Negative experience with benchmade warranty and customer service.

[danthaman1980]

They did in the form of a $75 gift certificate which is slightly greater value than a $50, 30 year old knife.

I'm still curious if anyone can shed some light on what the Benchmade warranty was like in the mid 80's.

No, a $75 discount off a knife is not a replacement for a knife. A knife is a replacement for a knife. As someone else pointed out, inflation adjustment for $50 in 1985 is a bit more than $75 anyway (but that is beside the point). The point is, Benchmade tried to take the easy way out by not replacing the knife with another knife.

 

[A-MAC]

No, a $75 discount off a knife is not a replacement for a knife. A knife is a replacement for a knife. As someone else pointed out, inflation adjustment for $50 in 1985 is a bit more than $75 anyway (but that is beside the point). The point is, Benchmade tried to take the easy way out by not replacing the knife with another knife.

There is no possible way to replace this knife in kind, I'm sure Benchmade would done so it it were possible. I think their offer was more than fair and OP posting after accepting one of the solutions is dirty. If he were really as outraged as he says he wouldn't have accepted anything from them on principle.

 

[Mick_1KRR]

Here's how I read the OP's story:
----------
Dad: Hey, son, I bought this Benchmade balisong knife new in 1985 and now I'd like to give it to you.
Son: Wow, that sounds great, Dad, but it looks kind of beat up. How 'bout I send it to Benchmade for you to see if we can get it repaired or replaced under Benchmade's lifetime warranty first?
Dad: Sounds good, son! I sure raised you right!
(Son sends knife to Benchmade)
Benchmade CS: Sir, this knife is damaged and under the lifetime warranty, but we can't repair it and are unwilling to replace it. How about we offer you $75 off MSRP for any knife on our website which means we actually make money off this deal instead of honoring your warranty. If you don't like that deal, how about we give you 30% off MSRP for any knife on our site, which will be probably higher than MAP price anyway so we will be making even more money off that deal.
Son: Excuse me, I just want the knife repaired or replaced per your warranty.
Benchmade CS: Too bad.
Son: I've had a negative experience and I'm going to let my online buddies know about it.
Benchmade CS: Go pound sand.
----------

I certainly didn't read the statement about posting to BF as a threat or blackmail. Blackmail would be 'give me a new knife or else I'll tell everyone'. Deciding to tell everyone and then letting Benchmade know that you plan to do just that isn't blackmail at all; on the contrary, it's letting them know that you believe they are in the wrong and you're going to let others know about it as well.

I suppose everyone here just trusts benchmade to always do what's right. I like Benchmade as a company, I own lots of Benchmades. But they aren't infallible. If they make a mistake, it's up to the consumer to keep them honest. Free pocket clips are not the same thing as honoring a lifetime warranty.

It certainly isn't the OP's fault that Benchmade can't repair the knife, nor is it his fault that Benchmade doesn't sell $50 or $100 balisongs anymore. They should have offered him a free replacement of equal (or slightly greater) value. Not a $400 balisong, but maybe a Griptilian or something.

Sounds like you could be the young boys father?

And OP get real, quit being a baby because you didin't score a free knife. You really expect them to have parts for a 31 year old knife? or still have $50 balis to just swap out for you? You shouldn't be playing with knives anyways, maybe crayons. And you've turned none of us off Benchmade, so well done on the "posting a complaint on the forums" I bet everyone at Benchmade HQ started clearing out the factory in preparation to go out of business after your post LOL.

 

[danthaman1980]

There is no possible way to replace this knife in kind, I'm sure Benchmade would done so it it were possible. I think their offer was more than fair and OP posting after accepting one of the solutions is dirty. If he were really as outraged as he says he wouldn't have accepted anything from them on principle.

See, that's the thing. I didn't read anything about Benchmade offering any type of replacement. No 'we can send you a griptilian or mini-griptilian' as a replacement. Only a $75 gift card which requires the OP to spend a minimum of $30 plus shipping just to get any other knife. No attempt to replace the damaged knife with any other functioning knife. Only an attempt to SELL the OP another knife.

 

[palonej]

Ya know Dan make some good points brother......but there is one variable you aren't including in your equation. The OP's history.
If you would just check out 1 of the threads he either started or participated in.
I won't go into why I reacted the way I did......read the thread I linked above and that should make you look at this differently.
Balis are the subject of that thread also.
Joe

 

[danthaman1980]

Sounds like you could be the young boys father?

LOL, no. OP and his father live in Florida. I live in Wisconsin. I just happen to agree with OP and think y'all are being a bit harsh on him. Sounds to me like he just wants the knife repaired or replaced with a Benchmade knife of similar value. That really shouldn't be too difficult for Benchmade to do.

 

[4844889345853489-435]

See, that's the thing. I didn't read anything about Benchmade offering any type of replacement. No 'we can send you a griptilian or mini-griptilian' as a replacement. Only a $75 gift card which requires the OP to spend a minimum of $30 plus shipping just to get any other knife. No attempt to replace the damaged knife with any other functioning knife. Only an attempt to SELL the OP another knife.

Exactly! I was beating my head against the wall reading this thread!

Benchmade didn't offer to make OP whole at all! They offered OP the chance to spend more money on their website @ a discount...discounts which are subtracted from Benchmade's ridiculous MSRP....so those discounts aren't even discounts in the first place..

Not only that, but if OP took the $75 gift certificate they weren't even gonna send him the knife back, ridiculous.

The fanboys in this thread are absolutely ridiculous.

 

[danthaman1980]

To be clear, I think if OP was trying to leverage a 31 year old, $50 balising for a new $400 balisong, then OP is in the wrong as well. If my Chevy breaks down within the warranty period and GM is unable to fix it, they don't owe me a Cadillac as a replacement. But they do owe me another Chevy.

 

[craytab]

To be clear, look through the kids posts. He is not trustworthy. All we have is his side of the story with no documentation of the actual email exchange. His story changes. He's a drug user. Look at his post history. Trust him or Benchmade? I'm going benchmade all day. And to be more clear, when he says he will post his story all over the forums if he doesn't get free stuff that is a threat. We don't know how this went down. I can easily see BM shutting this down and not wanting to deal with this kid further. I personally think they should have offered more money due to inflation but not if they were threatened. Again, we have no clue what actually happened.

 

[benchwarmer380]

To be clear, I think if OP was trying to leverage a 31 year old, $50 balising for a new $400 balisong, then OP is in the wrong as well. If my Chevy breaks down within the warranty period and GM is unable to fix it, they don't owe me a Cadillac as a replacement. But they do owe me another Chevy.

What should GM do if they no longer make Chevys and only have Cadillacs in their line up?

You were correct above in that a monetary gift certificate is not a replacement.

Cray and Joe do have a point. This is only one side of the story.

 

[jazub]

I have seen people here and there on bladeforums mention looking for beat up old Leatherman tools or Buck knives for pennies at yard sales so that they can send them in for a free, modern tool. Irks me. Technically, it is accepted (by a very cool company). I think it is mousy and cheap. When prices rise, I think of those cheapskates.

I guess we can cherry pick which of the OP's statements we wish to believe, since some of his statements contradict others, but the way I read it he either got a free hand-me-down or found an old beater and wanted Benchmade to cover the expense of a new knife, an expense which he has previously written he does not want to incur. It smells like the Leatherman/Buck hustle to me. His murky re-telling of the situation added to the stench. But believe what you will.

The way I see it, trading in old beat up stuff for a new product a third of a century after somebody else's purchase is not making the current owner "whole". It perverts the generous spirit of the warranty. No matter who the company. In this instance it was Benchmade. If that position makes me a fanboy of whatever brand in your eyes, enjoy feeling that way.

 

[benchwarmer380]

This may be here nor there. Also, this is pure introspection as the knife in this thread is older than I am but I like to think that if I owned and was satisfied with a product for longer than a quarter century, when the time came that it needed to be replaced I would support the company with my dollars. They should have earned it at that point or I would have found better long before.

 

[Elly's Pa]

Exactly! I was beating my head against the wall reading this thread!

Benchmade didn't offer to make OP whole at all! They offered OP the chance to spend more money on their website @ a discount...discounts which are subtracted from Benchmade's ridiculous MSRP....so those discounts aren't even discounts in the first place..

Not only that, but if OP took the $75 gift certificate they weren't even gonna send him the knife back, ridiculous.

The fanboys in this thread are absolutely ridiculous.

In this situation benchmade had an opportunity to rise up and go above and beyond. As a salesman myself I applaud benchmade's attempt sell the op a new knife. Sorry but benchmade owes this kid a knife.

 

[Elly's Pa]

Why not just give the kid a knife and then Benchmade can say "hey we stand by our product and we thank you for proving our knives last for 30 years, thank you" good publicity rocks. Instead they elected to try a sell a new knife. Oldest trick in the book, unhappy customer, give a partial credit so they have to spend money on our products. tisk, tisk

 

[craytab]

This may be here nor there. Also, this is pure introspection as the knife in this thread is older than I am but I like to think that if I owned and was satisfied with a product for longer than a quarter century, when the time came that it needed to be replaced I would support the company with my dollars. They should have earned it at that point or I would have found better long before.

And a knife given to me by my Dad would not be traded in for new no matter the damage.

In this situation benchmade had an opportunity to rise up and go above and beyond. As a salesman myself I applaud benchmade's attempt sell the op a new knife. Sorry but benchmade owes this kid a knife.

You do realize there is no balisong in this price range that BM makes now right? What would you suggest they do?

 

[Elly's Pa]

Reminds me of a story on the busse forum. A knife was sent in for a broken handle. Busse found a video of the owner shooting the blade and trying to split the bullets with the blade. Busse sent a new knife and used the opportunity to say "hey our warranty is better than the competitions"

 

[Elly's Pa]

And a knife given to me by my Dad would not be traded in for new no matter the damage.



You do realize there is no balisong in this price range that BM makes now right? What would you suggest they do?

A new balisong knife. If the old knife was their 2nd cheapest balisong model back then give him the 2nd cheapest new model and walk away knowing they will most likely get good PR for it.

 

[craytab]

Reminds me of a story on the busse forum. A knife was sent in for a broken handle. Busse found a video of the owner shooting the blade and trying to split the bullets with the blade. Busse sent a new knife and used the opportunity to say "hey our warranty is better than the competitions"

That has nothing to do with the BM warranty. The Busse warranty says you can do that with the knife. The BM warranty offers a replacement. Only a fool would think they would replace the knife with the same knife at this point and offering a replacement at twice the value only hurts the rest of us consumers. What would you have them do?

 

[4844889345853489-435]

All I know is that if I sent in my 25 year old knife that has a *lifetime* warranty to be repaired / serviced, and all I was offered was the chance to spend more money, I would not be happy, especially if the discount wasn't even a discount.

 

[danthaman1980]

This may be here nor there. Also, this is pure introspection as the knife in this thread is older than I am but I like to think that if I owned and was satisfied with a product for longer than a quarter century, when the time came that it needed to be replaced I would support the company with my dollars. They should have earned it at that point or I would have found better long before.

Generally, yes, but it depends on the product. I have a lot of Craftsman hand tools. Assuming Sears is still in business 50 years from now, they sure as hell better replace my broken ratchet, whether my 80-something year old self brings it in, or my kids, or my grandkids, or whatever.