Important Clarifications

[Blerv]

Thanks Kristi and Mike for your clarification to the errant forum posts. It's always best to get the straight scoop from the source.

With no disrespect meant to anyone in particular, I think that the word-parsing has carried folks afield. Spyderco has a clear warranty and I have found them to be more than fair in its implementation. We can all "what if" the subject until the electrons spin down to maximum entropy, but that (by definition) doesn't add light to the subject.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that some folks have attempted to take advantage of the good folks in Golden, CO. The reasonable warranty protects both the company and the typical consumer. Disassembling almost anything I own will void its warranty. Why should a precision-manufactured Spyderco knife be any different?

As for cleaning, I recommend trying Otis 085 Ultra Bore or Special Forces Dry Lube, Gunzilla, or some similar high-quality firearm cleaner/lube. Spraying and/or soaking the affected knife parts with/in these, perhaps with some assistance from a compressed air can and/or running water, will surely cure what ails a folding knife, mud and salt water included. I've found that their penetrating and cleaning properties obviate the need for disassembly. YMMV, but it's worth a try.

One of the best responses thus far. Great suggestions and works for me.

[Pierpaolo]

1st - Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty.

I'm disassembling the clip of every new spyderco I buy, to put it on the other side, being left-handed.

Am I voiding the warranty?

[chuck_roxas45]

I too, asked that since I tighten all the screws on any knife I receive, there's bound to be some marks on the screws. Is the warranty then void?

[26.2Madness]

This is standard operating procedure for almost all production knife companies. Some companies even go so far as to make knives that cannot be disassembled by the ELU (Microtech, Leatherman are examples). More often than not, what happens is a knife owner takes their knife apart, and then cannot reassemble the knife, sending in pieces to the manufacture for reassembly. This is a drain on WR and repair services, especially if they are covering the cost of the work.

Also between the clause you note, and the clause that states "attempted repairs by any other source than Spyderco voids the warranty" pretty much covers the issue. In other words I would not want to be fighting the issue in court.

1. I do not care what the standard operation procedure for other companies are. For example, Benchmade expicitly states that disassembly for any reason voids that warranty. That is why I do not take may Benchmades apart (and that is one of the reasons I rarely buy that brand). Spyderco has the right to have any warranty terms they want, but do not change (clarify?) the warranty after I have already made the purchase. If disassembly voids the warranty, just say it and add it to your warranty. Like this, "Disassembly Voids your Warranty." Easy.

2. To me, someone who sends a knife in that cannot be reassembled is not a warranty issue. Spyderco has every right (and probably should) charge for this service.

3. The clause "attempted repairs by any other source than Spyderco voids the warranty" does not apply if I take my knife apart to clean, lube, etc., unless you consider cleaning and lubing a repair. I do not.

Spyderco makes excellent, high quality knives and I have never had a problem with any of mine (and do not expect to have any warranty issues), but I am a bit annoyed that with a posting of a forum thread, everyone of my Sypderco knives (except my pinned Delica) is now out of warranty.

[flipe8]

I'm disassembling the clip of every new spyderco I buy, to put it on the other side, being left-handed.

Am I voiding the warranty?

You waited three years to post and that's your first contribution? :rolleyes:

[The Deacon]

I'm disassembling the clip of every new spyderco I buy, to put it on the other side, being left-handed.

Am I voiding the warranty?

If you are disassembling the knife to move the clip, you are doing it wrong. I do not know of a single Spyderco model with a moveable clip that requires the knife to be disassembled to move it.

[v8r]

Wow really guys? I am going to add my point of view.Does it really matter if i am a huge Spyderco fan? Why would you need to worry unless you are sending it in for a stripped screw etc. They don't warranty abuse in any kind of way.I'm not going to get upset because I feel their warranty is fair and reasonable. There have been many times where they have gone over and above reasonable for several people.

I cut shingles with my Manix II the other day and got lots of grit and tar in lock/pivot area, and it cleaned up fine without taking it apart?

I run in to "Experts" every day that think they know everything.I work on cars for a living myself and have many tools, does that make me qualified as a knife repair man?...........I think not. This world has turned in to a world of Entitlement.You mess something up working on it yourself, common sense should tell you it isn't covered under warranty.I'm just going to leave at that and leave shiny foot prints as Sal request we do. :)

[dsmegst]

Wow really guys? I am going to add my point of view.Does it really matter if i am a huge Spyderco fan? Why would you need to worry unless you are sending it in for a stripped screw etc. They don't warranty abuse in any kind of way.I'm not going to get upset because I feel their warranty is fair and reasonable. There have been many times where they have gone over and above reasonable for several people.

I cut shingles with my Manix II the other day and got lots of grit and tar in lock/pivot area, and it cleaned up fine without taking it apart?

I run in to "Experts" every day that think they know everything.I work on cars for a living myself and have many tools, does that make me qualified as a knife repair man?...........I think not. This world has turned in to a world of Entitlement.You mess something up working on it yourself, common sense should tell you it isn't covered under warranty.I'm just going to leave at that and leave shiny foot prints as Sal request we do. :)

Well said. +1. Spyderco provides a reasonable warranty that protects us from manufacturing defects and unusual situations where Spyderco determines if a replacement is warranted. Outside of that, they offer repairs for a reasonable price.

There are other companies that offer a higher level of warranty coverage. So that's something each person needs to consider as part of their purchasing choice. Who's to say Spyderco needs to match other warranties? How many people would pick a Kia over a BMW because Kia offers a 10 year/100000 mile warranty and BMW does not? :rolleyes:

Edit: I'm not picking on Kia, just offering a real life example.

[ChrisR]

I still think it's a non-issue ... though it has grown into a bit of a can of worms when Kristi seemed to contradict the printed warranty. But either way, if a knife is taken apart carefully and then cleaned and reassembled without causing damage then it wouldn't be possible to see that it had happened anyway. Paul sent me a completely disassembled UKPK FRN and I swear that after reassembly it looks absolutely mint ... not a scratch or anything :)

Spyderco are a company that always looks after its customers and has a great reputation for listening to them and helping them out whenever it can ... so I have no worries. :)

[Jay_Ev]

Hey ya'll. Reading through a few different threads this morning and a couple of things popped out at me that I think need to be clarified.

1st - Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty. Period. There was a question about this being a "myth". It is not a myth.

...but bottom line, if you take your knife apart, the warranty is void.

Sounds pretty cut & dry and self-explanatory to me. There will always be those who want to twist the explanation to fit their own agenda and definition so it suits their own needs. I find nothing wrong with Spyderco's warranty policy at all. Thanks for the clarification, TK.

[nozh2002]

I still think it's a non-issue ... though it has grown into a bit of a can of worms when Kristi seemed to contradict the printed warranty. But either way, if a knife is taken apart carefully and then cleaned and reassembled without causing damage then it wouldn't be possible to see that it had happened anyway. Paul sent me a completely disassembled UKPK FRN and I swear that after reassembly it looks absolutely mint ... not a scratch or anything :)

Spyderco are a company that always looks after its customers and has a great reputation for listening to them and helping them out whenever it can ... so I have no worries. :)

Sorry, it is hard to determine if knife was disassembled, but it is also even harder to determine it was not. When buying knife how can you be sure that it was not disassembled?

We have case reported on BF when CS sad that knife was disassembled while customer insisted that he never done it.

So what is criteria? Is there some hidden marks or something?

Regards, Vassili.

[The Deacon]

Sorry, it is hard to determine if knife was disassembled, but it is also even harder to determine it was not. When buying knife how can you be sure that it was not disassembled?

We have case reported on BF when CS sad that knife was disassembled while customer insisted that he never done it.

So what is criteria? Is there some hidden marks or something?

Regards, Vassili.

You can't. You have to trust your dealer. As for buying from individuals, I'd never assume anything second hand that did not claim to have a lifetime transferable warranty to be covered by one.

As for the incident you mention, assuming the customer is being 100% on the level, then the most logical scenario is that the dealer took back a knife from someone who had disassembled it and damaged it, then resold it. That would account for both the issues the customer was having with the knife and Spyderco's refusal to repair it under warranty If that's the case, while I can't blame the customer for being upset, I can't blame Spyderco for not replacing something someone broke, especially for a customer with a history of abusing the warranty process.

The Delica 4 and Endura 4 are not 1911 Colts. More than a few of them have been damaged when someone who thought they were mechanically inclined found out they were not.

[nozh2002]

You can't. You have to trust your dealer. As for buying from individuals, I'd never assume anything second hand that did not claim to have a lifetime transferable warranty to be covered by one.

As for the incident you mention, assuming the customer is being 100% on the level, then the most logical scenario is that the dealer took back a knife from someone who had disassembled it and damaged it, then resold it. That would account for both the issues the customer was having with the knife and Spyderco's refusal to repair it under warranty If that's the case, while I can't blame the customer for being upset, I can't blame Spyderco for not replacing something someone broke, especially for a customer with a history of abusing the warranty process.

The Delica 4 and Endura 4 are not 1911 Colts. More than a few of them have been damaged when someone who thought they were mechanically inclined found out they were not.

Yes, as it was stated in old Warranty if knife get damaged during disassembling it voids warranty. If someone take apart this knife and damage it - no warranty of course. But this is not we are talking about.

Now according to this Important Clarification any disassembling, even if it did not damage knife in any way, void warranty.

So someone may return disassembled but not damaged knife to dealer, because it was not damaged - dealer may not know it was disassembled and sell it to another customer which has no way to find out it was disassembled as well, at this point lock failed and CS refuse to fix it free by warranty, because it has some hidden signs of being disassembled...

I think I prefer Spyderco to dismiss this clarification and continue to have great fair and honest warranty as it was printed in warranty paper included with knives.

Regards, Vassili.

[Jay_Ev]

I think it is very simple. To be in compliance with the warranty policy, keep your Spyderco knives separate from any phillips screwdrivers, torx drivers and hex drivers. Do this and you wont have any problems.

[v8r]

I used to be a Chrysler Driveability and Electronics Tech,and was a ASE Certified Master Tech.I could probably take my new GMC truck apart and get it back together in fine condition.......do you think they would warranty my truck if i took it all apart and reassembled it? I don't believe they would.I used to run in to so called "Warranty conditions" all the time.I had a customer bring in a jeep wrangler with a huge suspension lift on it.The rear pinion was pointing up at such a huge angle that the pinion bearing was not getting lubricated, and got burned up....do you think this is a warranty condition? The jeep did not come from the factory with a huge suspension lift on it, so his warranty was voided.It's simple folks unless you work for Spyderco I would suggest you leave the knife assembly/disassembly to the real experts.

Deacon I could probably field strip my 1911 blindfolded.

[nozh2002]

I used to be a Chrysler Driveability and Electronics Tech,and was a ASE Certified Master Tech.I could probably take my new GMC truck apart and get it back together in fine condition.......do you think they would warranty my truck if i took it all apart and reassembled it? I don't believe they would.I used to run in to so called "Warranty conditions" all the time.I had a customer bring in a jeep wrangler with a huge suspension lift on it.The rear pinion was pointing up at such a huge angle that the pinion bearing was not getting lubricated, and got burned up....do you think this is a warranty condition? The jeep did not come from the factory with a huge suspension lift on it, so his warranty was voided.It's simple folks unless you work for Spyderco I would suggest you leave the knife assembly/disassembly to the real experts.

Deacon I could probably field strip my 1911 blindfolded.

We are not talknig about best practice. Spyderco lowering standard in warranty. Before it was OK now it is not. Whatever reason they have - cost cutting or whatever, but before their fair, honest and proper warranty was different then now.

Now it is same as Benchmade and they just walk away once I clean and oil my knife myself.

Thanks, Vassili.

[chuck_roxas45]

We are not talknig about best practice. Spyderco lowering standard in warranty. Before it was OK now it is not. Whatever reason they have - cost cutting or whatever, but before their fair, honest and proper warranty was different then now.

Now it is same as Benchmade and they just walk away once I clean and oil my knife myself.

Thanks, Vassili.

Probably also when I tighten the screws on my knives.

[flipe8]

Probably also when I tighten the screws on my knives.

I doubt adjusting the tension will void the knives.You could always sell them. You'd probably be a lot happier. Seriously, if you've become that dissatisfied with the knives or where the company is heading, why bother with them? :confused:

[chuck_roxas45]

I doubt adjusting the tension will void the knives.You could always sell them. You'd probably be a lot happier. Seriously, if you've become that dissatisfied with the knives or where the company is heading, why bother with them? :confused:

I know I didn't disassemble them but with scratches on the screws, might I not be suspected of disassembling them? If ever I submit them for warranty work, that is.

Or rather the question is can they really tell if the knife has been disassembled or will they make that conclusion on the scratch marks on the screws?

The knives for their purpose are fine. It's just the new direction of the company that's getting to be a con(as opposed to pro) for me.

[nozh2002]

I doubt adjusting the tension will void the knives.You could always sell them. You'd probably be a lot happier. Seriously, if you've become that dissatisfied with the knives or where the company is heading, why bother with them? :confused:

It seems like boycott is very popular idea here...

Now this kind of suggestions imply that company is ignorant and do not listen to customer concerns and needs and never adjust direction even when toke wrong turn.

Why do you think Spyderco is ignorant and does not listen to their supporters?

Thanks, Vassili.