Olamic customer service some good, some bad. LONG.

[fang3412]

So I fully recognize that Olamic seems to have an overwhelmingly positive reputation but this is just my own interactions with them resulting in a immediate hiatus in my knife collecting hobby.

If you do read this, do you think it's worth following up with Olamic over a year down the line? I'm a longtime lurker and this was also posted to reddit, but I'd also like some opinions from the good folk at BladeForums. Two parts due to the 10000 character limit. Also I apologize if this isn't in the right place. It was a tossup of this or the community side.

I'll also caveat what I'm about to say is that I was younger then and more of a snowflake, and there was certainly some good to my interactions with Olamic.

The knife in question is an Olamic Rainmaker which I got for 1100$ CAD, along with the reviews of Olamics stellar service made me expect good support.

Also a little about me, I have a modest collection of knives, on the high end 3 reates, the olamic and the sebenza. With the last, the reate k1 in timascus being purchased in december 2021 or january 2022. So I'm not unfamiliar with nice knives, though not super deep in.


The good:

They sent me a detent ball with little hassle. Sent me a spare lockbar too.

Replaced the blade for free (because it 2 ish months to fix, 5 months overall).

They held onto the handle separately for 1 month before I sent the blade

They covered shipping back to me in two separate pieces, due to Canada things.

Re anodized some parts of the knife handle?


The bad:

Many delays. Was expected to complete in 3-5 days, ended up taking 3 months. Very little communication unless chased.

Rough ceramic detent ball that got replaced but quickly developed the same issue, resulted in " deep track is handmade aftermarket modification. " resulting in the blade needing to be replaced

Pivot column thread cracked and chipped off, asked for replacement, they asked for the knife to be sent in and swapped out the blade and sent it back.

Pivot screw kept coming loose because of above, asked for a replacement, didn't get it. Followed up asking for a backup and got a snappy response.

"Do you think we did not assemble your knife when replacing the blade??????

There is nothing wrong with the pivot and it is not stripped or I guess we are using stripped screws only with all Rainmakers...or maybe with all our knives

I'll send you a couple of torx pivot screws. "

Those never came in the end.

They also promised to send anodized pivots, but that obviously didn't happen

 

[fang3412]

Full story:

So, I buy a Rainmaker, it's great for about 20 flips while sitting in my car then it gets noticeably rougher. Odd, get home, add some oil and continue flipping it. About a 20 flips later it's pretty rough. Like I can hear the grinding. There's also a black residue and a clear track being carved into the blade. I check the detent ball. Sandpaper. Weird. Hasn't happened with any other knife I own, low end or high end. I just put it down for a bit and play with the Reates and sebenza instead. But it bugs me, it's an 1100$ knife so I decide to try out the customer support.

I'm in Canada so I'm a little worried that they won't cover me, also the CBSA (canadian border security agency) had just banned the import of flipping knives, so I wasn't sure I could even ship it across if they did respond.

I sent in a form describing the problem, asking if it was normal and asking if I could get a separate lockbar insert with a fresh detent ball without sending it in, due some unwillingness to risk confiscation of the knife by the CBSA. No response. A month later I send in an email directly to Eugene and customer care, this time both Eugene and Ilya responded and were very apologetic about not having received the first email. They confirmed that the sandpaper detent was non normal and would need to be replaced. Some back and forth and they promptly sent me the lockbar and two spare detent balls. They also sent a video on how to replace the detent ball at my request.

The new lock bar worked for a few weeks then developed the same problem. I swap out the detent ball as the video depicted, but the issue came back again. During this the pivot screw also started to come loose more and more frequently. Like in the order of 20 flips the pivot screw would be able to be unscrewed by finger even with blue loctite. I take it apart and in addition to the deep groove on the blade, the rough detent ball, the top of the pivot barrel threads is also chipped away. By this point the pivot screw is also almost stripped due to me tightening it harder and harder in a vain attempt to keep the action tight.

Bummed, I set it aside and went back to my other toys. A little while later I happen to pick it up and remember why I chose it. At this point I still kind of loved the knife. So I give customer support another shot. I explained the issue in detail, outlining what we had done before and asked if I could purchase a a pivot screw, or better yet, a pivot barrel. I also sent photos of the issue. They responded stating that it would be impossible to send me a pivot barrel and I would need to send it in in two pieces to avoid the CBSA for a spa treatment.

Naturally, I'm cautious of this, but figure that it's now a 1100$ paperweight, if the CBSA takes it then I lose the money all the same and send in the handle first, confirmed they received it, then sent the blade a month later because, frankly, I forgot about it. I sent the blade in, confirmed it was received on Feb 15, 2022.

They said that it would take 3-5 days to have it sent back to me. Then got no follow up. March 3rd, I ask for an update. March 8th they said it was scheduled for that week. March 11, they got back to me saying it would not happen this week due to two workers being out sick and that it would be done next week. Fair enough, covid and all. Radio silence. March 27, I ask for an update again. Ilya got back to me March 31 saying he was traveling that week and he would get back to me next week.

April 6th I get a response stating " This deep track is handmade aftermarket modification. " meaning that the blade would have to be replaced for it to lock properly. They offered me a new blade for 75$ + shipping (normally 150$) due to the delay, or I could keep the old blade but the warranty would be voided and they wouldn't be able to guarantee proper lock functioning.

At this point, I'd like to point out that the blade had no issue locking open when I had it, and the wording aftermarket modification felt like they were implying I had done it on purpose, even though the warranty request was in part asking for a resolution to this. Mildly unpleasant.

I explained the groove was caused by the detent ball that came with the knife and the detent balls they had sent me before. At this point, I also brought up that I didn't send the knife in for a blade warranty, but a pivot barrel and pivot screw issue. I had no issues with the blade, but would like the pivot to be fixed or replaced. But I said I would be ok with buying a new blade. End of April 6th

April 11th, "Once the blade replaced I'll update you (most likely this week)." Once again, radio silence.

April 27th, I ask for an update.

April 28th,

"Your Rainmaker ships back to you tomorrow.

with 2 packages, disassembled.

And yes, with a new blade."

Note, I never asked if they were including a new blade or not. I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive, but it feels like there was a subtle shift in manners from this point on. I was a little miffed already.

April 29th, something came up and I asked if they could send it to me a month later because I would be out of country. Alternatively, I provided an alternate address they could send it to. They said they would send it to the new address next week because it was a busy day. I distinctly remember being surprised that they responded on the same day I asked for something. I reply saying no rush. It had already taken fucking months, what more is a few days.

May 13, I ask. "So has the package been shipped or will it be sent around next month? Also will there be a tracking number?" I recognize this is blatantly passive aggresive but at this point it had been in the shop in full from Feb 15th to May 13th with it having been promised to be sent out several times.

May 13, they respond, apologizing that it hasn't yet and that it would be sent as the first package next wednesday.

May 20, they ask whether I want the spacing and HW (don't remember what this is) renewed with blue ano. They can also change the pivots to blue.

May 20, I reply saying that sounds good.

spoiler: the backspace was redone, the pivots were not changed so they had the chance to be blue. Again, this is explicitly what I asked for multiple times, and here they acknowledge it and do not follow through.

May 31, I received both pieces, follow up to ask if I could get a new pivot screw, or barring that if i could dimensions and perhaps a source on where i could get one.

At this point I had just about given up on olamic.

to which I got the response

"Do you think we did not assemble your knife when replacing the blade??????

There is nothing wrong with the pivot and it is not stripped or I guess we are using stripped screws only with all Rainmakers...or maybe with all our knives.

I'll send you a couple of torx pivot screws.

How do you want them finished?"

June 1, I respond trying to be a little more conciliatory, "Ah i mean I sent it to you guys pretty close to being stripped and I'd like a spare just in case"

" Sent a pic of what I'm talking about above. Didn't mean any offense, sorry. I'm sure it was assembled, perhaps i'm missing something.

Perhaps a black finish"

No response until today, Sept 4, 2023. Over a year later. June 1, 2022 was also the day I just stepped out of the hobby. I guess Ilya snapping at me was the last straw lol.


Photos will be attached. If anyone want the email's I can send those too.

Anyways, if you've read it this far, thank you. I really just needed to vent.

 

[ShaiHulud]

Pretty lousy customer service for such an expensive knife, I know that's not helpful but, neither are they