Hopefully The New Enforced MAP Price Will Prevent This!

I do not think the new pricing will have any impact what so ever on the quality of the knives being produced. While the knives are functional despite crooked laser etchings, and sloppy grinds, it's still a production knife after all and they are made fairly quickly and the amount of time spent per knife is not likely to increase from whatever it is now. I've seen my share of Benchmade knives with very off centered blades, the most obvious to me were the KW 805/806 models in M390. Each one of mine was off center, 5 out of 5. While they were easily fixed with the proper tools, one must still wonder why they were not correctly fitted before shipping to the seller.
 
I would like to thank all those who have posted their comments. So far, so good. My intent for starting this thread is if Benchmade is clandestinely monitoring this thread they will see that my displeasure with their quality control is felt by others too. Maybe, just maybe they will decide it would be in their long-term interest to improve the quality control of their knives ...and that would make all of us happy.

Please, please, please voice your honest opinion, but don’t let this thread get out of control with disrespectful comments, or off topic statements towards Benchmade that would result in it being locked/closed. Pictures to clarify quality control issues are most welcome. We are trying to respectfully show Benchmade we are not pleased with their quality control while not being antagonistic towards them.
 
RevDevil said:
...While the knives are functional despite crooked laser etchings,...
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Actually, I didn't even notice it was crooked. :)

The laser engraving quality control issues I see in my photo:

1) M390 is a different size on each blade.
2) Osborne logo is a very different darkness/shade on each blade.
3) The lower line patent number is in a different location on each blade - one is left and the other is right justified).

Addendum: Maybe I have a rare or even one of a kind "Gold" colored 581 Barrage laser engraving and it will triple its value. :D
 
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These threads get me concerned. I just received my Benchmade. Even though its a low end Grip I'm happy with it.But I really wanted to start getting into Benchmade as a new brand for my collection/users. But I'm also in the boat of no place around here carries them so everything would have to be online.
 
kyhunt said:
These threads get me concerned. I just received my Benchmade. Even though its a low end Grip I'm happy with it.But I really wanted to start getting into Benchmade as a new brand for my collection/users. But I'm also in the boat of no place around here carries them so everything would have to be online.
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I wouldn't be concerned. I've bought two B/M knives this year and they were both A- OK.
 
kyhunt said:
These threads get me concerned. I just received my Benchmade. Even though its a low end Grip I'm happy with it.But I really wanted to start getting into Benchmade as a new brand for my collection/users. But I'm also in the boat of no place around here carries them so everything would have to be online.
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A lot of people around here don't have the luxury of handling a knife before buying it (I'm one of them). Still, we buy them and if they work then we keep them if they don't we move them along. It's not like getting an ugly tattoo.
 
RevDevil said:
A lot of people around here don't have the luxury of handling a knife before buying it (I'm one of them). Still, we buy them and if they work then we keep them if they don't we move them along. It's not like getting an ugly tattoo.
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Even tattoos can be removed fully or partially with various techniques.
 
harris2 said:
I like Benchmade knives and have many, but the quality control leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully, the new MAP prices that are being enforced now will correct this!

Hopefully The New Enforced MAP Price Will Prevent This!
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Unrelated and unlikely.

If the increased pricing to end-user was going into Benchmade's pocket instead of dealers (even the overall profit by dealers will take a hit if sales go down below the margins) perhaps a case could be made for Benchmade to spend more resources on QC.

Benchmade's current situation is baffling indeed!
 
Sorry. I just can't see where MAP will do anything positive for the BM customers in any way, shape, or form.

JMO.
 
Sorry. I just can't see where MAP will do anything positive for the BM customers in any way, shape, or form.

JMO.
 
OBJ Viking said:
I can see where it will slow down buying for many...myself included. Maybe that will be a positive on our wallets.
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With so many great knifemakers around, providing knives at various price points, "addicts" will continue to find knives catering to their "fixes". This is a cautionary tale for knifemakers since the competition doesn't stand still.
 
RamZar said:
Unrelated and unlikely.

If the increased pricing to end-user was going into Benchmade's pocket instead of dealers (even the overall profit by dealers will take a hit if sales go down below the margins) perhaps a case could be made for Benchmade to spend more resources on QC.

Benchmade's current situation is baffling indeed!
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Hi RamZar,

Kreole's post #2 was pretty much the same statement, so I'll paste below my answer to him, to you - saves typing :). Sorry if I am interpreting your statement incorrectly.

Benchmade will not receive more money per knife, but the cost to the buyer has increased. Therefore, when a buyer pays top dollar they would expect to have the manufacture sell a knife worthy of the higher price. I have looked at many department store $25.00-$50.00 folders from different manufactures and their quality control (not design or materials) is better than a $100-$200.00 Benchmade. As I had said in an earlier post if Benchmade's quality control does not improve now that they cost more to me I will not buy them anymore.
 
harris2 said:
Hi RamZar,

Kreole's post #2 was pretty much the same statement, so I'll paste below my answer to him, to you - saves typing :). Sorry if I am interpreting your statement incorrectly.

Benchmade will not receive more money per knife, but the cost to the buyer has increased. Therefore, when a buyer pays top dollar they would expect to have the manufacture sell a knife worthy of the higher price. I have looked at many department store $25.00-$50.00 folders from different manufactures and their quality control (not design or materials) is better than a $100-$200.00 Benchmade. As I had said in an earlier post if Benchmade's quality control does not improve now that they cost more to me I will not buy them anymore.
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I'm not excusing Benchmade's reduced QC for anything regardless of the current MAP pricing enforcements. QC should stand on its own.
 
I used to be a Benchmade fan. I lost interest originally when the scales on my mini Griptilian got chipped and BM told me that they could not fix it as I had obviously abused the knife. Oh, btw, I got that response to my original email about the issue describing the damage. It was NOT based on any kind of inspection of the damage whatsoever. I bought my first mini Grip in 2003. I bought another one in 2005. Both were excellent knives right out of the box. Earlier in 2013, I decided to give a new mini Grip a try. It was awful. The blade wasn't very sharp out of box and the pivot needed adjustment to function properly. I never got that pivot to open smoothly without a small amount of side to side play. It was obvious to me that they're QC had gone downhill quite a bit from the old days. I sold that mini Grip not long after buying it. I think the price fixing (can't really call it MAP pricing at this point) is a bad move on BMs part, but I don't know that it will hurt them much all that much. So much of their reputation lies in their commitment to American manufacturing that I think a lot of people will still pay a premium. I am certain it won't do anything to alleviate the issues that have crept into their manufacturing in recent years. I, personally, would rather buy an imported knife from an American company that stands behind their products than an American made knife from an American company that doesn't care about the ELU of their product.
 
I am very please with may last Benchmade purchase, a 470. The fit and finish is what you would expect from a high-end production knife company. I can't say the same about the 707 I purchased a few years ago. Blade play and a very, very poor factory edge (When I first got it, I could run my finger down it w/o being cut) have plagued it. I understand CS would take care of it, but I have zero patience to correct a problem that should have been caught before it left the factory.

Spyderco, on the other hand, has been the epitome of factory quality with a reasonable price.

Unfortunately the new price fixing policy is going to drive me away from purchasing Benchmade for now. I understand Benchmade is not making profit off of the policy, but I can not justify spending on average $40-$50 dollars more (than I would have) on a production knife. The way I see it, the cost of 2 470s can now get me into CRK and semi-custom territory in terms of price comparison. Not cool.

Please don't read this as a hate statement, I am a Benchmade fan, but I do not like the MAP price fixing w/e policy and I will not be buying a Benchmade in the near future unless they spit out a design that is a must have to me.
 
I doubt it'll matter if they aren't keeping any more money. It's just about increasing perceived quality not actual quality. I wasn't aware of this policy but it will affect my decision to buy Benchmade knives. I've had several issues with quality and now I'm not willing to take a chance on their knives. I actually believe these policies should be illegal. However, I guess if the quality doesn't improve we should vote with our wallets.
 
As others have said I don't think QC is going to improve, and it's unfortunate, two things have really turned me off to Benchmade over the last couple years.

First, is the huge variation I see in sharpening angles of knives and blade centering out of the box, I honestly don't mind if the logo is a bit off or the flats are ground a bit different, but when I have to spend an hour with a lansky fixing the angles on the blade, that annoys me. It also annoys me when the blade is no where near centered, a little off is fine, but nearly touching a scale is bad, and it's so easy to spot.

Second, is I've had two knives I've had to send into BM, a 810 and a 760, both for blade retention issues, a well documented problem with the 760, neither were fixed and were returned no better than they left. If you can't or won't fix it, at least say so, save me the hassle and cost of returning it. So while others have had good luck with their customer service, I see no point in sending in another knife only to have it returned the same way it went in. I do like that they will send free screws/clips at request. I also like that for $25-35 you can get a replacement blade for most knives, I've never used the service and other companies might do it and just not advertise it, but I've always liked the stated option for doing so if I damage a blade that's not a warranty issue.

With issues like that, frankly the only thing raising the effective price for me as a customer does is ensure that I buy even less of them.
 
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