Bad Customer Service

[GoJuGuy628]

I recently had 2 of my Spyderco knives sent in for repair. My Endura 4 FFG, which had severe vertical blade play, as well as a pocket clip that would not screw into the handle, and my Manix 2, which had horizontal blade play. Both had recently been sharpened by myself and I was feeling pretty good about them despite their problems. They were even two of my favorite and most carried knife designs. And so I eagerly waited for their return after sending them out. Upon receiving the package I was very excited, but the problems began once I opened it. First I was greeted by a letter from Spyderco denying that there was any blade play in the Manix 2, even though it is evident if you put more than the slightest bit of force into wiggling the blade. I was pretty annoyed at that point, considering that I had to pay around the equivalent of $100USD for that knife, and I have $10 Kershaws with rock solid lockups. Next I was surprised so see that the letter also said that my knife had received a sharpening. I wasn't too mad at this, because although I had put a near-mirror edge on that Manix in the past, it had dulled a bit through use and the Spyderco factory edges I'd dealt with previously would probably be about on par or slightly better than what I'd sent it off with. However, when I opened the box, I found, sure enough, that a) The blade play was still present and b)The sharpening job was botched. A ridiculous amount of material had been removed, so as to make the grind extremely broad and fragile, and basically to prevent me or anyone else from sharpening it again, lest it become too obtuse. Where the sharpening ended near the finger choil was a very abrupt and awkward "J" shape in the bevel. And sure enough, it was butter-knife dull. I opened the Endura's box, thinking that it couldn't get any worse, and it did. The only issue fixed was the pocket clip, and the blade play was there IN FULL despite Spyderco having claimed to have fixed it and then there's there's the sharpening. The Sharpening I got on the Endura was absolutely embarrassing, and again, I had never asked for it. The grind angle varied wildly throughout the blade, going from worryingly thin to insanely obtuse. Again, the sharpening ended in a "J" shape and like the Manix, so much material had been removed that it would be very difficult to sharpen. And again, the knife came butter-knife dull. I have sent an Email and I sincerely hope that Spyderco is able to replace the blades of these knives, as well as the faulty mechanisms causing the blade play. These are two of my favorite knives, and I don't want to lose faith in what was one of my favorite knife companies.

[Flipping Addict]

Can't vote cuz have never sent anything in, but if mine came back like that I'd be mad too. Sorry for your experience. All I can say is wait for their response and see if they make it right. Bet they will. If they won't make it right then, yeah, I'd right em off. I love my Spydies, but I am no fanboy of ANY company.

[ZrowsN1s]

I recently had 2 of my Spyderco knives sent in for repair. These are two of my favorite knives, and I don't want to lose faith in what was one of my favorite knife companies.

Hi GoJuGuy, welcome to the forum. Sorry this was the circumstance that brought you here for your first post. I'm not sure how this will go for you, but in my experience spyderco is pretty fair, give them some time to respond to your email and hopefully it will be resolved amicably.

[Liquid Cobra]

Can't both be sue my option isn't listed. I sent in a starmate with a poor detent. They didn't repair it...they sent me a brand new one :D

[JRinFL]

I have never sent one in, so I cannot vote. I will say that if what you describe is accurate then it is unacceptable service and must be made right. I suspect they will take care of you.

[AwayFromMySpydieHole]

The "j" shape near the ricasso is a big problem with spyderco as of late I hate to say. Something is going on with their method of sharpening lately, which is both removing way too much material and simultaneously terminating the plunge too early. Effectively leaving 1/16 to 1/8 (yes, I have a knife that bad) of the blade heel unsharpened.


It's ugly, and amateur to be honest. The biggest trouble is the amount of material removed needlessly.

Before anyone starts, please don't come at me like I have something against spyderco. Unless you own over a few hundred spyderco's I'm almost certain I own more than you do. Probably more than 2x. I love spyderco, but I'll also call a spade a spade.

[tripscheck'em]

Customer service seems good. Sal is accommodating and I was sent some Spyderco stickers back with my knife, it didn't have s90v printed on it initially. My only complaint was that when I called about a torx screw missing upon return, the woman I spoke to kinda had an attitude and her tone implied I was lying and trying to screw Spyderco out of a screw.

[nikolasga20]

I send in 5 knives with blade too I got back 3 of them back with same blade play and my paramilitary got eversharpened 1inch over where choil ends so I had to trow 120 dollars knife to trash because it isn't usable anymore

[bearfacedkiller]

I have had good luck with repairs myself. I did send one in that I specifically asked them not to sharpen and they did anyway. Thankfully they put a perfect bevel on it.

Can we get some pics of the edges?

[AwayFromMySpydieHole]

Customer service seems good. Sal is accommodating and I was sent some Spyderco stickers back with my knife, it didn't have s90v printed on it initially. My only complaint was that when I called about a torx screw missing upon return, the woman I spoke to kinda had an attitude and her tone implied I was lying and trying to screw Spyderco out of a screw.

Ahh yes, Charlene. I'm not going to say anything other than when anyone says a lady at spyderco had an attitude or was rude for whatever reason, it's Charlene. Seems to be a common theme.

[bearfacedkiller]

Well, their W&R department is more or less just one person so it would seem obvious that the same name would keep coming up. I have met her in person quite a few times and she is super nice. I no longer live in Denver and have only had to deal with her once since moving but again she was super nice and sent me a frame screw for a Military which is not standard practice for Spyderco. She wanted a picture of the knife missing the screw which I gave her and she sent it right out for free. I chose not to be insulted or feel questioned by her asking for a pic of the knife but instead just figured that she was looking out for Spyderco in some way. I could have been insulted I guess (?) and things could have taken a turn in the wrong direction but that doesn't do anybody any good. I was polite, she was polite and my knife is back up and running for free.

[017]

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[Bloke]

I was polite, she was polite and my knife is back up and running for free.

:) :cool:

[AwayFromMySpydieHole]

Well, their W&R department is more or less just one person so it would seem obvious that the same name would keep coming up. I have met her in person quite a few times and she is super nice. I no longer live in Denver and have only had to deal with her once since moving but again she was super nice and sent me a frame screw for a Military which is not standard practice for Spyderco. She wanted a picture of the knife missing the screw which I gave her and she sent it right out for free. I chose not to be insulted or feel questioned by her asking for a pic of the knife but instead just figured that she was looking out for Spyderco in some way. I could have been insulted I guess (?) and things could have taken a turn in the wrong direction but that doesn't do anybody any good. I was polite, she was polite and my knife is back up and running for free.

I've never personally had a problem, although I've used their warranty very rarely. Last time was in 2009 I believe. But, at that time I was a little less than pleased.

I sent back an M4 tan manix that had blade play in the closed position so bad that the blade touched the liner when closed. The blade would literally rattle back and forth from center, to sitting on the liner. Locked open, all good. I spent the money to send the knife in and got it back with a note saying it was in spec...... which is obviously untrue if someone looked at the knife. Unless spyderco considers a blade scraping the liner when closed in spec.


I just got in the habit of buying from places with good return policies and looking the knives over well when I get them. The sharpening this is a problem, and needs to be fixed.

I even made a thread specifically about this sharpening problem over at the other forum, and Sal said he'd have Eric look at it. Hopefully he did, because there is something going on with their edges lately. The actual edge finish and sharpness are great, but there is WAY too much material being removed and that ugly "J" shape near the ricasso along with the 1/16 to 1/8 of unsharpened blade is just nasty.

Obviously, I'm addicted to the knives and will continue to buy them no matter what. But here's hoping...

[bearfacedkiller]

Ahh yes, Charlene. I'm not going to say anything other than when anyone says a lady at spyderco had an attitude or was rude for whatever reason, it's Charlene. Seems to be a common theme.

I've never personally had a problem, although I've used their warranty very rarely. Last time was in 2009 I believe. But, at that time I was a little less than pleased.

I sent back an M4 tan manix that had blade play in the closed position so bad that the blade touched the liner when closed. The blade would literally rattle back and forth from center, to sitting on the liner. Locked open, all good. I spent the money to send the knife in and got it back with a note saying it was in spec...... which is obviously untrue if someone looked at the knife. Unless spyderco considers a blade scraping the liner when closed in spec.

You say you have never personally had a problem and then go on to describe your problem. You then say you haven't used W&R for 8 years but you still drag someones name through the mud while at the same time spelling it wrong? :confused: It's Charlynn btw. :D

[Bill1170]

I've never sent anything in for repair at Spyderco, so I didn't vote in the poll.

[Bodog]

I have a strong feeling that a lot of defective knives are returned to the place of purchase and then recycled through until a customer accepts whatever is bought without the majority of customers sending anything at all to spyderco. Most people don't think twice about a warranty on a pocket knife. If everyone sent to Spyderco their knives that had something actually wrong with them I think Spyderco would rethink some certain QC practices. They'd definitely need more than a couple of people in their warranty and repair dept.

But sure, I think the majority of knives sent out are likely fine or Spyderco probably wouldn't be in business. People don't like the spyderhole and good ergonomics and reasonably thin blades enough to buy crap over and over. I just think Spyderco (and a lot of their fans) is blind to a lot of what's happening with their knives, or at least unwilling or unable to stop it.

Just look at the karahawk. In another thread spyderco basically said they accept poor fit on the coated version because they can't figure out a way to make them fit together properly and keep the coating intact. Well, in my mind they shouldn't have that version on the market if they can't do it right, but there it is. Right out in the open. Spyderco accepts piss poor fitment of their black karahawks because they can't sand it down to actually look and function as nice as their non-coated model.

It does raise some questions. The whole advocate mess and red loctite and warranty issued and other situations do raise these concerns. Would I make the same decisions if it was my company? I don't know. I'm not walking in those shoes. But yeah, as a customer concerns are raised whether the company I buy a product from willingly let's something less than ideal out the door because they can't get it right but don't want to lose the money already invested in the product and then hope that the warranty policies are enough to deter people from sending the product back to the company, costing money. There's definitely no disclaimer on the boxes saying "this model has problems and the problems are necessary due to XYZ." No, they're getting sent out and the problems are only addressed if there's no other alternative or way to juke away from the issue.

I'd like to say that if the product doesn't meet reasonable standards that it won't be let out the door, but that karahawk thread was an eye opener. It isn't safe to say that Spyderco absolutely will not allow (within reason) less than good products out into the wild. Shoot, man, even when describing horrible blade play and terrible fit, Mike Janich basically said deal with it, that's how they are. So that means that the black karahawk is within specs regardless of how bad it is. There was no statement of "wow, that's bad, send it back so we can get you a good one." That WAS a good one according to a spyderco rep.

But spyderco still offers types of knives that other companies shy away from. If they stop doing that or other companies start, then some real gritty decisions will have to be made behind the doors at spyderco.

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[AwayFromMySpydieHole]

Ahh yes, Charlene. I'm not going to say anything other than when anyone says a lady at spyderco had an attitude or was rude for whatever reason, it's Charlene. Seems to be a common theme.

I've never personally had a problem, although I've used their warranty very rarely. Last time was in 2009 I believe. But, at that time I was a little less than pleased.

I sent back an M4 tan manix that had blade play in the closed position so bad that the blade touched the liner when closed. The blade would literally rattle back and forth from center, to sitting on the liner. Locked open, all good. I spent the money to send the knife in and got it back with a note saying it was in spec...... which is obviously untrue if someone looked at the knife. Unless spyderco considers a blade scraping the liner when closed in spec.

You say you have never personally had a problem and then go on to describe your problem. You then say you haven't used W&R for 8 years but you still drag someones name through the mud while at the same time spelling it wrong? :confused: It's Charlynn btw. :D

I've never personally had a problem (with Charlynn having an attitude). Guess I should have finished the sentence as to not offend anyone's delicate sensibilities.

[bearfacedkiller]

Or just to be more clear?

My sensibilities are not offended and we have no need to make this personal, I was just pointing out some nonsensical statements. You stand by them and that is fine. We have no need to continue.

[aesmith]

Just one experience, which was perfectly fine. It was Charlynn I dealt with.