I was really pod, spent some time putting the following together, and then asked myself whats this about? I tried to summarize issues at the end, but may not have made it generally relevant or comment worthy. When I joined BF, a forumite was leaving forever, did some serious name calling, and opined that more than a lot of us had serious psychological issues that we used the forum to help resolve. I felt bad about his departure, did a post on my feelings. Old timers told me not to worry, it happened. Problem is, I think he may have been right and now Im scared Im one of the psychological cripples he was talking about. Oh, well. Comment as you will.
I grumped about a couple of my Spydercos elsewhere in these forums and wanted to comment on some aspects of the outcome. Should have posted here anyway. Prelude: I have 11 Spydercos; first was a Delica, about 91 or 92, last a Native III about 30 days ago. Not many, as collecting goes, but I have more Spydercos than any other brand. As I recently commented elsewhere in this forum, Spyderco is long on imagination, creativity, and value. However.
First, a recently acquired g10, s30v dodo was releasing lock up when I applied moderate rolling pressure along the spine of the blade during failure tests. Spyderco said (email) send it back, theyd take a look. The dodo got back in 47 days, ALL WELL! Dont know what they did, but I used more than moderate pressure to test for lock up failure, and found everything good to go. If its the same knife (the accompanying letter said your DODO has been sharpened and reconditioned to the best of Spydercos ability), I wish Id been able to get information on how to assess and fix a lock up problem, maybe with a thread similar to the one Ted Voorde did for CRK, only this one would be about Spyderco lock ups, or weak closing, or . I know stuff like this happens. I know there are probably innumerable issues that preclude such threads, but I would have tried a fix. Also, reconditioned? I only had the knife for three weeks; did someone else have it longer? I couldnt tell. Overall impact: negligible, on one hand, because when the knife got back, lock up was solid. On the other hand, less than 3 weeks after taking shipment of the Dodo it was on the way back for warranty work, I was out the cost of shipping (chipping away at the online purchase savings I had gained), and Im left wondering about merchandising and quality control policies. Did the onlliner send me a suspected or reported problem knife, or was it a production problem from the get go? More about policies in a bit.
Second, bought a s30v pe native soon after the dodo, quickly made it my at home edc along with the full time edc dodo. Blade closing was lackluster, a pocket opening hazard. Always had to give the knife an extra squeeze to make sure the blade was seated. Spyderco said send it back; got a native back in 39 days. A native: not the one I sent. I sent a pe and got back a se. Spyderco says, knives returned as defective or damaged are referred for study by the R&D folks. Overall impact: negligible, as above. On the other hand - also as above. In addition, the policy issue again, suspicions over onliner practice versus quality control at the production point. And yes, I did buy both knives from the same onliner. Another policy issue: Spyderco will sharpen, recondition, and return a knife with a lock up problem, which I would categorize as a major defect or damage referral, but send a lackluster closing problem to R&D. And, now I have a se, which I DO NOT want, but will work with Spyderco to resolve: is this a mistake or is the s30v pe line in trouble? By the way, the pe III (see below) is a much better closer than the s30v se. If Spyderco swaps a native pe for the se, Ill start back on Prozac and shrink weeklys: my wife says I am seriously flawed as well as paranoid; I say: not anymore than the average of other quality managers (well, at least three) within 50 miles.
Third, I just couldnt make it without my medevacd full time (dodo) AND part time (native) edcs. Not about to buy another dodo until I got some feedback on the lock up, I bought another native: a vg10 III. All good and a robustly crisp closer; picked it up at arguably our best (stocked) local knife shop. A hands on buying experience. Absolutely pleased, until I noticed a scuff developing on the blade. Its on the side opposite where I apply thumb pressure to open the blade. The scuff is obviously being caused by contact with and rubbing against the handle ridge next to the blade as the blade exits the handle. Tolerance problem? FRN flex? Go figure. Am I going to send it back? Not sure, for a couple of reasons. One: Im getting $10d out: mailer, postage, insurance. Two: what can I reasonably expect from a $57.29 purchase? $5 to $10 more in a local purchase than I could expect to pay an onliner (including shipping)? But, part of the cost of living in paradise and, more so, the ability to do hands on shopping. And yes, I know the s30v is produced in Golden and the vg10 in Seki City.
I have some of my issues sorted out. One: onliner quality check responsibilities. Two: is there a sliding scale on what you can complain about and get redress. Is $57 enough to warrant complaint satisfaction? Can you really capture all of that in a warranty and keep customers, too? Are there known schemes where problem knives are accumulated, sold to onliners at very favorable rates, and later shipped to unsuspecting online shoppers? Maybe. Is my current run of bad luck with Spydercos merely a statistical variable, not much more significant than a rough spot in a generally very smooth road? Am I just too persnickety? Ahhhhhh, I feel SO much better.
I grumped about a couple of my Spydercos elsewhere in these forums and wanted to comment on some aspects of the outcome. Should have posted here anyway. Prelude: I have 11 Spydercos; first was a Delica, about 91 or 92, last a Native III about 30 days ago. Not many, as collecting goes, but I have more Spydercos than any other brand. As I recently commented elsewhere in this forum, Spyderco is long on imagination, creativity, and value. However.
First, a recently acquired g10, s30v dodo was releasing lock up when I applied moderate rolling pressure along the spine of the blade during failure tests. Spyderco said (email) send it back, theyd take a look. The dodo got back in 47 days, ALL WELL! Dont know what they did, but I used more than moderate pressure to test for lock up failure, and found everything good to go. If its the same knife (the accompanying letter said your DODO has been sharpened and reconditioned to the best of Spydercos ability), I wish Id been able to get information on how to assess and fix a lock up problem, maybe with a thread similar to the one Ted Voorde did for CRK, only this one would be about Spyderco lock ups, or weak closing, or . I know stuff like this happens. I know there are probably innumerable issues that preclude such threads, but I would have tried a fix. Also, reconditioned? I only had the knife for three weeks; did someone else have it longer? I couldnt tell. Overall impact: negligible, on one hand, because when the knife got back, lock up was solid. On the other hand, less than 3 weeks after taking shipment of the Dodo it was on the way back for warranty work, I was out the cost of shipping (chipping away at the online purchase savings I had gained), and Im left wondering about merchandising and quality control policies. Did the onlliner send me a suspected or reported problem knife, or was it a production problem from the get go? More about policies in a bit.
Second, bought a s30v pe native soon after the dodo, quickly made it my at home edc along with the full time edc dodo. Blade closing was lackluster, a pocket opening hazard. Always had to give the knife an extra squeeze to make sure the blade was seated. Spyderco said send it back; got a native back in 39 days. A native: not the one I sent. I sent a pe and got back a se. Spyderco says, knives returned as defective or damaged are referred for study by the R&D folks. Overall impact: negligible, as above. On the other hand - also as above. In addition, the policy issue again, suspicions over onliner practice versus quality control at the production point. And yes, I did buy both knives from the same onliner. Another policy issue: Spyderco will sharpen, recondition, and return a knife with a lock up problem, which I would categorize as a major defect or damage referral, but send a lackluster closing problem to R&D. And, now I have a se, which I DO NOT want, but will work with Spyderco to resolve: is this a mistake or is the s30v pe line in trouble? By the way, the pe III (see below) is a much better closer than the s30v se. If Spyderco swaps a native pe for the se, Ill start back on Prozac and shrink weeklys: my wife says I am seriously flawed as well as paranoid; I say: not anymore than the average of other quality managers (well, at least three) within 50 miles.
Third, I just couldnt make it without my medevacd full time (dodo) AND part time (native) edcs. Not about to buy another dodo until I got some feedback on the lock up, I bought another native: a vg10 III. All good and a robustly crisp closer; picked it up at arguably our best (stocked) local knife shop. A hands on buying experience. Absolutely pleased, until I noticed a scuff developing on the blade. Its on the side opposite where I apply thumb pressure to open the blade. The scuff is obviously being caused by contact with and rubbing against the handle ridge next to the blade as the blade exits the handle. Tolerance problem? FRN flex? Go figure. Am I going to send it back? Not sure, for a couple of reasons. One: Im getting $10d out: mailer, postage, insurance. Two: what can I reasonably expect from a $57.29 purchase? $5 to $10 more in a local purchase than I could expect to pay an onliner (including shipping)? But, part of the cost of living in paradise and, more so, the ability to do hands on shopping. And yes, I know the s30v is produced in Golden and the vg10 in Seki City.
I have some of my issues sorted out. One: onliner quality check responsibilities. Two: is there a sliding scale on what you can complain about and get redress. Is $57 enough to warrant complaint satisfaction? Can you really capture all of that in a warranty and keep customers, too? Are there known schemes where problem knives are accumulated, sold to onliners at very favorable rates, and later shipped to unsuspecting online shoppers? Maybe. Is my current run of bad luck with Spydercos merely a statistical variable, not much more significant than a rough spot in a generally very smooth road? Am I just too persnickety? Ahhhhhh, I feel SO much better.
Yep, Spyderco is a relatively small company in the knife community.. 
Plenty of effort was put into refinement, total customer satisfaction and innovation.. = 
