Got to get this off my chest

[ranger51]

As many of the members who know me, know that I served in the military for many years. I was an Ranger who opted not to go to a Ranger Batt. and insted went on thru many other military schools, then opted to serve in small units, mainly doing Black operations. I worked with 7th SOG, 5th SOG, and other small teams within the military. I am now a disabled Vet. working to get all, the politics of the financial part of things worked out. After I pay my bills each week, I live off of 40.00
Just prior to leaveing my last deployment, I had a number of knives stolen from me. Two were my favorites. My Black G-10 Manix with a flat ground blade, a caly three which since hasbeen replaced by a good friend here. Also stolen was my Benchmade Rift. I wrote to both Benchmade, and Spyderco, and asked if I could possibly get some sort of a discount so that I could replace them as I don't have much to spend at the moment.
Today I got a brand new Rift in the mail from Benchmade. I never expected that at all as I only had asked for a discount. Along with the knife, I also got a very nice letter thanking me for my service. On the other hand, Spyderco finally wrote me back. They wanted everything short of DNA to prove that I had in fact been in the military, and done the jobs that I had done. I explained everything to them, sent all the documents that I had on hand. Keep in mind that I was only asking for some sort of discount so I could replace my stolen knife. They wrote back, told me that they knew all kinds of Rangers, and SOG personal, and did not belive me at all. I had even sent a photo of myself in my Dress blues. I basicly was told to go P--s up a rope.
I held a Top Secret clearence, did things that only the top brass was aware of, so of course Spyderco would not, and could not be told or known of these things. I feel that they could have handled the sitsuation a bit better than they did. A simple no" we can't give a discount would have been accepted and understood. But I guess that they know everthing there is to know about the military and felt it nessassary to make me feel very hurt.
I do want to send a big Thank you to the member who replaced my caly3 for me. It ment a lot. Espessally the hand written note that came with it thanking me for my service to our Country. That was very heart warming, and I will keep it until I pass away. I'm sure that Spyderco will rebute what I have written here, and I totaly expect it. A simple no to a discount would have been fine. I feel that they handled this matter totaly unproffessionaly. (please excuse my spelling). To all you Veterans who are members here.. Thank you so very much for your service and sacrifice. I'll probably get banned from this site, oh well. At least I made some friends here and have thier e-mail addresses.

[Wisehybred]

Just out of curiosity, what response did you expect to get out of your post?

[SuzieQ]

Ouch. Total PR fiasco for Spyderco if you ask me. I'm very impressed with how Benchmade handled your request. They went way beyond what you or anyone else would've expected - because they obviously know their marketing and PR. It's much easier and cheaper to keep existing customers than gaining new ones. And a kind gesture like this usually pays multiple times. Benchmade knows that after this you'll go around and you will tell your buddies about how cool they handled this. Lots of potential new customers for Benchmade. It's like the 101 of marketing and PR but most companies can't seem to get it right on the first try. Usually because it's something that hasn't come up before and is not in the handbook. Ask me how I know :rolleyes:

Don't let this insensitive behavior get you down. It's been a stupid move on Spyderco's side. Enjoy your knives and god bless you.

PS: It would be an even stupider move to ban you from this forum for relaying this to us. Just saying.

[cosmo7809]

I will say two things.

1)You spoke to A person at Spyderco. One employee does not represent the entire company, let alone Sal. (Just found at "a person" was Kristi... Opps, sorry Kristi)

2)On the internet, you can be who ever you want. Now dont take this as I do not beleive you. Its just the truth.

[Zendemic]

I will say two things.

1)You spoke to A person at Spyderco. One employee does not represent the entire company, let alone Sal.

2)On the internet, you can be who ever you want. Now dont take this as I do not beleive you. Its just the truth.

I've got to second this. Did you mail or call them? Personally I have never had any issue when I go to the SFO and showing my official fire credentials, though it might be a little more difficult for you to do that...

[The Mastiff]

Funny, I've never seen or heard of any of the Spyderco crew being rude or disrespectful to anybody. If you couldn't come up with proof, why would you expect them to help you.

To be honest, I've never known any former "black ops" soldiers that spoke or acted like you in private much less in public. You typically don't get bragging about what they did. Some are rightly proud of their units heritage as are some in the infantry, armor, cav,etc.

Did you provide a DD214 that backed up what you said listing the schools and MOS's you claim.

The Rangers do an "adventure training" type course. I have seen many claim Ranger tab status after taking that course.

When I was in you couldn't

"I was an Ranger who opted not to go to a Ranger Batt. and insted went on thru many other military schools, then opted to serve in small units, mainly doing Black operations."

You went where assigned and volunteered for schools, waiting until selected for these schools. Some of them take years to get.

You may not be aware of how closely Spyderco and some of the employees are to the military. Even to the "top brass" as you put it.

Even if, and that's a big if until I saw your DD214 personally, you did achieve what you state I still don't know where this sense of entitlement comes from.

With lines like this you sound more like a child than a vet much less one with the achievements you lay claim to.

But I guess that they know everthing there is to know about the military and felt it nessassary to make me feel very hurt.

In the army I was in you wouldn't have made it through the chow line with such delicate sensitivities.

Joe

[ranger51]

Just out of curiosity, what response did you expect to get out of your post?

I was just hopeing to get a little discount to replace the stolen knife. Thats all. Just so you know, I provided everthing needed to prove what I was in the military. I doubt that Sal even knows about this. I did e-mail him, but he is such a busy man, that he may not have seen the e-mail.

[ranger51]

Funny, I've never seen or heard of any of the Spyderco crew being rude or disrespectful to anybody. If you couldn't come up with proof, why would you expect them to help you.

To be honest, I've never known any former "black ops" soldiers that spoke or acted like you in private much less in public. You typically don't get bragging about what they did. Some are rightly proud of their units heritage as are some in the infantry, armor, cav,etc.

Did you provide a DD214 that backed up what you said listing the schools and MOS's you claim.

The Rangers do an "adventure training" type course. I have seen many claim Ranger tab status after taking that course.

When I was in you couldn't

You went where assigned and volunteered for schools, waiting until selected for these schools. Some of them take years to get.

You may not be aware of how closely Spyderco and some of the employees are to the military. Even to the "top brass" as you put it.

Even if, and that's a big if until I saw your DD214 personally, you did achieve what you state I still don't know where this sense of entitlement comes from.

With lines like this you sound more like a child than a vet much less one with the achievements you lay claim to.



In the army I was in you wouldn't have made it through the chow line with such delicate sensitivities.

Joe

You sound like you know everything. Must be nice. I am deleting this before it gets out of hand.

[cosmo7809]

You sound like you know everything. Must be nice. I am deleting this before it gets out of hand.

No need to delete.

[Bolster]

Ranger, you are most fortunate to have, or have had, this job. A dangerous and prestigious job where people respect and admire your service, and show you deference. A job that allows early retirement, and great healthcare. About now, we all wish we had been employed by the government.

I thank you for your service. I would be pleased if you did not use your service, however, as a replacement insurance policy, or take on an entitlement mentality that is generally reserved for members of public unions. This tarnishes not only your reputation, but makes other soldiers look bad, too. If every soldier were to have this attitude toward discounts and freebies, it would lead to corruption.

I suspect the purpose of your post is to corner Spyderco into a freebie, maybe two or three; to shame them into compliance. That's just not appropriate.

I heartily recommend the deletion of this thread.

[TazKristi]

cosmo is correct, no need to delete. Ranger if you choose to air this here, that's your choice. For the record, I am the person Ranger was in contact with. In addition to being the Admin here on the forum, my "day job" with Spyderco is our Military/Government business. Anyone who knows me, knows that I take that responsibility very seriously.

Ranger if you are going to tell details and attempt to paint a picture it would be appreciated if you shared all of the details.

I requested a copy of either your DOD ID (you'd still have one, retired or not) or your DD-214. You couldn't supply me with either. You did send me a picture of you in your dress blues, however there was no Ranger tab on your uniform.

As I stated in my e-mail to you, there were too many inconsistencies between the details you e-mailed me and the details you posted here. According to your post here, based upon when you retired (by choice, not due to a combat injury), the knife you said was stolen from you didn't even exist yet. It was only released 3 1/2 months ago.

I am sorry if you feel that I was judgmental. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings. But like I said, I take what I do very seriously. It wasn't about the discount or the knife. There are numerous examples of Spyderco giving generous discounts and free knives for various reasons.

I won't ban you for speaking your mind. But I will speak up for myself and for Spyderco. We are honored every day by the service of the fine men and women of this country. We do business in a fair and proper manner with integrity.

I will stand by my original statement to you. If you can provide me with a copy of your DD-214 or your DOD ID I will reconsider my decision.

Kristi

[DedRok]

Ranger, you gotta understand... this is the internet, and there are a lot of scam artists out there.

Everyone has to be careful... including Spyderco. Give the ID and I'm sure they will go from there.

[cosmo7809]

Kristi, didnt mean to call you "a person at Spyderco" if I had known, you best believe I would not said that... I(we) all appreciate what you do for the Spyderco customers very much.

Thank you.

[Chopping Broccoli]

Well put Kristi. Sounds like a perfectly honest straight forward response to me.

[TazKristi]

Cosmo, I am a person and I am at Spyderco. :)

[.357 mag]

First of all, thank your for our service!

Second, I ran out infront of a car to grab a little boy out of the street for getting hit yesterday. Where is my free knife?

[Stephen]

Ranger51, that ridiculous sob story is so horribly fake, don't try so hard next time and your attempts at stolen valor won't be so transparent.

"I held a Top Secret clearence, did things that only the top brass was aware of"

Sure you did, and I used to chat on the phone with Dick Cheney about matters of national security.

You sound just like this guy: http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=23576

[captnvegtble]

Ranger,
I have to agree with Kristi and Joe (Mastiff) on this one. Airing your grievences here is doing yourself a discredit. What Spyderco is asking for is not unreasonable.

[cckw]

I'm just saying this to make a point: A famous letter written by Abe Lincoln know as the "Bixby letter" is known as one his greatest writings. It was to a mother who lost a 5 of her sons fighting for the union army. This was the basis for the whole mission of "Saving Private Ryan".

But Mrs Bixby's claim to have lost all 5 sons in battle was a scam, looking for a free-bee of some sort.

So anyone in a position to make any kind of decision on discounts or giveaways needs to do their diligence. Scamming was not invented with the internet.

[hunterseeker5]

I feel we're treading on thin ice here, but I'll back the Mastif here. Everyone is different in their own way, but erm *cough* I've never met someone of your alleged position who talks quite like you.

I will give HUGE credit to Kristi though because she not only was completely up front, she responded to you in just a few hours late on a Saturday night. I'm not sure how much more you could expect. I do also feel like your OP was at best misleading, but more realistically dishonest about what specifically was exchanged between spyderco and yourself.