Poor ZT warranty experience.....

[mystro]

I sent a ZT 350 in for warranty work. The blade was way off center and rubbing the liner. I usually can take apart any knife and get the blade centering better if not perfect. The ZT 350 would not improve. I sent the knife back to ZT and explained the issue. 3 weeks later, I received the knife back from ZT with the blade still off center but not touching the liner. Before I sent the knife in I reground the blade and polished it to a mirror finish. The knife came back from warranty resharpened with the typical uneven grind on it.:barf: I really don't know if I want to throw any more money at this knife regarding shipping cost? After all the gushing about Kershaws warranty, I am not really impressed at all. Sloppy and poor quality work with fixing and sharpening the knife. This is the first out of 3 ZT knives I have ever had to send in for warranty work. Zero Tollerance leaves lots to be desired.

 

[Tsujigiri]

I had a Spec Bump with blade play that I sent in for warranty work; came back unchanged. I emailed them about it and they sent me a new address to send it to. I sent it there and it came back good as new.

Kershaw/ZT might slip up every once in a while. Every production company does; it's impossible to not make mistakes at the price they offer their knives. But they do put forth an honest effort to right any errors that they make.

 

[Noctis3880]

Erm, yes. Unless you specifically tell them not to, they will resharpen all knives to factory standard. My only complaint with their service was that they sent my 0551 back with the rusted liner, though they did send out a replacement liner to me free of charge, so I can't really complain. As for blade centering, I sent a 0301 to adjust the lockup since the lock could be disengaged with a small tap to the spine. If anything, the blade came back more centered than it was before.

 

[mat_890]

Erm, yes. Unless you specifically tell them not to, they will resharpen all knives to factory standard.

Putting a mirror finish on a knife takes a massive amount of work, seems to me that common sense dictates you don't mess it up on a 400 grit belt.

 

[RevDevil]

Seems like including a detailed written or typed note indicating what you do and do not want done would have been a good option. Centering a blade is quite easy, unless it is warped, which can happen. I have recieved a knife with an off centered blade from another company, turns out it was slightly warped. It was a LE run too. That knife went back and came back the same way, oh well. Doesn't rub but it's damn close. I sent another knife back to a company recently because the lock looked as it would give out any minute, I indicated nothing more needed to be done except for the lock replacement. We will see how it comes back.

 

[-Ranger-]

Zero Tollerance leaves lots to be desired.

Before you write off ZT after one bad experience, you may want to givee their customer service department a call and explain the issue.
Give them a chance to make things right.

 

[mystro]

Yea I will. I've been around the block long enough to know things happen. I just have never heard of a issue like this since ZT was formed.I wouldn't accept this from Kershaw let alone their premium brand line. I am surprised quality control missed the knife during production but I am shocked the warranty dept missed it as well. Thats 2 different departments dropping the ball. Ironic from a company called "Zero Tolerance".
Most here wouldn't be happy with the returned knife.

Before you write off ZT after one bad experience, you may want to givee their customer service department a call and explain the issue.
Give them a chance to make things right.

 

[RevDevil]

For the record, any knife company (Kershaw, Spyderco, benchmade, Emerson, etc.) will resharpen a knife when it is received for warranty work. Along with a checklist of other services (cleaning, lock inspection, etc.) Calling as Ranger said is really the absolute best way to proceed, along with a note in the package.

 

[Dorito Monk]

This is why, whenever I have to send a knife in for a warranty issue, the first thing I write on the warranty card/etc. is "DO NOT SHARPEN THIS KNIFE" in big bold capital letters.

 

[Bastid]

This thread does not belong in General. Please read the stuck thread at the top of the General forum.

 

[Thomas W]

Zero Tollerance leaves lots to be desired.

I'm not allowed to reply to warranty questions, but was curious about you're finishing statement. You mean like us as a company, or our knives all leave a lot to be desired, or this particular warranty circumstance didn't live up to your expectations?

 

[apdb90]

Without seeing the knife in person and the issues with it, I can't offer anything on the blade centering, but I would think that there is probably a difference between "within spec" and "perfectly centered", and while in a perfect world every blade would be perfectly centered, we don't live in a perfect world. If it doesn't meet your expectations, I'd contact them, explain that and explain why, and give them a chance to make it right.

As far as sharpening, unless you specifically state not to do it, it is something they offer as part of any warranty return. What if that nice mirror finish doesn't cut for anything and the owner wanted it reground to start from scratch? What if, what if, what if......My point is unless you specifically requested they not do it, you can't blame them for doing something that is, by policy, part of a return IMHO.

 

[gundude73]

i have only had to use the ZT warranty once (requested parts) took about 12 days to arrive, got a reply within 45 minutes after my request saying it was being processed.

 

[mystro]

I was refering to this particular warranty experience. It does take some of the higher end feeling I personally had toward the ZT brand.

I'm not allowed to reply to warranty questions, but was curious about you're finishing statement. You mean like us as a company, or our knives all leave a lot to be desired, or this particular warranty circumstance didn't live up to your expectations?

 

[mystro]

I would have added a "don't sharpen" note had I have known sharpening was part of their standard policy. The young lady I talked to on the phone before I sent the knife in wasnt very forthcoming other than to tell me to fill out the form and send it in. I was thinking they would just send me a new knife but wasn't sure. You never know in these situations.

Without seeing the knife in person and the issues with it, I can't offer anything on the blade centering, but I would think that there is probably a difference between "within spec" and "perfectly centered", and while in a perfect world every blade would be perfectly centered, we don't live in a perfect world. If it doesn't meet your expectations, I'd contact them, explain that and explain why, and give them a chance to make it right.

As far as sharpening, unless you specifically state not to do it, it is something they offer as part of any warranty return. What if that nice mirror finish doesn't cut for anything and the owner wanted it reground to start from scratch? What if, what if, what if......My point is unless you specifically requested they not do it, you can't blame them for doing something that is, by policy, part of a return IMHO.

 

[harkamus]

I've had an 0350 that I sent in at one point for the blade centering issue. I also had problems before sending it in with the blade rubbing against the liner. It came back the same way. Throughout it's use, the rubbing never actually marred the blade in any way so I shrugged it off. Still, the blade centering bothered me so I ended up selling it. It's just my opinion that the 0350's design may just not allow for a centered blade no matter how much you tinker with the pivot screw. Believe me, I tried everything when I had the 0350. With that said, customer service has always been spectacular when I dealt with them regarding the 0350. At one point the torsion bar broke and I got not one, but 6 in the mail, along with screws and a pocket screw driver/socket thing to take down the knife.

On the other hand, the 030x series that I've handled were all perfectly centered. I'm just lead to believe you cannot do this on the 350. Still, YMMV. As I said, this has just been my observation, and I'm not the only one to have commented about the centering issue throughout the years.

 

[Screwdriver]

My 0350 blade was perfectly centered from factory....

 

[harkamus]

My 0350 blade was perfectly centered from factory....

Then you lucked out because none of the handful I've seen in stores and that belonged to others had centered blades. Of course that just might be an isolated incidence and sheer bad luck that all I've seen had offset blades. It's also worth mentioning that I had the 0350 over a year ago and the ones I've seen and handled were also of that time period. Maybe things have changed in the newer batches.

 

[Noctis3880]

Putting a mirror finish on a knife takes a massive amount of work, seems to me that common sense dictates you don't mess it up on a 400 grit belt.

Common to you or me perhaps, but unless the warranty department is also staffed by knife nuts, I doubt they would understand. Besides which, how shiny that edge is wouldn't really affect how sharp it is. Another possibility is that it is simply standard procedure. My job has taught me that your employers value your ability to follow directions rather than your own common sense, logic, reason, and all things rational.

But perhaps my view is a bit jaded considering it takes me all of 5 minutes to put a mirror finish on an edge:thumbup:.

 

[knivesandguns]

1-800-325-2891 Give them a call and they'll do their best to make it up to you.

Slip-ups do happen in a production environment; sorry to hear that that happened to you.

They'll help you out. :thumbup: