I don't think I'll buy any more Case knives.

bdev said:
The way I see it, you're getting a new knife back from Case for 30 bucks. They'll clean it, polish it and sharpen it. I don't believe you can buy any new Case bone handled mini trapper for 30 dollars. I bought an improved mini trapper and I think it cost me around 55 bucks.
If you don't really care for that knife, by all means put your money into something else.
Just curious....did you get an estimate or did you just send it to Case with instructions? If you just sent it off to Case without knowing the price, how much did you think it would cost? $15...$20....$25?
Since you sent it to them a month ago, I'm assuming it's finished and ready to ship back to you.
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The best price I could find on a mini-Trapper in bone is $42.00, plus $5.85 2 day Priority mail. I agree, you cannot buy a brand new in the box mini-Trapper for $30.00.
 
Likely echoing a sentiment from other responses. When was the last time you fixed something for $15 labour. Just to have a plumber, furnace or AC repair or electrician show up these days is $75 + tax and that's before they've actually done anything. Production line knives are inexpensive because they're quick to make and require very little thinking or skill. A competent repair requires skill, organization, thought and time.
This is entirely a consumer-based society just in Case (pun intended) you weren't sure.
Go on out and buy another Case and try not to break it this time.
Last year I went out to get a new battery and a strap for my ordinary, but worn, Timex quartz wristwatch. The counter lady at WalMart showed me that the exact same, and brand-spanking new, watch was on sale for $5 less than the cost of a strap and battery. Not all that difficult to make decisions under those circumstances but had this been my long-deceased grandfather's gold piece the outcome would have been different.
 
How well do you think case would do if they made one knife per day with their current staff and costs?

VOLUME and a high tech assembly line makes the new in box price possible.

Until you try to make a living having to ingest all costs of a business I don't think this idea can be as heartfelt but the logic should be universal.

Kevin



robertj298 said:
I really can't see it.If Case can make the same knife from scratch ship it to a dealer and he can sell it for $2 dollars more than it cost to replace one side of the sideplates and make a profit, it just doesn't add up.
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richstag said:
If a flat rate box costs me 5 bucks or whatever, add 4$ for the gallon of gas and an hourly rate for me mailing it. Honestly I feel like people have gotten too accustom to the "amazon way" and they forget this logic is why we have seen so many brick and mortar and otherwise wonderful companies perish.
Click to expand...

It takes you a gallon of gas and an hour to ship a package? That is very inefficient, and Case has a shipping and receiving department where they use 0 gas, and get the entire process taken care of in under 2 minutes.

Secondly, I found a Bone handled mini trapper for $37 in the first search result - I didn't even shop for best price.

Everyone keeps echoing "logic, logic", but most of the arguments being made are exaggerated. You won't walk into any auto mechanic in the country for a repair, and the result be "Well, I fixed your car, but it's going to cost $23,495. What was this, $24,000 new?". Case did NOT do that directly, but they did in a roundabout way - they made a simple repair (from experience I know the labor was minimal. I think many of you are not clear on how long it takes to pop off handles and put new ones back on when you have the best tools for the job. Just because it's a repair doesn't mean Case sends it to a secret in house Master knife maker to do the work with old school hand tools.), and charged a reasonable amount - 15$. However, they're charging 10$ shipping for an item that would be about 3$ in standard postage. The could have sent it in a small flat rate box for a minimal fee also (it costs us $5.80, but but a company like Case has several options for lowering that cost), but larger companies almost never use flat rate boxes unless it offers a cost savings, and it rarely does.

It would have been about the same if he sent in a knife with Yellow handles, so the 37$ argument only applies to this knife, and you wouldn't be using that if it was a yellow handled knife that they charged him 28$ for. Nobody is considering the value that offering a repair service adds to the business. Putting a 15 year old knife back into the market is one of the best marketing ploys a company can make, and for a company like Case that thrives on loyalty and repeat business, they would benefit from the repair service even if it was operated at a loss. Since they do warranty repair, it's not an undue cost to repair and ship out OP's knife - it definitely doesn't take an hour and a gallon of gas for them to receive it and ship it back excluding the labor. Case needs to figure out the shipping cost - otherwise they have developed an acceptable method for handling these repairs (I think 15$ + shipping would have been acceptable to OP), but have a horrible practice for shipping that makes the entire service questionable. At the very least, they should have quoted the price before doing the work. Now they have OP's knife for ransom.

Case knives are made on an assembly line, but they are still worked by hand. The same tools are used for every single step that the OP had done as what they use in production. The same jig, hammer and press to attach the handles - then to the hefters to shape the handles and blend them into the bolsters, then to polishing, then to honing, and then for a final polish, cleaning and visual inspection. 15$ was actually a little high on the labor that was completed, but they are operating a business so nobody expects them to do repairs for free - they don't expect to encounter a designed obsolescence (that is actually what this practice is referred to - when the cost of a repair is close to or more than the cost of a replacement, when the actual parts and labor should be significantly less) on a product like a Case knife. Since there is no logical reason that the shipping costs should be $10, one can only assume that they did this to discourage customers from using the repair service, or to encourage customers to buy a new knife instead of getting an old one repaired.

Actual Shipping cost for 3oz Case Mini Trapper from Bradford, PA to Cincinnati, OH
In Box: $2.32
In Large Envelope: $1.40

The 50% rule - consumer advocates have long recommended skipping repairs and buying new if the cost of repairs are more than 50% of a replacement. Since this instance obliterated a commonly held rule of thumb, Case should have notified the customer prior to completing the repairs.

If I can ship something to you for $1.40, why can't a large company that has streamlined shipping practices, an abundance of packaging materials, daily pickups, and likely a postage discount?

Of course, I think that most of the responses come more from bias than anything, so I don't expect the facts to play much of a role in altering your opinion. I don't think anyone here would defend Case quite as hard if they charged them $30 to re-handle a yellow handled Peanut though.
 
richstag said:
How well do you think case would do if they made one knife per day with their current staff and costs?

VOLUME and a high tech assembly line makes the new in box price possible.

Until you try to make a living having to ingest all costs of a business I don't think this idea can be as heartfelt but the logic should be universal.

Kevin
Click to expand...

The most high tech part of Case's manufacturing process is the stamping.

There is absolutely NOTHING high tech about their assembly - the pieces are placed on a jig, the pins are hammered into pace, and they use an industrial press to press everything firmly into place. The same tools would have been used in this repair that they use in manufacturing. I really think you guys have the wrong idea about how this all works.
 
Have Case return that knife for $5.00 use it and buy a new knife. If you dropped it, the bone will crack, not saying you did but I know from experience. Buy a new one and move on :)
 
A Justice said:
It takes you a gallon of gas and an hour to ship a package? That is very inefficient, and Case has a shipping and receiving department where they use 0 gas, and get the entire process taken care of in under 2 minutes.

Secondly, I found a Bone handled mini trapper for $37 in the first search result - I didn't even shop for best price.

Everyone keeps echoing "logic, logic", but most of the arguments being made are exaggerated. You won't walk into any auto mechanic in the country for a repair, and the result be "Well, I fixed your car, but it's going to cost $23,495. What was this, $24,000 new?". Case did NOT do that directly, but they did in a roundabout way - they made a simple repair (from experience I know the labor was minimal. I think many of you are not clear on how long it takes to pop off handles and put new ones back on when you have the best tools for the job. Just because it's a repair doesn't mean Case sends it to a secret in house Master knife maker to do the work with old school hand tools.), and charged a reasonable amount - 15$. However, they're charging 10$ shipping for an item that would be about 3$ in standard postage. The could have sent it in a small flat rate box for a minimal fee also (it costs us $5.80, but but a company like Case has several options for lowering that cost), but larger companies almost never use flat rate boxes unless it offers a cost savings, and it rarely does.

It would have been about the same if he sent in a knife with Yellow handles, so the 37$ argument only applies to this knife, and you wouldn't be using that if it was a yellow handled knife that they charged him 28$ for. Nobody is considering the value that offering a repair service adds to the business. Putting a 15 year old knife back into the market is one of the best marketing ploys a company can make, and for a company like Case that thrives on loyalty and repeat business, they would benefit from the repair service even if it was operated at a loss. Since they do warranty repair, it's not an undue cost to repair and ship out OP's knife - it definitely doesn't take an hour and a gallon of gas for them to receive it and ship it back excluding the labor. Case needs to figure out the shipping cost - otherwise they have developed an acceptable method for handling these repairs (I think 15$ + shipping would have been acceptable to OP), but have a horrible practice for shipping that makes the entire service questionable. At the very least, they should have quoted the price before doing the work. Now they have OP's knife for ransom.

Case knives are made on an assembly line, but they are still worked by hand. The same tools are used for every single step that the OP had done as what they use in production. The same jig, hammer and press to attach the handles - then to the hefters to shape the handles and blend them into the bolsters, then to polishing, then to honing, and then for a final polish, cleaning and visual inspection. 15$ was actually a little high on the labor that was completed, but they are operating a business so nobody expects them to do repairs for free - they don't expect to encounter a designed obsolescence (that is actually what this practice is referred to - when the cost of a repair is close to or more than the cost of a replacement, when the actual parts and labor should be significantly less) on a product like a Case knife. Since there is no logical reason that the shipping costs should be $10, one can only assume that they did this to discourage customers from using the repair service, or to encourage customers to buy a new knife instead of getting an old one repaired.

Actual Shipping cost for 3oz Case Mini Trapper from Bradford, PA to Cincinnati, OH
In Box: $2.32
In Large Envelope: $1.40

The 50% rule - consumer advocates have long recommended skipping repairs and buying new if the cost of repairs are more than 50% of a replacement. Since this instance obliterated a commonly held rule of thumb, Case should have notified the customer prior to completing the repairs.

If I can ship something to you for $1.40, why can't a large company that has streamlined shipping practices, an abundance of packaging materials, daily pickups, and likely a postage discount?

Of course, I think that most of the responses come more from bias than anything, so I don't expect the facts to play much of a role in altering your opinion. I don't think anyone here would defend Case quite as hard if they charged them $30 to re-handle a yellow handled Peanut though.
Click to expand...

Case still has to pay the overhead. Nothing like loaders to double the price for a company to do business. You see the costs as if you would do it. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that simply for a big company. Some of those things that make it easy for a company to make a billion widgets works against making just a few.
 
It would never occur to me to get a $30ish knife repaired unless it had real sentimental value. If I had originally paid $30ish for it 15 years ago then I'd figure I got my money's worth out of the knife. Time to buy a new one.
 
The cost seems fair to me, but whether it's worth it or not is certainly relative. If the knife is just a knife, then buying a new one is probably the better option. If it has sentimental value, it's certainly worth it to get it repaired.

Neither would put me off of buying another Case.
 
I agree with the above post. I'd be pretty upset if I sent a knife in and they repaired it without telling me the cost first. But then again, I would never send in a $30 knife for repair unless it had some other non-intrinsic value. And always include very specific instructions with the knife.
 
Woodrow F Call said:
Case still has to pay the overhead. Nothing like loaders to double the price for a company to do business. You see the costs as if you would do it. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that simply for a big company. Some of those things that make it easy for a company to make a billion widgets works against making just a few.
Click to expand...
10-1.4 is a lot for a loader.
 
This is a joke right?? :confused:

You bought a $30 knife and used it for 15 years. That means it cost you $2 a year. Now you have broken a handle slab and you complain because 15 years later Case want to charge you $30 to repair it! (Including postage)

It's a fair bet that Case are loosing money doing this for you but there they are, 15 years later, standing by their product and repairing it.
And your cost for the next fifteen years……17c a month. Sounds like a great deal to me.
 
What model Queen are you going to get? Personally, I'd pay the price. But your inclination is not to so, dump the Case and get the Queen.
 
$30.... The work they will do is worth it.

But the knife may not be.

You could take piece of junk care to a auto body shop and the cost of the work needed to fix the car can far outweigh the price of the car.

Just replace it with another $30 knife and be done with it.
 
robertj298 said:
I really can't see it.If Case can make the same knife from scratch ship it to a dealer and he can sell it for $2 dollars more than it cost to replace one side of the sideplates and make a profit, it just doesn't add up.
Click to expand...

I don't know what you do for a living, but I work in a factory and I often have to perform cost estimates. When you add in all the overhead costs of keeping a factory running, the cost of labor is roughly $130 an hour. This is called the "burdened rate". (I've worked in several factories. The burdened rate doesn't vary all that much. Taxes, light bills, secretaries, building maintenance. It all has to be paid for in each activity an employee performs.)

So, for $30, if it takes a skilled worker more than 14 minutes to remove the broken bone, find a matching piece and attach it, then Case is losing money. Personally, I'd guess they are losing money at that rate.

Fixing a knife is not the same as running one through the semi-automated production line. It's concentrated hands-on labor, which means it's bloody expensive.


Steven65 said:
This is a joke right?? :confused:

You bought a $30 knife and used it for 15 years. That means it cost you $2 a year. Now you have broken a handle slab and you complain because 15 years later Case want to charge you $30 to repair it! (Including postage)

It's a fair bet that Case are loosing money doing this for you but there they are, 15 years later, standing by their product and repairing it.
And your cost for the next fifteen years……17c a month. Sounds like a great deal to me.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Taanstafl.
 
To replace the handle the Case repair person would have to disassemble the entire knife and then reassemble it with new handles (I assume they would replace both but I'm not certain of that). In the process the parts - springs, liners, and blades - would be cleaned and polished up by hand on buffing wheels. Then there is the added labor of reinstalling the shield (if that side is replaced) which means routing out the bone and gluing in the new shield. Due to the disassembly/reassembly and due to the fact that its a "one-off", there is a lot more labor than there would be per knife if Case was making a run of say 1,000 new knives.
 
rockgolfer said:
Very poor. I dont see how its so hard to take a piece of smooth bone(they have done a lot of knives with this lately) and make it by hand. Maybe I am missing something but not being able to repair a handle or re-do it in somethng else is just unacceptable.
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Thanks for agreeing. It's really annoyed me particularly as I'm prepared to pay for it as it is not a guarantee issue.
This is in contrast to both CASE and Queen who will replace handles, GEC it appears keeps very limited stock, this rather compromises warranty I'd think....
 
robertj298 said:
I really can't see it.If Case can make the same knife from scratch ship it to a dealer and he can sell it for $2 dollars more than it cost to replace one side of the sideplates and make a profit, it just doesn't add up.
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Then everyone has wasted their time in trying to help you, the other single new knife was made in a batch of several hundred at the very least, so theres the ( massive ) difference -what cant you see in visualizing a staff member who will take possibly longer that 15 minutes to repair your knife, using materials etc and you only paying $15 for the Labour? call an electrician or plumber or get the kid down the road to mow your lawns and see how much the Labour charge is in comparison - your quote was nothing, I actually cannot believe you are quibbling over $30 - this is an everyday part of life - people have to juggle whether to fix a fridge, lawn mower, car house or would it be cheaper to get a new one - every day!
 
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