Two new knives, two stripped screws and a near USPS nightmare!

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Rubicon_Joey

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Picked up a used Sebenza 21 on here a few days ago and I was in first time CRK owner bliss until I tried to remove the pocket clip. Turns out one of the previous owners striped the head out. :mad: I'm sure others have had this happen, what was the process for getting a replacement from CRK? I sent them an email this past weekend and haven't heard back yet. Would it be better to call them or should I just wait for a email reply? Are they going to need me to send proof that I actually have the knife/it needs a new screw? Is the screw free or are they going to want me to pay for it and if so how much?

On to knife #2, a far more disappointing/frustrating story... (skip the following paragraph if you don't want to read my rantings)

I placed an order with House of Blades last Thursday for a ZT 0777-M390BLK. Since then I have checked the mail everyday since then and even three times yesterday. Three times? Let me explain...I got my tracking # on Saturday so I knew it was supposed to be here yesterday (Monday). I work about a mile from the house so I ran home on my lunch break to check the mail. It usually runs while I'm on lunch, but no such luck for me yesterday. I went back to work bummed and excited to get off and find my knife in the mail. It wasn't until I got home, that I realized how bad my luck really was that day. I live in an apartment complex with those large mail boxes with slots for everyone and larger safe boxes at the bottom for bigger packages. I opened my mail box and quickly snatched the key to the larger safe box. Much to my surprise when I opened the safe box, nothing was there!:confused: The worst possible scenarios starting running through my head...what if someone jacked my knife from the box when the mail man was loading it, did the mail man steal it himself (if he knew what was in the box it would be tempting), what if he put my knife in the other safe box and someone else got my knife....:barf: I was getting a bad feeling and decided that maybe I, in all my excitement, somehow managed to not see the knife in the safe box. So I went out and checked the mail a third time...No dice...At this point I was getting mad....After an extensive google search to find the actual phone number to the local post office (they don't seem to publish their local phone# anywhere) I got in contact with a woman there and I explained the situation. She said she would call me back...yea right..:jerkit (the a-holes who lost my knife call me!?)....To my surprise she did call back after talking to my driver who said he probably just left me the key to the wrong box. I felt a little better, but I still wasn't going to hold my breath. Fast forward to today on lunch and there's another key in my box and my knife is actually in the safe box!:D Talk about avoiding a nightmare.

Now fast forward to this afternoon when I get home and have more time to play with the knife. I decided I wanna take the knife apart and see how it all goes together (did I mention I'm engineer who has a tinkering problem). After fiddling with my torx bit I find the appropriate sizes and proceed to take it all apart. I get the pivot screw out and proceed to the grip screws. Place the bit in the screw, begin to turn, feel resistance, then the bit slips...:confused: WTF? Did I grab the wrong bit? I check the bit in the other two grip screws and it fits well. I was able to get the other two grip screws out no problem but sure enough the head was stripped on the third. :( I've sent an email to ZT requesting a new screw. Hopefully they get me a new one out soon and I can get the old one out. I haven't tried my bag of stripped screw removal tricks on it yet. I'm a bit afraid that it's not going to come out easily or without damage to other parts of the knife and I may have to send it back.
 
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That is frustrating. I'm sure CRK and Kershaw will set you right, but it does try ones patience. Good luck. Hope it all resolves quickly.
 
You think USPS is bad, try having to deal with them AND Canadian customs every time you buy a knife -_- As for the other stuff, that's just some plain bad luck, man
 
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Wiha for small hand tools, if you have a habit (like me) of taking folders apart. Saves a lot of aggravation.
 
I've got good hand tools..they aren't the problem. I have taken apart and re-assembled all of my folders that are held together with screws without a stripped screw to date that was my fault. The Sebenza was from one of the previous owners and the ZT came from the factory with the stripped screw head.
 
If it makes you feel better
I just stripped one of the body screws on my Triple 7 as well :rolleyes:
It's cool though, still able to back it out and I just sent KAI an email. We should be taken care of :D
 
I make my own screws. I just buy the diameter and pitch I need in a long length and cut it to size with a screw cutter. Try gluing a 1/4" drive bit into the faulty screw with epoxy. You could also cut a slot in the head of the screw with disc mounted on a Dremel tool.
 
Are you heating it up to loosen the loctite before unscrewing? This has caused more stripped screws/threads than just about anything else I'm aware of in knives.
 
Wow. I had a bad experience similar to yours but mine was with UPS. The brown shirt guys. I sent in my Benchmade Sentinel to Benchmade to have it sharpened and cleaned up. Not a big deal right? So they send it back and I get the email with the tracking number. Couple of days later it shows out for delivery. Then it shows delivered. I get home excited to get my knife back. I asked my wife where my box was, and she said "What box?" Oh... no... Well turns out that UPS dumps stuff at your door, rings the doorbell then zooms away. Only this time, my wife was home all day and she said no one came to the door. I asked the neighbors up and down my street. No dice. Well long story short, Benchmade hooked me up and built me a new Sentinel out of the replacement parts that they had left. :thumbup: And get this... when Benchmade sent it back to me, they required a signature for delivery, again using UPS. So day of delivery, I stayed home from work. UPS Guy shows up and I was outside working on my yard. UPS guy walks up and asks if I live there and hands me the box. I asked if I had to sign for it and he said " Nah it's alright I will take care of it" WTF??? I never did notice if he had a Benchmade clip sticking out of his pocket... :mad: Whenever possible I request that a shipper not use UPS :thumbdn:
 
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