I’ve been wanting to write this for several weeks but at the same time I've been dreading it. This is my story of a knife return gone wrong with BladeHQ.
I’m not here to bash this company. As I’ll explain I made a few mistakes that may have contributed, but I'm out a significant amount of money and feel the situation is serious enough to warrant a post here.
In early November, I purchased a Mini Synergy by WE Knives from BladeHQ. Already logged into my account, with my payment info saved, I clicked submit order and it was processed. Only after did I realize I had purchased a duplicate (2) knife by mistake. With no way to cancel the order in the system, I shot them an email. I then placed a new order for (1) Mini Synergy. This was all in the evening, after business hours. Well, it turned out that BladeHQ is so on top of the shipping that the next morning, before they got to my email requesting cancellation, the order had shipped out. I was told I could setup a return for them and I did just that. The return was requested and approved for the (2) mistakenly purchased knives the next day, well before their arrival.
Fast forward to all three knives having arrived: The (2) by mistake are in their own box, larger and noticeably heavier, shipped by FedEx while the other was by USPS. I decide, for a combination of reasons, to return the single knife as well. I had been in the market for just one small knife and the Nerd by TRM had become available during that time, it turned out to be the knife I was looking for
So anyway, I had left the two knives in their FedEx box unopened. Even though I had never meant to order them, I was well aware I was about to return 3 knives at once. I figure, let me leave them sealed in their original shipping box so BladeHQ has little doubt they were even handled. That was my logic anyway. And also, it just felt polite. I had never meant to order them in the first place, why open the box? Only to tape it again and ship them out.
A few weeks go by after the returns, and I notice only two refunds, each for approximately $300, the total of one knife. I call BladeHQ, and it turned out they believed they had only received one knife of the two knife order (the FedEx box I had never openned). I then learn I had mistakenly setup the return for only 1 of 2 the knives. But I was assured, the box would have been checked and if the second knife had been there, they would have issued me a refund for both. They insisted only one knife was ever in the box.
I went back and forth with them over the phone, arguing my case. Everything was professional on both ends but they would not relent despite my desperate ideas to resolve the situation, like, can you check the physical inventory against the computer to see if you have an extra in stock? (I was told they don't have a mechanism to do this) Can you ask the person who did the return? (they did, and she claimed there was only one knife, though this would have happened a few weeks prior by the time I made my inquiry).
It can get even more complicated, like they claimed the 1.2 lb shipped weight for the package makes it clear there were two knives sent to me, but the 7 ounce return label shows only one. This, however, is because the return label was premade, not weighed out at the post office, because again I had mistakenly made the return for only one knife of the two-knife order. edit: My last idea was to ask them to check if USPS charged their account the difference in weight, as the return certainly weighed more than the 7oz, and in doing so we could establish that the package did weigh 1.2 pounds, indicating it may have contained both knives. That idea went no where, and in their reply I was told they consider the matter resolved.
I tried everything I could think of to plead my case, but again they "determined that the proper adjustment has been issued" and considered their "investigation" (such as it was) complete.
The bottom line, I send them back an unopened box which I am certain had two knives (something they agree is not in doubt) to have them tell me there was only one, and refund only one. I was told by BladeHQ that the situation was also more difficult because I never checked to verify, but they don’t believe me anyway and swear themselves that there were two knives sent because everything is scanned in and out of the system, and two knives for that order were scanned out.
At this point what I believe most likely happened, is the employee (apparently an upper level employee who was filling in for returns because there were so many) opened a box that was connected with a single knife return, took out the one knife, and tossed the box that had the other one. I’m sure there are other possibilities, but one thing remains certain: I sent back a sealed unopened box for two knives and was only reimbursed for one. Perhaps the solo knife order, the one I returned because I changed my mind, also played a role here in confusing the return department. But again, they don't acknowledge any of these possibilities.
This is my story; I want to document it somewhere because I have no other options. If I can share it here, and perhaps someone else in the future has a similar experience and reads this, maybe it can be another data point. I believe BladeHQ should have more ways to troubleshoot these situations. This is a my word against their’s situation, I don’t dispute that. But it is frustrating knowing they lost track of the knife somewhere in the return process, and their best option to resolve it was to rely on the recollection of an employee for a single return weeks prior.
TLDR: I sent an unopened box for a 2 knife order back to BladeHQ and they insist they only got 1 knife, refunding only half the order. It didn’t help I had mistakenly processed the return for one knife, but they insist this would not have affected the return, saying if there had been two, they would have processed it for two. As it stands now I am out the money with no other recou
