Spyderco Customer Service, Repair Work & Turnaround Time

Hi Sal,

I'm just really dumbfounded that I paid for the repair, even though the knife was never taken apart, and they send back my Southard missing 4 scale screws. There are 3 stand offs on the Southard that require 6 button top scale screws.

Most aftermarket screws that are the same thread and depth are flat tops not button heads.

(Btw. I love your knives Sal.)
 
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Sal Glesser said:
To those of you that have had unpleasant experiences with our Customer Service dept, my apologies. We're always trying to improve. I'll share this thread with staff.

Those with positive comments, thanx much.

Spyderco was founded in Redding, California in 1976.
Employees is about the highest it's ever been at about 70.
Revenue is not public, but their info is not correct.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

sal
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Hopefully, something good will come of this objective reporting to be taken as constructive criticism only.

Also, a company's size really has no bearing on timely and quality service.
 
There was a very relevant post by Kristi of Spyderco on June 13, 2013:

tazkristi said:
There has been much discussion of late regarding Spyderco’s Warranty & Repair/Customer Service department. This is a response to multiple threads on both our own forum at Spyderco.com as well as here on BladeForums. Please forgive the length, but this is a convoluted topic and given the responses from some observers I felt it deserved a thorough reply.

Spyderco is a small family-owned business; we take great pride in what we do and we are passionate about both our products and our loyal customers. We believe in doing the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do. We have never been in business to be “big” business. We have a unique culture within our company and that shows in our products and in our commitment to our customers. Sal’s personal participation on the forums for years is proof of just how strong that commitment is.

The forums have always been a means for discussion about our products and Spyderco as a whole. We make every effort to be as transparent as we can be. In that spirit we have consistently welcomed both positive and negative feedback. That isn’t going to change, ever.

In recent weeks there has been an uptick in negative feedback pertaining to our Warranty/Repair/Customer Service department. Please realize that the following information is not to make any excuses but rather to paint a realistic picture of that department. Department is a misleading word; the “department” is one person. Charlynn has one of the most difficult positions within our (or any) company. On average Charlynn replies to over 800 e-mails, receives more than 1400 phone calls, handles 400 knives and processes 180 requests for various parts each month. Charlynn does receive some administrative support from time to time, but generally speaking she is a one-woman department. The unique skills and knowledge necessary to perform her job also make it extremely challenging for us to find other workers qualified to assist her.

Are we perfect? No. Is there room for improvement? Of course, there is always room for improvement. CQI (Constant Quality Improvement) is not just a philosophy applied to our products. It is applied in every part of Spyderco and includes our processes, our resources and our crew. No one on our crew wants to do something poorly but mistakes have happened and it’s only truthful to say that mistakes will happen again. Hopefully not the same mistakes, but you get the idea.

We do not discuss specific details of our interaction with our customers. We believe it is private and should be between our customer and Spyderco. We could write a best-seller though about some of the things we are told. Some customers choose to post details on forums but rarely do they ever post every detail. Typically it is only the details that suit their needs the most that get shared.

I have gone through each of the recent posts (on both forums) and personally reviewed all of the communication and notes. My responsibilities at Spyderco do not lie in W&R/Customer Service so it took a bit of time to complete (hence the delay in posting a response). Nearly every complaint posted recently is missing details. Those missing details reflect a different situation all together.

In the past week I’ve also tracked and verified multiple posts/threads by what appeared to be different people but in reality were all from the same person. He had a clear agenda and only wanted to accomplish one thing; that wasn’t a resolution to their “issues” with Spyderco.

I have also seen a post or two indicating that although someone had a positive experience of their own with us that the recent “rash” of issues has convinced them to sell off their Spyderco knives and pursue other brands. I find that to be a very curious response.

I would ask and respectfully suggest that prior to making a judgment on anything or anyone that you are not personally involved with please keep in mind that you are only hearing one side of what is probably a complex story. If anyone has a specific question, concern, complaint, etc. on Customer Service or any other issue we are happy to listen and will handle each issue appropriately and to the best of our ability. Again, we’re not perfect, but we will always be fair, proper and honest.

Kristi
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I think part of the issue alluded to is that the W&R "Department" within Spyderco is basically run by one albeit very capable person who is kind of irreplaceable and unsupportable: "The unique skills and knowledge necessary to perform her job also make it extremely challenging for us to find other workers qualified to assist her."

In my posts and dealings here I've tried to be as detailed, objective and dispassionate as possible. I do not resort to inflamed rhetoric nor threats of abandoning Spyderco or my collection of their products.

I have no agenda except mostly for the betterment of turnaround time for warranty/repair work. If there can be other ancillary changes in treating most everything as a repair rather than warranty, return shipping fees, free sharpening (customer just pays for one-way shipping), blade replacements for a fee, etc. then I think that would be a good thing.

Regardless, this is just one person's experience and opinion.
 
Sounds like its time to get Charlynn some help. Ok, it's not an easy job to learn. I'm sure there are other jobs in the world that were much harder that got successfully filled. Maybe I'm wrong I don't know. I'll just keep my mouth shut lol.
 
I feel bad for Charlynn. I have talked to her many times and she's always been nice and pleasant to talk to. Hopefully she finds someone to help her with all her work. I know all too well how difficult it is to handle an entire operation all by yourself. It's very easy to get behind, overwhelmed, and stressed out.
 
I had nothing but great service from them, i called because my CF stretch I gave my buddy for a while had a rusted pitted screw/strud and they mailed me 3 new ones for free
 
I would assume she has to take vacation once in a while. What a horrible feeling if everything just piles up on her awaiting her return.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
wish they would send out clips as well.
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If you mean send them out for free, there would be entirely too much opportunity for abuse. They'll always send you one if you're willing to pay for it. To me, that's reasonable. The chances of a clip "just breaking" are miniscule, loss or damage is virtually always the user's fault.
 
"wish they would send out clips as well."

They do send out clips, with the screws and locktite to make sure it stays on. I just got a replacement clip for my Matriarch I (an old Japanese made knife). It came within a week of me ordering it from Spyderco Factory Outlet, per Spyderco repair instructions.
 
Sent Charlynn an email this morning and she replied back within half an hour. Two of the handle screws on my new PM 2 were damaged when I received it. Charlynn is sending me new screws to replace the damaged ones, even though I obviously can't prove that I received the knife this way. I know it's not the same as the OP's post regarding sending a knife in for repair but it is another example of great customer service.
 
brownshoe said:
FW JSB: Some wiki pages change hourly as people fight over the "correct" content. This is especially true of public figures involved in a media frenzy. I've found scientific facts that are incorrect, but also pages that are better explanations than textbooks. You must beware and be "aware" when using wiki. :)

You may be able to believe wiki if the fact is referenced. Many of the facts in the wiki spyderco page are referenced, some to the spyderco home page. Per the information about spyderco in dispute, the company size etc, has no reference.
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I agree with this and try to do the same with any informational source.
 
On Thursday evening, I emailed Spyderco regarding warranty/repair work on my old Spyderco Military which I purchased almost exactly 8 years ago. It has gotten gritty and the blade is no longer centered. I received an email from Spyderco on Friday morning:

Please send in your knife for warranty evaluation, without looking at the knife we can't determine if it’s a warranty issue or if your knife can be repaired.

When you send your knife in please include a check, cash, or money order for $5 S&H fee, a note stating the problem you are having with your knife, along with your name, return address (no P.O. Box please unless you are Military or outside the US ) and phone number you can be reached at. If your knife is covered under warranty your $5 will be returned. Here is a link to our warranty page http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=10

If your knife is determined not to be covered by warranty and can be repaired there could be a $20 repair fee.

Unless there is a problem we do not notify you upon arrival or departure of your knife. We are currently at 3-4 week turn around. Spyderco cannot be responsible for items that do not arrive to us; when mailing your package you should send it in a box (knives have a way of working out of padded envelopes).

Spyderco
Attn Repair
820 Spyderco Way
Golden CO 80403
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So, today I sent my Spyderco Military in a USPS Priority Mail box with $5 cash for the return shipping and a note explaining the issue as well as my return street address and mobile#. Spyderco should receive it on Wednesday.
 
Last night I received my old Spyderco Military (C36GPE) sent to the Spyderco since it was all gritty and the blade was no longer centered. My old Military from 2005 is all new again with the blade centered and the grittiness gone. Basically, they reconditioned and sharpened it. Good job on the "repair".

It was mailed to them on October 21st and they received it in Colorado on October 23rd.

The estimated 3-4 weeks turnaround time just held true with Spyderco shipping it back on November 20th which is exactly 4 weeks with the knife being in their hands.

Received a letter from Spyderco dated 10/24/2013 but mailed on 11/5/2013 which I received on 11/8/2013:

"No defects in manufacturing were found after careful examination by our technicians. Therefore, your product is not covered under warranty. Although your knife is not covered under warranty, repair is possible. If you would like Spyderco to make the necessary repairs, please submit a check or money order (please include reference #) for $20.00. To pay your repair fee by credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Amex only) please submit your card information by fax, phone or mail. Your repairs will begin as soon as payment is received."​

They needed an additional $20 for repair so I called Spyderco 800.525.7770 ext 255 on 11/11/2013 and left a voice message with credit card information.

Checked my card and it was charged $20 on 11/12/2013.

All in all it cost me about $30 which includes shipping to and from Spyderco.

They could have saved me some time (looks like about two weeks) by calling for payment information instead of sending a letter which seems to have been delayed internally from when it was drafted to when it was mailed!

The Spyderco reference# for this repair job was 68369.
 
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