Spyderco problem

J

JeffG

Joined
Dec 21, 2001
Messages
3
I have a Endura that I had to send in for repair. I work at Home Depot in receiving and had the plastic belt clip break off while I was squeezing in between the wall of a truck and some doors. I was carrying the knife in my left rear pocket when this occurred. I sent the knife and broken piece back to Spyderco and just got a letter in the mail saying that they could find no manufacturing defect and I would have to send $10 to have it repaired. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I'm tired but this just doesn't seem right. I have four of these knives and love them and recommend them but for them to say it is not there problem just rubs me the wrong way. My first thought is to sell the other three and buy Cold Steel knives. Anyone else ever have one break? I've seen the newer metal clips break but not the plastic ones.
 
Sorry to hear about your knife Jeff. But... yes, you're probably tired. The situation you described, and its result, is not a result of a manufacturing defect. It's just one of those times when a piece of equipment gets broken. I can't speak for them, but I'm certain that under the same circumstances, Cold Steel would say the same thing. It's a straightforward thing, clearly not a defect. It got jammed into a tight space, and it broke.

The upside is that, for ten bucks, you'll get your knife back in factory serviced condition. This is a knife that's already however many years old, they haven't made the plastic clip in a few, when many companies would tell you, "It's out of warranty." and you'd be out of luck. Spyderco's uses a fair and reasonable policy with regard to warranty service.

And yes, I've seen people with these old style clips report their breakage once in a while, but no more than anything else.

Let us know what you decide.
 
I believe that for the $10 they replace the plastic clip with one of the new metal ones.

Anthony Lasome
 
If I recall correctly, SpyderCo had a tough time transitioning to the metal clipped models with people sending in broken plastic clips. For a while they would replace the knife for free, then I think the would screw on a new metal clip for free, then after a while, when the old ones had been mostly phased out, I think they started charging for broken plastic clips. I'm not really sure, but I think this was the case.

I don't know what to think about this really. You admit that the clip breaking off was your own fault and that it happened from doing something it wasn't meant for. On the other hand, I think SpyderCo used to have a clause in the warranty just for clips. Hmmmm....

If it were me, I'd ask what they were going to do for the $10. Maybe they'll give you a brand new knife for that. I'd be willing to pay the money if they offered a new knife or if they offered to really fix up the old one. That $10 will cover the shipping back to you, IIRC, so you're only paying a couple bucks for the work. I seriously doubt that SpyderCo will make any money off of this.
 
I snagged the metal clip of my Calypso Lwt. Jr. on a door striker plate and broke the clip in two. This was not the knifes's fault. For $6.95 thay sent me another clip and the knife was as good as new. That is the big advantadge of the metal clips over the integral plastic ones. I think $10 is a pretty good price.

Regards,
Rick
 
Jeff, I have an older Endura that had a broken plastic clip. Spyderco's repair folks did such a good job of installing a metal clip that you wouldn't be able to tell it didn't come that way originally. IMO, it's well worth the $10.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to pay the $10 and get the work done. I was just tired.
 
I worked at Spyderco when the transition happened, from free sharpening and repair, to *not* free. You cannot even begin to imagine the sheer volume of knives that come in to Spyderco customer service, for a variety of reasons. Spyderco always has had one of the most liberal return and repair policies in the industry, and were one of the few left that charged nothing for repair, sharpening....even shipping. It was a smart business decision.

They will grind down any residual plastic left from the old clip, replace it with a metal one, sharpen and clean the knife. There is nothing like an old knife fresh from a factory sharpening! $10? Well worth it.
 
I have had such good experiences with Spyderco and their willingness to help me that if they came back and said, "Greg, please pay $__ for this service" I would be fine with it. I trust Spyderco to make well thought out decisions regarding their customer service decisions. Only Buck and Spyderco have an A+ in that arena. That is why I go back....and go back....and go back until my wife starts screaming, "NO MORE KNIVES". Of course I ignore her. :)
 
Hi JeffG. Sorry for the unfortunate experience. We at Spyderco always do our best to design and produce the best possible products. Much of what we do is new in concept with no history or experience to base production on. Some things we've been refining and evolving for many years and have achieved greater reliability. Some things are newer and we're learning the best ways. The plastic clips had some very nice features, but the long term reliability was not as good as we'd hoped, so we again refined to metal clips. Our new wire clips on the Meerkat and Salsa are another new concept. We learn together.

To the other posters, thanx much for the support and realistic approach to manufacturing. Hi Danelle.

All in all, we have what we believe to be one of the better warrantee & repair depts in the knife industry. With shop time exceeding $60 hr, and shipping / handling costs averaging $10+, it is not possible to make any profit on a $10 service charge. Reading the letter, looking at the knife and logging in the repair is already over $10. We also clean and sharpen the knife before returning it. Mike and Keith are good people and they always try to do a good job in servicing our customers. After all, you are the hand that feeds us.

sal
 
Glad I found this post. I had nearly the exact thing happen as JeffG. The plastic clip on my Endura got hung up on something and snapped off. It went to Spyderco with a letter and they replied that it was not due to a defect, but I could send $10 in for repair. I'm curious to see what it will look like with the old plastic clip shaved off and the metal one installed.
 
I got one of these "re-done" enduras from the company that I work for. I actually prefer the old endura with a new clip than the new enduras because the side which the clip sits, is not textured, and reduces the ware on the pant pocket. also makes putting it in and out of the pocket a lot smoother.
 
Here I am, reading the thread from the beginning, and thinking to myself: "Gee... I could have sworn I heard about an identical case already..." I keep on reading, and it seems even more familiar. Only THEN it occurs to me to look at the original post's date... lol :) Need coffee, I guess...

I never had any plastic clipped knives, but I have seen one with the clip re-done. Looks good.

Cheers~ :D
 
I can only 2nd the comments above Jeff, but IMO 10.00 bucks is very cheap for the product you will have with the new clip, and I bet you will like it much better in the end. Ron
 
Well they have to grind off the old clip and somehow machine enough things on the FRN to take the metal clip.
I suppose you ask somewhere else it would be more than $10USD of work.
Not to mention, they probably tested your knife to see whether it held up, and did some tune-up to it anyways.
I've sent in a couple of knives for sharpening (I'm no good and I don't get the tips right), and often, their standards are so high on their knives, that the knives break because it was not on par. This is the second time for me to send a supposedly good knife in for repair and Mike phoned me that the knife broke during testing.
 
$10 charge sounds ok with me.


You just don't get much for $10 any more now days.

I think this would be $10 well spent.
 
When a knife or a part of said knife is taken past it's inherent structural limitations the manufacturer should not be held liable. Frankly, I think $10.00 for the work done on replacing the clip is more than fair. It's always frustrating when something like this happens but it's great to know that a company like Spyderco is there to fix it. Many companies would probably just say "tough luck buddy".
 
Oddly enough, about 5 years ago I broke the plastic clip off a Cold Steel Voyager. They replaced the entire knife w/o charge. Still, I sure can not complain about the $10 Spyderco fee for something I broke.
 
I can't stand plastic clips. They feel so cheap. The integral FRN clips on the old Delicas are good. But these new plastic jobbies suck.

I bought a Calypso Jr. FRN for my brother for Christmas. He really does like the knife, and he wears it every day. But I don't like the plastic clip on it. Being that it is only a $40 knife, I can mostly understand.

But these new CF Police I just got have plastic clips on them. These knives are beautiful, and built-- for the most part-- very, very well. But they had to slap these plastic clips on them.

At least I think they are plastic clips. Does anyone know if these new black clips are plastic or steel? Sometimes I have a hard time determining.
 
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