Hey Sal! you're back! how's the trip?
Anyway, regarding the problem of some distributors here, I guess you're right in that most of them simply don't care at all, as their main concern is getting rid of their inventory as fast as they can.
Although as you said, they have the power to replace as they see fit, these individuals are not really what we can call the "educated ones". What I mean is that they would care less if a buyer comes to them looking for a warranty and they can just shove them off and tell them what they told me when I got my Spydie Military. Of course, since I have direct contact with your customer service (Hi, Danelle!
) that should be a problem for me. What I'm worried about is that this isn't good business for Spyderco, or for any branded knife for that matter.
I'm not sure about the other countries, but here in mine, that's how it goes. People won't get something if they know that they will be on the losing end if it broke down due to normal use or manufacturing defects.
You did mention that comm. info is included with the product. But remember that not everyone would want to write all the way to the US to ask for warranty, then be encountering stuffs like RMA, etc.. which they know nothing of, also it would end up for them to spend more on long distance or time, that it makes everything not worth it anymore. Convenience is the key here. Without it, ELUs here simply would just shrug off a quality product, and just get something that can be used, abused, then thrown away at half the price.
It's such a waste, don't you think?
So if the dealer here can act on behalf of the manufacturers, then I personally believe that sales would be coming in at a much higher rate. Educating them is the best way to achieve that. The buying public wants to be educated as well, regarding the myth of the warranty coverage for branded items.
You wrote:
===========================================
The Sales dept works closely with Customer service. Emailing, Faxing or writing to
Spyderco with a problem overseas is usually handled to the customers satisfaction.
===========================================
How is this done, if you don't mind? I for one would really love to know, and would do my share in "educating" those dealers as well. I believe it's high time we do our share in helping out to promote good products as we see fit. But I'm just one individual (Titan is another) and we can't do these on our own, though we can try. I would really hate to see Spyderco knives gathering dust here (the guy at the counter told me they have only 2 Military knives in stock, simply because they don't "move" as well as those el cheapos, and that they're expensive). I wanted to tell this guy that that's not the real reason behind the slow sales of these quality knives, but more on the fact that people don't want to invest on something they know they're not protected from when the time comes. I should know, coz I overheard one guy behind my back remarking about how beautiful the knife was (I was toying with it, hehe) and then later overheard him saying "too bad it's an expensive toy that's risky because if it gets damaged, that's it! Kiss your money goodbye". I did gather a small crowd though, due to my toying with the Military while waiting for my receipt.
============================================
What would be ideal? and how would you put that into the Warrantee?
============================================
Frankly, Sal, I have no idea for now. But I'm brainstorming on it as we speak. I would very much like to spread the good WORD on the quality knives, and though I know how well Spyderco handles their ELUs problems, I'm just one person, and there's a lot out there who doesn't know, who might never get the chance to own these quality knives, simply because they were put off by the warranty coverage (limited within the U.S. according to the dealers). And that's all I'm worried about, unfortunately.
Sorry for the VERY LONG post, guys.....
Dan