Not to happy with Leatherman warranty!

L

Leatherman4life

Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
134
I have sent in a couple of leathermans over the years. Three that I can think of now. They have alway's replaced it with a new one.

Three weeks ago I sent my surge in. The large flate blade twisted one of the first times I used it. Not bad, but it is twisted. I think we all know about the really small screwdriver bit, I have tried to use it and it's all dinged up too.

The spring for the bit holder also kept falling out and I would put it back in. I even cleaned it up and tried lock tight to hold it in place. The last time the spring fell out I could not find it.

So off to leatherman warranty with a letter saying all that is wrong.
I know they will take care of me as they have before.

Wrong!

Today I get my same old surge back and the only thing they did was sharpen the blade and replace the spring for the bit hold.

The big screwdriver blade is still twisted and the small screwdriver is still crap!

I am not to happy with them right now.
 
Can't say I blame you. I sent an e 302 in for warranty after the screwdriver blade broke (removing metal screws from a plastic insert on a truck license plate.. NOT a high torque application).That was April 03/06. At the beginning of June I sent a follow up letter inquiring as to it's status... as of present I have had no response to either letter or package (registered mail says the package was recieved).I've written the knife off and chalked the issue up to a typical big corporation screwing over the customer because there's not much the little people can do about it. I relate this story to all that will listen, and suggest that if they choose a leatherman product NOT expect the manufacturer to even acknowledge a warranty claim.
 
Geez,

Thanks guys for updating us on the quality of product and service of Leatherman - or the lack thereof. I have a Leatherman S from 6 years ago - I think it was not so bad then. However, looking at the recent models they don't seem so solid or well engineered anymore. The swisstool, thankfully, seems big heavy and solid. And I was considering buying a Wave when in the states next! PASS!
 
Sorry to hear about your experience with Leatherman.

I sent a Leatherman Charge XTi back because some small metal tabs inside the handles broke off, and it would jam when closing because of it. In just a few weeks I recieved a brand new tool.

I've always had positive experiences with my Leatherman tools, and their service the one time I used it.

Just wanted to let you know that their warranty service has not gone completely to hell. Hopefully the problem you experienced was an isolated incident.

Can anyone else comment on warranty service from Leatherman, I think we need a larger sample size to get an accurate idea of how good or bad their support is these days.
 
bexteck said:
Sorry to hear about your experience with Leatherman.

I sent a Leatherman Charge XTi back because some small metal tabs inside the handles broke off, and it would jam when closing because of it. In just a few weeks I recieved a brand new tool.

I've always had positive experiences with my Leatherman tools, and their service the one time I used it.

Just wanted to let you know that their warranty service has not gone completely to hell. Hopefully the problem you experienced was an isolated incident.

Can anyone else comment on warranty service from Leatherman, I think we need a larger sample size to get an accurate idea of how good or bad their support is these days.
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I'm not sure about Leatherman warranty service. About 5 years ago I sent Leatherman a bunged up PST for repair, fully expecting to pay for it since the damage was caused by misuse. Instead, they sent back a new one, no charge.

Chapter 2: Several months ago I sent them a Charge after both knife blades folded on me in use. At the same time, I sent in a Juice CS4 with a sprung back that did not hold the can opener/CS assist in place. The Charge was returned unfixed because it met their specs, and the Juice was tightened, but now the scissors bind up slightly when folded into their space, annoying ( but only slightly).

This is not a big enough sample to draw any firm conclusions about LT support. My PST experience, of course, was customer service beyond reasonable expectation, but the more recent Charge/Juice episode was not so much. At the same time, there seems to be more complaints about support lately then ever before. Time was when regardless of how the products were regarded, there was universal high praise for LT warranty service.

Any other tales to tell?
 
hi all, my one and only experience with warranty was about a year ago. broke the saw on the old supertool. sent it in with a note explaining how it snapped and about two weeks later i recieved a note stating that the model was no longer made so enclosed please find a new version called supertool 200 with a new nylon case. needless to say they did good in my case,ymmv.



high
 
Ah well, looks like I'll have to buy a SAK multi-tool. Now, wonder which one is best ....
 
mamba-man said:
Ah well, looks like I'll have to buy a SAK multi-tool. Now, wonder which one is best ....
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No question for me. The original could well have been designed with my needs in mind. Only carp; the pliers jaws are a bit too short and don't open wide enough.

But what is life if not imperfect?
 
Here's the Leatherman Warranty for those not familiar with it.

Leatherman gets to determine if it's a 'defect in material or workmanship' and go from there. I think a lot of folks have probably sent their tools back over the years for warranty/repair and been pleasantly surprised at getting a new tool back instead of a simple problem fixed and I would think that costs the company quite a bit, but still keeps the customers happy. In my own experience of having a screwdriver blade snap off on my Wave awhile back, I was just expecting them to replace the one part and ended up getting a new Wave instead. I imagine they keep records on this stuff and if the same folks repeatedly send tools back, it might throw up a red flag for them whether it's a legitimate 'defect' covered under warranty or someone that's 'abused/misused' a tool looking for a freebie. I've owned over a dozen different Leatherman tools over the last 15 years and have only had the one problem. If their tools failed every couple of years for 'defects' and I had to keep returning them, I would't buy them anymore. If they failed because I tried using a tool for something other than what it was designed for, well, that's my fault and I wouldn't send the tool back expecting them to cover it. That being said, if you know it's a legitimate defect in materials/workmanship, start writing letters and get on the phone 'till they make it right.
 
a new tool back instead of a simple problem fixed and I would think that costs the company quite a bit, but still keeps the customers happy
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No, it's simply that repairing it would cost more in artisan labor fees than sending out a new one.
 
My experience with Leatherman's warranty was very positive. They replaced two WAVEs for me a year or two ago when I was just hoping they might replace a knife blade and saw blade.
 
I imagine they keep records on this stuff and if the same folks repeatedly send tools back, it might throw up a red flag for them whether it's a legitimate 'defect' covered under warranty or someone that's 'abused/misused' a tool looking for a freebie.
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This could be, but I doubt it.
I have been using leatherman tools for over 15 years and I would not think send three back in over 15 years would throw up a red flag.

I have read about people sending in 6-7 at a time, friends, family member, who ever and getting all new ones.

I have also heard of people buying these bulk lots of used multi-tools on ebay and sending in all the leatherman ones and getting new ones back.

I don't really care that they did not send me a new one, what I care about is they did not fix all that I told them was wrong with it to start with.
 
Leatherman4life said:
...I don't really care that they did not send me a new one, what I care about is they did not fix all that I told them was wrong with it to start with.
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Get back in touch with them and let us know what their response is.
7728popcornsmiley.gif
If folks are sending in several damaged/defective tools at once and used tools from ebay and getting new replacements like you've mentioned, there's no reason they shouldn't have fixed yours. I know I've seen a post where someone sent their damaged tool in with a note stating it was from abuse and asking how much for repair and still got new tool back and no bill, so it sounds like you've got a legitimate gripe with them and they've got some explaining to do.

Here's all their contact info for anyone else that wants to get in touch with them:

Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 20595
Portland, Oregon 97294-0595

Phone: (503) 253-7826
Toll Free: (800) 847-8665
Fax: (503) 253-7830
Warranty E-mail:
toolwarranty@leatherman.com
General E-mail:
mktg@leatherman.com
 
Leatherman4life said:
Maybe I should just try one of these.
Swiss
Would I have to change my username then, lol...
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LoL :D Send that in a message to Leatherman's warranty service. Let 'em know you're so unhappy with their recent 'customer no service' that you'd even change your BladeForums user ID.
 
I have a Wave I've had for little over a year now.. The Diamond coating on the file is gone (Cleaning metal contacts) and the little screwdriver is missing.

So I explained that in an Email to Customer Service.. If they reply back with a "Yes, that's covered by our warrenty" I'm going to print it out, and include it with the tool..
 
qballcanada said:
Can't say I blame you. I sent an e 302 in for warranty after the screwdriver blade broke (removing metal screws from a plastic insert on a truck license plate.. NOT a high torque application).That was April 03/06. At the beginning of June I sent a follow up letter inquiring as to it's status... as of present I have had no response to either letter or package (registered mail says the package was recieved).I've written the knife off and chalked the issue up to a typical big corporation screwing over the customer because there's not much the little people can do about it. I relate this story to all that will listen, and suggest that if they choose a leatherman product NOT expect the manufacturer to even acknowledge a warranty claim.
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Well, I got a surprise today, in the mail was a brand new e 302 from leatherman. No note, just a new knife wrapped in the original letter I had enclosed when I first sent the knife for repair. It took 4 months BUT I wasn't screwed over by the big buisness machine as I had originally suspected. I'm not impressed with the time it took nor the lack of communication, I am impressed with their solution.
Qballcanada
 
Chaulk one up for me for great experience.

I had sent in a 4 day old Leatherman Surge in black. The clip-point knife blade was hitting the inside of the handle, making the cutting edge get dulled. I sent it in, and few weeks later, someone from Leatherman called. She asked why I had sent in a brand new surge. I explained my problem, and then when she told me that the knife blade looks fine, I asked her to see it in light, and that there is an almost unperceptable shinyness on the curved portion of the blade edge where I used a sharpening stone to take out the squashed cutting edge.

I was so sure that she was going to say that there is no problme, but she said over the phone, "Let me get the tool... oh yes, I see the "shiny" part". she put me on a long hold while she talked to the warranty folks, and then she sent me a new tactical black leatherman surge. After I got off the phone with her at 4pm EST, I got an e-mail saying that my Surge left Leatherman's facility via UPS around 6PM. Talk about service!
 
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