was i just unlucky ?

[josephus]

hi

i must start by saying that i like buck knives. i am from northern ireland and allways considered them to be the height of quality for production knives.

i was over in canada in 2001 and wanted a multitool, i looked at all the others, but only one had the buck brand.

i bought the cool one that opened up with the funny opening mech, and looked forward to happy years of use.

within a month the little brass colored plate that held oner of the arms closed had cracked. it was really useless from then on as any pressure would swing the arm any which way. later the lock tools just broke away completly.

i could,nt afford 70 dollars to send it back, so i gave up. more recently i bought the buck strider 880 spearpoint from the usa. its super tough, but within an hour a little ballbearing the size of a pinhead fell out. it still works fine, but its kinda licked the icecream off the buck image for me.

not to mention that dealers sell buck knives roughly 2 to 3 times the cost in the us.

so am i unlucky ?

josephus

 

[josephus]

ok, no replies. pity. im off to bed then.

but its important stuff when that happens. i love good knives, allways have. i recently made a bit on the sale of a property and bought some "utility" gifts.

i bought a leatherman wave.
a gerber proscout.
a becker bk9.
a spiderco salsa and a carbon fibre delica.

truth be told i would rather have spent that money on buck. but how can i trust those items to be usable for long ? and if they break how would i afford to send them back to the US for repairs ? and i cant buy them in Britain as a buck zipper costs about 130 dollars.

i wish i was sure about buck.

josephus
ps its not all bad knews. i bought i little fixed blade last year and it was great.

 

[Joe Houser]

Josephus,
I am sorry to hear about the bad luck with your Bucktool and Strider/Buck. I would really like the chance to repair or replace them for you, and I understand your concerns about the postage, but that really is the only way we can remedy this for you. The postage you quoted seems rather high and you might check to see if you can get a better rate. It seems that it should be about half that much to send them to the US.
I hope this helps.

 

[josephus]

hello joe

i am pleased to talk to you. i have allways like the buck brand, and i can only tell you how pleased i was when i bought my first buck.

im a quite religous man, and was delighted that you guys seem to have a similar ethos.

sadly the bucktool, which at the time was certainly the nicest tool around is long retired to the dump yard. and allthough i have tried finding cheaper postage im paying about 3500 dollars for one knife which goes up as the weight goes up. allso britian is very nervous of knives in general and the buck strider 880 i ordered from best knives was delivered by a customs official who wanted to know why i wanted it ! i would be wary of risking their scrutiny again for a problem i can live with. perhaps you can tell me if its safe to use the knife with that little bearing out ?

i understand that you are a decent company though and just wish i was in the US or Canada and could buy more.

perhaps you could tell me why we pay such huge prices for knives over here ? as i said theyre charging roughly 130.00 for abuck zipper, and the same for a buck alpha hunter. they even charge 50 dollars for a tiny litte fixed blade with a rubbery black handle im not sure what it was called, but ive seen it online for as little as 20.00 dollars in the US. oh i found it its called a buck diamondback.

thanks for replying



josephus
ps that alpha folder is a beutifull blade.

 

[Joe Houser]

Josephus,

The small bearing does help hold the blade in the closed position when the knife is not in use. It occured to me that i could send you the bearing if you feel you could possibly install it. Again I would rather we did the work. The logistics are pretty frustrating though and i understand your reluctance.
I could not believe it when you said the customs officer actually delivered the knife! I had no idea it was that bad.
I can only speculate that the knives cost more due to the various duties, taxes, tarrifs, customs charges, and ect. All this does is help you save money because the knives end up being too expensive.

Take care,