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7MWoQ16

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Hi guys, I haven't posted much for a while because I've been busy and haven't had many important questions, but this has been on my mind lately when looking for knives on the internet. I don't know how okay or not it is to ask or answer questions about specific websites, but I want to be buying from reliable sources. I will try not to flat out say any website is good or bad, but only share my personal experiences.

The main concern to me is Knifecenter. I go on there all the time because of the great selection and good prices. Yet, whenever I look at the pictures of a lot of their custom knives up close, there seem to be some fit and finish issues despite the amazingly enthusiastic and descriptive praise and almost guarantee of satisfaction written below. I once ordered a George Muller knife from them and had to send it back because the action was gritty feeling, even though they described it as smooth on the website. There were serious fit issues, too. It bothered me. Thankfully, they were great about customer service by giving me a complete refund, which makes me think twice about questioning them, but those pictures don't lie. The way they really lay on thick their flawlessness with emails from customers at the bottom of each page also seems like the classic modern crowd-pleaser website.

Nicnac.net is one that I really don't trust at this point because of the issues with knives ordered from them and their customer service. I won't go into too much detail, but the AGA Campolin knife I got from them was almost dollar store worthy.

Knifeworks is one that I heard used to be good, but went down the tubes fairly recently. My Mcusta Tanbo from them was terrible.

Websites like Blade HQ, Tri City Custom Knives, Arizona Custom Knives, and many others look good to me, but I am really worried about ordering from Knifecenter (I've already determined I won't order from Nicnac or Knifeworks). Please tell me about your experiences with Knifecenter or other websites and see for yourself Knifecenter's pictures of bad fit and finish, especially evident in a new JD van Deventer Cruz flipper they got in stock recently. Arizona at least tells you about quality issues, even if the knife is new from the maker. I'm looking for advise, here, any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I had a shitty experience with Knifecenter also. Bought a Sukhoi 2.0. It showed up with no edge whatsoever......not just dull, no edge. Called, sent it back and was told they push cut phone book paper and shaved arm hair with it....BS!! If I returned it they wanted to charge me ~ $20 re stock fee. I loved the knife and asked for another to be sent, they sent the same one.....the next day the knife went on sale for $100 less.
Never again.
Blade HQ, USAmadeblade, Top Quality, KSF and GP Knives are who I use now. All give excellent service!
Joe
 
I'm a collector of Italian switchblades, and I can tell you that AGA Campolin knives are notorious for having "issues". In fact, compared to the quality of many "modern" folding knives, the Campolins can often be described as junk. I own two, both purchased from Nic Nac, both had significant "issues". But I didn't mind so much because I knew what to expect, and because I had plans to re-build them.

My experience with Nic Nac's customer service was very good. I ordered a knife that was mistakenly listed as in stock, I was emailed a few days later telling me that it was out of stock, and I was offered my choice of a full refund or a more expensive model of that knife at no extra cost. I chose the knife.

I have also purchased multiple Frank Beltrame Italian switchblades from Bladeplay, which is owned and operated by Bladehq. And all of those knives had serious "issues". But again I didn't mind because I had plans to re-build them. If I hadn't had such plans, I would have returned the first knife and never bought any more. In the condition I received them, and by modern standards, those knives were also junk.

I have no experience with the customer service at Bladeplay/Bladehq because I never needed such service.

In my opinion, you can't blame the US vendor for the condition of an Italian switchblade. As much as I have a fondness for the knives, the people who make them are still using the same crude methods they used a century ago, and the quality and condition of their knives often show it. They haven't joined the modern age of knife making with a high degree of attention to quality and things like fit and finish. To a large extent they just bang the knives together, and if the knives function, they ship them out.

And the price you pay for those knives in the US does not reflect their quality. The knives are overpriced to begin with (the difference between the euro and the dollar might be a factor, as well as wages and the cost of living in Italy), and then there's the cost of getting them into the US. An Italian switchblade priced at $100 in the US is nowhere near the same quality as a $100 knife from say, Benchmade or Spyderco.

As far as vendors and their customer service, it's possible to have a bad experience with any of them. Just confirm ahead of time if they will give you a refund or exchange a bad knife if you have an issue with your purchase. I think that's the best you can hope for as no company is going to be perfect 100% of the time.

As a customer of Nic Nac I'd be interested to hear what you complaint is with their customer service.
 
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I've been a customer of both Knifeworks and KnifeCenter for over 10 years and on the rare occasion that something did go wrong, neither company hesitate to help me get things straightened out. Every company that sells anything will have some folks that provide negative reviews, however sometimes there is much ado about nothing, unrealistic expectation, someone failed to read the fine print, or the issue was corrected only NOT to that specific customers satisfaction. I trust my own experience with these companies, and at first when I became an initial customer, I read a lot of reviews. I realized it made no difference because I needed to experience it for myself.

Folks need to remember, these companies stock millions of dollars worth of knives, hundreds and thousands of items on their shelves. There is no way that it could be possible for them to literally inspect, and run a secondary QC on each and every piece. The sellers/retailers are just that...retailers, and not knife makers or experts on every maker, style, and steel. As far as the other companies you mentioned, AZCK is a consignment style store, not really a retailer for new items like BladeHQ. I might be wrong,but every listing I see is for a knife that someone else wants to sell but either cannot do it on their own, doesn't know how to, or doesn't know what they have or what it is worth (newbs rather than aficionados).

Blaming the quality, fit and finish, sharpness, grind, symmetry, etc on the seller is unrealistic and not right. They only sell the knives, they don't make them or have any input other than maybe materials and color based on limited exclusive runs made for them specifically. When you hear or read a negative review on a store, always take it with a grain of salt and consider the source. Is the source legitimate, knowledgeable enough to make that kind of declaration, possibly angry about something else, is it ground in reality? Those are questions everyone should ask themselves when reading certain reviews. Some folks are simply haters with nothing better to do than whine about something that didn't go their way and they are only sharing half the story. Some people don't need the whole story, they are happy hearing one side and making a judgement on that alone.
 
Thanks for the awesome replies, guys, that helps. As I said, I wasn't trying to say any website was bad, just sharing my experiences. As far as the switchblades go, the pictures on Nicnac were beautiful, which really mislead me on the condition/quality. The customer service thing was similar to yours, killgar. I ordered a knife and it wasn't in stock, so they sent me a different one by accident. When I returned the knife that I was upset with the quality of later on, they charged me 20 bucks because I returned an item before on their website, even though it was their fault.

RevDevil, I'm agreeing with the good customer service of Knifecenter, as well as the fact that they can't be experts on or personally handle everything like AZCK kind of does. My problem was that Knifecenter kept making these statements about knife companies or individual knives that, from what I noticed, were sometimes misleading. They describe each knife as if they were experts on and handled personally each one. Like I said, look at the Cruz flipper they got recently. It has really obvious scratches on the blade without that being specified in the description. I have seen many pictures with these types of things on Knifecenter, but have never noticed on any other website. I know that knives aren't perfect, and I can't do better, but I still think a knife that looks used should be called so. Thank you for reassuring me that Knifecenter is a good enough website to trust buying from, though. Looks like the solution is to not buy anything that I see problems with.
 
Yep. Agree with reddev.

Ive spent many thousands over many many years from knifeworks, knifecenter, gpknives, bladehq and many other good dealers. Very few issues and all were taken care of by every dealer I listed.

Why do you think knifeworks has gone down the tube? One not perfect knife from a maker who has issues like all makers do sometimes or other examples?
 
7MWoQ16 said:
Thanks for the awesome replies, guys, that helps. As I said, I wasn't trying to say any website was bad, just sharing my experiences. As far as the switchblades go, the pictures on Nicnac were beautiful, which really mislead me on the condition/quality. The customer service thing was similar to yours, killgar. I ordered a knife and it wasn't in stock, so they sent me a different one by accident. When I returned the knife that I was upset with the quality of later on, they charged me 20 bucks because I returned an item before on their website, even though it was their fault.

RevDevil, I'm agreeing with the good customer service of Knifecenter, as well as the fact that they can't be experts on or personally handle everything like AZCK kind of does. My problem was that Knifecenter kept making these statements about knife companies or individual knives that, from what I noticed, were sometimes misleading. They describe each knife as if they were experts on and handled personally each one. Like I said, look at the Cruz flipper they got recently. It has really obvious scratches on the blade without that being specified in the description. I have seen many pictures with these types of things on Knifecenter, but have never noticed on any other website. I know that knives aren't perfect, and I can't do better, but I still think a knife that looks used should be called so. Thank you for reassuring me that Knifecenter is a good enough website to trust buying from, though. Looks like the solution is to not buy anything that I see problems with.
Click to expand...

The behavior you describe in your second paragraph is something I've seen and read first hand myself. Even in some videos, the explanations/monologue given can be grossly inaccurate. I think it's partly to do with being a business driven video, and not something similar to what a passionate collector/user would make. The differences are rather vast. I've always thought, if I could find a dealer as picky as I am then buying knives would be a much better overall experience. But, my purchase history has been pretty flawless. There of course has been some mistakes made on my end and a dealer, it's to be expected though.

If you can find a dealer that provides you with a level of customer service that you are happy with, then I'd say you are ahead of the game. Some folks simply won't check a $300 knife for lock rock or a centered blade, others make absolutely sure that it gets inspected before you get your hands on it. When I guy something in that price range, I always ask in the comments. In short, sometimes there are people that pop up like this:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1081848-ashley-at-knifeworks
With an agenda based on some kind of issues they had and we get half the story. Which is why I commented earlier. The OP in the link was what I call a "1 post wonder". Take the time and energy to register an account, post a scathing and off putting couple sentences as their very first post, and then they vanish with no detail, no follow up, nothing to corroborate their story.
 
My son and I have had nothing but great experiences with KnifeCenter. Great people and very easy/pleasant to deal with both on the phone and in person. We've picked up directly from them since they moved here/became local.
 
I've bought 6 knives from KnifeWorks and they have been nothing but a pleasure to do business with--responsive, quick shipping, and helpful. I've only used KnifeCenter for accessory purchases--a Benchmade storage case, 2 Chris Reeve sleeves, and a key-holder--but they were quick shippers and easy deals.

Interestingly, Joe and I were posting on the same thread re Sukhois when we each bought our knives--http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1359344-CKF-Sukhoi-2-0?p=15814758#post15814758.

It certainly wasn't KnifeCenter's fault that Joe's Sukhoi was dull. Reading through, you can see many of us received dull knives, presumably from various sources. RevDev's point is well-taken that retailers don't make the knives, they just sell them. That KC tried to gaslight Joe and re-sent the same knife doesn't speak well for them, though.
 
Sorry it took so long to respond, thanks for all the replies. I don't really trust Knifeworks because I didn't have a good experience with them and I heard on another thread that they aren't a good dealer any more.
 
Knifeworks is highly trustworthy. Don't ignore all of the high praise for them and only listen to one negative experience.
 
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