Sent Brouwer in for bottoming out lock. Returned completely untouched

[jarvis959]

For context, I sent in my Spyderco Brouwer for repair about a month ago due to a lock that was completely bottoming out and had significant up and down blade play as well as a blade that refused to center no matter how tight the pivot was turned. The knife was bought at the end of October last year directly from BladeHQ and the model itself was only released just over a year ago. To my understanding, light use in the form of cardboard and tape cutting should not wear a framelock with a steel insert this quickly. The knife itself arrived with lockup ˜75% brand new but I trusted spyderco to know what they were doing when it came to locks.

I fully understand that any kind of modification voids the warranty of a spyderco and my knife has the spine ground down to be more angular. This was done disassembled with a slow grinder, brand new belt, and very frequent water cooling. The entire pivot area was also completely covered to prevent anything from touching the lock face/pivot at all, but I mentioned this in the letter included with the knife that also specified exactly what was wrong. I also offered to pay however much it would cost to fix because I knew that technically my warranty was voided even if the modification did nothing to change the lockup or centering.

LETTER: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qI_ ... p=drivesdk

Spyderco replied to be in the form of a letter saying they would fix the knife if I were to assist by sending $5 in for shipping back. I complied the next day by credit card over the phone with one of their representatives. On the phone I also had the opportunity to confirm that they knew what the issue was.

IMAGES AND SPYDERCO'S LETTERS TO ME https://imgur.com/gallery/5N7qJo5
CENTERING: http://imgur.com/a/7laqWqf

Today, i received the knife back and to my dismay it appears neither the centering nor the vertical play/bottomed out lockup has been touched at all. The only change I can see is that they aggressively sharpened the knife. I am very disappointed with the service and was just hoping to have a knife i really liked back in rotation.

[JonLeBlanc]

Hmm, will be interesting to see what comes of this...

[Joey]

Probably internal miscommunication, if I had to guess. I wouldn’t worry, Spyderco is known for making it right.

[Wartstein]

For context, I sent in my Spyderco Brouwer for repair ...

So: As far as I understand you sent the knife in and it came back not repaired in the way you expected, or was agreed on or even not repaired at all.

Next thing is: You post that here in the forum, without beforehand contacting Spyderco just one more time to ask them what went wrong and give them a chance to make it right?

Don´t get me wrong, I understand that you´re disappointed, and it is your right to express that here, no doubt.
But - with all due respect - I also think you´re maybe a bit overreacting. Probably it was just a Spyderco-intern misconception, which can happen in a (for the knife branch) rather large company, even if they have a good service generally.

Again, no offense, just my thoughts on this!

[jarvis959]

Probably internal miscommunication, if I had to guess. I wouldn’t worry, Spyderco is known for making it right.

For context, I sent in my Spyderco Brouwer for repair ...

So: As far as I understand you sent the knife in and it came back not repaired in the way you expected, or was agreed on or even not repaired at all.

Next thing is: You post that here in the forum, without beforehand so contacting Spyderco just one more time to ask them what went wrong and give them a chance to make it right?

Don´t get me wrong, I understand that you´re disappointed, and it is your right to express that here, no doubt.
But - with all due respect - I also think you´re maybe a bit overreacting. Probably it was just a Spyderco-intern misconception, which can happen in a (for the knife branch) rather large company, even if they have a good service generally.

Again, no offense, just my thoughts on this!

I would've assumed they thought I was sending it in for factory resharpening or something but on top of the letter I included, I also paid the requested money over the phone which let me confirm that they knew what was wrong with the knife AND the letter included with the knife sent back states that they REPAIRED the knife despite my knife not being covered under warranty due to disassembly, sharpening, modification, abuse, or normal wear or tear.


If the knife could not be repaired or they did not want to due to voiding of the warranty they should have just said it instead of charging me and then chastising me for voiding the warranty while telling me they had fixed it despite my actions.

[soulspy]

Hope they figure something out. While you did do significant alterations, I don't think that is why your knife is acting up.

My Brouwer has always has a spongy and soft lock bar. I have never seen another lock bar with the strange angle that mine has. Almost like there's two bends in the lock bar. The lock bar cutout seems large as well, like too much material is missing to keep the springiness.

I love the knife and I carry it frequently, but the lock bar in the Brouwer has always struck me as a design flaw. It does not look like any other framelock I've ever seen.

[JonLeBlanc]

Well ok, have you tried contacting them back to see if they can try again? As the guys above said, it may have just been an oversight (compounded with misunderstanding), and sometimes things happen... But as has also been said, Spyderco is good at making things right, so why not just see if they do. I can understand wanting your Brouwer made whole :cool:

[jdw]

They called me requesting payment for stripped torx screws that they installed. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[phaust]

Any modification breaks the warranty, disassembly too oftentimes.

Yes, this isn't what they say is the warranty, but every time someone sends in an obviously disassembled or modified knife, their presumption from CS or the warranty department is the modifications/disassembly caused the problem. Plenty of examples of this on the forum here. Best advice for future readers is go into modification or disassembly knowing it probably voids the warranty. It doesn't matter that those things aren't related to the issue.

Sorry it ended for you that way. It does seem strange they said it would get fixed and then didn't. It might be worth contacting again to see what they say.

By the way, I really like that blade mod.

[jarvis959]

Any modification breaks the warranty, disassembly too oftentimes.

Yes, this isn't what they say is the warranty, but every time someone sends in an obviously disassembled or modified knife, their presumption from CS or the warranty department is the modifications/disassembly caused the problem. Plenty of examples of this on the forum here. Best advice for future readers is go into modification or disassembly knowing it probably voids the warranty. It doesn't matter that those things aren't related to the issue.

Sorry it ended for you that way. It does seem strange they said it would get fixed and then didn't. It might be worth contacting again to see what they say.

By the way, I really like that blade mod.

and I would have accepted that too if they had just told me that instead of telling me they would fix it in writing after seeing the knife and verbally confirming such over the phone. I just called in again and the representative over the phone stated that the warranty team found nothing wrong other than that it needed cleaning. when I told him that I was physically holding the knife at that very moment and I could clearly feel the up /down play and see the lock bar fully contacting the other side of the liner he just told me to send it in again. if it goes through their factory sharpening again, I'll have a Texas toothpick!

[ABX2011]

That's disappointing. Would be interested in seeing a photo of the lockup if you don't mind posting one.

[jarvis959]

That's disappointing. Would be interested in seeing a photo of the lockup if you don't mind posting one.

I linked multiple pictures including before and afters as well as communications ive had with Spyderco in my initial post

[ABX2011]

So the detent ball is hitting the scale when opened? Hard to tell from the photo. That lockup is very late though. I just got a Mantra 2 and it locks up late. The lock moves all the way over under heavy cutting pressure. But lockup is solid. Detent ball has space between scale.

[jarvis959]

So the detent ball is hitting the scale when opened? Hard to tell from the photo. That lockup is very late though. I just got a Mantra 2 and it locks up late. The lock moves all the way over under heavy cutting pressure. But lockup is solid. Detent ball has space between scale.

yup when flicked open it completely contacts the other liner and with it pushed all the way over there is still up and down play. If i unlock it and gently let the lockbar sit back in to lockup there will be a bit of space in between that disappears again as soon as pressure is applied to the cutting side of the blade. My mantra 1 also locks up at around 75 as of now. Come to think of it, every Taichung framelock/linerlock/comp lock (techno, mantra, brouwer, sage 5) I've had has a very late lockup straight from the factory. The Brouwer just ended up a little worse for wear i guess because all the other ones stayed right where they were originally set.

[JRinFL]

That is very disappointing and does nothing to inspire confidence. I thought one of the main reasons for the lock-bar insert was to make repairs easier and extend the life of frame locks, but I guess I was wrong.

[The Mastiff]

They replied in the letter that they did the best they could on the knife. They also state it is out of warranty and give reasons or examples why. They also tell you that you aren't eligible for a replacement. I guess you already knew that.

If the knife was still under warranty they wouldn't have asked for the $5 for return shipping, right? That isn't a lot of money to return the knife especially to another country.

By the way, did you do the work on the blade? How difficult is it to do that? Are you using a belt grinder? It's a cool mod.

Good luck!

Joe

[jarvis959]

They replied in the letter that they did the best they could on the knife. They also state it is out of warranty and give reasons or examples why. They also tell you that you aren't eligible for a replacement. I guess you already knew that.

If the knife was still under warranty they wouldn't have asked for the $5 for return shipping, right? That isn't a lot of money to return the knife especially to another country.

By the way, did you do the work on the blade? How difficult is it to do that? Are you using a belt grinder? It's a cool mod.

Good luck!

Joe

I was aware of the inelegibility and went in to the mod knowing it would void the warranty even if done perfectly. I offered to pay if necessary for it to be repaired but Spyderco offered to fix it without charge and ended up not doing it whilst also including a letter saying they "did despite not having to" which was the part that is most upsetting.


Yeah I did the regrinding on the spine myself with a low speed grinder. Ive got a fair amount of experience grinding steel from the fixed blades I make in my spare time but i think its simple enough that anyone could do it. You're not touching the actual bevels or anything and even if you screw up you can just grind a little deeper and sacrifice a bit of blade length. Just have to watch the heat and cool frequently. Dont want the metal to ever get too hot to touch or youll damage the HT.

[aaronkb]

Frustrating as ****... it sounds from the letter (which a lot of commenters clearly didn’t read) like they’re calling that normal wear and tear? I tend to think of spydercos as my most durable knives, but this would indicate that spyderco customer service disagrees...

[murphjd25]

That is very disappointing. I’d be pissed as **** too.

[MichaelScott]

Spyderco’s first letter states (as near as I can make it out, it is much harder to read than the second letter for some reason) that they are pleased to offer you a complimentary refurbishment and sharpening if you provide the return shipping. It’s a form letter addressed to “Spyderco Customer” not to you. It now appears that Spyderco didn’t promise to repair anything either for money or for free.

Their second letter, which is much more readable than the first states:

“…is not replaceable under warranty or repairable to original factory condition. It has been sharpened and/or reconditioned as best as possible.”

Spyderco gets to make the call about warranty and repair work. You obviously disassembled, made major modifications then reassembled it. I would think that played a big part in their decision.

Also, they could sharpen or recondition or both. They seemed to have chosen only sharpening. So they weren’t inaccurate in their response.

From the evidence in the two letters I think you sent your knife for complimentary sharpening and refurbishment but now expect me to believe that wasn’t true, but that Spyderco promised you that they would fix it as you earlier stated saying “…Spyderco offered to fix it without charge.”

Perhaps you should post a clear and readable photo of that first letter addressed to “Spyderco Customer” so we can be certain of the conditions.

Finally, instead of making your case to Spyderco you make misleading, if not false statements here insinuating that the company does not honor their agreements. The evidence doesn’t support your continuing disparagement.