HEST Warranty

If we made ratchets, box wrenches, open end wrenches, sockets. etc. we would back them with a no questions asked warranty and put a lot more profit margin in them. Craftsman runs at over a 100 percent profit margin on their tools (and there is no telling how much their multi-million dollar gross sales are). Last numbers I checked last Friday on ESEE we were at a 24% gross profit margin, once we take out costs of doing business (non-product costs) we are right at 6 percent net profit amd this usually fluctuates between 3 and 8 over the month. Not complaining at all. We're making money but we want to hold the consumer costs down so we would rather run at 30 percent gross margins, continue to live in our double-wide mobile homes, drive beat up Toyota pickup trucks and just be happy. ;) The way I look at this folder project is if someone is not happy with the warranty that we come up with, then simply don't buy it. I can assure you that our warranty will be good and we have never, ever turned down a customer that had a legitimate complaint whether it was covered by the warranty or not. We simply prefer to do business by being honest and taking care of customers. A piece of paper doesn't mean that much to us.
 
This is your first folding knife and ALL other knives had a no questions asked warranty so unless I missed something, until the HEST comes out there should not have been anytime that something was not under warranty or a reason to turn a customer down? So my question was and still is what would a 30% gross margin warranty be on the HEST folder?
 
draftpick said:
This is your first folding knife and ALL other knives had a no questions asked warranty so unless I missed something, until the HEST comes out there should not have been anytime that something was not under warranty or a reason to turn a customer down? So my question was and still is what would a 30% gross margin warranty be on the HEST folder?
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I don't think I'm understanding your question or point?????????
 
After re-reading your post a couple of times I think I understand that you are saying that since we can build non-moving parts fixed blades for a 30 percent margin and warrnty them without question then we should be able to do the same thing with a folder? If that's your point then I can tell you it ain't gonna happen.
 
They’d probably offer a NQA warranty on the HEST folder if they were selling it for $600.

Fixed blades and folders are a completely different animal. There are really only a few things that can go wrong with a fixed blade and a lot of things that can go wrong with a folder. You can always cover something unconditionally, it’s just how much of an additional margin you have to include in there to offset the ones you really do have to replace. Eventually it becomes cost prohibitive for the customers that you were marketing the product to in the first place.
 
As a side note, even when we do a folder made by Rowen, it will NOT have a no questions asked warranty
 
Being one of the new guys here on the forum, I would be more than happy to offer my assistance & also an unbiased opinion to test one of the folders if you would like to send me one of the proto-types when they are in? Just think of the amount of goodwill this would create . . . :)
 
I don't post here but do read esee forum a lot and own quite a few esee's. I don't understand all the fuss about warranty. I think all the "bitching" regarding warranty that is done here exists because esee was too nice to begin with. We don't expect any other knife company to ask their buyers to chime in regarding their warranty and we take them as they are, period. As many others have stated before, warranty will be good and it will be fair. I don't understand why people all of a sudden expect its their right to think they can manipulate what company should do for them. Warranty will be as esee decides and it will be up to us buyers to decide whether we like it or not after that. If we don't like it nobody is forcing us to buy their product. But than again, its a freaking warranty, as if I ever read what other knife makers warrant before I purchase their product.I admit I didn't sign for hest LE just because I don't fancy limited runs and because I wouldn't use it and I would keep it the box but I know I'll buy regular one and know I will forget to read the warranty and won't loose sleep over it. I am not attacking anyone if it sounds like that, just stating my opinion.
 
ESEE has not made a decision on what the warranty will be. And I agree with last poster it's up to us as consumers to buy what we want. I have been around the block a few times and have learned to read the fine print. Not every warranty is the same or interpreted the same. And as consumers the only protection we have is the printed paper. Some times to make the companies stand behind there product. Look at lone Wolf knives bought out by benchmade. Do you think benchmade will take care of Lone Wolfs customers the same as they did?? I have bought a lot of tools in my life and what was lifetime a few years ago is not anymore. But I have learned to keep my paper work and point out what they warranty was when I bought the product and get it replaced when it needed too. If ESEE would make a decision on the warranty then US as consumers can make a decision on the product. And just because ESEE says they will take care of us, later on down the road you guys may decide to get out of your double wides and Toyota's and sell out and if we consumers don't have an iron clad warranty in writing then we are screwed. Sorry but it's hard to take people for there word these days, and not have something in writing to back it up. If you say you will take care of us then put it on paper.
 
I don't see what the problem is. Jeff and Mike have been doing this for a while now, and I doubt they would just sell out. I don't know them in person to be 100%. But I can be 99.9% sure that would not happen unless something drastic happened.
 
draftpick said:
ESEE has not made a decision on what the warranty will be. And I agree with last poster it's up to us as consumers to buy what we want. I have been around the block a few times and have learned to read the fine print. Not every warranty is the same or interpreted the same. And as consumers the only protection we have is the printed paper. Some times to make the companies stand behind there product. Look at lone Wolf knives bought out by benchmade. Do you think benchmade will take care of Lone Wolfs customers the same as they did?? I have bought a lot of tools in my life and what was lifetime a few years ago is not anymore. But I have learned to keep my paper work and point out what they warranty was when I bought the product and get it replaced when it needed too. If ESEE would make a decision on the warranty then US as consumers can make a decision on the product. And just because ESEE says they will take care of us, later on down the road you guys may decide to get out of your double wides and Toyota's and sell out and if we consumers don't have an iron clad warranty in writing then we are screwed. Sorry but it's hard to take people for there word these days, and not have something in writing to back it up. If you say you will take care of us then put it on paper.
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I understand your concerns and respect you for that. With that said, we build customers for life and if you can't trust us on our word then I can assure you the piece of paper is worthless also. We have gone, and continually go, above and beyond when taking care of the end user. Always will. But if our company or product is only valued at what's written on a piece of paper then our customers would be better off buying from another company becasue that's all we would be...just another company. Our company is about the customer and about a philosophy more so than selling knives. The very reason we would not offer a no-questions-asked warranty is we can't pick and choose who buys our knives. For example, we just had a guy make a spear out of an ESEE-3 and threw it 47 times (literally) before he snapped the knife in two. Now he wants a replacement, which we will do. What I'm saying is this: if there was some way to weed out the real knife users from those who simply abuse because they know we will replace it, then we would indeed offer a no-questions asked warranty on the folder as well as a warranty against losing it. But we just can't do it. I'm not a "contracts" type of guy and neither is this company. We do business the old-fashioned way of shaking hands and taking someone at their word. If someone doesn't like that then it's best not to buy/deal with us. But there will be a written warranty on the HEST folder.
 
Just to follow-up on my last post, if there was a way we could only sell knives to people who know how to use them then we would gladly do it and offer all types of amazing warranties and guarantees against about anything you can think of. Of course that would take away more than 2/3rds of our sales but we wouldn't care. I have politely encouraged many people on the phone, by email and at trade shows to buy another company's knives after we chat for a while. Our background and experience comes from using tools so we make tools to use. We're not about selling just another knife because we are begging for profits. I'm quite happy in my double-wide and my red toyota ;)
 
Rush's lyrics have a lot of philosophy embedded ;) From Ayn Rand and others.
 
To be honest, personally I've learned A LOT from Jeff and Mike about nearly anything there involved in: knives and tools, survial, jungle and so on...and I come to the end that they are making their best to give us, the customers, the things we really want. That's just amazing though!

The warranty for the folders is just right and more then fair.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
We haven't written it yet, but when we do it will be as you described ;)
 
Hell, all three of them are simply some of the best at what they do. Man, when you put together the bass lines, drums and guitar on YYZ I'm always in awe.
 
R.A.T. said:
I'm not a "contracts" type of guy and neither is this company. We do business the old-fashioned way of shaking hands and taking someone at their word.


Jeff, you & my father would have got along great. I had the priviledge of growing up in a time if someone looked you in the eye & shook your hand, that was all that was needed. In my youth (50's & 60's), I watched him buy farm machinery, trucks, tools, etc on nothing but a handshake and a promise to pay. You had your word & your handshake, & that was your bond. Only someone who grew up in that era could understand what I am talking about.
Be safe.
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