- Joined
- Jun 15, 2020
- Messages
- 53
First of all, I am just a “knife enthusiast”, looking at knives more from the aesthetic than from the practical or usable side. I have no need to cut miles of cardboard a day or prepare my food over the bonfire with my EDC…! 
Important to know, and that way maybe to understand a little bit better my thoughts and conclusions, is the fact that I do not live in the U.S., but in Mexico.
During the last weeks I purchased a total of five KAI EDCs:
- Kershaw Blur Blackwash
- Zero Tolerance 0450CF
- Zero Tolerance 0452CF
- Zero Tolerance 0460
- Zero Tolerance 0462
The Kershaw Blur is just a nice knife, nothing more to say about.
The ZT 0452CF and the ZT 0462 are up to now definitely my favorites, I really like their form, size, function and looks.
The ZT 0450CF and the ZT0460, I also really like them, but I received them with some “flaws”.
The ZT 450CF came, especially compared with the other ZT knifes, in quite a dull condition, definitely not as sharp as the other knifes. But that should not be a major problem, as soon as I have learned more about sharpening I hope to fix that “problem”.
When I received the ZT 0460 I thought in the first moment I received a perfect sample. Overall looks, functionality, every seemed to be perfect.
But playing with the knife in the evening of the second day I suddenly observed what I thought was a scratch on the backside of the blade over the full length of the blade. I could observe the scratch only by holding the blade in a specific angle to a light source, looking normally at the blade you cannot see the scratch.
The next day I checked the blade under bright sunlight with a loupe and I could clearly see that what I thought was one scratch are several micro scratches in the middle of the blade backside, reaching nearly from the beginning of the blade (area of laser inscription) straight to the end of the blade, perpendicular to the blade finish.
After making the observation with the scratch I contacted the ZT customer service, asking what we can do regarding the scratch. In my mail I stated that I do not want to exclude the possibility that I caused the scratches by wiping the blade with a microfiber cloth, but I could barely imagine that this has happened. I asked if they can potentially repair the blade, maybe by re-grinding and re-polishing the blade.
The response I received, in short form: They do not offer services like buffing and polishing and if I think the knife had the scratches brand new I should contact my dealer.
Not very helpful such a response, but okay, every company has its policies.
So I contacted the dealer I purchased the knives from, Deadwood Knives in the U.S. They have been very friendly, authorized the return and refund for the knife and shipped the replacement knife I ordered the same day. Just great service.
I received the replacement knife two days later, while still not having shipped the knife to be returned, at the end of the day a good decision. Because, when I unpacked the replacement knife, not touching it all except flipping open the blade, I detected the same scratches on the backside of the blade, this time even worse (more scratches in more locations, even semi-circular scratches). And the most interesting aspect at all, the both knives had consecutive serial numbers, the replacement knife one number before my knife.
Again with the friendly support of Deadwood Knives I returned the even worse replacement knife the same day, not my original one.
So I contacted again the ZT customer service, explaining them my findings in detail.
Yesterday I received another mail from ZT, explaining me that I could send in my knife for service, even they didn’t explain what they want to do. But they stated that it would take up to 10-12 weeks and I would have to pay the transport cost.
Maybe I am wrong, but such a suggestion is absolutely unacceptable for me. In the statement of my findings I also explained them that it cost me already more than $100 to pay the transport for the replacement knife and the return of the knife. Sending now the knife to ZT and the return would cost me another $100, means I would have spent at the end of the day more for all the transport cost than the knife is worth at all.
No word, absolutely nothing, from ZT about how these scratches may have occurred, while for me it is quite obvious that this is a manufacturing and quality control topic.
Okay, let´s face some facts: Knives will get scratches over time and this is just a knife for $196, not in the 4-digit range. But on the other side I think it is okay to expect a brand new knife, that is not just $20, to not have such obvious flaws. And if something like this happens, no problem considering that mistakes always will happen, I would expect something called customer orientation and customer care to fix such a problem.
So my conclusion at this point:
I will not get in touch with the ZT customer service again regarding this topic, it looks like just a waste of time. I will not return the knife as I really like it in general and there is no guarantee that a replacement is better at all, not even speaking about the cost of such replacements and returns.
Will I buy another knife from ZT? Maybe, in case there is one I really like. But the good thing, there are also other companies that make good knives.
Will I recommend knives from ZT? Sure, as some of their knives are really nice! But my recommendation will always also contain the remark about my personally not so great experience with their customer service.
Herbert
Important to know, and that way maybe to understand a little bit better my thoughts and conclusions, is the fact that I do not live in the U.S., but in Mexico.
During the last weeks I purchased a total of five KAI EDCs:
- Kershaw Blur Blackwash
- Zero Tolerance 0450CF
- Zero Tolerance 0452CF
- Zero Tolerance 0460
- Zero Tolerance 0462
The Kershaw Blur is just a nice knife, nothing more to say about.
The ZT 0452CF and the ZT 0462 are up to now definitely my favorites, I really like their form, size, function and looks.
The ZT 0450CF and the ZT0460, I also really like them, but I received them with some “flaws”.
The ZT 450CF came, especially compared with the other ZT knifes, in quite a dull condition, definitely not as sharp as the other knifes. But that should not be a major problem, as soon as I have learned more about sharpening I hope to fix that “problem”.
When I received the ZT 0460 I thought in the first moment I received a perfect sample. Overall looks, functionality, every seemed to be perfect.
But playing with the knife in the evening of the second day I suddenly observed what I thought was a scratch on the backside of the blade over the full length of the blade. I could observe the scratch only by holding the blade in a specific angle to a light source, looking normally at the blade you cannot see the scratch.
The next day I checked the blade under bright sunlight with a loupe and I could clearly see that what I thought was one scratch are several micro scratches in the middle of the blade backside, reaching nearly from the beginning of the blade (area of laser inscription) straight to the end of the blade, perpendicular to the blade finish.
After making the observation with the scratch I contacted the ZT customer service, asking what we can do regarding the scratch. In my mail I stated that I do not want to exclude the possibility that I caused the scratches by wiping the blade with a microfiber cloth, but I could barely imagine that this has happened. I asked if they can potentially repair the blade, maybe by re-grinding and re-polishing the blade.
The response I received, in short form: They do not offer services like buffing and polishing and if I think the knife had the scratches brand new I should contact my dealer.
Not very helpful such a response, but okay, every company has its policies.
So I contacted the dealer I purchased the knives from, Deadwood Knives in the U.S. They have been very friendly, authorized the return and refund for the knife and shipped the replacement knife I ordered the same day. Just great service.
I received the replacement knife two days later, while still not having shipped the knife to be returned, at the end of the day a good decision. Because, when I unpacked the replacement knife, not touching it all except flipping open the blade, I detected the same scratches on the backside of the blade, this time even worse (more scratches in more locations, even semi-circular scratches). And the most interesting aspect at all, the both knives had consecutive serial numbers, the replacement knife one number before my knife.
Again with the friendly support of Deadwood Knives I returned the even worse replacement knife the same day, not my original one.
So I contacted again the ZT customer service, explaining them my findings in detail.
Yesterday I received another mail from ZT, explaining me that I could send in my knife for service, even they didn’t explain what they want to do. But they stated that it would take up to 10-12 weeks and I would have to pay the transport cost.
Maybe I am wrong, but such a suggestion is absolutely unacceptable for me. In the statement of my findings I also explained them that it cost me already more than $100 to pay the transport for the replacement knife and the return of the knife. Sending now the knife to ZT and the return would cost me another $100, means I would have spent at the end of the day more for all the transport cost than the knife is worth at all.
No word, absolutely nothing, from ZT about how these scratches may have occurred, while for me it is quite obvious that this is a manufacturing and quality control topic.
Okay, let´s face some facts: Knives will get scratches over time and this is just a knife for $196, not in the 4-digit range. But on the other side I think it is okay to expect a brand new knife, that is not just $20, to not have such obvious flaws. And if something like this happens, no problem considering that mistakes always will happen, I would expect something called customer orientation and customer care to fix such a problem.
So my conclusion at this point:
I will not get in touch with the ZT customer service again regarding this topic, it looks like just a waste of time. I will not return the knife as I really like it in general and there is no guarantee that a replacement is better at all, not even speaking about the cost of such replacements and returns.
Will I buy another knife from ZT? Maybe, in case there is one I really like. But the good thing, there are also other companies that make good knives.
Will I recommend knives from ZT? Sure, as some of their knives are really nice! But my recommendation will always also contain the remark about my personally not so great experience with their customer service.
Herbert
_DSF6898
_DSF6896
