The Knife Center are jerks!!!

I have ordered stuff in the past and appart from the high postal prices they charge and the long wait for the post man, I have been happy with them.

Still if you had a problem, you had a problem. Don't think I am dissing you! I am not!

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Unfortunately, e-mail suffers the same problem as posts on this forum. It's flat ... no smile, no tone of voice, no shrug to take the sting out of WE HAVEN'T GOT WHAT YOU WANT. Ouch.

There's a lot to be said for a big operation churning out information and product on a cost-effective assembly line. But anything can go wrong, and although it's not necessarily the seller's fault, it is the seller's customer who needs to know what's going on.

These forums are the best example of some of the biggest and best designers and manufacturers and dealers in the industry showing up here day after day and talking at length with people who may never have actually bought a knife from them.

I don't think it's asking a lot for a phone call or e-mail to provide a courteous and complete response.
 
Welcome to e-commerce, JasonC. If you want the great online prices, you may have to for go some of the warm and fuzzy customer service to which you seem to have become accustomed. There is a reason that online prices are so low. Some of these online dealers have a workforce of one. Some run on a shoestring to keep their margins tight. So, you aren`t going to be served a latte while you browse their wares. They may not have the time to write you an email that won`t bruise your tender feelings, but you WILL get a great price. It`s tough to have it both ways. I think it`s a bit unfair to trash a company for a level of service that may not be reasonable for you to expect. That`s like complaining about the ambiance at The Dollar Store.
 
Steve B:

I have to disagree completely with the tone and substance of your post.

Deal with: Mike Payne, Phil at 2TheHilt, Roger at Bayou, Patrick at Triple Aught, Patrick at S4 Supply, Kevin at EDGE Equipment, Murray at Pro Edge, Louis at The Martial Way (sorry if I forgot someone) and you will find that one man web dealers can provide competitive prices AND incredible customer service.

If you think the two need to be mutually exclusive try any of the above instead of Knife Center.

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"Don't get even, get odd"
 
I received poor service and bad email from one on your good list. Is was corrected.

Does that make him a bad dealer or did I get lucky enough to catch him on a bad hair day?
 
Who was it?

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
We are all human and not perfect.Yes,it's true he might have just had a bad day.He could have wrote back later and apologized for his rude e-mail though.I find it amusing how some responses have insinuated that we as consumers have some nerve to complain about service if prices are cheap.I'm here to tell you,pull your head out of your A** and get a clue.That's why businesses like Botach continue to thrive.I don't care how slim their profit margain is,they advertised the price and they are making money.This is a business to make money,no one is doing me a favor to sell me a product.I'm a customer whom is spending money for a product.If the merchant cannot treat me with manners and respect,I will take my business elswhere.I suggest others do the same,do not tolerate poor service or manners,no matter what the profit margain happens to be.
 
lshay- I have dealt with many of your examples and gotten what I consider good service. I`ve also dealt with Knife Center and gotten what I consider good service. I simply have a different level of expectation of service from the internet. Make of that what you will. I just think it`s really thin skinned of folks to complain about the tone of an email. I`m not sure that`s worthy of a listing them here in the GB&U and calling them "jerks".
 
I've ordered from Knifecenter many times and never had a problem. They were also very friendly and helpful when my (non-knife-knut) girlfriend called them to order a Sebenza for my birthday. However, I agree that the kind of rudeness described here is unacceptable and unnecessary. It would probably take all of 20 minutes for them to write a handful of boilerplate emails that would cover about 90% of their responses, so being busy is really not an excuse. I also would like to see more online dealers inform the customer when something is not in stock. Knifecenter is not the only one that does not do this. Again, it's something that could easily be automated. A brusque email wouldn't stop me from ordering from a dealer, however, although the 5 week wait for the Sebenza probably would.
 
I do agree with Steve on his point about calling Knifecenter "Jerks" in the title post,it may have been a tad politically incorrect so to speak and could undermind your message to other consumers.If someone has a legitamate problem with a company you'll find it harder to garner support if you participate in "name calling".It would have been better to say bad service in the title,something to that effect.I believe you had a right to be "turned off" by the e-mail.I cannot agree with Steve though,that being offended by a rude e-mail is being "thin skinned" I have an option to spend my money with numerous different internet vendors.I will go with a professional business man/woman,and spend the few extra lousy bucks without the abusive treatment.I do reiterate though, that discount pricing isn't a license for poor business manners or ethics.This is just my opinion though,spend your money where you see fit.just my two cents,Ralph
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by craigz:
It would probably take all of 20 minutes for them to write a handful of boilerplate emails that would cover about 90% of their responses</font>
Click to expand...

Bingo!! Give the man a prize.
smile.gif




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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
Thanks to all for their feedback. I say this sincerely because, positive or negative, it all helps us to make our service better and this is my goal as it has been since 1995 when we first went on line. The writer of the short emails in question was mortified when she read your criticisms. She works very hard to do a good job for us and the customers and she in no way intended anything except to inform the customer. As others have mentioned, it is easy to misinterpret the tone of an email and this happened in this case. We do, indeed, have a bunch of premade email messages that we use all day long, but some situations require hand typed notes and sometimes an individual will be on a computer that doesn't have the same notes handy, but no one here is making excuses. We will all try to be more couteous.
As to the "in stock" tags- they are a good indication of what is available, but are only updated hourly and so can be mistaken. We feel they are helpful, though and will keep them.

As far as keeping customers with backorders informed, it is a weak point in our service and something we are working on. Every few weeks we comb the backorders and notify those that have been waiting a long time. Lots of folks don't give us an email address and then complain that they are not notified. Often an email address is communicated incorrectly. We do the best we can.
In our defense, we all work hard all day to give the best service we can. We are constantly updating pages, taking images, making the web site faster, contacting customers, tracking orders and making the whole machine work. No one here calls the customers names and we try to treat everyone with respect.
Although we do make mistakes, our customer service is, actually, extraordinary. Nonetheless, we will try to do better in the future.
 
Howard,

I'm glad to see that you read these posts. Unfortunately, I had a rather bad experience with KnifeCenter today. I recently ordered a BM710HS for around $140, which I received promptly. Today, I placed an order for an Endura. When I received the invoice in e-mail, There was an additional $10 charge for providing the wrong zip code on a previous order. When I called to complain, I was told that it wasn't fair that I was unhappy about the charge, since it was my mistake. My response was that I could understand the charge if I frequently did this but I was being punished for a one time mistake on a $140 knife. Whomever I spoke with (may have been you, Howard) refused to budge and I had no choice but to cancel the order. Was $10 really worth losing a customer buying his second knife from you in a month? A customer who can think of at least two other knifes and some sharpening products he wanted?

I use my work address for shipping. I checked my previous invoices and noticed that they had my home zip code. I've worked at my present location for 8 years. I've lived at my new home for two months. If I goofed the zip code, it would have been using my work zip for home, not vice versa. The zip error was on all three invoices. I also noticed that today's invoice had my old company name and my extension on the phone number (something I don't provide online any more).

I've been a software developer for 10 years. I have seen countless problems very similar to this one. The web page captures the correct address but the POS system is reading the incorrect one. Also, it is clear that your databases are pulling old addresses out based on some key.

I will admit that I may have entered the wrong zip once, but not three times. My money is on problems with the web site and the database. I've had good service from you in the past but I can't continue shopping with the KnifeCenter after this, especially when I was told that any future orders would include the $10. Don't worry.

Sincerely,
Tom Griffin
 
A complement and a complaint. (Always best to deliver them together).

I think that the Knifecenter is a great starting point for someone who is just getting into buying knives (newbie) or someone who knows nothing about knives and is looking to buy a gift for someone else. Although there are other e dealers that present better images of product (I am thinking AG Russell here), no one can top the comprehensive scope of Knifecenter, IMHO.

On the other hand, I have stopped buying from Knifecenter because my last three orders were each mishandled. One time, I got in an order for a knife when only 4 were in stock and my order was sent to someone who backordered the item AFTER me. I cancelled my order.

Two other times, I was buying gifts for others. I made my order over the web site, and then called to confirm if the items were in stock. They were. Too bad they didn't notice that I didn't want UPS ground. I was willing to pay for Fed Ex delivery, but too bad for me. The knives got to me, but too late.

Three strikes and I am out.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. I have been doing buisness with them for quite some time now, but I go there in person to make purchases. Very nice people IMHO. I hope you get your knife.
 
The problem with doing something right the first time is that no one will appreciate how difficult it was to do.

That being said. The Knife Center desperately needs a reality check. Bad customer service is bad customer service...period. Does it take longer to write a pleasant e-mail? Is it painful for the writer to do the right thing? Good communication is important whatever the business.

Perhaps the Knife Center isn't aware of how "Word of mouth" could affect their business.

It's nice to see that Hkorn reads these forums/posts, however offering excuses and promises of future improvement just doesn't cut it. This position presumes that the Knife Center will be given another chance by those who have received poor service in the past, more often than not that is not the case.

I understand this business is located in College Park, MD. This is close to where I live and work. Khorn, if you're listening, even though you are close by, do you think I would purchase from you after reading about you service problems?

This post might be perceived as harsh. After all who am I to judge.

I'm the customer Knife Center never had, and why? The customer can always go elsewhere, and receive decent treatment. It's not like Knife Center offers something that cannot be had elsewhere.

Just my .02...LD.
 
Lost Dog,

Very well said.

You want the best prices and good service? Go to www.Google.com and search for your knife model. Hundreds of knife dealers will come up. I do it all the time. There are plenty of other Internet knife dealers that will take our business. We, the customers, can get what we want without being insulted or given a run around.

We don't half to take your ****.
 
I have never owned a knife business but I did manage a video rental store for 5 years and one thing I never did in all that time was be rude or blunt with a customer. Believe me, there were several of them who absolutely screwed me to the wall at times but I always held my tongue. I had customers who came in with children that tore thru the store and knocked dozens of video boxes off the walls almost on a daily basis. I had people who routinely rented my latest movies and would not return them for weeks at a time and would then procede to curse me for wanting to charge them late fees.:rolleyes: No matter how much they provoked me I was never rude to them because I knew if they left that store angry they would go out and tell at least ten people how bad the service was. I cannot imagine under any circumstances where a business owner or one of his employees would even consider being rude to a customer especially if the business is in the wrong!!!!:eek: JasonC is not over-reacting at all in this situation and I don't blame him one bit for his decision to never do business with this company again.
 
Well, from my two experiences with the Knifecenter I'll add my findings:

*Choice of merchandise: Unequaled,
*Ease of site-use: excellent,
*International shipping: Great; with first-time direct credit-card via secure server, up to $200 max. but with my second order, almost double that amount, they didn't even mention this restriction,
*Shipping-fees overseas: High, but justifiably so: Delivery within one week from the day of shipping,
*E-mails: prompt..., but I'll admit: Short and simple, easily to be mistaken for rude. That's my only complaint if it even is one.

I'll keep ordering from them.
 
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