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William Henry not always so great.
- Thread starter Dr. Craig Merrell
- Start date
wolfmann601
Gone, but not forgotton. RIP Ira.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2001
- Messages
- 7,385
Without photos you are asking us to formulate a negative opinion against a fine knife Company that in the past treated me and many others with the utmost courtesy. While I don't doubt your credibilty here, I just cannot imagine a W/H knife is such a Lemon and that W/H basically said "live with it" and will not honor thier warranty.
Photos, which should be simple to do, would surely ease everyone's mind and maybe even trigger a mass "we are angry with W/H" response.
Photos, which should be simple to do, would surely ease everyone's mind and maybe even trigger a mass "we are angry with W/H" response.
I cant get past the fact that you bought the knife without your glasses on.
I would highly recommend that you don't tell h/w that, it sounds, well.... odd. Sorry to hear you got hosed, but you had every opportunity to avoid it, you had the knife in hand before buying it.
I hope you get it worked out though. Oh yeah, and pics. please!
I would highly recommend that you don't tell h/w that, it sounds, well.... odd. Sorry to hear you got hosed, but you had every opportunity to avoid it, you had the knife in hand before buying it. I hope you get it worked out though. Oh yeah, and pics. please!
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2001
- Messages
- 26,713
Got a little info from the other side of this complaint from the person you communicated with at W.H. that makes me think we are not getting the whole story here.
This goes against all things I have heard and experienced from WH. I am not saying at this point it is not true, but it does need some substantiation. It would be interesting to see some evidence that their reaction was to tell you to live with it.
They have a solid reputation of taking care of issues.
This goes against all things I have heard and experienced from WH. I am not saying at this point it is not true, but it does need some substantiation. It would be interesting to see some evidence that their reaction was to tell you to live with it.
They have a solid reputation of taking care of issues.
You may want to try fixing it yourself. I sent mine in because after a few weeks of playing with it, it developed quite a bit of sideways play. When I went to tighten the pivot, I found that the torx hole in one of the screws was not quite stripped, but so loose that I was afraid to put any torque on it. Also, the ruby in the stud was crooked.
They told me to go ahead and send it in. I did, and when I hadn't heard from them in a couple of weeks I emailed them asking if they had recieved my knife. "Yes and we're working on it" was my answer.
When I got it back, there was no note of any kind with it. The ruby was half way straightened (which makes it not too bad) and the pivot had been cranked down so tight I could barely open the knife. That nice smooth quality feel I paid $750 for was gone. When I went to loosen the pivot, I found they hadn't even replaced the screw!
I've been playing with it a little at a time and it is loosening up (wearing out?), but for that kind of money I thought the service was atrocious! Any experience I've had with any other knife company has been better, even though their knives were cheaper.
They told me to go ahead and send it in. I did, and when I hadn't heard from them in a couple of weeks I emailed them asking if they had recieved my knife. "Yes and we're working on it" was my answer.
When I got it back, there was no note of any kind with it. The ruby was half way straightened (which makes it not too bad) and the pivot had been cranked down so tight I could barely open the knife. That nice smooth quality feel I paid $750 for was gone. When I went to loosen the pivot, I found they hadn't even replaced the screw!
I've been playing with it a little at a time and it is loosening up (wearing out?), but for that kind of money I thought the service was atrocious! Any experience I've had with any other knife company has been better, even though their knives were cheaper.
wolfmann601
Gone, but not forgotton. RIP Ira.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2001
- Messages
- 7,385
So, where is the fine Ex-Doctor, now LEO with some simple digital photos?
Is that quacking I hear? Is there a duck around?
Is that quacking I hear? Is there a duck around?
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,652
BTDT. I think you may have missed a thread or two hundred. Unless of course you were joking.
Regards,
3G
Gary W. Graley
“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Mar 2, 1999
- Messages
- 28,089
I think the images folks are asking about relate to the above, which I
made into bite size paragraphs for the pertinent items you found fault
which I think anyone in your position would also find to be unacceptable.
I've dealt with WH before as well, it may have been a bad day when you
called, but that certainly doesn't warrant their handling of the situation.
The freedom of blade travel can be/should be easily fixed with a torx wrench
but the fit and finish of the blade and handle should really be taken care
of by the WH folks.
If you can get some images of those defects, it would help us see what you
are seeing and maybe email that to WH also?
I'd be more than happy to take some images for you, just something that I
enjoy doing and wouldn't be any imposition what so ever.
G2
Even the best sometimes have one slip through the cracks but it sounds to me like you might have been sold a "used" William Henry. Is that a possability? If you can't get it worked out send it to us and we'll see if we can get it repaired for you.
Thanks and good luck. Nick
Thanks and good luck. Nick
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,829
- Joined
- May 9, 2000
- Messages
- 29,205
What has happened to Dr. Merrell? I would hope that he would continue to fill us in on whether anything gets done to rectify his problems.
Dr Merrill and MVF have been contacted by WH in order that their situation can be resolved. Bill Matthews of WH has been a friend for a LONG time and I alerted him to the thread, I know that their problems will be addressed and they should be back here posting with results.
James
James
- Joined
- Aug 2, 1999
- Messages
- 25
Dear All--including the wise-guys who think they're clever and then end up doing things like writing "H/W" instead of "W/H" or need pictures because they can't interpret the written word or wonder why someone like me would want to move from one area of highly paid public health service (dental surgeon) to a very under-paid and life-threatening area of public-safety service (police officer) simply because it felt like the right thing to do,
After the initial correspondence appeared on this site, I was contacted by a most, most helpful gentleman at W/H who first offered the suggestion that I was probably expecting more of the knife (appearance-wise) than could reasonably be expected from a hand-made or semi-hand-made knife, and that I ought to return the knife to W/H so that they could at least tighten the blade pivot so that the knife would no longer fall under the "prohibited weapons" laws of the State of Texas (gravity/centrifugal-force knife). Through a series of e-mails, the two of us quickly got to the point of my being offered--with no essence of bitterness or resentment either stated or implied by the W/H representative--the choice of returning the knife for a full refund, repairs to the blade pivot (other than regrinding the flaws in the already DLC-coated blade) and the irregularly finished black palm inlay, and/or whatever I thought would be fair. I said that I really did like that knife and would like to keep it, but that the problems with the blade's finish (It also had a dull point, almost as if it had been dropped.) made that more than I could bear after having paid $833 (including tax and dealer mark-up) for the thing. I asked if there might be another in the series of that particular issue available for a trade, or if I could trade down to a similar knife (no wood inlay, but still the blue sapphires that I like in the original). I also pointed out that the photos on the W/H website of the knife model that I had bought showed a perfect semi-hand-made knife, so surely there must be at least one of them out there--if the series hadn't been totally sold out already. I was told that a new knife would be on its way to me immediately.
The replacement has as close-to-perfectly-ground a blade as I've seen on any of my non-factory knives, the black palm inlay is now uniformly finished with the seams between titanium frame and inlay barely perceptible instead of feeling like large steps, the pivot is tight enough to no longer allow centrifugal opening but to make thumbing the blade a very simple task (no over-tightening, in other words), and I was even given a new presentation box with the new knife, though I have offered to return the second box and am awaiting a reply on that one, not wanting to be or appear to be someone who tries to get something for nothing.
I am totally satisfied with the solution offered by William Henry, I now have four W/H knives that are as well made as anything I could hope for, this knife will be a near-daily carry knife for use whenever I am dressed in light-fabric clothes (dress occasions or bodyguard assignments) because of its excellent weight-to-function ratio, and now I don't have to defend the numerous irregularities of the original knife to the friends and fellow officers who saw the first knife and wondered what had happened to William Henry quality.
If this is too many words for any of you to absorb, I suggest you try video games--lots of "pictures," and either no words or hardly any. (That was a snide remark, in case you missed it.) If you would prefer photos (This, however, is not meant to be snide.), simply picture the first knife as having a dull, unpolished area on one handle inlay that was about 8mm in diameter; and a blade that looked like it had been dropped onto its point from high enough in the air for the impact to have crumpled the first 3/8" behind the tip (though only on one side, the other being perfectly flat), and that had two or three 1/4"-wide wavy areas on both sides of the blade where the hollow-ground portion should have been uniformly concave.
Again, to be sure that I have gotten this much across, the W/H representative--who contacted me after my comments were posted on this site--was of a totally different mind-set than the first person I'd contacted at W/H, all e-mail correspondence was polite, open, and honest; I have a replacement knife of the same model as the original that is of excellent quality and which is completely satisfactory, and I'm waiting to hear whether or not the W/H people would like the duplicate wooden presentation box returned or if they're comping it because of the problems I had with the first knife. I owed it to the W/H people to let all of you readers know to what lengths the company had gone in order to maintain their reputation for both high-quality knives and complete customer satisfaction.
Forgot: Yes, it was entirely my fault for not having my reading glasses with me when I picked up the first knife at the store that sold it to me (I'm withholding the name out of courtesy. Let's just say that they're a brand-name store that sells very, very high-end shotguns and handguns manufactured by the longest-operating manufacturing entity in the world, as well as a clothing and accessory line, and items such as William Henry knives.). I was trusting the knife to be as well-made as its three predecessors in my collection, but that was dumb and naive of me. I take complete responsibility for that gaff.
After the initial correspondence appeared on this site, I was contacted by a most, most helpful gentleman at W/H who first offered the suggestion that I was probably expecting more of the knife (appearance-wise) than could reasonably be expected from a hand-made or semi-hand-made knife, and that I ought to return the knife to W/H so that they could at least tighten the blade pivot so that the knife would no longer fall under the "prohibited weapons" laws of the State of Texas (gravity/centrifugal-force knife). Through a series of e-mails, the two of us quickly got to the point of my being offered--with no essence of bitterness or resentment either stated or implied by the W/H representative--the choice of returning the knife for a full refund, repairs to the blade pivot (other than regrinding the flaws in the already DLC-coated blade) and the irregularly finished black palm inlay, and/or whatever I thought would be fair. I said that I really did like that knife and would like to keep it, but that the problems with the blade's finish (It also had a dull point, almost as if it had been dropped.) made that more than I could bear after having paid $833 (including tax and dealer mark-up) for the thing. I asked if there might be another in the series of that particular issue available for a trade, or if I could trade down to a similar knife (no wood inlay, but still the blue sapphires that I like in the original). I also pointed out that the photos on the W/H website of the knife model that I had bought showed a perfect semi-hand-made knife, so surely there must be at least one of them out there--if the series hadn't been totally sold out already. I was told that a new knife would be on its way to me immediately.
The replacement has as close-to-perfectly-ground a blade as I've seen on any of my non-factory knives, the black palm inlay is now uniformly finished with the seams between titanium frame and inlay barely perceptible instead of feeling like large steps, the pivot is tight enough to no longer allow centrifugal opening but to make thumbing the blade a very simple task (no over-tightening, in other words), and I was even given a new presentation box with the new knife, though I have offered to return the second box and am awaiting a reply on that one, not wanting to be or appear to be someone who tries to get something for nothing.
I am totally satisfied with the solution offered by William Henry, I now have four W/H knives that are as well made as anything I could hope for, this knife will be a near-daily carry knife for use whenever I am dressed in light-fabric clothes (dress occasions or bodyguard assignments) because of its excellent weight-to-function ratio, and now I don't have to defend the numerous irregularities of the original knife to the friends and fellow officers who saw the first knife and wondered what had happened to William Henry quality.
If this is too many words for any of you to absorb, I suggest you try video games--lots of "pictures," and either no words or hardly any. (That was a snide remark, in case you missed it.) If you would prefer photos (This, however, is not meant to be snide.), simply picture the first knife as having a dull, unpolished area on one handle inlay that was about 8mm in diameter; and a blade that looked like it had been dropped onto its point from high enough in the air for the impact to have crumpled the first 3/8" behind the tip (though only on one side, the other being perfectly flat), and that had two or three 1/4"-wide wavy areas on both sides of the blade where the hollow-ground portion should have been uniformly concave.
Again, to be sure that I have gotten this much across, the W/H representative--who contacted me after my comments were posted on this site--was of a totally different mind-set than the first person I'd contacted at W/H, all e-mail correspondence was polite, open, and honest; I have a replacement knife of the same model as the original that is of excellent quality and which is completely satisfactory, and I'm waiting to hear whether or not the W/H people would like the duplicate wooden presentation box returned or if they're comping it because of the problems I had with the first knife. I owed it to the W/H people to let all of you readers know to what lengths the company had gone in order to maintain their reputation for both high-quality knives and complete customer satisfaction.
Forgot: Yes, it was entirely my fault for not having my reading glasses with me when I picked up the first knife at the store that sold it to me (I'm withholding the name out of courtesy. Let's just say that they're a brand-name store that sells very, very high-end shotguns and handguns manufactured by the longest-operating manufacturing entity in the world, as well as a clothing and accessory line, and items such as William Henry knives.). I was trusting the knife to be as well-made as its three predecessors in my collection, but that was dumb and naive of me. I take complete responsibility for that gaff.
Last edited:
Gary W. Graley
“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Mar 2, 1999
- Messages
- 28,089
Shiny !
G2
G2
- Joined
- Aug 2, 1999
- Messages
- 25
Well, I guess that's why we were all taught writing skills in school--to be able to describe things in ways that make the things being described understood by the readers. If you don't understand words like "rippled" or "wavy" or "uneven" or "loose," it's not my fault. Maybe the post I just entered that winds up the story will help you out a bit. Doc
Some of us here are from different countries and speak different languages. While I do understand the words "rippled" and "wavy", a picture says more than a thousand words. We live in the age of "the internet" now, where posting pictures is very easy.
I'm glad your problem with William Henry got solved.
Kind regards,
Jos