- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
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- 4,187
(Mods: May I request that this thread be left here, rather than moved to "G, B & U". I'd like as many people as possible to read this. Thanks.)
I recently took delivery of a Spyderco PE Military in S30V steel. I wrote up my initial remarks on the British Blades website in this thread.
I later had an opportunity to field test the Military briefly. I wrote up the short trial in this thread. It will be noted that I raised two issues about the knife's performance. I posted the thread on 1st December.
Before reading on, please note that at no time did I contact Spyderco about this matter.
On 4th December, I received a reply on the thread from Sal Glesser, the owner of Spyderco! Sal apologised for the perceived shortcomings of the knife and asked for it to be returned to Spyderco for examination. Sal obviously cares so much about his products and the people who use them that he trawls the net for reports on them. British Blades has only ~400 users, yet he found my report and replied to it.
I replied to Sal's email, thanking him but turning down his kind offer.
I then received this email (edited) from Ms. Joyce Laituri of Spyderco Public Relations/Marketing
"We would love to get it back in-house and have our research and development look it over. Can we have you send it back to us? I know this is an inconvenience and am delighted to give you our UPS account number to send it back UPS on our dime. Please just let me know. Secondly, I am sending you a replacement ASAP. Our appreciation for sending it back. We've made a mistake here somewhere and it's vital that we pinpoint it, correct it and eliminate the possibility that it could happen again."
On the same date, this email from Sal - personally - also arrived:
"Dear (maximus),
Received your email, thank you very much for your kind words. I do
understand and appreciate your position regarding the knife.
On the other hand I would like to make whatever arrangements are
necessary to retrieve the knife. Spyderco spends thousands of dollars refining our models to make them reliable. We believe them to be more reliable than just about any other knife company for the variety of models that we provide.
We were able to defeat a Chinook in the last pilot by really pounding on the blade and as a result stopped all production, went back to engineering and reengineered the lock geometry in an effort to create that ultimate reliability.
Regarding your Military, for some reason it defeated. We don't know if that was a problem with the lock, a geometry problem or what could have caused it. It is even possible that you inadvertently unlocked the knife while using it which would still be our responsibility since we must create that ultimate reliability. If that means a redesign of the lock release indentation then so be it.
What I would like to do is get a new knife off to you right away. Joyce will help me expedite that. As soon as your knife arrives we would like to get the old one back. I would like you to try to spine whack it at least once, make sure to keep your fingers out of the way of the cutting edge. If the knife should defeat you do not want to cut yourself.
Public airing of flaws is always difficult on a company, however, what
that company does as a result also reflects on the company.
Yours very truly,
Sal Glesser"
Stunned, I accepted Sal's offer of a replacement Military.
The knife was packed in Colorado on 12th December. It was in my hands in Britain on the 15th. Postage alone cost Sal $66...
Enclosed in the packing box was a free Spyderco T-shirt.
I have written about this at some length as I come from a country where "customer service" amounts to being handed a dusty box at an inflated price by a gum-chewing teenaged cretin if s/he can be bothered to stop chatting to a colleague long enough to serve you.
Sal cares, and puts that care into practice.
Buy Spyderco, and do so with complete confidence.
Thanks, Sal. The Military will be on its way to you soon, hopefully with a small sample for your inspection of the... lubricant I favour.
Slainte mhath!
maximus otter
I recently took delivery of a Spyderco PE Military in S30V steel. I wrote up my initial remarks on the British Blades website in this thread.
I later had an opportunity to field test the Military briefly. I wrote up the short trial in this thread. It will be noted that I raised two issues about the knife's performance. I posted the thread on 1st December.
Before reading on, please note that at no time did I contact Spyderco about this matter.
On 4th December, I received a reply on the thread from Sal Glesser, the owner of Spyderco! Sal apologised for the perceived shortcomings of the knife and asked for it to be returned to Spyderco for examination. Sal obviously cares so much about his products and the people who use them that he trawls the net for reports on them. British Blades has only ~400 users, yet he found my report and replied to it.
I replied to Sal's email, thanking him but turning down his kind offer.
I then received this email (edited) from Ms. Joyce Laituri of Spyderco Public Relations/Marketing
"We would love to get it back in-house and have our research and development look it over. Can we have you send it back to us? I know this is an inconvenience and am delighted to give you our UPS account number to send it back UPS on our dime. Please just let me know. Secondly, I am sending you a replacement ASAP. Our appreciation for sending it back. We've made a mistake here somewhere and it's vital that we pinpoint it, correct it and eliminate the possibility that it could happen again."
On the same date, this email from Sal - personally - also arrived:
"Dear (maximus),
Received your email, thank you very much for your kind words. I do
understand and appreciate your position regarding the knife.
On the other hand I would like to make whatever arrangements are
necessary to retrieve the knife. Spyderco spends thousands of dollars refining our models to make them reliable. We believe them to be more reliable than just about any other knife company for the variety of models that we provide.
We were able to defeat a Chinook in the last pilot by really pounding on the blade and as a result stopped all production, went back to engineering and reengineered the lock geometry in an effort to create that ultimate reliability.
Regarding your Military, for some reason it defeated. We don't know if that was a problem with the lock, a geometry problem or what could have caused it. It is even possible that you inadvertently unlocked the knife while using it which would still be our responsibility since we must create that ultimate reliability. If that means a redesign of the lock release indentation then so be it.
What I would like to do is get a new knife off to you right away. Joyce will help me expedite that. As soon as your knife arrives we would like to get the old one back. I would like you to try to spine whack it at least once, make sure to keep your fingers out of the way of the cutting edge. If the knife should defeat you do not want to cut yourself.
Public airing of flaws is always difficult on a company, however, what
that company does as a result also reflects on the company.
Yours very truly,
Sal Glesser"
Stunned, I accepted Sal's offer of a replacement Military.
The knife was packed in Colorado on 12th December. It was in my hands in Britain on the 15th. Postage alone cost Sal $66...
Enclosed in the packing box was a free Spyderco T-shirt.
I have written about this at some length as I come from a country where "customer service" amounts to being handed a dusty box at an inflated price by a gum-chewing teenaged cretin if s/he can be bothered to stop chatting to a colleague long enough to serve you.
Sal cares, and puts that care into practice.
Buy Spyderco, and do so with complete confidence.
Thanks, Sal. The Military will be on its way to you soon, hopefully with a small sample for your inspection of the... lubricant I favour.
Slainte mhath!
maximus otter
