Imagine buying a knife advertised as having one light scratch, opening a box to find a knife with a ding and a "no returns" notice wrapped around it, and then being ignored by the seller. That was essentially my experience with Perfect Edge Cutlery, an authorized Spyderco dealer in San Mateo, CA.
See updates at the end of this post.
Details:
I did a telephone order with these folks for a couple of Spydercos. One of them was a display model so I asked about the condition (and took notes) and was told it had one 1cm-long scratch on the bolster that could barely be seen. That was good enough condition for me, and I placed the order.
The knife arrived and, to my dismay, had multiple serious scratches that were all too easy to see, and also an edge-ding on the bolster which was big enough to warrant a grinder to repair. I emailed the seller and described the problem. I wasn't pushy. "Just wanted to give you a heads up that I'm not sure that one will be a keeper. Let me know what you think we should do," I wrote.
What they wrote back to me wasn't pleasant. They claimed to have told me that the scratches were deep (I wouldn't have bought it if they'd said that) and they just ignored the topic of the ding. They also had the gall to tell me that because they sold me the knife under MSRP (imagine that!) I should be happy with the deal I got, which is just silly.
The cherry on top is that they told me they have a no-return policy. I respect that sellers can do that, but there are common-sense limits on what that means, which are also enshrined in law:
Lessons I learned:
UPDATE 2017-06-27: I got in touch with Visa and told them about my problem. Then I emailed Perfect Edge and told them the Visa was involved. Within a day, they offered a return. No big surprise. Good news this time, but doesn't change my lessons learned.
See updates at the end of this post.
Details:
I did a telephone order with these folks for a couple of Spydercos. One of them was a display model so I asked about the condition (and took notes) and was told it had one 1cm-long scratch on the bolster that could barely be seen. That was good enough condition for me, and I placed the order.
The knife arrived and, to my dismay, had multiple serious scratches that were all too easy to see, and also an edge-ding on the bolster which was big enough to warrant a grinder to repair. I emailed the seller and described the problem. I wasn't pushy. "Just wanted to give you a heads up that I'm not sure that one will be a keeper. Let me know what you think we should do," I wrote.
What they wrote back to me wasn't pleasant. They claimed to have told me that the scratches were deep (I wouldn't have bought it if they'd said that) and they just ignored the topic of the ding. They also had the gall to tell me that because they sold me the knife under MSRP (imagine that!) I should be happy with the deal I got, which is just silly.
The cherry on top is that they told me they have a no-return policy. I respect that sellers can do that, but there are common-sense limits on what that means, which are also enshrined in law:
- Stating "no returns" doesn't absolve the seller of their duties under the contract of sale. In this case, the contract of sale was a knife with one 1cm-long light scratch (not what they delivered).
- No-return policies must be stated up front. Instead, this seller stated it on the receipt they shipped with the knife. Common sense says that's not enough, and California law agrees.
Lessons I learned:
- I probably won't buy a knife again without having the condition in writing.
- Even though the law often demands that sellers state a "no returns" policy up front, I probably won't buy anything again without getting the return policy in writing.
- A perfect edge isn't a perfect knife. I probably wouldn't do business with Perfect Edge Cutlery again. YMMV.
UPDATE 2017-06-27: I got in touch with Visa and told them about my problem. Then I emailed Perfect Edge and told them the Visa was involved. Within a day, they offered a return. No big surprise. Good news this time, but doesn't change my lessons learned.
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Thanks for the heads up. 
