Spyderco Warranty and Repair is lacking in communication...

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
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KBR
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Spyderco Warranty and Repair is lacking in communication...

#1

Post by KBR »

First of all, I've carried Spyders and have been around the forums both here and Bladeforums, for a long time. I'm well aware that Spyderco is a small company without a huge W/R dept. but is a simple email or phone call to inform an ELU about the status of a knife they've sent in too much to ask??

I sent in my CF/M390 Military six weeks ago because of a concern that I had about the linerlock. I waited a few weeks before I called, to talk with someone in more detail about my concern, but every single call was met with the answering machine. The one time that I did get a call back was after I left a voice message that showed my agitation of not getting a return call.....which we are told that will be done within 24-48 hours after they receive the message.

I won't bore anyone with the details but I received a credit for another knife on May 24 and decided to call Spyderco on the following Tuesday(28th) and asked Terri to apply the credit towards a Techno. She said no problem, and I figured that it would be shipped by the end of the week. Out of curiosity, I sent an email this past Monday(figured I'd get a quicker response with that) to find out if the Techno had shipped, so I could keep an eye out for it. I got an email from Charlynn informing me that it would ship at the end of this week because they get items from the warehouse once a week and then ship them out.

I suppose that calling on a Tuesday is just not enough notice for a knife to be shipped out on Friday. :confused:

So, due to the excellent delivery service that ups provides :rolleyes: , I won't be getting that replacement knife until late next week or possibly the beginning of the following week! If I hadn't called/emailed in, to find out about this info, I'd be completely in the dark about this...



I've dealt with W/R in the past, many years ago, and both times I was taken care of in not even half the time that it has taken in this instance!! And back then, I didn't even have to call.....someone from Warranty and Repair called me!

I AM NOT asking for special treatment. I AM NOT asking to jump ahead in line of anyone else with warranty issues. What I AM asking for is an improvement in the communication between Spyderco and the end line user. That is all.

Thanks for your time...
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Donut
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#2

Post by Donut »

Thanks for the report, I sent one back for warranty a couple of weeks ago and am currently waiting.
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KBR
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#3

Post by KBR »

I figured on waiting two to three weeks before calling in, figuring that would be enough to let them get around to it. I also wanted to call so that I could explain the problem a little better than the description I had written on the note I sent in with the Millie.

In the time span of six weeks, I've talked with Charlynn only once on the phone and received/replied to two emails and these occasions only came about after numerous attempts that I made to contact their department. This is unacceptable, IMO.
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#4

Post by Bladekeeper »

I personally think you've caught them at a very busy time .
Or that as sometimes does happen , you'd case has slipped through being looked up a few times.
I'm in the uk and have dealt with spyderco warranty and customer care about three to four times.
On every occasion I received responses within a few hours .
Had updated communication throughout , and the replacements sent out within 48 hours.
Even when requesting catalouge not available here I've had instant replies.
Then they arrived very quickly.
I can only speak of my experience but I feel you've been unlucky rather than this being a reflection on spyderco.
Good luck hope it gets sorted .
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#5

Post by wolfgaze »

The good news is that we're dealing with pocket knives and not pacemakers. : )

I'm not poking fun or anything, just trying to add some perspective to make the situation a bit lighter. I say this because I used to work in the Service Department for a major electronics manufacturer and no matter how badly the individual employees wanted to provide the best service possible and never let a Customer down, there were always certain situations & circumstances that could arise that would prevent us from fulfilling this intention. Whether it was a shortage of manpower, delayed parts from overseas, or simply human unintentional error - it was not possible for us to be perfect 100% of the time. It was difficult to cope with for me because I was an individual who never wanted to disappoint anyone.

On the odd occasion you would get an angry/upset Customer/Consumer on the phone I always found it helpful to remind myself that we were dealing with home audio electronics and not pacemakers - and that no one was going to die if we ended up needing a few extra weeks to repair a defective receiver.

All I can say is try not to take it personal as I'm sure there is not someone on the other end who is deliberately trying to inconvenience you. Hopefully this thread or a subsequent follow up phone call will be all that is necessary to get the matter resolved once and for all. I'm sure you have some other knives that could use some attention in the interim. : )
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#6

Post by KBR »

In the 15+ years that I've bought, carried and used Spyderco knives, I've only had to deal with customer service/warranty and repair a total of three times. The two previous times were resolved in very short periods of time compared to this one. As previously stated, all I would ask for is a return email or phone call letting me know the status after I've called in. However, now that a solution to the problem has been decided upon, they choose to continue to drag it out even longer instead of just taking care of this as soon as possible.
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#7

Post by KBR »

I hear ya, Wolf. I do have my S30V Millie that I carry everyday along with a small custom fixed blade but my whole point for this is to get the communication going. My case is going to be resolved soon, hopefully, but I'm sure there are other people that may be getting this same silence.

I don't take it personal in the least... ;)
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#8

Post by jabba359 »

KBR wrote:In the 15+ years that I've bought, carried and used Spyderco knives, I've only had to deal with customer service/warranty and repair a total of three times. The two previous times were resolved in very short periods of time compared to this one. As previously stated, all I would ask for is a return email or phone call letting me know the status after I've called in. However, now that a solution to the problem has been decided upon, they choose to continue to drag it out even longer instead of just taking care of this as soon as possible.
Yes, they choose to make it as difficult as possible and want you to have a bad experience. :rolleyes: Instead of jumping to conclusions that they want to make you miserable by dragging it out, perhaps you should consider that last week was Blade (Spyderco had a large presence there) and maybe not everyone was in to take care of your problem that normally would be?

Since the booths, setup, and preparation doesn't happen by magic, employees would have to arrive at least a day, if not a few, ahead of Blade. After Blade wraps, there is another day or two of take down and travel. That means they probably traveled on Tuesday or Wednesday (you called Tuesday) set up, ran their Blade booth Fri-Sun, and packed up and returned Mon or Tues, at which point they ship your Techno out as soon as they get it in from the warehouse (late this week as they informed you).

Is that what happened? I have no idea, but seems perfectly plausible. In an instance like that, calling on Tuesday before one of their biggest tradeshows of the year is probably not early enough to get it shipped out by last Friday, which fell on day 1 of the tradeshow. Now that they are back, they are shipping it out as soon as they can.

Now don't get me wrong, I agree that it would be much better if they improved their communication and turn around time as you suggest. Service was better in past years. I think part of the problem is Spyderco's explosion in popularity the last few years and now they are experiencing some growing pains. They should adapt and grow to fix the problem. But saying they're choosing to continue to drag it out seems a bit melodramatic.
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#9

Post by MachSchnell »

By receiving credit towards the other knife, does this mean that you loose the CF Military due to exchange?

I have yet to deal with W/R, but have only used the sharpening service once, and the process was seamless, pleasing, and quick.
I'm sure they're swamped and backed up with work/show/travel, and occasional miscommunication happens.
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#10

Post by Phrenik »

Have you used their C/S a lot before? I have kind of gotten used to it. I seem to have a propensity to get "bad" ones , and have had to use warranty quite a few times. And every single time, it takes 4.5 weeks [on the quick side] - 5-6 weeks [on the longer side]. And have never gotten an email/phone/notification in between. It was always me send-->wait--> receive package. So if I have a issue I usually pair it with other stuff [like a group send in sort to speak, like wait till I have 2-3 items, whether its warranty or a sharpening] and then send it in to save on time. I did get a lecture once to not take apart my knives, and that they will know etc. [I always indicate if a certain knife has been taken apart, but those I only send in for sharpening =/ ]. So while it may be nice for them to give up to dates, whether by emailing the person a code to check on their site showing the status, or phone call, etc - I believe such a thing would be more feasible once/if they are able to expand, and create positions for that type of staff.
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#11

Post by defenestrate »

AFAIK the W&R staff are generally extremely busy and do the best they can. Perhaps it will be plausible to improve the experience for customers, but :spyder: runs a pretty tight ship and we all typically benefit, so I trust the judgment of the folks making these calls, all in all.
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#12

Post by Evil D »

People are human and make mistakes. I'm not justifying this but I can't see it happening because they just don't care or aren't trying. This is also why I'll pay extra at a brick and mortar so I can deal with exchanges and returns in person.
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#13

Post by Buck Knives I Like »

wolfgaze wrote:The good news is that we're dealing with pocket knives and not pacemakers. : )

That's sort of a lame thing to say.
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#14

Post by The Mastiff »

I have seen this at two forums. How many others have you posted your complaint on?
got an email from Charlynn informing me that it would ship at the end of this week because they get items from the warehouse once a week and then ship them out.
I suppose that calling on a Tuesday is just not enough notice for a knife to be shipped out on Friday.
Wait a minute. She is getting it out by Friday. You yourself say so.

So, due to the excellent delivery service that ups provides , I won't be getting that replacement knife until late next week or possibly the beginning of the following week! If I hadn't called/emailed in, to find out about this info, I'd be completely in the dark about this..
An exaggeration in addition to taking a needless shot at a company who you aren't supposed to be having an issue with. If you do it certainly isn't Spydercos fault.
I AM NOT asking for special treatment. I AM NOT asking to jump ahead in line of anyone else with warranty issues. What I AM asking for is an improvement in the communication between Spyderco and the end line user. That is all.
You could do that much more effectively than this post. You aren't new here by any means so I'll be blunt. You are coming across as someone who is trying to punish Spyderco with this thread, plus the one in Bladeforum. Your sourness and exaggerations work against you. It also precludes any statement from you that you might make in the future about how you are just doing this to help Spyderco.

Perhaps next time if it comes up you could just pick up a phone and call one of the supervisors at spyderco. It would probably work better than waiting until you get so mad you have a need to punish someone in a public forum while staying semi anonymous.

Dealing with negative, sour people who tend to exaggerate are part of the W&R job Charlene has to deal with routinely. This actually makes me appreciate her and the job she does even more than I did before. :)

Joe
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#15

Post by noseoil »

I had an email question about a Delica which came back in very short time, less than a day in fact. The problem arose with something I had done, not Spyderco, so I must have been one of the people who had bumped you on the line.
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#16

Post by KBR »

Joe, just to clear this up, I called and spoke with Terri LAST week(Tuesday)and found out this past Monday that the knife wouldn't ship until THIS coming Friday. From what I was told in an email.

My intention with this thread, and the one on BF, is not to 'attack' Spyderco or Charlynn. The sole purpose is to bring attention to the lack of communication that has occurred in this matter. If, and I stress the word IF, that avenue had been addressed properly then these threads would not exist.
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#17

Post by Donut »

I seem to see this all the time in business. People will try to do the most they can with the time they have, usually trying to solve the bigger problems and have a lower priority on the smaller problems.

I know that the Para 2 is selling so well that Golden is having trouble keeping up with the demand and I heard they were doing a major expansion to their production facility.

I do believe you caught them at the wrong time or that it was just a fluke, but it's good you said something. Sometimes while you're busy trying to fix things you know are wrong, you don't even know other things that aren't going right.
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#18

Post by Cliff Stamp »

The Mastiff wrote:I have seen this at two forums. How many others have you posted your complaint on?
If he had been overly positive in receiving customer service which surpassed his expectations and had noted in on multiple forums, and in fact noted it multiple times on this forum when people were discussing customer service - in that case would you make the exact same argument to imply he should not do so or do you just wish to suppress the negative information and encourage the positive?
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#19

Post by KBR »

I'm not throwing an online fit about this but rather using the forums for one of the reasons that they were intended for.....for a line of dialogue between Spyderco and the end line user. Not all discussion may be positive.
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#20

Post by linos »

So, due to the excellent delivery service that ups provides ,
An exaggeration in addition to taking a needless shot at a company who you aren't supposed to be having an issue with
....UPS blows and sucks......
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