I ordered the new Spyderco Cat over the weekend from a dealer I like. In my experience, he will open and check the merchandise upon request.
I placed my order online and included a note asking the dealer to check for QC, blade centering, no play, etc.
In a follow-up phone conversation, he tells me that my order shipped but adds that he didn't open and check it, as requested.
Its "only" a $40 knife, he explained. Not like a Para-Military, for example, he added.
He didn't quite say so, but politely implied that at $40 what do I want?
Now the Spyderco Cat is Taiwanese made, I believe in a factory that routinely produces products every bit as good as factories in Japan or Golden. So I figured there was a decent chance that the Cat would arrive in good shape.
Not quite: It was visibly off-center with the blade hitting the liner. (Note: I was able to adjust it so that the blade is perhaps 60/40 or maybe even 55/45 centered. But now it opens a bit harder than I want.
But this isn't about this manufacturer or about any manufacturer. It's about how we increasingly do business with people who send us products they never look at it and sometimes never even have.
I find the Cat dealer's response perplexing and disappointing, considering that I had trusted him. Until now, I had every reason to believe that he was indeed checking for QC when asked.
It is increasingly difficult to find dealers willing to check out the products they sell. They don't like to talk about it but some dealers are drop-shippers who never see the merchandise that comes to us from distributors.
Here's another example: The manager at another dealership responded last month to the written request with my order to check the merchandise.
"We'll take care of you," her email said.
Which I took to be a, "yes."
One of the two knives in the order arrived a few days later with a visibly off-center blade.
When I notified the dealer, the owner responded that, sorry, but we can't always check the merchandise. He didn't offer to do anything about the off-center blade which I ended up adjusting. It' s acceptable now but just barely, I told him.
I don't have any good B&M stores within easy distance. Like many of you, I depend upon online dealers.
I know there are people here who will go for the lowest price or will continue to do business with a favored dealer, no matter what.
I'm looking for some service with my order.
My best experience was with a well-known dealer who often sells below list but not at the lowest online prices. I called and a sales rep who had access to the knives pulled out the ones I asked about.
She said three out of four didn't meet the QC I wanted -- or hers either.
I bought the one she picked out. If she hadn't warned me, I could have bought two or three of the others. But she knew I would be unhappy.
So what about you? Have you found a dealer who will, when you ask, check out a $40 knife for obvious flaws before shipping it to you?
I placed my order online and included a note asking the dealer to check for QC, blade centering, no play, etc.
In a follow-up phone conversation, he tells me that my order shipped but adds that he didn't open and check it, as requested.
Its "only" a $40 knife, he explained. Not like a Para-Military, for example, he added.
He didn't quite say so, but politely implied that at $40 what do I want?
Now the Spyderco Cat is Taiwanese made, I believe in a factory that routinely produces products every bit as good as factories in Japan or Golden. So I figured there was a decent chance that the Cat would arrive in good shape.
Not quite: It was visibly off-center with the blade hitting the liner. (Note: I was able to adjust it so that the blade is perhaps 60/40 or maybe even 55/45 centered. But now it opens a bit harder than I want.
But this isn't about this manufacturer or about any manufacturer. It's about how we increasingly do business with people who send us products they never look at it and sometimes never even have.
I find the Cat dealer's response perplexing and disappointing, considering that I had trusted him. Until now, I had every reason to believe that he was indeed checking for QC when asked.
It is increasingly difficult to find dealers willing to check out the products they sell. They don't like to talk about it but some dealers are drop-shippers who never see the merchandise that comes to us from distributors.
Here's another example: The manager at another dealership responded last month to the written request with my order to check the merchandise.
"We'll take care of you," her email said.
Which I took to be a, "yes."
One of the two knives in the order arrived a few days later with a visibly off-center blade.
When I notified the dealer, the owner responded that, sorry, but we can't always check the merchandise. He didn't offer to do anything about the off-center blade which I ended up adjusting. It' s acceptable now but just barely, I told him.
I don't have any good B&M stores within easy distance. Like many of you, I depend upon online dealers.
I know there are people here who will go for the lowest price or will continue to do business with a favored dealer, no matter what.
I'm looking for some service with my order.
My best experience was with a well-known dealer who often sells below list but not at the lowest online prices. I called and a sales rep who had access to the knives pulled out the ones I asked about.
She said three out of four didn't meet the QC I wanted -- or hers either.
I bought the one she picked out. If she hadn't warned me, I could have bought two or three of the others. But she knew I would be unhappy.
So what about you? Have you found a dealer who will, when you ask, check out a $40 knife for obvious flaws before shipping it to you?
