Spyderco fixed my knife but...

A

alx21

Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Messages
103
I bought an orange UKPK at the middle off the summer, my first and only Spyderco
For some reason the backspring on the knife broke! I had the knife for around a month and a half and it was carried daily inside my lunch box at work.
So one day I decided to use it to cut an apple and opened it as usual with one hand (with my thumb), without any more effort than usual and I suddenly heard a "click" sound and the blade went all the way to the back past where it's supposed to stop!

The backspring probably had a weakness or something and it broke!

I sent it to Spyderco and they repaired it, now I am very happy that they did because I really love this knife!

But the thing I didn't like was I never had any feedback, they didn't tell me they received the knife or that it was going to get repaired or anything!
After 2 or 3 weeks i decided to send them an email because i thought the knife got lost in the mail. They replied telling me that they had sent back the knife the same morning!
Great, that reassured me!

So I get it back today and it is flawless, it even came in a new box, so i suspect it's actually a replacement, not a repair!

The only thing is that i also got a card telling me:

"The markings and condition of the knife you sent us indicate that your knife was worn out from normal use or it was used for something other than what it was designed for and is not replacable under our warranty. I will honour your request for replacement this one time. Please note that this is an exception to our policies and in the future, knives sent to us in similar condition will not be replaced"
Click to expand...

Now what bugs me a bit is that I pretty much have been carrying a pocket knive since I was 7 or 8 (I am now 26), I study in mechanical engineering, and I have been shown by my dad as a kid and now in school to always use the right tool for the right job!
The knife didn't really show any wear ( a part from being a bit dirty, because orange g10 is a b*tch to clean) and the biggest use it seen was taking of the bark of a branch in front of a camp fire and cutting fruit at lunch time daily!

So I never abused this knife (i did it to some 15 or 20$ knives when i was younger but would never abuse a 120$ EDC) and I have receipts showing the knife was less than 2 months old when it broke ! A knife is not supposed to break from normal use after 2 months and I don't see what abuse someone could do to a knife to break a back spring!

So yeah basicly I just felt like ranting!

I am really happy that i got back my knife and that they repaired or replaced it, but i felt a bit insulted by the letter and the fact that they never told me they had received the knife or that it was sent back
 
you have a legit gripe.
Spyderco better take notice.
something like this is can really piss off customers.
not good for business.
buzz
Sal???
 
That does seem like a curt reply for not even asking your side. I would be upset as well.
 
Should have taken some pictures before sending it out. I take pictures of knives before being sent back to better show the problem, but they're also useful for archival purposes.
 
Could an official from Spyderco confirm this story?

It's always good to see both sides before you get an idea of the actual situation.
 
That's nice that they replaced the knife. I've seen a few other instances where the UKPK back springs were breaking. Well at least you got a replacement, but I find it poor business practice to direct blame on the customer when there have been reports of the back springs breaking, not to mention recently. Seems to me like they were trying to cover their reputation by making an exception "this one time." I love my Spyderco knives, but that note has bad business practice written all over it. I hate companies that don't respect honest customers, because of the few that aren't.
 
No company is perfect. Even Spyderco. It could have very well been a generic card that they send out. I can tell you this though, you will be hard pressed to find a company where the president and creator himself will come down to earth and talk directly to us--even ask our opinions. In my years on Spyderco forums, Sal or Kristi have always chimed in on situations like this and have always done right by the customer.

You sound like a good fella and I'm sure Spyderco will help to erase the bad feeling in some way.

My .02 cents.
 
I had the back spring on my UKPK break last week after owning the knife for only a few days and I had only opened a few letters with it. I am not too worried though because Kristi already said that it would be taken care of.
 
As far as the springs breaking goes, Sal posted about it on BritishBlades. It seems the large vanadium carbides in the S30V blade were wearing conventional spring materials too fast in testing, which forced them to use a blade steel for the backspring. That isn't easy to do, and precise heat treatment is one of the steps in making these springs work. Sal wants to see those broken springs himself, and has asked others to send them in to his attention. It is possible that the person who boxed up your replacement was not aware of the problem and was unable to imagine how you managed to break the spring without trying to chop a car in half. It is also possible the card was included by accident.

As far as their lack of communication goes, maybe the person who tracks the hundreds of incoming and outgoing packages they see every day blinked and missed yours. After all, they do have 42 whole people to make hundreds of knives a day and service accounts in 56 countries around the world while doing research and developement on a couple dozen new models and examining, repairing or replacing everything people send in. They really should have plenty of time to e-mail each person to tell them their package arrived and again when it is sent back out.
 
Assuming this is not another thread like that chris reeves one a few weeks back, this is a little disappointing. Regular use should not void a warranty when a part fails. And based on spyderco's response, it does not seem that they had any evidence that the knife was abused. Over the past few months, spyderco has passed benchmade as my favorite folder company, but stories like this give me hesitation. What if the new knife they sent him wears out again in another couple months. I know its very unlikely, but I guess that means he is screwed. Getting a letter like that would bother me if I did had not abused the knife.
 
This is some tough audience. :)

Please, relax. You should know by now that Spyderco has good customer service. He did get a good working knife back. Maybe the card enclosed was a standard response, and he would have been happier with a personal letter. But the idea is to get the customer a knife, and they did that.
 
I was gonna send my new millie back about a week ago because it was really tight and the blade was Bad off center but... this is the first time one of my spydercos has been messed up. I broke it down and it opens with a purpose now but the blade is still way off. I can deal with it just felt like i was being a baby about it. whatever.
 
Alx21, I'm pretty sure this is a generic letter. I got the exact same letter when sending one of my knives in for warranty repair for the first time. I think they might send that to all first timers who send in broken knives in need for repair, just a guess tho. Funny thing about mine is that my knife wasn't replaced with a new one, but the letter says it was. I'm not complaining tho, they fixed my knife and have also shown great customer service in other situations I've had. Don't sweat the letter, i'm 90% sure that they didn't look at your situation and write that letter accordingly, its probly generic.
 
If it was a generic letter then I think they might want to consider creating a new one, or forget even sending the letter when someone returns a knife due to malfunctioning parts.
 
hiredgun said:
No company is perfect. Even Spyderco. It could have very well been a generic card that they send out.
Click to expand...

the card was longer than the part i posted and it came with a reference number to my case...

hiredgun said:
I can tell you this though, you will be hard pressed to find a company where the president and creator himself will come down to earth and talk directly to us--even ask our opinions.
Click to expand...

I actually never really been a fan of Spyderco before and this was one of the reason that made me buy one!

This is also the reason that the last 3 knives I bought over the last year are in order: Becker BK2, Spyderco UKPK and RAT Cutlery Izula
I can't afford that much gear on my student salary but i like to buy quality stuff, and loved the idea to buy from bladeforum supporting dealers that give some of their time to their customers and fan base

yablanowitz said:
As far as their lack of communication goes, maybe the person who tracks the hundreds of incoming and outgoing packages they see every day blinked and missed yours. After all, they do have 42 whole people to make hundreds of knives a day and service accounts in 56 countries around the world while doing research and developement on a couple dozen new models and examining, repairing or replacing everything people send in. They really should have plenty of time to e-mail each person to tell them their package arrived and again when it is sent back out.
Click to expand...
I can understand that and it isn't the case really, it's the accumulation of the two things together! Don't get me wrong, this thread was not made to bash Spyderco as I acknowledge that they did replace the knife and that I was satisfied with what I received!
In their defense, when I finally sent an email to ask where my knife was, it took them less than a day to reply!

Bax Axe said:
Assuming this is not another thread like that chris reeves one a few weeks back, this is a little disappointing.
Click to expand...
I have read the CRK thread and knew someone would refer to it (wich is normal)
You can be assured that it is not another case like that!
Like I said I can't afford to buy that much gear and when I do I prefer to wait a bit and save to buy quality stuff that will last because (I am not afraid to say it) I don't collect stuff, I buy gear to use it!
I probably should have taken pics!

Esav Benyamin said:
This is some tough audience. :)

Please, relax. You should know by now that Spyderco has good customer service. He did get a good working knife back. Maybe the card enclosed was a standard response, and he would have been happier with a personal letter. But the idea is to get the customer a knife, and they did that.
Click to expand...
I had no way to "know by now" if they have good customer service or not, it was my first and only spydie and the only time i've ever had to deal with any knife company on a warranty repair
I'm pretty sur that the card was a standard response and i don't really care for a personal response! I would have been more than happy with the exact same card without the little paragraph that I posted!


Like I said I am not mad at Spyderco and I actually recommended them more than once to a few people, i'm just a little bit disapointed ( even more now that i know that the backspring case has happened to more people)
My dad and one of my friends actually made fun of me when my 100$+ knife broke and I just kept on telling them that i didn't worry because of what i had heard on the customer service!
So when i read the letter today i was just a bit surprised and wanted to let people know!
I'm just sharing my experience!
 
I agree with Yablanowitz.

In addition......

Spyderco is good. They sent you a new knife so they could look at why/how the spring broke.

The letter they put in was a "canned reply".
 
My guess is that it's just a standard message they put in. To give you a "stern warning" not to abuse your knife. I had fishing rod company tell me the same thing, and when it broke again, they replaced it again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top