Is my never used SPY27 lightweight para 3 a goner?

[Rwstubbz]

That is a disappointing warranty response, in my opinion. If it would not pass QC, then the customer should never have received it and should not be dealing with now. US made Spydercos should have a ready supply of parts available to fix the knife, so why wasn't it repaired?

That was my thought as well, sounds like poor customer service to basically intimate in the response that "we couldn't have made a mistake like that, you must have broken it and are lying to us about it," If that's how it went down. Even if they thought it got damaged in the supply chain, it pays to take care of customers better than that.

Which retailer did you buy it from?

I wasn't sure if I should say at first, but I decided to call them out and hope Sal or one of the other Spyderco executive decision makers doesn't boot me for calling out an authorized dealer (is that even a thing)? It was Smoky Mountain Knife Works. I've had good luck with their customer service before and bad luck now I guess but I honestly think that the rep thought that spyderco would warranty it since I called in the same day I received it. Unless she knew that it had been returned once before. I'm not sure that's even possible though since they all sold out within the same day or two that they went up for sale on the website and that's when I bought it. Either way, I know that someone out there has tried the lightweight to g10 swap. I came to the Spyderco pro's here on the forum to ask for an answer.

I'm saying that's poor customer service on Spyderco's part. Discounting some kind of conspiracy at SMKW where they somehow kept track of a returned problem knife and knowingly sent it to you, their response that you should file a warranty claim with Spyderco to fix your new knife sounds like the correct approach.

Spyderco manufactures the knife, sends it out through a major retailer to their customer base and has their name (not SMKW) on the line if it turns out to be a lemon. Instead of telling you to get lost because they wouldn't have shipped a knife with that problem, they should give you the benefit of the doubt and stand behind their product. If they really think it is a damaged, returned item, that was resold then they can work that with their retailer.

True and hopefully in the future they will, but I'm sure that if they dealt with that every day, the price of each knife would have to increase because of the time they spend getting their authorized dealers problems figured out.
It's a tough situation to deal withfor both the manufacturers and the end of line users. Either way, no matter how frustrating it is, their product is good enough that I personally will still buy them.

[Rwstubbz]

...

I'm saying that's poor customer service on Spyderco's part. Discounting some kind of conspiracy at SMKW where they somehow kept track of a returned problem knife and knowingly sent it to you, their response that you should file a warranty claim with Spyderco to fix your new knife sounds like the correct approach.

Spyderco manufactures the knife, sends it out through a major retailer to their customer base and has their name (not SMKW) on the line if it turns out to be a lemon. Instead of telling you to get lost because they wouldn't have shipped a knife with that problem, they should give you the benefit of the doubt and stand behind their product. If they really think it is a damaged, returned item, that was resold then they can work that with their retailer.

I will bet it is the opposite scenario. If Spyderco says that knife wouldnt pass their qc standards then that means they "ideally" wouldnt have sent it out to begin with.

I do think someone bought this, messed it up, returned it, and it got sold again. Once the knife was modified, apparently given a wrong pivot, the warranty was voided.

On paper spyderco is probably following their own policies.

I have only personally seen one faulty spyderco out of the box and it was still functional. I know they can mess up on the production side, but it seems more likely it was someone else.

Agreed, I have received several (especially compression lock) models that have bad centering but never like this. This knife could be dangerous. It is possible that during manufacturing someone cross threaded the screw and it was missed, I guess I won't know until I remove it.

[Rwstubbz]

I’d like to see some pics of the problem.

Okay how do you upload pictures here? I have tried 2 phones and neither would upload. They both said that the file was too large.

[Rwstubbz]

I’d like to see some pics of the problem.

Okay how do you upload pictures here? I have tried 2 phones and neither would upload. They both said that the file was too large.

Here's a link to my Instagram I posted the picture there


https://www.instagram.com/p/CRcw_6hslZj ... =copy_link

I think that the proud screw is the biggest if not only problem. Thus keeping the pivot from being tight. I've tried to take it apart, but didn't want to strip the head so I didn't force it. It won't tighten or loosen. If I can be sure that it will fit in the g-10 version handles without problem, I will probably force it or cut the screw out and use the blade still. I'll keep everyone up to date.

[phaust]

Looks really bad on Spyderco. One bad look turned into two with not fixing the problem.

For those saying the dealer should have done something, I would appreciate knowing what dealer you've been able to return a used and sharpened knife to so that I can start buying from there as well.

[Rwstubbz]

I’d like to see some pics of the problem.

Okay how do you upload pictures here? I have tried 2 phones and neither would upload. They both said that the file was too large.

[Rwstubbz]

https://postimg.cc/RWckgL4m my goodness, I finally figured out a way to post it.

[Rwstubbz]

I’d like to see some pics of the problem.

Not sure if these will show up but let's try. Well every time I try it says the file is too large. I'll try with my other phone I'll repost soon.
Thanks

Okay here you go my friend after much effort here is a link. Thanks for your help and time.

https://postimg.cc/RWckgL4m

[The Mastiff]

Looks really bad on Spyderco. One bad look turned into two with not fixing the problem.

Not to me. Spyderco gets back a knife that has been damaged and sharpened/used. They are doing what they are supposed to do. If it was really damaged when he got it he should have not sharpened it and sent it back to SMKW for replacement before he did anything else.

I'm not saying the OP is not telling the truth but it is a fact the company has seen their share of people trying to take advantage of it. If you want a company to have the sort of warranty that fixes and replaces everything no questions asked you will need to find one that has built the markup needed to do that into the price of every knife. Like the company that even warranted against loss. They are out of business now but that is a different matter. :)

[dan31]

Once you sharpen it, it’s yours. If Spyderco offers a credit, take it and get something else.

[GarageBoy]

Honestly, I hate the "take it back to the dealer" response. It's your company's product, I rather deal with the folks who made the thing, rather than through a middle man. I can explain the problem better than having someone else relay my message.

Also, a pivot screw, really? Should be as simple as having Spyderco swap it and call it a day. Maybe I'm not familiar with how Spyderco w-r works internally, but one would think you'd just walk over to the production side and grab the correct hardware, and voila.

[Gtscotty]

Once you sharpen it, it’s yours. If Spyderco offers a credit, take it and get something else.

I disagree, a largely plastic knife with middling steel being sold for $140 better come with a reasonable warranty policy. Saying "sharpening a knife voids the warranty on every part of the knife, all latent manufacturing defects and anything you didn't catch soon enough are now your problem, gotcha!" Is an unreasonable warranty policy for what is supposed to be high quality equipment.

I don't think it's realistic to assume that sharpening the knife damaged the pivot in any way, therefore it shouldn't affect warranty service.

The stitching on the belt loop on one of my mule team sheaths broke the first time I mounted it and went to draw the knife. I was told to send it in to the warranty department, and I expect Spyderco to stand behind their product. If I get a response like the OP did, I'll be quite an unhappy customer even though I paid much less for the sheath than he did for his SPY27 P3 (which I also own).

[ChrisinHove]

I don’t think it would be a reasonable warranty if it only covered unused tools!

Here, your purchase contract is with the retailer in the first instance. In this case, our man was sold a knife that, it would appear, had its warranty voided before he even got it.

[Rwstubbz]

I can't say that this was the intention of my post here. I didn't want to argue about warranty responses. I was thinking about deleting the board except that this is actually getting ineresting and could be helpful in the future for responses. I'm surprised that people think that it's okay to not warrant manufacturing defects. Even if they're not immediately obvious. Crkt, Kershaw, SOG are all less expensive and all have good, but not the best warranties. They've all treated me better than this at times, and at times, I've been out of luck. Buck and Benchmade have at times replaced knives that I was too hard on and sent to them to see if they could repair, but I've heard horror stories about benchmade as well. This response, yes it was disappointing, but I don't think of spyderco as having the best warranty. Even so, they have sent me screws for another knife free of charge before and included loctite. Can every response be expected to be perfect? They don't have a reputation for having a great warranty. Especially on a plastic knife. Although I'm sure that the profit margins are good enough on these, if the dealer did do something before sending it to me, then the profits on this knife become a loss. I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation and still be able to use this blade. At this point I've now tested it a bit and I'm not sure it's fair to continue to rail on them for a poor response.
What have your experiences been with other knife companies warranty departments? What about some good Spyderco experiences?

[Rwstubbz]

I truly appreciate everyone's time answering and chiming in on this forum, but haven't really gotten an answer. I will probably take apart and see what I can do some time this week. Cross your fingers guys I'll let you know if the lightweight is compatible with the g-10 blade as well as what kind of problems I found when taking it apart.
Thanks again,
Rws

[Matus]

One think about those custom scales - they are all made for the G10 models that have different liners (and 2 of them). I am not aware of any custom scales that are directly compatible with the hardware from the LW Para3. If you have a G10 lying around that it will be fine, but if you just buy custom scales, then it will most likely not work. Do check with the seller/maker of the titanium scales you plan to get.

I hope you will get this all fixed to your satisfaction.

[araneae]

Regardless of the intent, if you got a messed up knife and didn't realize it until after you had sharpened it and carried it, I would say that is on you. Might sound harsh, but you modified the item and used it, without fully inspecting it and then got unhappy.

Per your other thread posts, you also appear to have carried it enough to determine that the detent is weak enough that you received multiple injuries from it and stropped it after use and you also commented on it's edge retention, implying some decent amount of use. In what scenario would a manufacturer or dealer be expected to take a knife back that you have modified and carried to what seems like a pretty decent extent, but you claim arrived defective?

When I receive a knife, I look it over carefully, open, close, check functionality. If something is off, it goes immediately into the box for a return. I don't mess with it, try disassembling or adjusting things to try making it "right". A new knife from a reputable manufacturer should come out of the box ready to roll.

It is people who do things like carry a knife for a week, decide they don't like it or it has some small issue and send it back to the dealer as unused that create problems for other people who get sold a used knife with an issue. Maybe you got one of those, but you should have looked more carefully before using and modifying that knife. Buying stuff online means you are bound by the seller's return policy and customer service habits. Choose dealers wisely, a big shop like SMKW probably doesn't care about losing a customer or 100, they are just too big to care. Just my 2 cents.

And I have swapped g-10 and frn Para 3 blades without issue.

[Gtscotty]

Regardless of the intent, if you got a messed up knife and didn't realize it until after you had sharpened it and carried it, I would say that is on you. Might sound harsh, but you modified the item and used it, without fully inspecting it and then got unhappy.

This is a fundamentally incorrect characterization of Spyderco's (or any other decent company I've dealt with) warranty policy. The warranty covers defects in workmanship and material for the life of the knife, with a number of outs in the policy that involve the customer breaking or losing the knife.

There is no gotcha in the warranty that says you have to find a defect in the first X minutes of ownership, or before you put it in your pocket, or else it's your problem now. That would be a pretty sheisty policy for higher end tools that I would hope consumers would roundly condemn. Regardless, that's not Spyderco's written policy.

You also mis-characterized sharpening (and later stropping) a knife as "modification"... which is kind of mind blowing to me. Sharpening a knife is basic maintenance, and normal sharpening doesn't void the Spyderco warranty.



Check out the first line, where Spyderco's Product and Warranty cards cite keeping your knife sharp as "Proper Maintenance".

Per your other thread posts, you also appear to have carried it enough to determine that the detent is weak enough that you received multiple injuries from it and stropped it after use and you also commented on it's edge retention, implying some decent amount of use. In what scenario would a manufacturer or dealer be expected to take a knife back that you have modified and carried to what seems like a pretty decent extent, but you claim arrived defective?

^This is a red herring, if it's a defect to material or workmanship (assembly at the factory), then it should be covered, whether he just picked up the knife, carried it one day, or carried it a week and got cut because the detent is defective and the blade keeps falling out. Do you think that is normal to carry a knife for a week or two and it start falling open and cutting your leg? Normal wear and tear? Of course not, if the OP Wasn't intensively abusive to it, then it is probably still defective and should be covered even though he put it in his pocket and walked around for some number of days.

Sometimes consumers are their own worst enemies, I'm glad some of y'all don't have any input into Spyderco's real policies.

[curlyhairedboy]

If both Spyderco and the dealer say it’s not their problem, I suggest opening the knife and seeing if it can be fixed.

[dj moonbat]

I must be misunderstanding, OP.

Are you saying that you bought a new, defective Para 3 LW, and that in lieu of a replacement, Spyderco only offered you a discount on a second purchase?