Great factory support.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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I guess from some of my posts, it's clear that I'm very biased toward Case and Buck for my pocket knives. Maybe having a long history of owning, and on a few occasions having repairs done, I've been very very impressed by the people I've dealt with at those places. Shirley at Case was an angel, and the people at Buck were like old friends, even if you'd never talked to them before.

How's the service at GEC, Queen, and any other places that you have had reason to send a knife back?

Do they still have that old time service?

Carl.
 
Hi Carl,
I had to send 2 honey amber boned knives back to Queen.
The Mountain Man was sloppy. They tightened it up and sent it back tight and shiny. About a months time.
The other was a medium stockman that had both springs broken.
They sent me a new one in about three weeks.
I only contacted them by e-mail.
I hope this helps.
Neal
 
Hey, Carl. This is a serendipitous topic; I was just about to punch the 'new thread' button to give Case's buff 'n' puff service a big ":thumbup:."

No comment on the other factories, but after using my Case/Bose Norfolk pretty hard for over a year, I thought I'd send it off to the spa for a quick makeover. I understand that Case's no-cost lifetime sharpen and clean service doesn't usually include refinishing, but it never hurts to ask, right? The blades, bolsters and shield were pretty scratched and scuffed, and I was having a little trouble thinning down the ATS-34 master blade's edge bevel. Case returned it in three weeks looking and cutting better than new. They completely refinished the blades, bolsters and shield and reset both of the edge bevels. It's razor sharp and shiny as a new penny. Total cost: $0

Nice work, Case!
 
I had a bad experience when I sent a knife back to GEC for repair. I'll never do it again. From now on, if a knife isn't like I think it should be when I first get it, it goes straight back to the dealer.
 
Scale cracked on a 5 day old GEC, stress fracture not due to dropping it. GEC told me to return it to the dealer and he replaced it instantly no quibble and postage free. That seemed very good to me, I assume they re-handled the knife when they got it back(minus my forced patina!)

Had an issue with a CASE knife, they simply sent me a new one and I kept the old. Very good service considering I don't live in the USA!

Complained to Queen Cutlery about gaps&major wobble on a Schatt&Morgan (from a dealer who boasts he hand picks them, yes...) they eventually replied and said I could have a new knife. I never heard again. This is just my experience mind, others probably can say differently.
 
I sent my GEC #73 due numerous faults. I got pristine and rock solid one back. Considering I live in Finland and everything took around 3-3½ weeks with shipping they're very fast and helpful. My thumbs are up for GEC.
 
I had to send a knife back to Canal Street. The Half Moon Trapper blade was contacting the liner and had a chipped blade out of the box. Three weeks later it came back completely repaired looking new. I was very pleased.
 
I too have had great results with Case and Buck and believe it or not Gerber. Victorinox took forever (8 weeks from a facility 90 mins from my house-I coulda walked there and back with it;)) Got an Amber bone jack at Case as I write this and a Boker Plus sent off to Boker USA (no high hopes for the Boker). Back to Case and Buck, I can only describe the level of service from these two companies as astonishing. In this day and age of throwaway crapola it is nice to see pride in workmanship and a relationship with the customer that matters.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Great thread :thumbup:. I've often wondered about this topic, especially when reading about a quality control issue that has popped up. Service after the sale is pretty important in my book.
 
I sent back a new Case mini trapper and was less than pleased with the results - although I may have expected too much. Both blades had side-to-side play, and the clip blade was all but touching the liner when closed. I requested they correct the blade wobble and get the clip blade a little more centered. Came back with the same blade wobble, and while the clip blade was away from the liner a little more than when I sent in, it was no where close to centered. Apparently it was within their tolerances and "good enough". Perhaps that's all I have a right to expect from a production knife. :rolleyes:
 
I had a Queen Mountain Man lockback that I sent in to be sharpened and the side to side wiggle to be taken care of. What they sent back was not that comforting. It looked like they dumped about a tablespoon of cosmoline on the knife itself, and the edge was a hair sharper than when I got it. Luckily, it wasn't one of the dull edges that came out of Queen.

I have heard of better interactions with Queen's CS, and I wouldn't hesitate to send in mine if need be.

I picked up a 703 at a gun show, and, as I've heard with most of the 7** series, the springs broke. When I sent it back to Buck, they sent me a brand new 303GY and a 25% off card for their website. The $ I paid for the 703 balanced out with the gift card and the new 303.
 
I don't have any experiences with any traditional knife company except for Fight 'n Rooster...lets just say after that experience I will never buy that marque ever again. In fact I now, don't own any of their knives, gave 'em all away.
 
I was thinking of starting a thread about a knife I got back from Case today.
Its the only time I have had to send a knife back to Case for a problem.

After my thumb injury I looked for the small and large CV copperlock for easy opening.
I found both, but the lock on the large was hard to depress, and you had to whack the spine with back of hand to get it to close. Sent it in.

It was never used NIB at the GA NKCA show, but was made back in 1998(or maybe 99?), and did have markings on the bolsters, and a tiny pit on the blade.

Well, it came back today and feels almost as smooth as custom folder!
The lock is now VERY easy to depress, and the blade movement is smooth as silk. Its like a whole differant knife I tell ya.

They also got the pit out, and polished the blade and bolsters to perfection.
Not one tiny mark on a bolster! You won't see many out of the box with nary a bolster marking. They also cleaned the inside and knife looks newer than new:thumbup:


ps- I like it so much now I need to replace the yellow with some green canvas. If anyone knows someone that can do that please send me a PM.
 
joe-bob said:
From now on, if a knife isn't like I think it should be when I first get it, it goes straight back to the dealer.
Click to expand...

I suspect this may be a better strategy than messing about with manufacturers' QC and customer service departments. If enough of us did this, maybe the dealers would start putting pressure on some of the problem makers.
 
Buck is great for warranty!Leatherman was equally terrific.I sent worn out junk to both and got back gleaming gems.I emailed Case one time years ago about repairing a vintage knife and they said they couldnt do it for lack of parts.I understand that may be different now.
 
For my 2 cents worth---I sent a Buck 701 bacy to Buck, after a conversation with Debbie in customer service. It had one of the back springs broken, she said send it in and they would see what they could do. Got it back in about 10 days polished up, new bsck spring and looking brand new sharpened and all. It had the wild horse scene on the main blade and still looks new. I also sent an old 2 dot 110 in that I had since the 70's with a hard to open blade about 1/2 way, and asked if they could repair. I got it back with a new blade2010 blade, and still hard at 1/2 way. Called Debbie and told her about the problem and she said send it back and see what they could do. Well Joe Houser got involved and I got my old knife back with a brand new 2 dot blade, working like a brand new one. I also had a 501 100 year anniversary edition that had bolsters very dull, they polished it up to look brand new also. I paid $7.00 for each knife sent in even though I did not want some sharpened. I feel they are an American business that I definitely want to stay in business here in the ols USA. They will always get most of my business for sure.
Harold
 
I've been waiting to send a Bose knife back to the factory for repair but, yawn, they never break. Maybe if I hit it with a hammer or something, hmmm....
 
In reading this thread it occurred to me that it's a minor miracle that these companies are still owned and operated in the USA. So many of the old time names have simply become marketing monikers. The name is familiar to Americans but the company behind the scenes is god knows who, what, or where.

BTW, although not traditional, I have had STELLAR support from Benchmade, mediocre from Kershaw.
 
I just spoke with benchmade about a blade replacement.They emailed me the info and are charging $25. for the blade that i wore out.So far so good.
 
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