Amazon Fake frustration

BerkshireHunter

BerkshireHunter

Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
170
So I originally ordered this knife on PRIME Dec., 23rd, it was "on sale" for $139 and I had some Amazon credits to spend. It took 8 days to finally ship, then it got "lost" in the mail and disappeared. I contact customer service, they agree to overnight me another one which I finally pick up today. (Yes, I have drive 25 minutes south of the border to CT because they won't ship to MA). But whatever, a nice spyderco is worth a detour.

As soon as I open the box it doesnt feel right. Sharp edges, very light, lots of the screws barrel spacer and pins are sunk too deeply. Lock action is crap like it's a cheap paperclip. The satin on the blade is crap and scratches on the back (isn't the Para 3 stonewash only??!) The laser engraving is chintzy and a dif. color than real spydercos. The end of the pocket clip is not shaped correctly. Scales feel like cheep plastic. The fit and finish on the inside is rough and a dead give away, the bronze pivot washers are small and chunky. What a crappy fake.

Sorry just had to vent, hoping Amazon will turn this around but my first Para 3 has been an ordeal thus far. 😄


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yablanowitz said:
Never trust Amazon.
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I guess so, not impressed with their response. No idea how they can put up all this Spyderco material/ information and then sell a fake.
Blues said:
Sold and shipped by Amazon or a third party vendor?
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I honestly thought it was directly from Spyderco as the vendor because of the links, reviews and literature everywhere on the page. But it was a 3rd party.
 
What I guess happens is that someone orders a Spyderco from Amazon, then returns a Chinese fake as a return and no one knows the difference until someone like you who knows better get the returned fake sent to you. The other guy gets the real thing and a refund for $20 or whatever the going price on clones is now. That is why I would never order a high dollar knife from Amazon. Too risky. Sad. Who knows what other scams thieves are getting away with through Amazon.
 
Amazon is merely the conduit in this transaction. Much as eBay is the conduit for various vendors to sell their wares.

I can't speak to how their customer service handled your issue, but personally, I always check to see who is selling the item...and if it's not Amazon as the seller and shipper, I check out the vendor before making a purchase.
 
I check on Amazon to see who the "Sold by" party is. Best is the manufacturer's store (i.e. Spyderco store), with Sold By Amazon second best. Dealing with 3rd party is undertaken with caution & scepticism.

Prompt action is in line with my Amazon experiences when things get sketchy, particularly with 3rd party vendors who get shaky on resolving issues. My worst was swapping a few emails with a vendor before realizing I was dealing with an automated email bot. An email to Amazon customer service reporting the issue (order #, item, seller, email chain, etc) got the deal refunded *pronto*! (And I'd bet a back channel reprimand to the vendor.) Anyone vending under Amazon's umbrella does so with the possibility of having the big corporate hammer brought down on them if they don't follow the rules.

Tip: Keep all communication with vendor through Amazon's "contact seller" channel so their customer service has access to the comms.

Mr Bezo's empire apparently take their reputation seriously. Bad deals get fixed & bad vendors don't last. Unfortunately, it seems plenty of times the bad actors simply set up a new company under a new name and scam a few (hundred) more customers before the whole process repeats.

That's why I try to restrict my buying to purchases direct from makers or for secondary market buying I like to stick to the BF brotherhood. You guys for the most part maintain a high standard of integrity, which I much appreciate.
 
Amazon is suspect at best for purchasing knives. Even if it's a first party dealer, there's still a chance to get a fake or straight up ripped off. Less than honest people would purchase a genuine product and replace it with a fake or just a paperweight before returning it. Amazon workers can't be bothered checking, especially since a lot of fakes closely resemble the genuine product at first glance, so that fake ends up getting shipped off to another unlucky customer.

Amazon has gotten insanely bad in recent years, name brand quality products are nowhere to be found, replaced with amazon or sub-quality substitutes from suspicious sellers with hundreds of fake reviews.
 
Grizzly3 said:
What I guess happens is that someone orders a Spyderco from Amazon, then returns a Chinese fake as a return and no one knows the difference until someone like you who knows better get the returned fake sent to you. The other guy gets the real thing and a refund for $20 or whatever the going price on clones is now. That is why I would never order a high dollar knife from Amazon. Too risky. Sad. Who knows what other scams thieves are getting away with through Amazon.
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This. The issue with Amazon is that they're so big and there are so many vendors and buyers that the returns policy contaminates the stock with fakes even at legitimate sellers.
 
Not only that, but when they need an order of a particular model that is back ordered from the manufacturer, they will fill their need from other sources. If those other sources happen to be fakes, then Amazon is stocked up with fakes and sells them as genuine. They don't know the difference, and most likely don't care.

Like I said, never trust Amazon.
 
I’ve only bought one knife on Amazon, but that was years ago before I realized how many legitimate knife retailers there are. Now I stick with those and have never been let down, including with customer service. Plus I hate to give Amazon any business, they are glutinous evil pig devouring up all the little guys, and now even some of the bigger guys
 
I definitely prefer regular knife dealers also. Amazon is a backup in case a dealer doesn't have the specific knife in stock or their price plus shipping is too high.
 
Bummer. Sorry to hear.

I just can’t stand how Amazon constantly shoves worthless junk into my searches and I order rarely. Browsing is an exercise in frustration. I’ve successfully ordered a few knives in the past, but those kind of semi-luxury goods always come from their respective stores. German Wusthof kitchen knives, British fruit preserves, American shaving cream, Mexican Frye boots, etc. If I could filter my searches by country of origin and not have them clogged up by worthless junk I might change my tune. But I doubt they’ll ever do that. It could only hurt their profitability.
 
I'm unclear which knife you are calling a fake. Looks like you've got a PM2 & PM3 in the pics.

A better comparison would be made if you had pics of what you consider a fake next to a real one (or at least pics of a real one) to point out the differences.

In my experience, as the owner of over 165 Spydercos, the biggest tip off to a Spyderco fake is the box which never "looks right" in terms of the coloring and design and never has the proper labeling at the end of it. Do you have pics of the box?

Also, I buy A LOT of stuff on Amazon and in my experience, Amazon is very good about accepting returns for any reason. No need to even mention that you think it's a fake or not. Just box it up & return it and you'll either get a credit to your Amazon account or a refund to your credit card.

If it was sold by a 3rd party vendor, Amazon will just return it to them. They'll probably just resell it but what they do w/it afterward is not your concern. You just want/need to get your $ back.
 
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Man the pocket clip on the Para3 is the sketchiest thing I can see in your pics
As far as the Para 2 I assume you ground away the nub at the base of the cutting edge and ricasso?
 
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