Spyderco Repair Service Review

Kreyzhorse

Kreyzhorse

Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
2,496
BF,

Recently landed a used SE Dodo off the exchange. This was a knife I'd been looking to find for sometime and while this one was a user, I jumped on it.

Overall, it was in pretty good shape but had some striped screws, a bent pocket clip, a tiny blade chip and needed a good sharpening, all of which was relayed to me before I bought it. Far from perfect but a grail is a grail.

Once I received it I reached out to Spyderco, was told turn around took about two weeks, was given an estimated repair cost and decided to send it in right before Christmas. Just got it back today and wanted to say I'm very thrilled with the work done to it.

The screws and clip were replaced and its factory sharp again. The small blade chip is gone. Had never needed to send a knife back to Spyderco before but like any time I've ever dealt with Spyderco, their customer service is once again stellar. They also performed the work for less than the original estimate.

Not sure if I'll ever need to send a knife back to Spyderco in the future, but I know if i need to, I won't hesitate to do so. They took a "well loved" Dodo and brought it back to excellent condition.

Can't wait to drop it into my EDC rotation tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Here is an "after" picture. Didn't think to take a before picture.

kPwxpzi.jpg
 
sgt1372 said:
Is this a positive or negative recollection?
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Definitely positive. I've seen pics of knives that looked unsalvageable, but when they came back from Spyderco, they looked good as new.

I've sent in a couple of pretty worn serrated knives over the years for resharpening, and when I got them back, they looked fresh from the box.
 
StuntDouble said:
Definitely positive. I've seen pics of knives that looked unsalvageable, but when they came back from Spyderco, they looked good as new.

I've sent in a couple of pretty worn serrated knives over the years for resharpening, and when I got them back, they looked fresh from the box.
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Cool! :)
 
I've sent Spyderco two knives in for service. Communication and quality of service were great. I also called them a couple of times with questions before purchasing a knife, and they were very helpful.
 
I just got off the phone w/the Spyderco repair shop and got a $5 estimate (the cost of return shipping) to rehape/sharpen and repolish my used vintage Endura (plastic clip) Clip-it.

Was told that the cost of reshaping the dulled tip should be included the FREE resharpening service.

How cool is THAT?! It'll be in the mail to Spyderco on Monday. :)
 
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amateur blacksmith said:
Is a blade replacement possible with this service?
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As far as I know, Spyderco does not replace blades and, even if they did, you couldn't get that for free. Based on my contact w/them today, only "sharpening" services are "free."

However, FYI, I did get the blade on my mini-Infidel replaced by BenchMade for $40. Not sure how many manufacturers will do a blade replacement. Only know that Spyderco apparently does not.
 
sgt1372 said:
As far as I know, Spyderco does not replace blades and, even if they did, you couldn't get that for free. Based on my contact w/them today, only "sharpening" services are "free."

However, FYI, I did get the blade on my mini-Infidel replaced by BenchMade for $40. Not sure how many manufacturers will do a blade replacement. Only know that Spyderco apparently does not.
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I would not expect it to be free. I was only asking if it was a part of the service they offer.
 
amateur blacksmith said:
I would not expect it to be free. I was only asking if it was a part of the service they offer.
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FWIW, if the blade on any Spyderco knife "breaks", I think they would give you a FREE knife to replace it. Apparently, they just don't want to replace blades on otherwise functional knives.
 
I ending up sending 2 knives to Spyderco about 10 days ago and they are already returning 1 of them (the Endura) to me; should get it in a couple of days.

The other is a Starmate that I bought off the Exchange w/a flaw in the blade; there's a slight depression in the show side of the blade that was not removed w/the factory grind. The seller of the knife has promised to refund the purchase price if Spyderco can't fix it; gave them instructions to NOT do anything and return it "as is" if they can't fix it w/a statement to that effect so that I can get the refund. Hoping that they CAN fix it, because I really like the knife and got a good price on it.

Can't comment on the quality of the work yet BUT I do think that Spyderco Customer Service would improve their communications a bit.

While they are pretty good about answering the phone, they do NOT confirm receipt of any knives sent for them for repair and do not provide you with specific notice when they return it. The only notice I received for the return of my Endura was a Pitney Bowes shipment notices sent by email which did NOT identify who the seller was; I guessed from the fact that it was sent fro Colorado and confirmed it when I spoke to Customer Service on the phone.

Given the number of submissions that they get, I was told that they do not actually "log" a knife that you send in for service into their system for at least a week and to not call to find out if they received the knife before that time. This is a good reason to always send the knife to Spyderco w/a signature required. The tracking info that I got for the Starmate from USPS was that it was left at the front door/porch, which really worried me. So, I'm not sending another knife to them again w/a a signature required so that I know that someone actually received it, especially since Spyderco does not send you any confirmation of receipt and you have to wait at least a wk to find out if they actually received your knife or not.

Turn around for the repairs is currently estimated at 4-6 weeks after that but they returned my Endura in less than a week. I think that they probably tell everyone that it takes 4-6 weeks to do the work, simply to keep people from constantly calling to find out what's going on w/their knives.

Anyway, thought I'd mention this before I actually get the Endura and Starmate back. Will provide an update on the "quality" of the repair to the Endura (and the Starmate, if they try to fix it) when I get them back.
 
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Having worked in a high volume warranty center, I'm not surprised they don't log your return for a week. The field I worked in had a tiny department for the entire country's returns.
 
Great to hear your experience.

[Getting on my soapbox] I'll try to connect this back to the most recent "price" discussion taking place. This level of service costs money. Having people to process the forms, to get the knives in, to work on them, to ship them back. Keep parts around for knives that have long since been discontinued. This all costs a lot of money. When you complain about prices relative to other brands, you need to consider whether you plan to keep the knife and may ever need it serviced. This is my standard rant when people mention Benchmade prices. It applies here as well. [off soapbox]
 
My experience with Spyderco customer service has been about 50% satisfactory. When I buy a Spyderco knife, I inspect it thoroughly when it arrives and if it leaves me any doubt, I return it to the dealer for a refund, rather than risk needing to make a warranty claim.
 
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