SanRenMu is back. Sort of.

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SpySmasher said:
They are claiming that they never copied a knife design.

These guys are as low as this industry gets.
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BenchCo Spydermade said:
Wow, pretty disappointed in knifenews for this. Sanrenmu is pretty much trying to male it seem like they provided the designs to the American companies. Check out this excerpt from the article:

"Main also frankly acknowledges the mixed blessing of that Sanrenmu association. Although the company is a household name in China, its reputation abroad – and specifically in the US – is somewhat checkered. In the crucial early days, accusations of copying designs from other companies kept Sanrenmu just short of general acceptance. “As Sanrenmu is mainly interested in the Chinese domestic market, we payed little attention to this,” Main admits. “However we think it is time we get our say: the fact is that Sanrenmu has never copied other designs.”

He tells us the company worked as an OEM for other, large knife companies, sometimes even sourcing existing Sanrenmu designs for those companies to use. This practice – along with the fact that Sanrenmu brand products intended only for the domestic Chinese market found their way overseas through third party resellers – lead to confusion and misinterpretation. “We have had bad press because we never defended ourselves,” Main summarizes. “The SRM brand, however, wants to shake free of these assumptions.” SRM will not make knives for any other company. “All designs are made in-house by Chinese designers, we have no intention to sell these designs on to others. This is the main ethos of SRM. We are taking quality and putting it in the hands of everyone.”
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It is more than disappointing. Especially after knifenews was on the end of a microtech cloning lawsuit, where they lost for being critical of microtechs scamming ways. It seems from that fiasco they learned the wrong lesson. Total disservice to the knife community.
 
craytab said:
It is more than disappointing. Especially after knifenews was on the end of a microtech cloning lawsuit, where they lost for being critical of microtechs scamming ways. It seems from that fiasco they learned the wrong lesson. Total disservice to the knife community.
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I wrote them to complain. Unless I get a satisfactory answer, they won't get my clicks any more.

It's almost certainly useless but it's all I can do.
 
SpySmasher said:
I wrote them to complain. Unless I get a satisfactory answer, they won't get my clicks any more.

It's almost certainly useless but it's all I can do.
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Good.

Folks here should stop posting their links as they are promoting clone companies.
 
Hey everyone,

This is Ben Schwartz, News Editor for KnifeNews.

I've read through this thread and have decided to take down the article on SRM Knives. Hope it doesn't sound to PR-y when I say I genuinely appreciate the feedback. When I set out to cover SRM I knew it would be a touchy subject, but reading your feedback today I've decided I'm not happy with how the article came out.

Nothing in the story was intended as an endorsement or defense of SRM or Sanrenmu; we try to remain neutral and let the companies speak for themselves. Whenever we profile any company, we do so because we think it will be of interest to our readers. When I heard about SRM I figured readers would want to know about it. However, I neglected to realize just how sensitive a topic I was broaching and, in retrospect, further research, inquiries, and consideration were clearly required in this case.

Again, thank you for the feedback and additional perspective. Even though I've been doing this for some time now, every story is a learning experience.

Ben.
 
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admiralfuture said:
Hey everyone,

This is Ben Schwartz, News Editor for KnifeNews.

I've read through this thread and have decided to take down the article on SRM Knives. Hope it doesn't sound to PR-y when I say I genuinely appreciate the feedback. When I set out to cover SRM I knew it would be a touchy subject, but reading your feedback today I've decided I'm not happy with how the article came out.

Nothing in the story was intended as an endorsement or defense of SRM or Sanrenmu; we try to remain neutral and let the companies speak for themselves. Whenever we profile any company, we do so because we think it will be of interest to our readers. When I heard about SRM I figured readers would want to know about it. However, I neglected to realize just how sensitive a topic I was broaching and, in retrospect, further research, inquiries, and consideration were clearly required in this case.

Again, thank you for the feedback and additional perspective. Even though I've been doing this for some time now, every story is a learning experience.

Ben.
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It doesn't sound too PR-y to me. In fact, that is the response I was hoping for.

Thanks, Ben.
 
admiralfuture said:
Hey everyone,

This is Ben Schwartz, News Editor for KnifeNews.

I've read through this thread and have decided to take down the article on SRM Knives. Hope it doesn't sound to PR-y when I say I genuinely appreciate the feedback. When I set out to cover SRM I knew it would be a touchy subject, but reading your feedback today I've decided I'm not happy with how the article came out.

Nothing in the story was intended as an endorsement or defense of SRM or Sanrenmu; we try to remain neutral and let the companies speak for themselves. Whenever we profile any company, we do so because we think it will be of interest to our readers. When I heard about SRM I figured readers would want to know about it. However, I neglected to realize just how sensitive a topic I was broaching and, in retrospect, further research, inquiries, and consideration were clearly required in this case.

Again, thank you for the feedback and additional perspective. Even though I've been doing this for some time now, every story is a learning experience.

Ben.
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I don't like any form of censorship . I'd rather see an issue treated more fully than simply buried . Provide the full story and let readers decide their own moral position . Most consumers are concerned primarily with the performance and value of a product . Beyond outright counterfeiting , most people just don't care .
 
DocJD said:
I don't like any form of censorship . I'd rather see an issue treated more fully than simply buried . Provide the full story and let readers decide their own moral position . Most consumers are concerned primarily with the performance and value of a product . Beyond outright counterfeiting , most people just don't care .
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Most people just don't know. If they understood the issue, I think most people would care.
 
DocJD said:
They can't understand if the story is suppressed . More information ,rather than less ,is good in my book . Then people can decide for themselves what is important .
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A warning or disclaimer about the disputed statements of fact made by the company, or perhaps a related article attached to the origional article explaining the issues could be helpful for balance, sure.
 
DocJD said:
They can't understand if the story is suppressed . More information ,rather than less ,is good in my book . Then people can decide for themselves what is important .
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I agree with this. I probably should have said that what I really hoped for would be widespread dissemination of Sanremu's past and present BUT given the choice between KnifeNews' report about them and nothing at all, nothing at all is preferred. I am the first to admit that information about the Chinese cutlery industry is murky at best, completely opaque at worst. We'd all be better served with more information and I wish we could get it from a reputable source.

What SRM's rep told KnifeNews is an outright, bald-faced lie.
 
DocJD said:
I don't like any form of censorship . I'd rather see an issue treated more fully than simply buried . Provide the full story and let readers decide their own moral position . Most consumers are concerned primarily with the performance and value of a product . Beyond outright counterfeiting , most people just don't care .
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Provide full and accurate information , let the free market buyers decide what they buy within the law of the land . I still believe the best arguments to influence consumers center around quality , performance , value and CS . Just judging historically people don't generally respond well to shaming .
 
DocJD said:
Provide full and accurate information , let the free market buyers decide what they buy within the law of the land . I still believe the best arguments to influence consumers center around quality , performance , value and CS . Just judging historically people don't generally respond well to shaming .
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Quality, performance, value, CS, and ethics.

There are plenty of people that care about the last to some degree. Business ethics is not just an issue facing the knife industry and knife buyers like us but most industries and most consumers across the world. Putting your head in the sand and ignoring the issue is just craven, especially when we are talking knives and not, say, rice.
 
SpySmasher said:
Quality, performance, value, CS, and ethics.

There are plenty of people that care about the last to some degree. Business ethics is not just an issue facing the knife industry and knife buyers like us but most industries and most consumers across the world. Putting your head in the sand and ignoring the issue is just craven, especially when we are talking knives and not, say, rice.
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Said it before and I'll say it again, why anyone here would not care about the ethics or lack thereof of a knife manufacturer escapes me.

It seems like if one took the time to join and participate here the would be passionate about knives and the people who make them....not just a casual knife user.

Just odd that people here would, at best, make excuses for, and at worst, defend, a notorious knife cloner.
 
Imagine if the cloners and counterfeiters won this battle and good, reputable companies could no longer compete and were forced to close their doors! Does anyone really believe that these scumbags would care one bit about quality or customer service?
Good healthy and honest competition creates quality and care. Those are the companies that should be supported and the others shunned.
 
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