Customer service blows.

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
User avatar
skcusloa
Member
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

Customer service blows.

#1

Post by skcusloa »

I've sent 2 emails and I've called once. I've allowed over a week and I've recieved no reply. When I call, all I get is a machine and I called during their business hours. 4-6 weeks is HORRIBLY long time to wait.



Why am I contacting them? Because my knife is DEFECTIVE. I should be able to call, get a real person, discuss it, and they should send me a new non defective knife. They can have this defective thing back.



I've never ran into something like this with a high quality product. Every other time I've bought something that's better than 99% of the other stuff out their I've been impressed by their service. They either replace or repair it NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I've called RC car companies and they've sent me 30 and 40 dollar parts without even confirming that I own what I'm talking about.



I work at a Nissan dealership. People break things on their car, like mirrors, ripped holes in seats, ENGINES, ripped off visors and we replace them for free no questions asked.



Why? So they tell their friends that their problem was solved with no hassle. Then their friends come and buy stuff from us.



It's a hassle to send a DEFECTIVE knife and wait up to 6 weeks for it and PAY FOR SHIPPING!



I will never purchase anything else from Spyderco.





Edited by - skcusloa on 5/20/2004 11:34:14 AM
User avatar
J Smith
Member
Posts: 7105
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Harriman TN USA

#2

Post by J Smith »

Most of the time Spydercos service is top notch but they have been reworking that dept and it has been posted that things will be very slow for a couple weeks.

<img src=http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink36.gif
User avatar
skcusloa
Member
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

#3

Post by skcusloa »

So because they're reworking the department they can't answer their phone?
User avatar
J Smith
Member
Posts: 7105
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Harriman TN USA

#4

Post by J Smith »

Well if they are short staffed and moveing thigs around,yes they may not be able to awnser.
Have you tried calling SFO or another extension.
The number for SFO is 1-800-828-1925


<img src=http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink36.gif

Edited by - J Smith on 5/20/2004 9:41:42 AM
The Saint
Member
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Kitchener Canada

#5

Post by The Saint »

I fail to see what sort of incentive they now have to help you with your problems when you've stated that you will never again buy another Spyderco product.

For best results, be civil, and be patient. No one likes a ***, and chances are *pretty* good that they're not trying to be evasive.
User avatar
HoB
Member
Posts: 1520
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Lexington, MA USA

#6

Post by HoB »

skcusloa, I don't know how to say this politely, and I am probably going to eat my words, but you are extremly annoying....and way too aggressive.

If I would have to take a guess, I would say you are a 19 year old wannabe tough guy, who can't wait to turn 21 to be able to buy his first gun, to do some very dumb things with it. (this is also based on your current ridiculus post on the MBC forum, where you try telling Mr. Janich how self defense should be done). I told you that you might have to wait for about 3 weeks till you get your knife back, not 6 weeks, I don't even know were you get this from, but I don't really care, you are simply unreasonable. And if you would have sent your Spydie in when you first noticed the problem, you would probably have it back already!

Edited by - HoB on 5/20/2004 11:06:58 AM
User avatar
skcusloa
Member
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Oklahoma
Contact:

#7

Post by skcusloa »

I own several firearms and I have access to pistols. I haven't even pointed a firearm at someone. I don't plan on pointing a gun at anyone.

So, emailing and waiting 2 weeks for a reply(recieving NONE), and calling several times (DURING THEIR BUSINESS HOURS AT THEIR CONVENIENCE)wanting to talk to an official spyderco employee (NOT A MACHINE) to confirm that the knife is truly defective is aggressive?

When I spend good money I plan on being satisfied, don't you? So if you bought something off of someone and discovered it was defective and they did NOTHING to help you, you'd be willing to buy something from them again?

Wannabe tough guy? I haven't been in a fight since the fifth grade. Yes I consider myself tough. I have a high threshold for pain.

I got the 6 week figure from their computer answering system.
rycen
Member
Posts: 2327
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: U.S.A. Earth

#8

Post by rycen »

First of all I am not going to comment about your problem with Spyderco CS.I do have a question for you.If even 10% of what you say about the Nissan dealership is true then it must be #1 in the world.
Mt Goat
Member
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Morrison USA

#9

Post by Mt Goat »

I don't know about SKCUSLOA's earlier posts,but he is right on with this one. My own experience is this: I purchased a new Gunting from NGK that had the blade contacting the steel liners. I could have sent it back to NGK for my money back which they gladly would have given me, but this was one of those rare S30V PE Guntings. I wanted the knife I bought to work correctly and I also wanted to test out Spyderco's W/R service.

In my opinion, a knife of this level should never have left the factory in this condition and is representative of poor QC. I hand delivered the knife to Mike in W/R 7 weeks ago and was promised a replacement in a week. After 4 weeks in W/R I called Mike and after 4 calls (one every day) I received a return call that my knife would be worked on soon. So far no knife and no status update to my call today.

Part of the price of a knife is the cost of customer service, warranty and repair and quality control. I do not feel we are getting our money's worth in these areas these days from Spyderco. I own over 40 Spydercos and don't plan on buying anymore until they get their act together.
User avatar
Jimmy_Dean
Member
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Montreal Canada

#10

Post by Jimmy_Dean »

Keep cool my babies! I think this guy is right on some points and wrong on others. When I had problems with my Endura, I emailed the company and never had a reply. If that's what you base your judgment on, well you could be right, I expected a better service here. However, I did call the company and talked to a very nice lady who told me where to send the knife and that it was going to cost me only 5$ even if I live in Canada. The knife is not back yet but will be shortly I hope and I'm confident it will come back better than new. That's good customer service. Their machine does say it can take up to 6 weeks and that's where you have to be patient and relax. I'm with you about the money. I don't have too much of it and when I spend some on a quality knife I want it to work but ****, you could buy a Ferrari and not get the customer service Spyderco has. They are nice people and they work hard to make you a good product. Mail the knife and wait. Or you can just throw this one away, since you won't buy another SPyderco of your life. Just out of curiosity, what knife is it and what's defective about it?

-Dean

P.S. by the way, I'm glad I now know you have a high threshold for pain.
Mt Goat
Member
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Morrison USA

#11

Post by Mt Goat »

Jimmy Dean -

Good luck with that better than new expectation on your Endura repair. I brought to Spyderco a Chinook I that during normal opening and closing use began to fall apart. This knife essentially had never been used. W/R said the knife was defective and I got it back in 2 weeks, which is the level of service that I expect. Unfortunately, the knife needs to go back as there is more vertical and lateral blade play than the knife had when new. Also, now the blade contacts the steel liner, which never was a problem before.
User avatar
Jimmy_Dean
Member
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Montreal Canada

#12

Post by Jimmy_Dean »

What you're saying certainly worries me but what can I say? I can only hope for the best. The endura was my first experience with Spyderco and I still hope what they will do to my knife will win me back. I'll give you news when I have some. However, most people who had problems with the lock of their first Dodo for example, had their problem solved pretty quickly and are now happy campers. At least I did what I was saying: sent the knife and wait.

-Dean

Edited by - Jimmy_Dean on 5/20/2004 2:00:36 PM
User avatar
Jimd
Member
Posts: 3245
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Allentown, PA USA

#13

Post by Jimd »

I don't see that the gentlemen is being all that unreasonable; he simply wants a reply to his queries, and I don't think a few weeks for a simple reply is reasonable.

Does Spyderco have THAT many knives coming back to warranty/repair?! And if so, the next question I have would be "WHY"??

Hey, I can understand a day or two delay in them getting back to you, but come on...two weeks?

I also agree with the money issue; it frustrates people to have to pay to send back a defective product that should have been functional to begin with. It's not the buyer's fault that the product is defective.

And before anyone jumps on my case, I've dealt with Mike in W/R when I had to return my Dodo last year, so I have experience with the process.

Sniper -- One Shot, One Kill Email: ST8PEN01@aol.com
User avatar
Jimmy_Dean
Member
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Montreal Canada

#14

Post by Jimmy_Dean »

Jim, I always appreciate your input. You're asking good questions and I wish Mr. Glesser would comment on that. When I joined the forum, everybody was in awe for the suctomer service so I assumed it could only be great but now that my knife is in their hands, I hope it will be what I expect. But, unless I'm wrong Jim, you were one of those who were praising their CS, right?

-Dean
User avatar
timlara
Member
Posts: 1447
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Lakewood, CO

#15

Post by timlara »

Hey guys - I do not dispute that you have some valid complaints here, but as Jeff mentioned above, Sal has stated recently that Spyderco is going through a temporary lapse in the quality of the warranty department. See Sal's comments in this thread on BladeForums:

<a href="http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... p?t=299324" target=blank>http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... =299324</a>

Based on Sal's comments, it sounds like it is very likely that he would agree that your recent experiences are not acceptable examples of the Spyderco brand of customer service. I think that if you just give the company a little bit more time to make things right, you will be satisfied in the end.

One of the pitfalls of smaller companies like Spyderco is that they do not always have enough resources to compensate for mistakes or poor employee performance right away. Smaller companies depend on each individual employee more than large companies do. By contrast, Microsoft could hire or fire 500 people in a day and it would be very unlikely that any of its customers would even notice. A company like Spyderco, on the other hand, has to put a lot of faith and trust in its employees. When everyone does their job efficiently, things are great, but if even a few people drop the ball, it is a lot more obvious. I still think the rewards reaped when everything works out as planned are worth the risk of being dissatisfied once in a while when mistakes happen.

As an example, my employer spends thousands and thousands of dollars with Microsoft, yet the customer support we receive is consistently terrible. I can almost always get a human on the phone, but 9 times out of 10, they turn out to be completely incapable of answering my questions. I'd rather leave a message on a machine for someone who knows what they're doing if I had the choice...

Edited by - timlara on 5/20/2004 3:26:05 PM
User avatar
ceya
Member
Posts: 1048
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am

#16

Post by ceya »

skcusloa,
What kind of knife you have? I will do this for you if I have the knife in my collection or on hand.
I will trade you a perfectly good one for the defective one.

If not I will BUY one and trade a good one for your defective one.

NO!, I am not a dealer but a long time Spyderco user and have faith in what Sal and Company has done with the knife industry that I will back them up.

S/F,
CEYA! Ceya Knife DesignZ

Proud Graduate of USMC Grunt University!
Kaizer
Member
Posts: 273
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Bangalore India
Contact:

#17

Post by Kaizer »

Hi,

Totally agree with what Mr. Jim from Allentown , PA said.

I also believe i understand the frustration of skcusloa. I guess the right thing to do, sk, is to wait a bit as things will eventually work out inteh end for you.

The unreturned calls / emails is, i think, an anomaly for the time being. It is temporary. And it will be resolved.

Just hang in there...

Kaizer.

OBTW, lets not flare up, shall we? lets try and keep our emotions under control eh? we're not children anymore. and please i am not addressing this to anyone in particular but to all of us reading this particualr thread.

HAve a great day,
Kaizer.

A door half open is a door half closed. But a knife half open is a knife fully closed.
jaxon
Member
Posts: 867
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: SGV, CA USA

#18

Post by jaxon »

I have never had to use or need for service from Spyderco W&R but this sounds like an anomaly from what I've ever heard about <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>co excellent customer service. Sal and company have always been first class people both personally and professionaly. Everybody just be calm and let this work its way out.

Ceya, way beyond the call of duty but this is what the <img src="spyder.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>co Forum is all about.

Jaxon

Live to Ride....Ride to Live
User avatar
J Smith
Member
Posts: 7105
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Harriman TN USA

#19

Post by J Smith »

They may be haveing alot sent in.I admit that lately I have noticed that QC is not up to what it used to be.


<img src=http://techhelpers.net/e4u/drink/trink36.gif
Shards of Narsil
Member
Posts: 338
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Singapore

#20

Post by Shards of Narsil »

NO,

It generally does not skcusloa, BUT as a 1st time customer you have a right to be pissed.

Easy on the fella guys, if I had just got a brand new knife that turned out defective from a company I had no or little previous experience with, I would not take the step of faith to mail it to them without a real person to talk to first.

Also, with all the BS being taught as martial arts these days, I can understand his skepticism on the other forum. The choice of words that occurred there was unfortunate, but not purposely insulting methinks.

skcusloa, Spyderco is a good company and this is one of the better forums around IMHO. Sal WILL read this post and if you can find it in you to trust that things will turn out right, just send it in with a letter explaining things.

I don't think you got anything to lose anyway, so why not give it a chance?

Edited by - Shards of Narsil on 5/21/2004 2:00:03 AM
Post Reply