Why can't I get a new pocket clip?

100eyes said:
If I offer you two new titanium Military knives and one had a ding on the titanium, which one would you pick? Would it not be an issue that you factor in when making a purchasing decision?

If I decided to sell the Lava, would you pay the same amount for it that a seller would charge for another new one which probably doesn't have a mark on the clip?
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I think if you were to advertise the Lava FS and said 'blemish in the clip' 99.9% of the knife world wouldn't care much. I know I wouldn't.

-Tye
 
As small as the mark is its bothers 100eyes. I would think spyderco would send him a new clip because as he stated, they have tons laying around. What is the cost of postage to ensure they have a happy customer.
 
I'd say if he sends the clip back, with his receipt (a dollar or so postage first class) he should get a new flawless clip. If Spyderco won't do it, I don't care but I think that's more than reasonable.
You should ask Sal in private if he'd do this. I've found him to be very reasonable. He had his service dept. fix an older Military I have that didn't lock right. I wasn't even the first owner. (The knife was mint, though) he handled it and had me address the box to his ATTN. it was back in a week and works flawlessly. They even covered the return shipping, couldn't ask for more on a 20plus year old Spyderco.
 
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Just call SFO and explain your situation, they are the only ones that can give you the answer. Just be respectful and ask, don't demand.

Canis
 
I bet he'd have to send the knife back in order for them to replace it under warranty. I could be wrong though, I usually am 4 or so times a year.

-Tye
 
Multiply him by everyone else who thinks the same way and Spyderco is bankrupt.

Send it back to wherever you got it, demand a full refund and a perfect free replacement. Then demand that the seller close his business, burn his house and commit suicide.

Some people should not be allowed to purchase production knives. This thread makes the OP appear to be one of them.
 
yablanowitz said:
Multiply him by everyone else who thinks the same way and Spyderco is bankrupt.

Send it back to wherever you got it, demand a full refund and a perfect free replacement. Then demand that the seller close his business, burn his house and commit suicide.

Some people should not be allowed to purchase production knives. This thread makes the OP appear to be one of them.
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Don't forget to make the seller kick his dog and slap an old lady too.

-Tye
 
If you bought it from a store, return it to them and they will send it back to Spyderco. However, unless you bought it from a store (e.g. knifecenter, OSKS, NewGraham) you are delusional when you say it's a "brand new knife." You bought from a "seller" thus it ain't new, that's exactly why Spyderco won't replace your clip as having been blemished by Spyderco. As far as you or Spyderco knows, the guy you bought it from put the blemish on it.
 
Why is it assumed that there are tons of clips lying around for the Lava? As near as I can tell it's not a clip-type that is featured on a lot of models, and being discontinued there might not be any left.
 
jill jackson said:
You can look at it both ways, the knives are production knives. Made in a factory to a price point. Only so much time can be spent on them. So, there is going to be small flaws get by once in awhile. Something like that small place in the clip won't bother most people. Then you get a customer it does bother. (it would bother me at first cause I collect NIB, but I'd live with it, or pay to get a new clip 7 dollars isn't worth the bother) So, he wants to mail the clip and his proof of purchase back to the parent company. The company should just take it back and mail him a new one, IMO.
At least that's how a lot of companies handle it. My Dad use to sell firearms. He sold a few cheap pistols to a man that wanted them for his wife and kids (for protection). There was some tooling marks on the slides. It bugged this guy badly. My Dad said I bought them brand-new I can't replace them. But, the company did take the slides back and replace them. The guns were not high dollars and most people would not have cared. My Dad said they took care of the rare person it did and it all worked out as far as many were not returned and it was more cost effective probably to just replace any that did care.
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I've worked a few years in retail and customer service as well, so I also understand being in the role of the one saying "it's not a big deal." Still I've returned/exchanged plenty of products for people who weren't happy that the box had a mark on it, let alone the product.

I understood their issue though, why should they be the ones who feel like they're getting short-changed when everyone else pays the same price and gets something seemingly flawless?

A big problem when I was in that line of work(selling computers and electronics) was open box items. Nobody wanted to buy an open box product, but everyone wanted to be able to return it if they didn't like it for any reason. This meant I was essentially looking into sending back entire computers and laptops to companies just to have them seal it back up again. I couldn't even estimate the number of 5-10% discounts I'd give to customers because of the fact that the item they wanted to buy was even touched by someone else.

It is definitely worth taking care of those customers though. Those people are the ones who would come back and look for me because they knew I'd take care of them. And although that type of problem was common, it wasn't so numerous that the extra service and the resulting increased business didn't make up for it.

I agree with everyone saying a mark on the pocket clip is not a big deal. It's my belief though that because the problem is not a big deal, it shouldn't be a big deal to correct the issue. I shouldn't have to come to this forum and make this aware to everyone to get a proper response out of Spyderco and possibly a new clip. If I decide to cross off all the Spydies I have on my knife purchasing list, the resulting loss I'm sure would be far greater than whatever it costs them for a clip.

I'm not going to say I've made my mind up about Spyderco and their service because all the "are you serious" comments are from those who aren't speaking on behalf of Spyderco, but rather those who fail to see things from others' perspective. Anything is a non-issue when it's not happening to them.

you've been the most understanding out of the bunch here J and I appreciate it.
 
I bet there's clips in Golden. I've bought them for some long discontinued models as late as last year. I personally feel the price is pretty cheap for a new clip and have always just replaced any that's not perfect, if it was a collector. On a user I can't see caring enough to bother with it.
 
spoonrobot said:
Why is it assumed that there are tons of clips lying around for the Lava? As near as I can tell it's not a clip-type that is featured on a lot of models, and being discontinued there might not be any left.
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I looked before I ever sent off a request to Spyderco. It's the exact same clip used on Spyderco Cricket, Dragonfly, and some other SS handle knives. If I thought the clip was a one-off for the Lava, I wouldn't have bothered to ask.
 
100eyes said:
you've been the most understanding out of the bunch here J and I appreciate it.
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Take my advice and just ask Sal about it then. In private. I think he probably will see to it his picky customers are taken care of. He took good care of me on my vintage Military with a bad lock. A lot of places wouldn't have done that. He is a class act all the way.
 
Have you called the SFO or just emailed them and started this thread?

At this point its just assumptions what Spyderco will and won't do. With all the time you spent on this thread you could have called them, had an answer and maybe even had a brand new clip on its way.
 
yablanowitz said:
Multiply him by everyone else who thinks the same way and Spyderco is bankrupt.

Send it back to wherever you got it, demand a full refund and a perfect free replacement. Then demand that the seller close his business, burn his house and commit suicide.

Some people should not be allowed to purchase production knives. This thread makes the OP appear to be one of them.
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Let me ask you, have you ever noticed a clip like that from the Spyderco's you've bought? Can you find me another Lava that has the same or similar issue?

How could there be "everyone who thinks like that" if this is a one in a million situation? If every single pocket clip Spyderco made had this problem, it'd be expected by the customers or Spyderco would need to improve their quality control.

It's specifically because this is such a rare issue that I thought Spyderco would have no problem taking care of it. I'm still not saying Spyderco is refusing to take care of the issue, because you obviously don't represent Spyderco and they would have been out of business long ago with someone like you in customer service.
 
100eyes said:
So suddenly it's acceptable for say, buy a new car with a chip in the paint because you're going to drive it around and it'll probably happen anyway?

Would it be acceptable for you to go to a restaurant and eat with dirty utensils because you're gonna get them dirty anyway?

Maybe the picture doesn't show it properly, but the mark is something you'd get if you dropped the sharp point of a hammer or similar on it. As in, if I tried to grind it out myself, it'd take off enough metal to affect the retention strength. Even if I carried this for the rest of my life as EDC, the surface scratches would not hide the mark, as it's depressed into the surface.

All I'm expecting from a new knife is to be like new. I've dealt with off-center blades, easily stripped screws, gritty pivots that needed to be washed out, all from Spyderco. So far I've dealt with the problems myself, because it's not worth me spending money on shipping back and forth to get it right. In this situation however, it's a pocket clip. A clip that Spyderco inevitably has tons lying around.

I'll tell you why I wanted Spyderco to send me a clip. The Lava was actually an exchange for a Leatherman Super Tool 300 I bought, which didn't want to close properly and the small tools were impossible to extract. I contacted the seller and he gladly switched it for the Lava. He spent extra money sending the Lava out to me, I spent extra money sending the ST300 back to him.

Now in this situation, I could contact the seller again and I'm sure he'd swap it for another Lava for me. However, this seller has already paid extra costs that eat into his profit, and I'll just be adding to the cost of whatever I end up with in the end. Seeing how Spyderco's come with a lifetime warranty, I thought it would possibly cover for a pocket clip on a brand new knife. Including shipping, it'd cost Spyderco all of maybe $3-4 to send me a clip. This would make me happy and probably the seller who offers Spyderco knives happy.

Yes it is just a pocket clip. However, it's also a tale to tell. I've been telling my friends to get themselves at least one good knife and how they likely won't go wrong with a Spyderco. If they were the ones in my situation, I would feel sorry and embarrassed that the company I recommended didn't live up to their expectations.

Anyways, I won't go on and on about this issue. I just think it's ridiculous when any company expects the customer to pay extra to fix a problem that existed right out of the box.
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I once bought a new car with a chip in the paint, and it was the dealers responsibility to fix it and not the manufactures.
 
Hey, 100eyes,

Interesting read so far. I've had a few NIB Spydies I purchased online from good vendors that had blemishes and questionable (in my eyes) fit and finish. They were sealed in air-tight plastic so I know they were not "handled" once they left the factory. They both had some big scratches in the scales and would not have passed as NIB if I were to try and sell them myself.

In this case, I contacted the internet vendor and explained the situation and they immediately issued an RMA ticket and sent me a UPS label to cover the shipping. I didn't even ask for that. They even sent me 2 new knives (perfect condition) before I even shipped the old ones. I don't know how you purchased the knife or what vendor you went with, but I'm thinking they are the first people to contact. Perhaps they can help you out w/o having to go to Spyderco.

That said, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a blemish free product. Personally, I wouldn't have had a problem with a clip like the one in your picture, but you do. And I also don't think it unreasonable to ask for replacement. I would be willing to pay for shipping and offer to do so. But chances are, they'll send you one for free. Just be civil and ask nicely. :)

Just one more thing.

A while back, I posted a thread in the Spyderco Forum about a defective lockback on my Native. First reaction from several folks were less than friendly. At least they doubted the extent of damage or had a generally defensive attitude about our (me included) favorite knife manufacturer. After a few photos and messages, things worked out and a few folks posted that indeed it was not normal wear. In contrast, one email message with a picture attachment to the warranty department got me a quick response and a new knife. I paid the shipping to the factory and I think that's fair.

We all have our loyalties for Spyderco and would defend them, sometimes with ferocity. It's only because we love Spyderco and get a little emotional to boot. Am I a fanboy? Perhaps, why else would I have 50 Spydies and only two hands? :) I know it's frustrating but we're all human. Give them a chance and they will treat you right.
 
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Just to be clear, I don't intend to add any more costs for myself and the seller(who was nice enough to send me the Lava before I even shipped the Super Tool 300 to exchange and has a flawless track record selling knives and tools) over the pocket clip.

It's not a huge concern as many of you have said, and I will use it as is if a replacement isn't provided. The only thing that would be affected is my expectations of Spyderco service.

I didn't call Spyderco today because I need to leave my phone lines free for the several people I'm fixing computers for who need their machines back ASAP so they have their work ready for next week(typical Friday). I'll give SFO a call tomorrow and see what they say.

To everyone's who's been saying the small mark is not a big deal, I wish you guys were my customers I used to deal with - that would have made my retail experience a lot more pleasant.
 
Lets say you worked at sears with the tv's.You take the tv home and it doesnt work.Do you call sony and tell them to replace or do you return it to sears?
 
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