Why doesn't Spyderco sell replacement parts?

[toyman9600]

I was out in the woods and managed to get my Resilience knife covered in some very sticky gunk. To make a long story short. I disassembled the knife and managed to loose the stop pin. When I contacted Spyderco about purchasing a replacement pin I was told that they don't sell replacement parts. I never had this problem with Kenshaw or CRKT knives. Any suggestions?

[sal]

Hi Toyman,

Welcome to our forum.

Sorry for your disappointment. The primary reasons for not supplying parts is that our models are constantly changing. We call it CQI or Constant Quality Improvement. We don't know what part will fit your knife. If you send it in, we will usually fix it. We're really not in the knife kit business, too many models. Also, taking the knife apart voids the warrantee, so you are still better off to let us repair the knife. I would guess that different companies have different policies for the reasons they have.

sal

[toyman9600]

I understand what you are saying. It's just that it doesn't really make sense to go to the expense of sending the knife in and paying the fee to have you replace a part that I freely admit was lost due to my carelessness and then paying for you to return it to me. This will probably bring the bill close to the price I can buy a new knife for. I'm not sure how frequently you change the size of a stop pin for a Resilience knife, but I'm sure even if I bought several different size pins, the cost would be less than shipping the knife back to the factory.

[araneae]

Think about the situation from the other point of view, say they ship you a few spacers and the first 1 you try works, but its actually not quite right. Now you have a potentially dangerous knife in use that could result in user harm. There is very good reason for them to want their own employees doing the repair work. We see a good handful of "I took my knife apart and I can't get it back together/stripped screws/broke piece X/it doesn't work right" type threads here every year. There are lots of people that have no issues doing the job, but Spyderco has no way of knowing if you are one of them.

You should be able to ship the knife for under $5 USPS 1st class, not so expensive. When taking a knife apart, it is a good practice to do so in a plastic tub, the fiddly parts are easy to lose as you found out. I spent a good bit of time scouring the carpet with a flashlight more than once before I wised up.

[average-Joe]

I was in the electronics business my entire life and people would tell me this as well. It didn't make sense.
They were right, but it is what it is. My products sometimes had different parts depending on S/N often.
Some products made in the same lot even contained different parts. The few times I bent the rules it usually turned out to be a disaster and a headache for me. Customers would never ever see it that way but they saw only their problem. I dealt with everyone's issues. Nobody wanted to send something in for repair which made me scratch my head since their product was no good without being fixed. I'd get others that told me other companies didn't have the same practice as I did yet for every one I'd get 20 that said otherwise. What the person often neglected to understand is that they took apart the product and afterwards something happened that made it worse.

[SpyderNut]

I believe another reason is because it is too easy for some folks to try and re-sell Spyderco parts on the secondary market.

[sal]

I might add that the construction of a product, especially a knife is made up up very close tolerance parts that are assembled by experts. The "assembly by experts" is the part most have a difficult time accepting. If a "non expert" takes the knife and puts it back together, it really isn't the same knife. We often find this problem when people take a knife apart and then sell it as "New in the box". The new customer is not pleased and sends it to us with a complaint. Since the knife was disassembled, now we have to disassemble the knife and put it back together. This assembly has a cost for which we must charge the unhappy customer who thought he had purchased a new knife. Just some thoughts to share.

sal

[TheOutdoorNerd]

That in a nutshell is why Spyderco is the only company I trust to sell me a knife held together by rivets. My favorite Native 5 doesn't come apart because it doesn't need to. Lots of their models do come apart, which I guess is nice for the people who do customization and such. But it's got to be a small group of enthusiasts who have the knowledge to actually fix them right.

Seems like that level of hardcore enthusiasts are machining their own parts and don't need the factory to help them. I think the average user is way better off letting these guys charge a fair price to make it as good as new. And it's hard not to respect their philosophy when the owner of the company visits a thread personally to let you know his reasoning. It doesn't get more legit than that.

[awa54]

While there are many knife users out there, who can disassemble a production folder and get it back together in operable, like new, or even "tuned" condition, there are also many who think they can, but are mistaken... I would really appreciate being able to buy parts, since things like a lost screw or cracked handle scale are trivial repairs for me, I also believe that I'm capable of determining the safety of a lock and correcting the interface (metal dimensions permitting), but Spyderco doesn't know me, they have no way to verify my skills and they don't want me to blame them for my damaged knife or body parts, caused when I screwed up reassembly. They also don't want to play in to or deal with my potential dissatisfaction and badmouthing of their knife if I'm the sort who blames others for their own failings.

...a great reputation is worth protecting, even from your own well meaning customers

[TheOutdoorNerd]

Agreed. A great reputation doesn't happen by accident. They see each knife in someone's hand as a reflection of them and it's hard not to respect that, even if some of their policies seem a little old fashioned. But yeah, you just know they probably have a full bin of those Resilience stop pins :)

[dubya3]

I too would like to be able to buy a part if I needed one. I like to fix my own toys if it's a knife, gun, dirtbike or whatever. It's kind of odd their policy is taking a knife apart will void the warranty and they advise against it, won't sell small parts but for awhile actually sold Endura and Delica parts kits. Weird.

[average-Joe]

What new items in life can you take apart then expect a warranty? I used too tell people all the time they could take anything apart they wanted. They owned it they can do as they please. But that didn't mean I had to warranty their item after that. Companies have to have rules and policies. Sure I honestly never had anything written in stone and my employees were given the ability to disern and bend rules. I had policies but honestly not all cases fit the policy. I've not used Spyderco warranty never had too (yet). But with all the reading I've done it seems like they try to be fair.
If someone is competent to take products apart, modify them, alter them they have should have no need for a warranty anyway. I never sold parts if the customer wanted to take apart my product I assume they would know it needed parts. Parts I never sold from day 1.

[bearfacedkiller]

This is way more of an issue for our friends overseas really. Flat rate shipping in the states is pretty cheap. For the folks that have to pay international shipping this is a bummer for sure. I live right next to the SFO so I just have to stop by on my lunch break so I am spoiled.

[demoncase]

While there are many knife users out there, who can disassemble a production folder and get it back together in operable, like new, or even "tuned" condition, there are also many who think they can, but are mistaken......a great reputation is worth protecting, even from your own well meaning customers

I can't agree enough!- Lord preserve us all from the 'enthusiastic amateur' with more eagerness than skill.

I've seen enough dangerous results from amateur 'gunsmiths' or car & bike 'enthusiasts' down the years to make me very careful when it comes to 'rebuilt' or 'remastered' folding knives.

[abbazaba]

How about clips? I needed a new clip for my Dragonfly2 and was quoted $6. Meanwhile Benchmade, ZT, and Kershaw will all send new clips for free without question. A steep $6 for replacement wire clip was a bit of a turn off.

[toyman9600]

Isn't it strange that gun manufacturers like Glock, S&W, Ruger.... not only allow users to disassemble their hand guns for cleaning, but recommend that they do so. They even include tools and instructions with the guns to do just that. I'm not sure I would ever buy a hand gun from a manufacturer that required me to send it in every time I wanted it cleaned. Perhaps the gun manufacturers have more faith in the users ability to do minor fixes to their guns than Spyderco has. BTW does moving the pocket clip from one of the four position to another on the knife also void the warranty? Are we required to send in the knife for a clip repositioning fee?

[toyman9600]

Hi Toyman,

Welcome to our forum.

Sorry for your disappointment. The primary reasons for not supplying parts is that our models are constantly changing. We call it CQI or Constant Quality Improvement. We don't know what part will fit your knife. If you send it in, we will usually fix it. We're really not in the knife kit business, too many models. Also, taking the knife apart voids the warrantee, so you are still better off to let us repair the knife. I would guess that different companies have different policies for the reasons they have.

sal

Sal, If I send my knife in with a check for $25 to cover the $20 fee + the $5 shipping fee, will Spyderco replace the stop pin and return the knife? I'd be perfectly happy with that.

Howard

[average-Joe]

Guns have to be cleaned. They are designed in a fashion for the user to clean them.

[sal]

Hi Howard,

That would be my guess. I'll alert Charlynn to be aware of it.

sal

[MichaelScott]

Isn't it strange that gun manufacturers like Glock, S&W, Ruger.... not only allow users to disassemble their hand guns for cleaning, but recommend that they do so. They even include tools and instructions with the guns to do just that. I'm not sure I would ever buy a hand gun from a manufacturer that required me to send it in every time I wanted it cleaned. Perhaps the gun manufacturers have more faith in the users ability to do minor fixes to their guns than Spyderco has. BTW does moving the pocket clip from one of the four position to another on the knife also void the warranty? Are we required to send in the knife for a clip repositioning fee?

I would say that common sense is needed here.
Obviously, the knife is designed and made to offer the owner the choice of clip position. Common sense would tell us that moving the clip, as designed, is not a warranty problem. I don't think you meant that seriously.

Guns are also designed to be dismantled to a small degree in order to facilitate cleaning. Spyderco knives are not. Cleaning instructions are available on the website.

If something malfunctions that is not your fault, the warranty will likely cover it. If otherwise, just consider the repair fee payment for a lesson learned.

Have I disassembled my Delica 4? Yes. Did I get it back together ok? Yes. Would I ship it back to Spyderco and pay to have it repaired if I had not? Yes. That's just the way it goes.

Do I buy knives from companies that will ship me free clips? No. Why? I want a quality knife and I'm willing to pay a reasonable price for a replacement part.

Life presents many choices.