• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

I emailed Stickman

Man with no name said:
ColdSteel products are covered by a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

At GSM Outdoors, our customers are our number one priority and we want them to know we stand proudly behind every item bearing our name. Tampering with or altering the unit will void the warranty. Any unauthorized service will void the warranty. A return Authorization (RA) number must be obtained from customer service at 877-269-8490 prior to returning the product.
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What a laugh. Is that why GSM's very first move was to strip away the Lifetime warranty and replace it with a 1 year warranty? The Lifetime warranty was only reinstated when there was massive backlash.
 
dogstar said:
I think you just have to get used to the fact that the old CS is dead, and there's only a faceless, souless brand name left behind.
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That's basically where I am right now. What's tragic is there is nowhere else to go. What other manufacturer offers anything close to what Lynn brought us all these years?
 
Lynn was a CEO, martial artist, edged weapons collector, hunter, innovator, and showman.

What have they come up with in his place?
 
killgar said:
My question is- What would be his role here?

Is he just going to promote GSM/Cold Steel and try to convince us to buy more, or is he actually going to address the issues that some people are having with their CS products. Issues like missing hardware, unsharpened blades, warranty service, replacement parts, etc.

I'm not impressed with "YouTube celebrities", I don't want the guys autograph. What this forum needs, and what Cold Steel needs is a customer service rep who can answer questions and solve problems. Good customer service is what impresses me, and so far what I've seen from GSM/CS has not been impressive.
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Agree 100%

I could be wrong . . .

But my understanding is that Stickman is just a salesman for GSM. He does not have any knowledge of the history of Cold Steel or of the individual "units" sold by Cold Steel over the past decades.

"What this forum needs, and what Cold Steel needs is a customer service rep who can answer questions and solve problems. Good customer service is what impresses me", Stickman, as GSM salesman, is never going to be able to do this. And, this should not be expected of him. He is only a salesman, period.

The Cold Steel forum does not need Stickman. What is needed, as Killgar said, is a knowledgeable Customer Service representative. One who can help answer the questions and solve the issues of GSM's most devoted fans - the people here on Blade Forums.

Please GSM, show me that I am wrong.
 
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sean2021 said:
Jimislash? Maybe he can join too? He’s a huge CS fan and wasn’t he at the CS booth at one of the blade shows…
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I originally was thinking that anything is better than nothing, but I’m starting to wake up to the fact that they simply don’t have the type of representation to offer that would be helpful to the issues raised here that can’t already be answered by its existing users. GSM isn’t going to spend money training a rep and then paying a salary to have someone available when they are already surely making serious profit without it.

Jimislash is awesome, very enthusiastic Cold Steel fan, but he is not customer service. He is probably similar to someone in a marketing role (I hate to say ‘influencer’ because he is objective in his videos and I appreciate that) but he has experienced customer service issues himself. Recently too. And he made a video asking for feedback on it that he hopes to pass to GSM. Who knows if it will gain traction with GSM?—-that’s likely a much more involved process than he will be able to give insight into. But he is trying.

Not sure what will be able to help but it seems a sure 100% thing that spare parts are gone, and will never return. No repairs and no parts, GSM has made this clear.
 
EveryDayIsHalloween said:
I originally was thinking that anything is better than nothing, but I’m starting to wake up to the fact that they simply don’t have the type of representation to offer that would be helpful to the issues raised here that can’t already be answered by its existing users. GSM isn’t going to spend money training a rep and then paying a salary to have someone available when they are already surely making serious profit without it.

Jimislash is awesome, very enthusiastic Cold Steel fan, but he is not customer service. He is probably similar to someone in a marketing role (I hate to say ‘influencer’ because he is objective in his videos and I appreciate that) but he has experienced customer service issues himself. Recently too. And he made a video asking for feedback on it that he hopes to pass to GSM. Who knows if it will gain traction with GSM?—-that’s likely a much more involved process than he will be able to give insight into. But he is trying.
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This. The original reps that were here had direct access to Lynn, the R and D guys, shipping and receiving, etc..... We're never getting that back. Just too many hoops to jump through.
 
EveryDayIsHalloween said:
I originally was thinking that anything is better than nothing, but I’m starting to wake up to the fact that they simply don’t have the type of representation to offer that would be helpful to the issues raised here that can’t already be answered by its existing users. GSM isn’t going to spend money training a rep and then paying a salary to have someone available when they are already surely making serious profit without it.

Jimislash is awesome, very enthusiastic Cold Steel fan, but he is not customer service. He is probably similar to someone in a marketing role (I hate to say ‘influencer’ because he is objective in his videos and I appreciate that) but he has experienced customer service issues himself. Recently too. And he made a video asking for feedback on it that he hopes to pass to GSM. Who knows if it will gain traction with GSM?—-that’s likely a much more involved process than he will be able to give insight into. But he is trying.

Not sure what will be able to help but it seems a sure 100% thing that spare parts are gone, and will never return. No repairs and no parts, GSM has made this clear.
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All Cold Steel Knives come with a driveway guarantee. Once you drive away the guarantees over
 
Well I tried my best. Apparently Stickman is not coming. Perhaps somebody else can email him and try him. I've gotten nowhere. I kind of feel like I was made a fool of. Oh well time to try a different brand. And yes I'm a little annoyed.
 
Vlade said:
Well I tried my best. Apparently Stickman is not coming. Perhaps somebody else can email him and try him. I've gotten nowhere. I kind of feel like I was made a fool of. Oh well time to try a different brand. And yes I'm a little annoyed.
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Agree with jlauffer, you’re fine. Anyone else would get the same result, this is what it is like dealing with a massive corporation. Thanks for doing it. I might also just for the heck of it.
 
EveryDayIsHalloween said:
I originally was thinking that anything is better than nothing, but I’m starting to wake up to the fact that they simply don’t have the type of representation to offer that would be helpful to the issues raised here that can’t already be answered by its existing users. GSM isn’t going to spend money training a rep and then paying a salary to have someone available when they are already surely making serious profit without it.

Jimislash is awesome, very enthusiastic Cold Steel fan, but he is not customer service. He is probably similar to someone in a marketing role (I hate to say ‘influencer’ because he is objective in his videos and I appreciate that) but he has experienced customer service issues himself. Recently too. And he made a video asking for feedback on it that he hopes to pass to GSM. Who knows if it will gain traction with GSM?—-that’s likely a much more involved process than he will be able to give insight into. But he is trying.

Not sure what will be able to help but it seems a sure 100% thing that spare parts are gone, and will never return. No repairs and no parts, GSM has made this clear.
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Without spare parts I guess it's pretty much useless. I'm not collecting anything Cold Steel. I have enough to last me two lifetimes. And I'm going to use them till they break if they break. It's just not worth collecting a defunct brand. I would go as far as saying I've purchased my last cold steel knife. Let them stew in their own crap
 
Frankly I don't think GSM really cares about Cold Steel. They could have kept on (or at least offered to keep on)
1 or more of the employees who had customer service experience. Even if the employee(s) didn't want to move, they could have done some kind of telecommuting thing.

GSM could have contacted jlauffer or other knowlegeable folks right here on this forum for help, advice, and/or to be the CS rep on this forum.

GSM could, if they really wanted to, keep CS alive and going strong, and making good money for years to come if they just gave a damn about Cold Steel, it's fans and customers.

Actions speak louder than words.
 
nighthawk86 said:
Frankly I don't think GSM really cares about Cold Steel. They could have kept on (or at least offered to keep on)
1 or more of the employees who had customer service experience. Even if the employee(s) didn't want to move, they could have done some kind of telecommuting thing.

GSM could have contacted jlauffer or other knowlegeable folks right here on this forum for help, advice, and/or to be the CS rep on this forum.

GSM could, if they really wanted to, keep CS alive and going strong, and making good money for years to come if they just gave a damn about Cold Steel, it's fans and customers.

Actions speak louder than words.
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If GSM doesn't give a hoot about Cold Steel why in the hell did they buy it? They've got this brand so screwed up the only way to get back at them is to stop purchasing their products. If you have no customers you have no business.
 
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