Goodbye Cold Steel - Won't Provide Replacement Parts

DocJD said:
Has anyone heard of this actually happening ? Successfully .
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I wonder the same thing because all I have read is no covered warranty work or parts- but I have no idea if they will repair something that is not covered under warranty (for a fee).
 
Seems to be an unfortunate reality of companies selling to big conglomerate corporations that want to buy them out. It happened to the company I work for and the results are exactly like this. It seems the real solution is to take business to companies whose owners have the fortitude and conviction to take buy out offers and shred them. Never give up control for a quick buck. Anyhow, this is one of the reasons spyderco has earned my business. And I'm very hopeful that spyderco won't sell out like cold steel, but instead will keep it in the family and keep doing things like they are now.
 
Pedalwheezer said:
For anyone considering purchasing a Cold Steel folder, be sure to keep in mind Cold Steel will not provide replacement parts and they do not seem inclined to adequately support customers. I recently requested a replacement pivot pin and screw for an AD-15 as I had lost them cleaning mine. Cold Steel immediately declined, saying they do not provide replacement parts. Having identified I own 23 Cold Steel knives, they offered me a one time loyal customer discount of 30% off MSRP for a new knife. How generous (not). A 30% discount off a new AD15 ($269.99 MSRP less 30% = $188.99) is not a good deal when you can get them in the $140 range from multiple distributors. This kind of lackluster response from Cold Steel is a clear indicator customers are not a priority to them. That, plus the inability to get parts, means I will no longer continue to purchase Cold Steel knives. Good bye Cold Steel. I wonder how long it will take me to sell them all off.
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So the knife was not defective. You lost the part when you took the knife apart. Not sure that GSM owes you anything when you are the one who screwed up the knife. Not sure that the old Cold Steel would have done any better.

Of all the knives I've owned in the last 60 or so years, I think I only needed help on one of them. So, "poor aftermarket service" is not a big issue to me.
 
knarfeng said:
So the knife was not defective. You lost the part when you took the knife apart. Not sure that GSM owes you anything when you are the one who screwed up the knife. Not sure that the old Cold Steel would have done any better.

Of all the knives I've owned in the last 60 or so years, I think I only needed help on one of them. So, "poor aftermarket service" is not a big issue to me.
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It's not a huge issue for me either , especially at the prices I pay for Cold Steel .

But, I understand some hobbyist users, really actually like to disassemble and work on their knives . Parts get lost or broken .
 
As far as I can tell, nothing has really changed since the GSM buyout. The way they handled parts/warranty requests was spotty before, too. The quality of the knife models made pre/post GSM seems the same, based on all the ones I have.

Many (most?) other brands won’t send you parts either.
 
elevator man said:
I get them not giving it for free. But they could sell you the parts. Assuming it's not a long discontinued model they have no parts for
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The knives are completely made in Taiwan. The US end of the operation just warehouses the boxed knives and has no reason to keep a bunch of random parts on hand.
 
there's a lot I dont like about gsm..from getting rid of their good knife designers to bringing in cheap made models to box stores and their poor to no service stance.

I can't say the parts thing would upset me. if I lost parts I'd use a magnet to find them....if I couldn't find them...... I'd look for a beat up low cost donor knife on the sales forum or ebay etc for the parts or just buy a new one.
 
elevator man said:
Seems to be an unfortunate reality of companies selling to big conglomerate corporations that want to buy them out. It happened to the company I work for and the results are exactly like this. It seems the real solution is to take business to companies whose owners have the fortitude and conviction to take buy out offers and shred them. Never give up control for a quick buck. Anyhow, this is one of the reasons spyderco has earned my business. And I'm very hopeful that spyderco won't sell out like cold steel, but instead will keep it in the family and keep doing things like they are now.
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As already pointed out in this thread, Spyderco won't send parts either. Most companies won't. Kershaw will though!
 
jux t said:
As far as I can tell, nothing has really changed since the GSM buyout. The way they handled parts/warranty requests was spotty before, too. The quality of the knife models made pre/post GSM seems the same, based on all the ones I have.

Many (most?) other brands won’t send you parts either.
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This. I know we all pine for the good old days, when Lynn Thompson was busy chopping up engine blocks and hanging piles of weights off the end of whatever folder he was selling, but are things really that different?

Back then Thompson had a warehouse in Texas where he stored midprice folders that he outsourced to Taiwan or China or whomever.

Today GSM has a warehouse somewhere or other where they store midpriced folders that they outsourced to Taiwan or China or whomever.

They didn't do repairs then (so far as I know) and they don't do them now. They didn't have spare parts then nor do they now.

Seems like the only thing that has really changed is we are down one slightly overweight pig chopper / sales guy.
 
There are other reasons why I don't like GSM, mainly the issue some time back with a formerly employed by CS, designer and their less than honorable behavior toward him in the design of the slash chopper. As for their folders. I like what they have and I can wait and get stupid deals on them that are so good, that if one breaks or fails in any way, it doesn't bother me so much. Bang for the buck it is hard to beat cold steel in both folding knives and fixed blades.
 
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Had to have been at least ten years ago when I contacted CS about a pivot screw literally falling out of my recon 1 and they wouldn't replace the screw. Never bought another CS, and it seems they have gotten worse.
 
For what it's worth, I, too, have rarely seen any knife company send out a pivot assembly. That was always a "send it in" or "here's a coupon, pick something else" problem.
 
Just as a kind of off topic throw in, as others have said, Kershaw has always been awesome about sending parts out. However Kizer is also awesome about sending you anything you need. I wanted a new pivot for one of their Ti framelocks because I thought it had an issue, they sent me 2 more full pivot assemblies, with 2 extra sets of washers. Very nice to see.
 
Monofletch said:
That’s crazy. Kershaw would have sent you 15 for free
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Probably the best customer service out there, so I’ve heard. But I know ZT keeps older parts, like clips & hardware, if you need them.
I’ve heard really good things about Benchmade too.
I’ve only had to use Microtechs repair service (once), and they were good to deal with, and fixed the problem I was having.
Just gotta pay shipping (one way) which is completely understandable
 
Let me get this straight ... GSM and Spyderco won't send free replacement parts, so we need to basically boycott those two companies. Kershaw will send free replacement parts so we should buy as many Kershaw products as possible to show our appreciation.

I brought my Ford in for service the other day and wasn't given free replacement parts. So I guess I should sell it asap.
 
mc5aw said:
Let me get this straight ... GSM and Spyderco won't send free replacement parts, so we need to basically boycott those two companies. Kershaw will send free replacement parts so we should buy as many Kershaw products as possible to show our appreciation.

I brought my Ford in for service the other day and wasn't given free replacement parts. So I guess I should sell it asap.
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I don't think the argument is whether they should provide them *free* but whether you should be able to get them at all. The OP was about the total inability to get parts, not that they wouldn't do it free.

If you brought in your truck would you be happy if they told you, "Sorry, we don't have parts for service. You need to buy a new truck"?
 
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