Spyderco Customer Service Disapointment

E

europeanoutdoorsman

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
456
Awhile ago I posted about an issue I had with screws from my Endura and Stretch.

The issue was the screws easily stripped out. I then had people basically insulting my intelligence by saying that I should have used the correct size torx for the job. I did. And just to make sure I didn't make a mistake, I double checked, triple checked and compared against all torx bits in that size range.

So I contacted Spyderco customer service. I was told screws were to be sent of, but I got a little bit of flak from them because they said the same as above, plus that they don't usually carry hardware for their knives made out of the US. Plus, the person seemed a little ticked about me wanting to take apart the knife.

Well, like Sal says, knives are tools meant for cutting. I agree, but sometimes tools get dirty and they need to be cleaned and maintained. So, why does Spyderco get mad or upset if customers take apart the knife to clean it, oil it, and so on?

I am pissed off at the fact that I haven't received the screws yet. I am not even expecting anything, just a company which makes such nice products to stand behind them. I AM EVEN WILLING TO BUY THE SCREWS. I have more Spydercos on the way and with my experience, I guess I will soon need more screws, which is why I don't care about buying them.

It is strange that something so small could cause such a big frustration. Everyone's answer here seems, just go to CS, but what happens if CS doesn't do their job or is lackluster? I know I will probably get a lot of negative feedback from die-hard fans, but you gotta look at a situation from a balanced perspective.

Yes Spyderco makes excellent knives, I won't send any of my knives in since I never did use CS in that way (for any knife). I am just disappointed. It is a disappointment and frustration that when someone says they will do something, you only find out later that they haven't done as promised...

SPYDERCO, please at least let me buy the screw sets you use for Endura, Stretch and Delicas for my knives if CS won't send them out to me. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Far as I can see, your first thread on this subject was on 10/9, and the few replies you received were polite suggestions to contact Spyderco. Your second, on 10/28, made no mention of you having contacted Spyderco just, asked for screw specs. It got no responses. Not sure where you are in EU or when you actually contacted Spyderco, do know the quality of the mail systems there varies greatly from country to country. Have had Express Mail packages take over two weeks, Priority up to three, and regular airmail to Italy take over 3 months. I'd expect any company to send freebies out by the least expensive means possible, so not sure if there's really an issue here.
 
I have made several purchases from the US and I have used the standard international shipping and at max it takes ten days. In fact, I have done this so much, that when I get a notification of the item being sent, I can predict within 1-2 days when I will receive it if a tracking number is present.

I live in a modern country and I am surrounded by modern countries. I am not sure what you idea of quality mail systems are.

I forgot to mention that I asked Spyderco when or if the screws were sent. I got a response telling me about their policies for small shipments with the person saying "I am sure your parts were in the next shipment out". This sounds so stupid, arguing over tiny little screws, but all I ask is specifics. I imagine Spyderco keeps logs of items incoming and outgoing.

Could I buy these from SFO?
 
The Deacon said:
Far as I can see, your first thread on this subject was on 10/9, and the few replies you received were polite suggestions to contact Spyderco. Your second, on 10/28, made no mention of you having contacted Spyderco just, asked for screw specs. It got no responses. Not sure where you are in EU or when you actually contacted Spyderco, do know the quality of the mail systems there varies greatly from country to country. Have had Express Mail packages take over two weeks, Priority up to three, and regular airmail to Italy take over 3 months. I'd expect any company to send freebies out by the least expensive means possible, so not sure if there's really an issue here.
Click to expand...

I'll second that.
Sometimes shipments can take forever from the US to Europe.
Its also the strangest things, that get held up in customs.
As the man said; items like that would most likely be sent by cheapest way possible by a company - I know I would send it like that.
Give it a chance, the screws might reach you yet. Im sure, when Spyderco says, theyll send you something, theyll honour that commitment (why shouldnt they).
Spyderco would not be the first company, I thought of, should poor customer service happen to be mentioned (thats me being diplomatic).

EDIT Wrote this as the above post by the OP was posted.
 
I'm not saying Spyderco CS is bad or anything. Mistakes can happen or whatever. To be honest, this is the first time I have dealt with Spyderco and if they use the cheapest shipping, that is expected.

So will SFO let me purchase Endura, Stretch, and other hardware for the knives?
 
You are correct. It does sound stupid to whine about something so trivial. Just so you will know, all of the shipping systems in the USA are operated by human beings. There hasn't been a perfect human being around here for a few thousand years. I've had a Priority Mail envelope take 28 days to travel a thousand miles, and that was within the country. Believe it or not, sometimes things get lost, especially small things. As for why Spyderco doesn't want people taking their knives apart, maybe it's because a lot of them don't know how, and they strip out screws as a result.
 
It seems to me as if you are complaining about a company that is going out of their way to be accommodating and nice to you. The company doesn't have to help you in this case. You against specific instructions took the knife apart and managed to break something.

They could be saying something like " send the knife in with payment and we will repair it if possible". You, nobody else violated the warranty and broke the knife. If they are willing to help you out at all you should be saying something like, "my fault, won't happen again, and thank you for going above and beyond to help me". That is exactly what they are doing and they have no obligation to. How can you not see that? More importantly how can you have the ability to complain when someone is helping you despite what you did, and what you are doing now?

I know I will probably get a lot of negative feedback from die-hard fans, but you gotta look at a situation from a balanced perspective.
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Being a "die hard" fan has nothing to do with it. I call it knowing right from wrong, and being grateful to people who go out of their way to help you at their expense. Does "balanced perspective" mean something like "the rules don't apply to me because I'm special"?

The issue was the screws easily stripped out. I then had people basically insulting my intelligence by saying that I should have used the correct size torx for the job. I did. And just to make sure I didn't make a mistake, I double checked, triple checked and compared against all torx bits in that size range
Click to expand...

But maybe you didn't heat up the screw enough to loosen up the "lock tite" applied at the factory to keep the screw from loosening up. The fact is you did something wrong. They don't strip themselves out. By the way I have some folders, spyderco's included that have been in use over 20 years without ever having been taken apart. It's really not needed if you know what you are doing. Yes, I get mine dirty too. I've been known to run the FRN Enduras through the washing machine and dryer with my clothes. It works great at cleaning the lock. The pocket fuzz is dried out and ready to be pulled out while the dirt & oil based stuff is gone.

People who have taken their knives apart and messed them up have been the cause of quite a few threads just like this over the years. If Spyderco is wrong, they are wrong. I see no reason that shouldn't apply to you.

Joe
 
I've had excellent response from Spyderco's Customer Service. I took a knife apart, lost a washer, and emailed them asking if I could get another one.

In my email I was very upfront--I told them that I had taken the knife apart and probably had voided the warranty. Still, I got a response back, and a slight chastising (just a reminder not to take the knife apart again) along with a letter in the mail a few days later containing a few washers.
 
europeanoutdoorsman said:
So will SFO let me purchase Endura, Stretch, and other hardware for the knives?
Click to expand...
Probably not. They sell rebuild kits for the Endura and Delica which contain the liners, backspacer, and the 5 "body" screws. They sell replacement clips for most models and those clips come with the necessary clip screws. Beyond that, AFAIK, they do not sell parts.
 
I have experience with Spyderco customer service; two of the three clip screws on my Tenacious stripped when I moved it from tip-down to tip-up, and CS sent replacements fairly quickly (though not as fast as Kershaw). That being said, I know that Chinese torx fasteners have notoriously sloppy head recesses, and couple that with a bit that is on the low side of tolerance size-wise, and you have a potential disaster. I don't have any personal experience with Taiwanese or Japanese fasteners, so I can't speak to them having the same issue, the same issue to a lessor degree, or no issue at all.
 
yablanowitz said:
You are correct. It does sound stupid to whine about something so trivial. Just so you will know, all of the shipping systems in the USA are operated by human beings. There hasn't been a perfect human being around here for a few thousand years. I've had a Priority Mail envelope take 28 days to travel a thousand miles, and that was within the country. Believe it or not, sometimes things get lost, especially small things. As for why Spyderco doesn't want people taking their knives apart, maybe it's because a lot of them don't know how, and they strip out screws as a result.
Click to expand...

This is the exact feedback I am talking about...funny since I am not the only one talking about the screw stripping issue. I have never had another stripping issue with other makers and I have seen a lot of complaints about this especially from the overseas produced spyderco owners.
 
FWIW Spyderco's CS has never been helpful for me either. It's still my most bought brand (at least the last four productions I've bought are Spydies), but I purchase them with the assumption they come with no warranty or service. Like that, there can't be disappointment :)
 
Look, I love their designs. I do! They have beautiful knives. I just purchased some (4 or 5) not too long ago and I am waiting for them. It just so happened that I remembered that I asked the CS about this issue and I started to think about it.

Thing is, the way I feel is that some people are biased, and that is totally normal if you love a brand. But, at least be open to hearing others' issues before engaging in a passive aggressive insult.

The screws are so small, but such a frustrating part cause I asked Spyderco what their recommendation was. They told me drill them out. I did assuming that I'd get screws sent out to me. Now, I'd be willing to even pay for these, that isn't the problem. I just want the pieces one way or another. Honestly, I would have been happier if they told me that there is nothing they could do. At least I would know. Now, I will probably buy some G10 and rehandle the thing since these have to take specific types of barrels for the construction.
 
I've disassembled my Stretch three or more times and I've had no problems with the screws.
Chicago screws tend to be pretty robust, and torx heads are very resistant to being stripped.

If you're stripping out the head of any screws, I'd check the driver/bit first.
You may have chosen the right size, but you may be using cheap drivers. (Not perfectly sized.)


It seems like you knew the warranty would be voided when disassembling, so I'm not completely sure what your complaint is.


Anyway, I hope I'm not too biased to offer an honest opinion... :foot:
 
in my experience spyderco CS has always gone above and beyond.

i've needed screws/parts numerous times and received them promptly with no questions asked.

they've always been very polite (even when i felt like i was pestering) and i can't imagine them treating you any different.

i'm sure posts like this make spyderco question why they send out washers and screws when they certainly aren't obligated to.

exercise a little patience.
 
did you call or email? i called and i would have had to send the knife in, but then i emailed and i had a really nice person and she sent the screws i needed right away. i think they have some of the best customer service behind benchmade. In my experience
 
Whether we like it or not, Spyderco has made a conscious decision to exclude "user serviceability" from it's list of qualities a Spyderco knife must have. I don't totally agree with that decision. However, I am aware of it and of the potential consequences of ignoring their admonition that damage caused by disassembly voids the warranty. I'm sure there are folks who avoid the brand for that reason, just as I'm sure every brand has folks who avoid it for one reason or another. I suggested a while back that having at least one model designed from the ground up to be "user service friendly" might be a good idea but it's their decision to make, not mine, and since my one and only entry into the business world ended badly, I certainly can't fault them for it. Besides, I'm not in the habit of taking my knives apart and still retain enough of my mechanical ability to do so without damaging them on those rare occasions when the need to do so arises, so it's of no consequence to me.
 
Ok well in the end it is true it is a business decision. I like playing around with knives and modifying some, so, personally after I change the shape or design of a knife, I won't send it in, but, I would still like to buy the screws.

I will just buy some G10 on Monday and then if I receive any response from Spyderco, I will give an update. If I have the option to purchase these, I will, because I wouldn't want to keep bugging them for parts.
 
Europeanoutdoorsman.........sorry about your frustration. I feel you. You were dead on right when you mentioned in your origianl post that you were going to get flack from the "Fanboys". Some how it is all your fault. Your fault that you used the wrong bit, your fault for being impatient, your fault for damaging your knife, your fault for voiding your warranty. There are some nice guys here but for the most part the "Fanboys" make this forum a joke. You cannot post anything critical or voice a frustration without expecting this type of behavior and personal attack. Good luck. Hope you find some screws.
 
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