Whats up with Ka-Bar Customer service

I've never heard of Kabar turning away a legitimate complaint. Ever.

I've even heard things that would blow your mind. Seen even more that I know blew my mind.

Notice I said legitimate problem, the guys calling saying that they wanted a different color or that their knife "just wasn't what I was looking" for, generally get told to enjoy their purchasel

:D

Mose
 
No knife yet....Fall camping trip soon, its been a week since the potbelly arrived at K-bar and was finish ground. Ordered and received Hoodlum since then, so that will be in a pack.
 
Diced,

Please call cust service.
I wrote the return order same day I received it and it should have gone out next day.
I'm on the road right now but Kristi or Brea can track it down for you.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Best regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev & Quality
KA-Bar Knives
 
I talked to Brea they have or will be sending it out, kind of unsure, they think it shipped yesterday but no tracking number...I guess I will be looking at another week or so depending on how it is shipped?
 
OK so the UPS man made a delivery this afternoon, the JAB Potbelly is back. The bottom of the blade has had some grinding done to it. If this now meets spec I guess it is what it is. I may even up the "warranty grind work" with a bastard file and sharpen it or maybe just return it as it has not been used. Its certainly not up to my standards as it was returned to me. I view it as a learning experience, perhaps my initial post rubbed K-Bar the wrong way but I vote with dollars and there won't be anymore going to purchase products from them. Pretty disappointed in this whole experience. For you die hard K-bar fans, I agree most of the products are good, but I can only judge the company's post sale service by this experience and it has not been good. What started out as me attempting to help a company I had respect for by identifying an obvious issue for their benefit through an email on their company website has lead me to no longer want to buy their brand. So that wraps it for me in this thread.
 
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diced said:
OK so the UPS man made a delivery this afternoon, the JAB Potbelly is back. The bottom of the blade has had some grinding done to it. If this now meets spec I guess it is what it is. I may even up the "warranty grind work" with a bastard file and sharpen it or maybe just return it as it has not been used. Its certainly not up to my standards as it was returned to me. I view it as a learning experience, perhaps my initial post rubbed K-Bar the wrong way but I vote with dollars and there won't be anymore going to purchase products from them. Pretty disappointed in this whole experience. For you die hard K-bar fans, I agree most of the products are good, but I can only judge the company's post sale service by this experience and it has not been good. What started out as me attempting to help a company I had respect for by identifying an obvious issue for their benefit through an email on their company website has lead me to no longer want to buy their brand. So that wraps it for me in this thread.
Click to expand...

Can you post some pictures? I'm interested to see what it looks like.
 
I will try to at some point, I have the before pictures as well. I have to set up a Photobucket account or whatever to get them to have URL addresses. Basically it came back ground but the grind is about double the width on one side as the other. The only way to be able to show it well in pics would be to show it with a digital micrometer showing the grind dimensions of each side. Its fixable, but I kind of thought it would come back sharp and even. That said it is evident from Toooj's post that all of them were like this, obviously a production over-site that should have been noticed. I tried to go about it the best way I thought possible initially, kind of trying to keep it on the down low and letting them know they had an issue through the company website, but my comments were not received very well. So I decided to throw it out here in a community with a lot of people knowledgeable about blades to get some additional insight on the breadth of the issue. I bought mine from a site that is named after the worlds largest river, (don't know if they are a paying member or whatever) and did not what to exchange it if I would get another with the same flaw. If Ka-Bar would have had the forethought to read a my initial e-mail and fix the knife correctly, I would continue to be a loyal customer buying many more of their knives. But things didn't shake out that way, and it seems that perhaps they are none to pleased that I brought the issue to the attention of other potential customers given the number of poorly made knives now out in the world. Some folks seem happy with them and think it is a safety feature to have a dull edge for an inch in front of the choil, I like the handle blunt and the blade sharp. I will still be beating on my Beckers and don't foresee any issues. I think they should have thanked me for catching it and trying to provide them the opportunity to fix it and not send anymore out that way, but that's no how it worked out.
 
Well, I hate that you didn't get what you wanted.

Moose
 
Maybe its just me... but somehow I think that no matter what was done to your knife or how it was handled you'd be complaining about it. Ka Bar obviously cares and has tried to make it right which is more than can be said about a lot of companies. Im not a Ka Bar nut either but ill continue to get lots of good use out of my JAB potbelly, perfect or not. Too bad about your experience but you're the costumer and if your not satisfied that's all that counts.
 
OK so the UPS man made a delivery this afternoon, the JAB Potbelly is back. The bottom of the blade has had some grinding done to it. If this now meets spec I guess it is what it is. I may even up the "warranty grind work" with a bastard file and sharpen it or maybe just return it as it has not been used. Its certainly not up to my standards as it was returned to me. I view it as a learning experience, perhaps my initial post rubbed K-Bar the wrong way but I vote with dollars and there won't be anymore going to purchase products from them. Pretty disappointed in this whole experience. For you die hard K-bar fans, I agree most of the products are good, but I can only judge the company's post sale service by this experience and it has not been good. What started out as me attempting to help a company I had respect for by identifying an obvious issue for their benefit through an email on their company website has lead me to no longer want to buy their brand. So that wraps it for me in this thread.
Click to expand...

diced,

Sorry that you are not happy with the fix. The solution is not as easy as it looks at face value. Because of the running shoulder, it is difficult for our CNC grinders to make that sharp angle at the choil to gring to a thinner edge and there is very little room for our honers to cut through the edge at that point with the normal belt grinders. The edge was finally put on your knife in the PD Lab by me. Trust me, it was difficult but I take full responsibility. I tried to get it as even and symetrical as possible. If you use a file to even it up you will see the dilemna we are facing. If I did more, the knife would have looked a lot worse.
The grinding engineers are looking at this issue to see if there is a practical fix with the program and fixturing.
We try hard to keep our customers happy but sometimes the design and physics gets in the way.
Give me a call: 800 282--0130 and we can discuss.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Toooj said:
diced,

Sorry that you are not happy with the fix. The solution is not as easy as it looks at face value. Because of the running shoulder, it is difficult for our CNC grinders to make that sharp angle at the choil to gring to a thinner edge and there is very little room for our honers to cut through the edge at that point with the normal belt grinders. The edge was finally put on your knife in the PD Lab by me. Trust me, it was difficult but I take full responsibility. I tried to get it as even and symetrical as possible. If you use a file to even it up you will see the dilemna we are facing. If I did more, the knife would have looked a lot worse.
The grinding engineers are looking at this issue to see if there is a practical fix with the program and fixturing.
We try hard to keep our customers happy but sometimes the design and physics gets in the way.
Give me a call: 800 282--0130 and we can discuss.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

And what I see, is a company doing their best to make a customer happy. Even taking a knife sent in and being worked on by Paul Tsujimoto himself.

To me, that seems to be going above and beyond what's necessary to make a customer happy.

Some may call me a fanboy, but with efforts like this, sure, I'm a fan.

There are reasons why we like what we like, I like companies that take leaps towards bettering their products, through technology and customer feedback. Its pretty evident why I like KA-BAR knives, ya'll.

Moose
 
well, late to the party, but no pictures, no doc, and it sounds like KaBar / ToooJ went the extra mile for you and ... well. can't ask for much more than custom or you money back.

bottom line: are we done here?
 
GentlemanlySteve said:
Maybe its just me... but somehow I think that no matter what was done to your knife or how it was handled you'd be complaining about it. Ka Bar obviously cares and has tried to make it right which is more than can be said about a lot of companies. Im not a Ka Bar nut either but ill continue to get lots of good use out of my JAB potbelly, perfect or not. Too bad about your experience but you're the costumer and if your not satisfied that's all that counts.
Click to expand...

I like to use sharp knives, they cut better and match my costume....But I am not a costumer; I only make my own costumes, never do I sell them. Just kidding I am a bad speller too. I would have been tickled if it came back sharp.
 
Toooj said:
diced,

Sorry that you are not happy with the fix. The solution is not as easy as it looks at face value. Because of the running shoulder, it is difficult for our CNC grinders to make that sharp angle at the choil to gring to a thinner edge and there is very little room for our honers to cut through the edge at that point with the normal belt grinders. The edge was finally put on your knife in the PD Lab by me. Trust me, it was difficult but I take full responsibility. I tried to get it as even and symetrical as possible. If you use a file to even it up you will see the dilemna we are facing. If I did more, the knife would have looked a lot worse.
The grinding engineers are looking at this issue to see if there is a practical fix with the program and fixturing.
We try hard to keep our customers happy but sometimes the design and physics gets in the way.
Give me a call: 800 282--0130 and we can discuss.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
Click to expand...

Toooj, I noticed the issue and lack of easy solution when i got it. I like re-curve blades; They do a lot of the work for you on a forced cut, but they suck to sharpen. There is no easy way that the bottom of the PB can be ground with a 4" belt, the physics just exclude it. It can be easily done with a narrow belt of about 1" but that would be a bit labor intensive from a production money making standpoint. The CNC machine is not a factor they just need programmed right, they don't care, if the hunk of steel fits inside they can pretty much cut it as programmed. I would like to talk to you about it, i will give you a ring. It really should have come back sharp though despite my rather brash title of the original post. Hope we can get it ironed out.
 
Moosez45 said:
And what I see, is a company doing their best to make a customer happy. Even taking a knife sent in and being worked on by Paul Tsujimoto himself.

To me, that seems to be going above and beyond what's necessary to make a customer happy.

Some may call me a fanboy, but with efforts like this, sure, I'm a fan.

There are reasons why we like what we like, I like companies that take leaps towards bettering their products, through technology and customer feedback. Its pretty evident why I like KA-BAR knives, ya'll.

Moose
Click to expand...

Moose, you are a fan boy, your post about the new mora had Ka-bar and toooj more than mora in it. We have similar tastes though in quality implements. I don't think Ka-bar knives are junk, I have a bunch of them, (as well as cutco kitchen knives) I trust the HT. The models shortcomings in finish grind was my diassapointmnet. I used a cold steel pendelting light hunter today, and regular mora companion to finish out some meat. skinning, cutting connective tissue, quartering etc. They worked great, just as intended. I would not have used a razor sharp Ka-Bar potbelly for that task, it would not have performed well, it was not made to do that. Actually, I don't know what that thing is made for, it would never serve me a real purpose other than being choppy. I just want it to be ground right, and sharp. I could have bought 6 moras for the price of the potbelly.
 
Bladite said:
well, late to the party, but no pictures, no doc, and it sounds like KaBar / ToooJ went the extra mile for you and ... well. can't ask for much more than custom or you money back.

bottom line: are we done here?
Click to expand...

Better late than never right? Per your keen observation there are not pics posted yet, no "doc" either... Not sure what your looking for in terms of "doc", perhaps I could scan that the box and e-mails (I would probably need to get URLs on those too right)? I don't understand "can't ask for much more than custom or you money back", but rock on man you got a lot of posts it seems, way to keep this site going with helpful information.
Bottom line: You can be done here if you want, I'm still trying to get this issue resolved for myself and anyone else who buys the Johnson Adventure Potbelly.
 
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I have one(1) Kabar, so my dog in this fight is about the size of a prehistoric, marsupial sand flea.

Two things come to mind;
1 - PICTURES!!!

2- If you are so unhappy with the the knife, send it to me and I'll give it a nice home.
I love unwanted, unloved edged weapons of all denominations.(except Klingon)
 
I spoke with Toooj today. He gave me a better understanding of the manufacturing constraints and assured me that they are in the process of re-evaluating the production process to eliminate the un-ground edge of the running shoulder. I am not a knife maker or a machinist so my understanding of the process of correcting the blade was a bit different than the actual process used. I will try to get some pics up eventually, I am going to try to sharpen the bottom on my own with a file and a Worksharp, so there is a good chance its going to look worse when I am done but the bottom will be sharp. I may have come across as a PIA in this thread, but Toooj was both respectful and empathetic to the issue, so that is all I really care about in terms of CS. They are trying to fix the issue and that's why I initially contacted Ka-Bar through their website. I still like their products and will likely to continue to buy them because they manufacture most of there blades here, and if there is any theme to my knife purchases that would seem to be it, (with the exception of some beaters from Tawain, Sweden, South America etc). Anyway after speaking with Toooj and getting a better understanding of the manufacturing process I feel that my initial intent of trying to provide feedback to the company regarding an issue, has been both received and will be addressed. It was a pleasure speaking with you Toooj.
 
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Glad this got resolved to your satisfaction. I have both a 1"x30" belt sander & a grinder. I use the belt sander all the time now (because i am lazy) to get my blades quickly to the general area of sharpness i am after. Then i use diamond stones & ceramic sticks. Only once have i had to use the grinder to get a blade where it needed to be. I don't use it much, but is worth it's weight in gold when i do. For the price of Beckers & KaBars, i don't sweat the edges too much. If it is f-ed' up, i just fix em myself. Much faster & easier. I figure my belt sander & grinder have EASILY paid for themselves already.

Stay tuned, it sure would be cool if they fixed this problem & credited it to you for bringing it to their attention. I'm just sayin'.
 
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