I've been holding back posting, letting this thread go where it will before I reply. I might be biased, being a big Benchmade fan and having a large collection. With that said, I too have seen the QC go downhill in recent years. These are the kinds of things that happen during a rushed assembly. Deadlines, employee performance standards (x number of units assembled in y amount of time, which is silly because everyone operates best at a different pace). I have no insight whatsoever into Benchmades lines, but do have management experience in a production environment, and have corrected issues such as this.
I disagree about the QC being as bad as some make it sound however. Not only do I have a large collection, but if I do get a knife that I feel is not within reasonable QC standards, I'll go to several of my local shops and play with every one of the same model they have in stock, just to note if it's limited to that line. More often than not, it's limited to the one I got, but sometimes it's the majority of that model.
I don't mind, but would rather not have to, disassemble and align parts (done too many blade centerings, and not just anal-retentively off-center, but an RCH away from rubbing the liner). The 5400 was an extreme example. The 483 is impossible to center without too much pressure on the pivot screw, making thumb deployment painful after repeated use. I own two of them, and have played with several others.
My non-scientific estimate regarding legit QC issues is 1 in 10 (10%) - it should be 3 in 100 (3%) at most, in any production environment. Jimmy said he's passed along our feedback, so let's give them time and let them take corrective action. That won't help with current production, nor stock already shipped - results will be in the future.