I had another 92 and 2 -14's that were easy to open . Her reply is below, no need to say I am very disappointed in the customer service and will no longer be a customer of GEC.

Tony,

We have received the knives you sent to us. After looking at them we have determined that the stiffness of the pull is the nature of the knife as it was made. We will not be able to loosen them for you.

There is a $5.00 return shipping fee, you can pay by check or call the number below to use a credit card. If you would prefer Paypal, our address is sales@greateasterncutlery.net.
 
Have you tried oiling the joint and opening and closing the blades a crapload of times? That's loosened up the pulls on some of my knives.
 
The stiffness of the pull on handmade traditional knives is going to vary, even from knife to knife of the same pattern. I don’t think a stiff pull is a warranty issue, and barring some actual issue with the assembly of the knife, I don’t know what GEC could really do to “fix” it. I think GEC’s response was fair, and far from bad customer service. Just my 2¢.

I also agree that this probably belongs in GB&U.
 
Sorry, but your complaints seem to be mostly unwarranted. You can loosen them a little by tapping on the side of the blade. That may loosen the pivot tightness. What you're suggesting is for them to disassemble to knives or grind off metal to loosen a spring when the spring is working well, it's just not your preference. Sell the unwanted specimens and move on.
 
11tonytiger said:
Talked to Joan over at GEC about a 92 and a 14 that were nail breakers ,she said to send them in for them to check out. I explained to her that I had another 92 and 2 -14's that were easy to open . Her reply is below, no need to say I am very disappointed in the customer service and will no longer be a customer of GEC.

Tony,

We have received the knives you sent to us. After looking at them we have determined that the stiffness of the pull is the nature of the knife as it was made. We will not be able to loosen them for you.

There is a $5.00 return shipping fee, you can pay by check or call the number below to use a credit card. If you would prefer Paypal, our address is sales@greateasterncutlery.net.
Click to expand...
She is correct! They can’t adjust them. As mentioned you can sit on the couch and open & close them a lot of times. Then put one tiny drop of oil in the pivot when you have it 1/3-1/2 opened and then work the blade again a lot of times ..
 
If you don't like the pull you should have returned it to the purveyor the next day.

GEC should have told you that pull is a matter preference and also to include $5 for return shipping if there was no defect.
 
There is no reason in the world you should have to fight your knife to open it.

I'm quite sure GEC well knows they have a reputation for heavy pulls.
They could make them lighter across the board, if they wanted to, and make their knives safer.
You are more likely to cut yourself with a knife that has a heavy pull than with one that has a light pull.
Like it or not, that is a fact not an "opinion".

Another "PASS" for GEC, I see.

How many times has CASE been bashed on the forum for having a heavy pull, and "everyone" agrees it is "Defective" and should be sent back?
More times that I can count.
Yet the same problem/defect on a GEC, and y'all are defending GEC, and are coming down hard on someone who has a complaint about their GEC.
It is disgusting.​

btb01 said:
The stiffness of the pull on handmade traditional knives is going to vary, even from knife to knife of the same pattern. I don’t think a stiff pull is a warranty issue
Click to expand...
CASE adjusts the pull under warranty, from all I've read here in the forums.
Even if it means taking the knife apart and replacing the backsprings, or thinning them down a little on/from the inside surface.

Hate me if you like, Ban me, if you so choose! I don't care. I'm out of here.
 
afishhunter said:
There is no reason in the world you should have to fight your knife to open it.

I'm quite sure GEC well knows they have a reputation for heavy pulls.
They could make them lighter across the board, if they wanted to, and make their knives safer.
You are more likely to cut yourself with a knife that has a heavy pull than with one that has a light pull.
Like it or not, that is a fact not an "opinion".

Another "PASS" for GEC, I see.

How many times has CASE been bashed on the forum for having a heavy pull, and "everyone" agrees it is "Defective" and should be sent back?
More times that I can count.
Yet the same problem/defect on a GEC, and y'all are defending GEC, and are coming down hard on someone who has a complaint about their GEC.
It is disgusting.​


CASE adjusts the pull under warranty, from all I've read here in the forums.
Even if it means taking the knife apart and replacing the backsprings, or thinning them down a little on/from the inside surface.

Hate me if you like, Ban me, if you so choose! I don't care. I'm out of here.
Click to expand...
What I find disgusting is your constant bashing of GEC!

You are always piping up with your "opinions" presented as "facts", taking every opportunity to "poormouth" and talk about how you could never afford a GEC. It makes me sick. Sometimes I think it's your mission to comment in every thread regardless of whether or not you actually have anything to contribute.

Why not enjoy the hobby how you like and let others do the same. A stiff pull isn't a warranty defect. Where did you read that Case adjusts pulls under warranty?

Why, having no GECs and no experience with GECs warranty department, would you feel compelled to respond to this thread? ;)

It's pretty much trolling, at this point, isn't it?
 
afishhunter said:
There is no reason in the world you should have to fight your knife to open it.

I'll have to agree with afishhunter , why would you pay top dollar for a knife that could be dangerous to open , make all the excuses you want but it's not right to pay top dollar for a knife you are not happy with . I can't live with the explanation from you guys , you should be ashamed of yourselves for for settling for less than perfection for the price of these knives. And he's right ,when is the last time you had an issue with Case ?


I'm quite sure GEC well knows they have a reputation for heavy pulls.
They could make them lighter across the board, if they wanted to, and make their knives safer.
You are more likely to cut yourself with a knife that has a heavy pull than with one that has a light pull.
Like it or not, that is a fact not an "opinion".

Another "PASS" for GEC, I see.

How many times has CASE been bashed on the forum for having a heavy pull, and "everyone" agrees it is "Defective" and should be sent back?
More times that I can count.
Yet the same problem/defect on a GEC, and y'all are defending GEC, and are coming down hard on someone who has a complaint about their GEC.
It is disgusting.​


CASE adjusts the pull under warranty, from all I've read here in the forums.
Even if it means taking the knife apart and replacing the backsprings, or thinning them down a little on/from the inside surface.

Hate me if you like, Ban me, if you so choose! I don't care. I'm out of here.
Click to expand...
 
The fact is that there really isn't a way to lighten the pull, at least not without great risk of damaging or ruining the spring.

I asked Bill in person if he could lighten the pull on the pen blade of the 2018 Rendezvous Special Whaler and he said the same thing. No.

If they tried to bend it enough that it lightened the pull it would be too likely to break the spring.

That said, I think it would be worth the $5 loss to them in the long run to have not charged you for return shipping just so that you felt better about the situation.
 
To the OP. I can understand being frustrated with having to pay for the return shipping. It’s unfortunate they were not able to lighten the pull to your preference.

I don’t even believe there are feasible ways to adjust pulls without causing damage to the knife. There will be variability even in the same models.

GEC makes excellent products with a noticeable level of high fit and finish for the money.

In my experiences they make top notch products in a world of shrinking options for US made slipjoints.
 
L.H.S said:
The fact is that there really isn't a way to lighten the pull, at least not without great risk of damaging or ruining the spring.

I asked Bill in person if he could lighten the pull on the pen blade of the 2018 Rendezvous Special Whaler and he said the same thing. No.

If they tried to bend it enough that it lightened the pull it would be too likely to break the spring.

That said, I think it would be worth the $5 loss to them in the long run to have not charged you for return shipping just so that you felt better about the situation.
Click to expand...
GEC's pull stiffness is variable, but never a problem.
Paying $5 is just a soft way to remind that you're welcome anytime, but time is money and if you bother them for nothing, no reason it's at their expense.
More generally I'd say that customer service and respect in the US is great, and even if there's hiccups sometime, I wish it were the same standard everywhere in the world, starting with Europe...
 
There must have been a slight possibility that GEC could loosen the pull depending on what was causing the stiffness. If not, the op should have been told up front that there's nothing they can do and not to bother sending it in.
 
Railsplitter said:
There must have been a slight possibility that GEC could loosen the pull depending on what was causing the stiffness. If not, the op should have been told up front that there's nothing they can do and not to bother sending it in.
Click to expand...

If the pivot is overly tight / pinched they can loosen it a bit, I would imagine.
 
You’re reply has gone unnoticed because you replied in the quote. You presented an unwarranted bashing of GEC claiming the pull to be a nail-breaker. Now you’re attempting to dogpile this silly “dangerous” nonsense. Pull-preference is all over the board. They’re not a custom knife company; you shouldn’t expect them to customize your pull to your specifications

Finally, you posted your opinion on a forum and didn’t get the response you wanted and now you’re school-marming and finger-wagging forumites who don’t agree with you and suggesting through your rhetoric (“ashamed”, really?) that there’s some sort of moral deficiency on the forum among the defenders? Get out of here with that nonsense. I wish this was in W&C so I could tell you how I really feel, but rest assured you’re a zero in my book, guy. Get bent. Hell, the only reason you even hitched your wagon to this “dangerous” nonsense is because some other known troll mentioned it. Had no one else said anything about it then it likely would have never even popped into your head.
 
Stepping back from this particular issue for a moment - imagine for a moment the overhead to a factory that takes on fine turning as a warranty service. On issues like pull, action, etc.; that are entirely customer expectation dependent - it could be catastrophic to the bottom line. My great action may be your nail-breaking. My lazy may be your refreshingly smooth. Thus, the factory has been very cordial over the last 13 years on such issues. But I think they are probably developing in-house criteria over what they can afford to tune and what they can not.

On this particular issue, my suspicion is that your tolerances are much stricter than their typical customer. As I have not seen a nail breaking #92 or #14 - but I didn't open hundreds of them. But I have seen many what I would consider on the lighter side. So, you may have some 5's and cannot work with a 6.5 - but a 6.5 is well within factory tolerances. All speculation on my end. I have never seen them offer up responses that seemed unreasonable given all the information. It is understandable that your expectations were not met in the interaction. Maybe you should call Joan Mae on the phone and have a conversation, so you can receive and relay the information that most don't take the time to put in an email.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top