If you want a tldr or don't care for games just scroll to the bottom.
But, I think it would be fun to play a game... Guess That Company. At the end, I will reveal the two companies involved.
This is going to be a longer post as I am going to be entirely transparent about my communications and emails sent. I feel that not only is the attitude and interactions of these companies important, but the way I approached communications is just as important. You catch more bees with honey and I try to always been a nice person.
So... let's begin.
There exists two companies. Let's call them Company A and Company B for now.
- I purchased a knife from Company A back in March. I have carried it a few times and had it out on a canoe trip this past weekend. Once I was back home from the trip and cleaning the knife, I realized the bone handle had a splinter/crack in it. I investigated further and found one other crack near the bolster.
- I purchased a knife from Company B less than a week ago. I never carried or used it. As soon as I opened the package from USPS, I found a crack in the bone handle near the bolster.
The email I sent to Company A:
The email I sent to Company B:
So, quick recap:
- Company A apologized and are replacing the knife under warranty despite having natural handle materials and being carried for 3 months. They also are not requiring me to ship the old one back, and the new one should be in the mail and on its way within 24 hours of my email.
- Company B did not apologize and refused the repair claiming cracks are a natural defect. There is an implication here that the knife met their quality standards despite the crack because it was dealt with properly during the manufacturing process. There is also an implication that they did not consider this a cosmetic defect as the knife was not marked as a factory second. Their response reinforced that this is the level of quality you should expect from their knives brand new when made with natural materials such as bone. They will not repair or replace knives manufactured this way on their own dime.
I think it might be obvious who Company B is at this point - Great Eastern Cutlery. Company A was Rough Ryder. The funny thing is that Company A could be just about any company with decent customer service. Case, Buck, CRKT; which I think is telling in and of itself regarding GECs warranty. Hell, I even told Zippo one time about a lighter I purchased on an auction site that had no felt bottom and Zippo sent me a new felt bottom no questions asked. Talk about great customer service from an American company through and through!
I used to always be harder on companies like Case, Buck, and Rough Ryder even though their knives are less expensive because I knew that their knives are mass produced and easily replaced. For some reason, I was giving GEC a pass as I knew I had to "take it or leave it". But the truth is, their knives are more expensive and should be held to a higher standard with a greater accountability.
All in all, I'm quite disappointed in GEC and my respect for Rough Ryder has grown tremendously.
One company refused to make any attempt at improving the situation when the knife was brand new, never used, freshly opened. I was essentially told to accept it and they deflected when asked about warranty repair. Furthermore, the fact that most knives with cosmetic defects are labeled as factory seconds and this knife was not a factory second implies to me that they believe the knife I received is of the highest quality. It greatly concerns me that knives like these are going out the door. Despite what some here have said in another thread, I don't think a single individual here would buy this knife at MSRP if I were to post it in the exchange with photographs of the crack in question. Luckily, the dealer I purchased the knife from offered a full refund and I was lucky enough to get in on a che chen drop since I really really wanted a nice GEC lockback. Hopefully, this one is of better quality as I now know if there are any problems I'm shit out of luck. I also don't own any blade forums annual knives, and I'd like to get the 2023 knife if at all possible. But whether I get it or not, I will likely not be purchasing any more GECs in the future.
On the other hand, the other company immediately apologized, caused me zero inconvenience by not requiring the original knife be shipped back, and have already created a new order. It should ship tomorrow morning. And, they could have easily blamed me for the cracks or refused the repair/replacement/warranty as the knife is used and over 3 months old. I'll be honest, I wasn't even going to email them because I had been carrying it. But the truth is, I wanted to see how they handled this situation compared to GEC. And they delivered like I somehow expected they would. They knocked it out of the park and I will certainly be purchasing more of their knives in the future and supporting them as a company however I can.
tldr; A brand new, just purchased, never-used, never-carried GEC with a crack on the bone was not covered under warranty and was not labeled as a factory second. A Rough Ryder which I used for 3 months had two cracks in the bone and was covered under warranty, no hassle.
That's all. Rant over. I may not participate much in this thread/post as I feel this is a heated topic and in my mind the difference in customer service between Company A and Company B is cemented. We all learn from our own experiences and this is mine.
EDIT: Didn't delete anything but wrote a new sentence which is shorter and is now the new bolded tldr.
But, I think it would be fun to play a game... Guess That Company. At the end, I will reveal the two companies involved.
This is going to be a longer post as I am going to be entirely transparent about my communications and emails sent. I feel that not only is the attitude and interactions of these companies important, but the way I approached communications is just as important. You catch more bees with honey and I try to always been a nice person.
So... let's begin.
There exists two companies. Let's call them Company A and Company B for now.
- I purchased a knife from Company A back in March. I have carried it a few times and had it out on a canoe trip this past weekend. Once I was back home from the trip and cleaning the knife, I realized the bone handle had a splinter/crack in it. I investigated further and found one other crack near the bolster.
- I purchased a knife from Company B less than a week ago. I never carried or used it. As soon as I opened the package from USPS, I found a crack in the bone handle near the bolster.
The email I sent to Company A:
Within a few hours, I had a response from Company A:
The email I sent to Company B:
Response from Company B:
So, quick recap:
- Company A apologized and are replacing the knife under warranty despite having natural handle materials and being carried for 3 months. They also are not requiring me to ship the old one back, and the new one should be in the mail and on its way within 24 hours of my email.
- Company B did not apologize and refused the repair claiming cracks are a natural defect. There is an implication here that the knife met their quality standards despite the crack because it was dealt with properly during the manufacturing process. There is also an implication that they did not consider this a cosmetic defect as the knife was not marked as a factory second. Their response reinforced that this is the level of quality you should expect from their knives brand new when made with natural materials such as bone. They will not repair or replace knives manufactured this way on their own dime.
I think it might be obvious who Company B is at this point - Great Eastern Cutlery. Company A was Rough Ryder. The funny thing is that Company A could be just about any company with decent customer service. Case, Buck, CRKT; which I think is telling in and of itself regarding GECs warranty. Hell, I even told Zippo one time about a lighter I purchased on an auction site that had no felt bottom and Zippo sent me a new felt bottom no questions asked. Talk about great customer service from an American company through and through!
I used to always be harder on companies like Case, Buck, and Rough Ryder even though their knives are less expensive because I knew that their knives are mass produced and easily replaced. For some reason, I was giving GEC a pass as I knew I had to "take it or leave it". But the truth is, their knives are more expensive and should be held to a higher standard with a greater accountability.
All in all, I'm quite disappointed in GEC and my respect for Rough Ryder has grown tremendously.
One company refused to make any attempt at improving the situation when the knife was brand new, never used, freshly opened. I was essentially told to accept it and they deflected when asked about warranty repair. Furthermore, the fact that most knives with cosmetic defects are labeled as factory seconds and this knife was not a factory second implies to me that they believe the knife I received is of the highest quality. It greatly concerns me that knives like these are going out the door. Despite what some here have said in another thread, I don't think a single individual here would buy this knife at MSRP if I were to post it in the exchange with photographs of the crack in question. Luckily, the dealer I purchased the knife from offered a full refund and I was lucky enough to get in on a che chen drop since I really really wanted a nice GEC lockback. Hopefully, this one is of better quality as I now know if there are any problems I'm shit out of luck. I also don't own any blade forums annual knives, and I'd like to get the 2023 knife if at all possible. But whether I get it or not, I will likely not be purchasing any more GECs in the future.
On the other hand, the other company immediately apologized, caused me zero inconvenience by not requiring the original knife be shipped back, and have already created a new order. It should ship tomorrow morning. And, they could have easily blamed me for the cracks or refused the repair/replacement/warranty as the knife is used and over 3 months old. I'll be honest, I wasn't even going to email them because I had been carrying it. But the truth is, I wanted to see how they handled this situation compared to GEC. And they delivered like I somehow expected they would. They knocked it out of the park and I will certainly be purchasing more of their knives in the future and supporting them as a company however I can.
tldr; A brand new, just purchased, never-used, never-carried GEC with a crack on the bone was not covered under warranty and was not labeled as a factory second. A Rough Ryder which I used for 3 months had two cracks in the bone and was covered under warranty, no hassle.
That's all. Rant over. I may not participate much in this thread/post as I feel this is a heated topic and in my mind the difference in customer service between Company A and Company B is cemented. We all learn from our own experiences and this is mine.
EDIT: Didn't delete anything but wrote a new sentence which is shorter and is now the new bolded tldr.
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Number of people may like to say a crack like that is unimportant, you just try selling that on the secondary market for full price with a crack and see how that goes. Would you like to receive a brand new knife out of the tube/box with a production flaw like this?? Or would you prefer an uncracked one? There's your answer.
I haven't had to work with Case directly yet, but have exchanged a few through the dealer when they arrived with cracks in the handle material. It's good to know you've had good experiences!