Yooooo... GSM customer service is straight Garbage!

S

sledbot

Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
60
There is no greater Cold Steel fanboy on earth than I. My personal Cold Steel collection as it stands is somewhere in the neighborhood of $8K+, so this is extra painful for me.

I just received my $460 (knife center) 3V trailmaster.

It is waaay overground on both sides just like all the others I've seen online. So there's a problem, okay let's see what GSM says...

After being on hold for 15min and explaining it's not a trail cam, I directed her to the review images on the CS website showing the problem. I s#it you not she said it looks like he did it at home and the person who sold me mine, also ground it before sending it to me and there's nothing to do about it.

WTF?

I'm so angry, hurt, disappointed, confused. This is probably more of a cautionary tale about not being a giant fanboy than anything.
QC problems are not rare for CS or most companies in general, but the price point, customer service, general modus operandi of GSM is straight F-ing garbage. Literally makes me want to liquidate all my Cold Steel pieces. Maybe look for a big CS collection in the sale area soon. So done with this brand...
 
I'd like to see pictures too. The TM 3v is one of their flagship models I imagine, so these should be on point, at least. That beeing said, I got several higher priced gsm era cold steels that are all on point. Maybe I got lucky, because customer service in europe was non existant even before gsm.

If all else fails, I still got some bucks and spydercos to enjoy.
 
Ruari said:
Can you post some pics to show what the issue is? I think I know what you are on about, but would like to see your pics to see if I'm right.
Click to expand...
Yes sir, pics below of 3 separate samples showing the same problem.
 
rustinxcohle said:
I'd like to see pictures too. The TM 3v is one of their flagship models I imagine, so these should be on point, at least. That beeing said, I got several higher priced gsm era cold steels that are all on point. Maybe I got lucky, because customer service in europe was non existant even before gsm.

If all else fails, I still got some bucks and spydercos to enjoy.
Click to expand...
I too have several post Gsm pieces that are basically perfect. This seems to be either a bad batch, new manufacturer problem, or worst case scenario, just a dumb design. Pics have been posted above.
 
If anyone knows of another large bowie in 3v that is over .25" thick and around the same price, please let me know. I'm moving on from Cold steel after 20 years of amassing a large CS collection.
 
I was thinking about buying one, but not at that price, and maybe not at all until problems are fixed.

At that price it should be flawless. Actually it should e flawless at the prices I normally see around $300.00.

And maybe include a nice leather sheath, made as well as the old tanto sheaths, but that is another topic.
 
sledbot said:
If anyone knows of another large bowie in 3v that is over .25" thick and around the same price, please let me know. I'm moving on from Cold steel after 20 years of amassing a large CS collection.
Click to expand...
There is the Laredo in 3V, and I saw it on a site that cannot be mentioned for less than half of what you paid for the Trailmaster.

Not many companies make good Bowies, especially larger ones with guards, and I don't know of any making them in 3V.
 
Benjamin Liu said:
There is the Laredo in 3V, and I saw it on a site that cannot be mentioned for less than half of what you paid for the Trailmaster.

Not many companies make good Bowies, especially larger ones with guards, and I don't know of any making them in 3V.
Click to expand...
Yeah thanks for the info. I paid $300. I just pulled the average price from knife center. I'll probably just keep it and put an end to buying anymore cold steel ever again.
 
I can almost understand nonexistent customer service for a ten dollar Walmart knife. But, a knife at that price point should carry a decent warranty and aftermarket service.

I am sorry for your crappy knife, op. I was waiting to order the 3V Trailmaster until after the end of the month. After seeing yours… I will pass.
 
Sledbot,

That's some pretty crappy work on that Trailmaster. No way that would've happened when Thompson owned it. Personally, I'd return it to Knifecenter for a refund or credit for a future order.

As for selling off your collection, I'd like to suggest that you consider whether you really want to do that. If you do, then go for it. But if you like the Cold Steel knives that you have, why not keep them? Do you really think that GSM cares one way or the other if you sell them or not? It won't affect them one way or the other... but one day you might regret selling them.

If you enjoy your other CS knives, why not continue enjoying them?

Just my .02

Peace.
 
Wow...that really is overground. I am surprised that there multiple examples of this out there.
My much more inexpensive San Mai III TM below.
Really would like to know if this is a deliberate design of the 3V TrailMaster. Or a manufacturing error.
0FSkoF.jpg
 
nighthawk86 said:
Sledbot,

That's some pretty crappy work on that Trailmaster. No way that would've happened when Thompson owned it. Personally, I'd return it to Knifecenter for a refund or credit for a future order.

As for selling off your collection, I'd like to suggest that you consider whether you really want to do that. If you do, then go for it. But if you like the Cold Steel knives that you have, why not keep them? Do you really think that GSM cares one way or the other if you sell them or not? It won't affect them one way or the other... but one day you might regret selling them.

If you enjoy your other CS knives, why not continue enjoying them?

Just my .02

Peace.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate the feedback. Most of the collection is from the Lynn Thompson era anyway so I guess you are right. I was so happy to see good quality from GSM, this ruins their reputation forever for me. I was so stoked to get this and so bummed for it to be a pos grind.
 
KenHash said:
Wow...that really is overground. I am surprised that there multiple examples of this out there.
My much more inexpensive San Mai III TM below.
Really would like to know if this is a deliberate design of the 3V TrailMaster. Or a manufacturing error.
0FSkoF.jpg
Click to expand...
The really unimaginable part is that the $25 Mtech clone has better grinds than the 3V trailmaster. I have the clone from Amazon and so does a YouTuber who purchased the 3V trailmaster. We both agree the $25 Mtech was made better. Sickening really.
 
KenHash said:
Wow...that really is overground. I am surprised that there multiple examples of this out there.
My much more inexpensive San Mai III TM below.
Really would like to know if this is a deliberate design of the 3V TrailMaster. Or a manufacturing error.
0FSkoF.jpg
Click to expand...
And yes I haven't seen any other trailmaster versions with this problem. The 3V Trailmaster that Jimmy Slash reviewed seemed to be straight, I'm sure he got a ringer from GSM to review. That and the fact that some 3V Trailmasters seem to only have one side messed up makes me believe this is in fact a major production issue. Also the thickest part of my blade is much thinner than factory specs.
 
Last edited:
I’m sorry to hear you had such a crap experience with customer service. Hopefully someone from CS reads this and reaches out to you. Yes, the rep’s response to your problem was unacceptable. I can imagine your frustration and anger, BUT I would definitely hold on to your collection. Just put your feelings aside for a moment and realize that you will probably regret getting rid of what you’ve acquired over the years. Don’t make a sudden decision based just on emotion. Heck, I’m sure most of us on this board would love to own even a fraction of what you have.
 
Man, this looks really bad. I don't think I'll get the 3v Trailmaster anytime soon, and if I do, I buy it at a dealer where I can easily return it.

I was at a similiar point sometime ago, I bought a leatherneck sf and it had a loose, rattling handle out of the box. I send it back and bought another one that seemed fine. Using the knife a bit for moderate cutting tasks, it developed the same problem in no time. Because it was used, I couldn't return it to the dealer I got it from. I contacted cs europe, they told me to send it in. A week later I got a package back. I thought, ok, no communication whatsoever, but certainly they exchanged it. As I opened the package, there was my defective knife and a piece of paper. On there was handwritten that I didn't buy the knife directly from them, therefore they won't do anything about it. I was really angry back then, also because I declared where I bought the knife in my initial mail to them. But I'm happy I didnt sell of anything from my collection out of anger, the stuff that I got is still great, it's just that the customer service is a bad joke.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top