Warranty Failures

[Takuan]

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a bad experience, Harkwit. The only time I’ve ever sent a Spyderco in for warranty repair was due to an issue with the original trainer for the Endura (in the early 2000’s). The lock was so weak that the blade would close on my hand while performing snap cuts (witik strikes in Filipino martial arts terms). Spyderco immediately replaced the knife with a new Endura trainer (which shipped to Hawaii really fast!)… which unfortunately also failed, so I sent it back again. They immediately replaced that knife with a Gunting trainer, which worked perfectly (and I still have it to this day). Thus, my one experience with Spyderco customer service has been great. Sorry to hear that others haven’t had the same experience.

[James Y]

This is one thing that Spyderco REALLY needs to improve upon. Hopefully, Sal will see this thread and it will be addressed at Spyderco.

Perhaps it’s my OCD, but whenever I can’t buy a knife in person, any time I order from any dealer, I always order over the phone. I prefer speaking to a live person, and I always request that they have the knife checked for a pre-written list of things before they ship it. No one has ever had a problem doing that for me, and as a result, I’ve never gotten a lemon, or any knives with flaws. I’m not saying this ordering method is foolproof, just that I’d always done it this way for years, with no problems. I’ve mentioned using this ordering method several times, but it gets ignored. I think most people would rather not bother, and prefer to just click and hope.

Jim

I do that myself. Last order from CS had a card with note on back , Jeff personally checked and approved sending out . The knife was perfect .

That's always cool when a special note comes with it. The last knife I bought back in December, my Native Chief, came with a signed note from Knife Works saying they picked out the best one in stock for me. And it's perfect!

Jim

[Manixguy@1994]

This is one thing that Spyderco REALLY needs to improve upon. Hopefully, Sal will see this thread and it will be addressed at Spyderco.

Perhaps it’s my OCD, but whenever I can’t buy a knife in person, any time I order from any dealer, I always order over the phone. I prefer speaking to a live person, and I always request that they have the knife checked for a pre-written list of things before they ship it. No one has ever had a problem doing that for me, and as a result, I’ve never gotten a lemon, or any knives with flaws. I’m not saying this ordering method is foolproof, just that I’d always done it this way for years, with no problems. I’ve mentioned using this ordering method several times, but it gets ignored. I think most people would rather not bother, and prefer to just click and hope.

Jim

I do that myself. Last order from CS had a card with note on back , Jeff personally checked and approved sending out . The knife was perfect .

That's always cool when a special note comes with it. The last knife I bought back in December, my Native Chief, came with a signed note from Knife Works saying they picked out the best one in stock for me. And it's perfect!

Jim

I personally talk to the ladies at Knifeworks they are the greatest. They sent me a box of Gumbo mix at Christmas. Great people and service.

[Rinzler]

As someone who sent in an absolutely brand new knife, and had it returned from warranty without anything done to it, yet did not press the issue, I’d like to set the record straight on satisfied warranty customers.

Some of us, like myself, were not satisfied. Yet these same people didn’t press the issue a second time because if it wasn’t taken care of the first time then why would I believe it would be fixed the second time.

This skews the “satisfied” warranty customer narrative. And especially so since no one followed up with me to ask if I was happy with the service or outcome.

My humble suggestion would be to implement a way to receive feedback on warranty work. Then you will have a true accounting of the customer satisfaction of your warranty work.

One might ask, hey rinzler why didn’t you just pick up the phone and tell them you weren’t happy? The answer I already alluded you. If it goes through the warranty system and returns to me in a state that I find unacceptable then why would I expect it to change in future warranty service. I’m not wanting to make anybody’s life difficult or cause ruckus so if spyderco tells me it’s good then who am I yo question their assessment? Of course I didn’t feel that I was satisfied, in fact I’m not and still not but what actual good would it go to keep sending something in for service? None.

[skeeg11]

Some of us are OCD about lock slop. I suppose the bottom line is that various companies have varying degrees of what they consider acceptable lock flop. People will become more cautious on what they are willing to spend their hard earned money on especially during more trying times when they are losing purchasing power and groceries on the table and gas in the tank loom large.

[apollo]

Warrenty is not an easy thing. So far al my spyders are perfect at arival. But living in europe i guess sending it back to spyderco is almost impossible.

But the dealer i buy from gives a great warrenty themselfs. If there something wrong they give you a new one. So maybe the dealer is more important then spyderco's service themselfs?

[ABX2011]

I agree that warranty is important. We pay for warranty with every Spyderco we buy. It's built into the price and functions somewhat like insurance. If there's an issue, we essentially file a claim. If the warranty experience is bad, it moves Spyderco closer to some Chinese brands and let's be honest...the counterfeits that clearly have no warranty.
I can see both sides of this issue but reading all these stories it doesn't sound good to me.
My only warranty experience of the past decade plus was when when I received a new Delica that was missing a washer. They wouldn't send me the part.

[nerdlock]

One thing to note on the topic of phone orders: with dealer exclusive releases like the BHQ Shaman, is that in the frenzied bloodbath of an online drop, there is absolutely no means of phoning in your order since everyone on the dealer's end already have their hands full fighting online bots and keeping their ecommerce systems from crashing.

It might work for regular releases but for high value exclusives there's little to no chance of phone orders.

I think some dealers even explicitly state that they do not accept phone orders during exclusive drops, i.e. online only.

[JRinFL]

Getting special service from a dealer is not the same as a good warranty and good after-sales support from the maker if you need it. It is a nice workaround, however.

[RAHComanche]

Some come in with unrealistic expectations for a production knife and nit pick over questionable issues.
sal

I think if Sal or Spyderco can elaborate on what the company feels are unrealistic issues and nit picking, it will go a long way to addressing many threads about warranty service on this forum.

[Danke]

The customer is always right; that's what people like about us.

[James Y]

One thing to note on the topic of phone orders: with dealer exclusive releases like the BHQ Shaman, is that in the frenzied bloodbath of an online drop, there is absolutely no means of phoning in your order since everyone on the dealer's end already have their hands full fighting online bots and keeping their ecommerce systems from crashing.

It might work for regular releases but for high value exclusives there's little to no chance of phone orders.

I think some dealers even explicitly state that they do not accept phone orders during exclusive drops, i.e. online only.

I can definitely see that being the case with exclusives.

I probably should have clarified that I personally have never bought a sprint/exclusive, etc. The ones I buy are all regular production. But as I've said, by phoning my orders, so far, I've never received a flawed knife. The chances of receiving a knife with flaws, or perceived flaws, are greatly reduced, compared to just ordering online.

I'm not saying that Spyderco's products are full of flaws, but that phone ordering is a part of my own OCD.

Jim

[sal]

Charlynne and I spoke about this quite extensively yesterday. She said that if you feel that your results were unfair, that you should contact her and she'll make it right.

sal