Spyderco Warranty Practices

[rycen]

Enough with the silly pics.

 

[Sullie]

[QUOTEI also did PM kristi my information and I will keep you all posted rest assured... And I just wanted to note that by Kristi asking me my full name and e-mail demonstrates that she hadn't taken the time to read even my initial post, because my full name and e-mail are right there...[/QUOTE]

No point putting her down for offering to help. She could have asked just to make sure this was your preferred method of contact and or you may have changed your name in the email to remain anonymous....either way, try and keep an open mind and accept the help that is being offered with a little grace. One person may have had a bad day(none of us were there so we can't comment on the phone call) and it would be a shame to disregard an entire company from an interaction with one person.

 

[RevDevil]

I also did PM kristi my information and I will keep you all posted rest assured... And I just wanted to note that by Kristi asking me my full name and e-mail demonstrates that she hadn't taken the time to read even my initial post, because my full name and e-mail are right there...

You should know that Kristi doesn't sit at the keyboard all day long waiting for threads to pop up. That is not her job within the company last she mentioned. By her popping and offering to help you should demonstrate her willingness to reach across departments and see what can be done on their end to resolve your dissatisfaction, among other things. Incredible that we have to come to this level all because of a friggin screw. Oh, and the reason that Spyderco decided to start selling the repair kits I imagine, is because they got sick and tired of people taking their knives apart to "wash and maintain" them, and losing parts in the process or ruining the overall fit and finish of the knives (regardless of what the price point happens to be).

I'm going to ask everyone to remain calm from here on out. No more trolling, do not incite people to behave in a manner which goes against the rules here, and do not be insulting. If you want to rant on someone, go to Whine and Cheese and have at it, do NOT do it here. Consider this a final polite request.

 

[SaintlyBrees]

Saintlybrees

This is exactly why I ran this issue up the flag pole! When companies do this sort of thing, people should know about it. And my issue is not "perceived", it's "real".

From dictionary.com...

per·ceive

verb (used with object), per·ceived, per·ceiv·ing.
1. to become aware of, know, or identify by means of the senses. Example: "I perceived an object looming through the mist."
2. to recognize, discern, envision, or understand

Examples: "I perceive a note of sarcasm in your voice" "This is a nice idea but I perceive difficulties in putting it into practice."

When one says that you perceived something, it simply means that it is the way you understood it. And I assume that you understand it to be a problem, hence you perceive it as a problem. See?

It isn't a negative. Don't take it that way.

 

[philllll]

And I just wanted to note that by Kristi asking me my full name and e-mail demonstrates that she hadn't taken the time to read even my initial post, because my full name and e-mail are right there...

Haha! To be honest I noticed that, too, but I can see how she missed it. You might want to think about editing that out of the original post, though. Who knows what kind of data mining bots might find your info.

 

[Armithius]

The only time I dealt with Spyderco's customer service was when I sent a couple of my knives in to be sharpened. They didn't come back with that great an edge. That being said, I've talked to Sal a couple times on the forums here, and he came across as a real stand up guy. Did you try contacting him? Sometimes the higher ups in a company aren't always aware of their underlings doings.

Example (though this is a different company) there was a user that had an issue with the customer service from Busse Combat, and had expressed his frustrations here on the forums. Jerry Busse himself caught wind of it and was not only appalled to find out about what the person answering phones and emails was doing, but went way out of his way to correct the issue personally.

My point is that basing your entire opinion of a company off of one dealing with one person within the company hardly constitutes a lack of good customer service. There are always going to be bad apples in a company, and they're not always apparent to their supervisors. Or perhaps they were having a bad day and didn't feel like going out of their way to help. It's certainly not right, but like you said, everyone's human, and they're bound to mess up on occasion. Perhaps you should give them another shot. If I stopped going to places or buying from companies that I've had one bad experience with, eventually I'd just be stuck at home sitting there with nothing.

 

[Invective]

I didn't provide e-mails because my interaction with spyderco took place over the phone with the (only) woman in charge of the warranty/repair department. Hence the paraphrasing. But I can assure you that I left no detail out! Your just going to have to take my word on that.

Ahh my mistake then. I just assumed you contacted them through email since all your other correspondences were through email.

Anyways, I have had great dealings with Spyderco Warranty. I think I've dealt with them 3 times and all three times I as taken care of for free. The first was with a Yojimbo2 right after it had come out and one of the clip screws didn't catch the threads. I emailed them about it and was sent 4 new screws in the mail. After that, one of the screws in my Techno got stripped when I was trying to tighten it. It had loosened up and started rattling around and making an annoying noise so I emailed them about it and got the same response from their warranty. However, they asked to send it in to look at it so I did, and when I got it back, it had a different body screw in it. Charlynn said she was able to find a used one and swapped it into my knife. Lastly, I had a JEster that somehow managed to start rusting on the lockbar and body screws. Sent it in and got it back 4 weeks later with all the rust removed. Still don't know how a SS lockbar and screws managed to rust when the VG-10 was fine but whatever. Spyderco took care of me just fine.

 

[bh49]

I wanted to find out where other manufacturers would stand on the issue so I would have some basis of comparison as to whether Spyderco was treating me unfairly, or if this sort of practice was standard amongst most knife manufacturers.
After receiving the manufacturers responses, that is what lead me to realize I was just receiving poor treatment from spyderco.

I absolutely disagree with you. You communication with other companies proves nothing. Words and actions are different things. What kind of respond did you expect? Basically you e-mail to them: "You competitor's CS is bad, tell me that your is good." Also I would consider the treatment you received from Spyderco is bad. Not the best, certainly. Along with policies. Which is little surprise for me. During last eight years I purchased over 100 Spydercos, four of them I sent for warranty evolution. Twice it was involved cosmetic issues with sold out limited runs (Kopas). Both times knives were replaced. Once with the same model. It took Amanda two month, but she found it. Second time it was replaced with different knife of my choice. May be I was lucky, but all four time Spyderco CS went an extra mile for me.

lately I have read quite a few negative things about their customer service. Google spyderco warranty problems, and it should come up.

I have no doubts that it is possible to find negative comments. I saw 2-3 every year posted on Forums as well. Which again is not complete information. Is it one negative per 1000 request for customer assistance? Than it is not that bad. Humans are everywhere. Anybody can have a crazy day, when just not enough time to do something above minimum.
Regarding warranty problems, probably any company has them. I love Hondas. The two last cars, which we bought were Honda Accord. And Honda is one of the companies, which developed Quality engineering and management. @ 40K miles the engine had to be rebuild on my newest car and you cannot imagine what kind of BS I had to listen at dealer, where I bought the car to have it done.

Well naturally when someone makes a Thread post like I did, they're immediately going to be subjected to extreme scrutiny so I'm forced to defend myself here. I feel like I'm on the witness stand! LOL I just find it amazing that people are so blindly loyal to a company like Spyderco and unable to fathom any criticism.

May be you need to ask yourself a question:"Why so many people loyal to Spyderco?" I am not aware about Spyderco giving away free knives. Probably this is reaction on the quality of the product, including customer service. So you came to the Forum, where Spyderco has a great reputation, because hundreds of people happily using their products for years and where nobody knows you. You telling about your negative experience, which is certainly not usual and wondering why people asking you questions like you are on the witness stand? Just wondering what else reasonably did you expect? Everything, what is unusual get questioned. Just do not do the same thing, when you go to a local bar, where is bunch of regulars. Treatment could be much worse.

 

[Lars3585]

Haha! To be honest I noticed that, too, but I can see how she missed it. You might want to think about editing that out of the original post, though. Who knows what kind of data mining bots might find your info.

Philllll - Thanks for the head's up on the mining bots, I will probably amend the original post. I didn't edit it originally because I wanted everything to remain in it's truest form when I posted here because I felt the credibility was important. I don't like it when my integrity is put in question.

Revdevil: Incredible that we have to come to this level all because of a friggin screw.

Revdevil - it is amazing that it had to rise to this level over a "friggin screw" as you put it! Do you (or anyone else for that matter) honestly think that I wanted to take the time and energy out of my schedule to do this??? Over a screw!? come on! This just goes to show how comical this whole situation is to begin with.

Crom summed up my situation the best when he posted,

"hey Toyota parts department. yeah, I need a lug nut for my RAV4, it must have spun out and it's gone."
"Uhhh, yeahhhh, what you have there is a Japan-made Toyota, we don't stock replacement lug nuts for your model"

And yes, I am happy that Spyderco decided to check this thread and reach out to me. But I guess I'm really just disappointed that it had to rise to this level for me to get a response. Otherwise Spyderco had no problem letting me live with stripped out frame screws on my knife.


Armithius: I have not tried to contact Sal because if I call or e-mail spyderco, up until now I always wind up in contact with either Kristi or Charlynn. I kind of felt like me asking to speak to Sal directly would be kind of like me having a problem with my Xbox, and calling up Microsoft asking to speak to the Bill Gates. lol I would expect to be laughed at.

Armithius: Example (though this is a different company) there was a user that had an issue with the customer service from Busse Combat, and had expressed his frustrations here on the forums. Jerry Busse himself caught wind of it and was not only appalled to find out about what the person answering phones and emails was doing, but went way out of his way to correct the issue personally.

Having Sal or one of the higher-ups notice this was precisely one of the things I was also hoping would happen by posting my experience here on bladeforums. But like I said, my main reason was to just put my experience out there and put the spot light on it because of how ridiculous it was....So much so, that I was kind of expecting people to not believe me! lol

I am happy that some of the posters here were able to keep and open mind and remain objective to the situation I presented. And thank you to revdevil for trying to put an end to the senseless trolling.

 

[jujigatame]

Revdevil - it is amazing that it had to rise to this level over a "friggin screw" as you put it! Do you (or anyone else for that matter) honestly think that I wanted to take the time and energy out of my schedule to do this??? Over a screw!? come on! This just goes to show how comical this whole situation is to begin with.

From my perspective you must have wanted to because no one forced you to.

As others have said I think you would have been saving yourself a lot of time, trouble and energy had you chosen to go further up the line with Spyderco before coming here and posting what you did. You took one interaction that didn't turn out the way you wanted to and decided to just cut the cord right then and there. Now you're here with response from Kristi and to get to this point you've gone through something of a small online wringer. I truly believe you would have gotten response from someone else at Spyderco if you had persisted in contacting them. But that possibility has gone by the boards and the deal is what it is now.

Frustration with the problem on your knife is perfectly understandable. Coming off like something of a martyr because you chose to come here and make it all public is not, at least from where I sit.

 

[brownshoe]

Auto companies are required by regulations to stock parts for 10 years after a model ceases production. They have no choice.

You were offered a replacement screw from a Delica, but refused...why? Your initial post was an attempt to hurt spyderco, that's why you contacted the other companies. Is your true agenda is to troll spyderco or to vent some rage that comes from some other area in your psyche?

Why should we believe you? Your initial post has quotes that are just your memory of verbal conversations...ever play the telephone game? Memories of verbal communications are notoriously poor. You have no e-mails to backup your statements. You have not posted any pictures of the goobered up knife...but then you goobered it up. Where is your proof of anything? Spyderco has proof in this thread of treating you with respect and listening. Spyderco has proof of their support of the Endura with the parts kit they sell.

I have many knives, I have lost screws and I have had them fall out, but I've never stripped one in a knife. I too tighten the frames occasionally. I also have gotten replacement screws (not just one but on two occasions) for a Spyderco Lum which is made in Japan. Maybe you are really mad at yourself for goobering up your knife and now want to blame someone else.

Screws are screws, buy one yourself.

 

[crom]

I am being honestly unknowledgeable here when I ask; where do you source a screw that small? Of the same length etc? I would not be able to find a small chicago screw like that at my local hardware store. Knifekits.com? As somebody else noted, the warranty is sort of vague; can you take them apart specifically. With such a high volume of offshore made models you'd think they would have replacement parts on hand, and I'm not talking about the option of buying a kit.

 

[senoBDEC]

Personally, while I have never used the Spyderco warranty, I would not be surprised if Charlynn (who is the lady Lars was probably talking to) is limited by a policy put in place to avoid bleeding money away by constantly sending out free screws or even replacement knives for simple things like stripped screws, which, whether it is due to user or worker error, is really quite easily dealt with by buying the parts kit for their most sold knives, the Delica and Endura.

Since they are the most sold, I would not be surprised if the majority of buyers are non-knife knuts and in the process of maintenance, especially if using cheaper tools (not the OP) or are not particularly careful in their use, would strip screws (either the head or the threads, although I imagine the former is much more common): hence the policy limiting giving away screws whenever someone asks for it for these particular two models.

I am not going to question the accuracy of the OP's recall of verbal conversations, especially where emotion is in play, nor the likelihood of actual experiences with other companies' C.S. will differ that much. There is good and bad in all companies and all interactions. Hopefully we all learn from this and move on.

 

[rycen]

Lars

I'm going to lock this one down as there's nothing more to be added until you have an update. Please contact me when you have new info.

 

[Lars3585]

I haven't had to deal with Kershaw Customer Service yet so I can't provide any testimonials to that. But I can say I've had issues with Spyderco. I've had consistent issues with only Spyderco and Byrd screws stripping on me. I found this strange because I've NEVER stripped a screw on any of my other folders but seem to consistently strip them on Spyderco's products. After doing some research, I've found a number of people both on Bf and EDC forums claiming the same issues. I thought I was the only one. The fact that it appears as though Spyderco uses poor quality screws on their knives isn't what really bugged me; it was the response I got from Spyderco when I called to get replacement frame screws.

I was having issues with my Endura4 frame screws. Two of the screws stripped when I attempted to tighten them. I called Spyderco and although the woman at Spyderco was polite on the phone, the type of response I got was one of 'not really caring to make sure the issue gets resolved'. I was simply told that since most of their knives are made overseas, they don't stock frame screws (or other parts for that matter) and that they could not fix it if I sent it in which I found very strange since I believe the Endura is one of their best selling knives. They told me my only two options were to either buy the Endura parts kit for $20 which I quickly declined and explained to the woman that I though it was ridiculous to pay $20 for two frame screws, or my other option was for them to send me Delica screws. They said the Delica screws would fit the handle but they would protrude from the handle more than proper Endura frame screws. At no point did the conversation get heated, but I politely explained that I was not happy with that solution either.

At this point, most other companies I've dealt with would have offered to replace the knife since they can't provide the parts to fix it even if the knife was sent in for repair. Spyderco did no such thing, they just offered no solution and promptly ended the interaction and were obviously okay with leaving a customer with a broken blade, and no proper solution for repair/replacement.

After taking that issue to BF, it cause a pretty big stink finally causing another rep from Spyderco to respond and now I am in the midst of trying to resolve the issue....Again. At this point however, I don't really think there is anything they could do for me to make me want to continue to give them anymore of my business. Even if the problem with my current knife is resolved, I still have to live with knowing the only reason my issue was finally addressed was because I put up such a big stink in a public forum like this. That sure isn't how I want to have to resolve my problems every time something goes wrong with my knife!

I realize there are plenty of people that have had good interactions with Spyderco, but I can only speak to my experience and share it here. I'm not trying to trash on Spyderco, but people have a right to know about both the good experiences and bad experiences people have with a company. It's sad to read so many people are having bad experiences with Spyderco recently because despite my experience, I really did love their products! In fact, they were the first folding knife I ever began to carry after a friend introduced their knives to me, and that started my passion for collecting folders. I guess that's what disappoints me most... to now be having such a poor experience with them. =(

 

[rycen]

You felt the need to dig up a year and a half old thread to post the same thing again?

Do you have anything new to add to your original thread? If so I'd be happy to reopen it.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I'm going to move these new posts to the old thread -- and leave it closed.