My Pro Tech....Broke, heck! Am I crazy for wanting this warranty repaired?

[Bradsknives]

I say this with all due respect to the OP. First, your blade broke because of an accident, not because there was a quality issue or a flaw with the knife. I understand that you are upset, bummed, and even embarrassed (you're words) that this happened, but Protech is not obligated to do anything about it. If they replaced or fixed every knife that went through an accident or was misused, they wouldn't stay in business very long. Example: Say you bought a new car or truck, and a week later you backed up into a post or tree and it left a dent in the bumper. Is the car manufacturer obligated to give you a new car or even a new bumper at no cost? I think not, as it was an accident. I don't see your situation being any different than the example that I have stated.


I spoke with Dave the owner of Protech last night on your behalf to see if there was anything that could be done for you. When you called you actually spoke to the owner (Dave). He remembers your call very well. He offered to replace the blade for $60.00 and he told me that what he offered you is not a money maker, and they (Protech) would actually lose money at $60.00. Protech has extended a hand out to you to try and get your knife fixed. I personally think they have done everything they can do for you considering that the damage to your knife was due to an accident and not because of any fault on Protech's part. It is now your choice as to whether you want Protech to fix it or not.

 

[whocares]

I agree that Protech is not responsible for the knife breaking and that it is not technically a warranty issue as it was not defective material. At least I believe it was more a case of spit happens tham bad steel after the insight posted here. I get that.

When I called Protech and got the $60 blade offer which is $75 with shipping, it was a generic response. It wasnt like they said, "a new blade costs X, but since we value you as a customer we will replace your blade for only $60" Actually that alone would have probably been enough to feel like it mattered to them. Instead it was, "a new blade for a Godfather is $60 and we will replace your blade but not under warranty, dropping your knife is not a warranty problem"

I am going to ship the knife back and pay to have the blade replaced.

I dont feel like Protech did me wrong, but they didnt go out of their way to relieve the sting of my situation.

At least thats my perception and admittedly it is flawed as I am emotionally involved in the situation. This is why unbias input about a situation helps put things in a broader perspective.

 

[jsharmon7]

I guess I have no idea how much a new blade would cost on one of these. I assumed the actual cost of just the blade would be very little compared to the overall knife, and that it would be worth it to keep a customer happy. Good on Protech for doing their best to help the OP.

 

[Bradsknives]

I guess I have no idea how much a new blade would cost on one of these. I assumed the actual cost of just the blade would be very little compared to the overall knife, and that it would be worth it to keep a customer happy. Good on Protech for doing their best to help the OP.

Obviously the blade alone is not $60.00. You have people's time involved in a repair. The person or people that take care of receiving knives back for repair and shipping knives out after repair. You have administration costs that would include billing and receiving payment for repair. Also, the skilled person that actually does the repair, which includes tearing down the knife and replacing the blade and getting the knife put back together. I might have even missed an expense variable, but my point being is, the $60.00 is not just the cost of the blade, you have people's time involved.

 

[Dean C.]

Plus as brad was saying Protech has to buy the 154CM from I am assuming CPM industries a steel maker here in the US. Then they have to pay for shipping, grinding, heat treat and blade coatings then finally any blade coatings and sharpening of the blade itself. Then it can finally be put into the knife that was damaged. In the Knife world there are VERY few companies that will cover a broken blade under warranty Strider and ESEE being the two that come to mind.

 

[whocares]

My last EDC was a DPX Hest 2.0 and it had a lifetime warranty that I believe was essentially that if the knife broke they would fix it no matter what. Now I realize the Godfather is not a Hest but still.

We sell Mantis tillers at my work. We have sold them for 20 years. From its inception and introduction to the Market Mantis has offered a lifetime warranty on their tiller tines against bending and breaking no questions asked. If you bought a unit 20 years ago and break a tine off the cultivator we will give you a replacement set. There are two sets of tines per unit and they run $60 per side retail. A new Mantis tiller was $249 twenty years ago and now they are $320 retail. We occasionally write warranties on these tines but not to often.

A company can do as much as it wants when concerning customer support. Some companies go blatantly above and beyond to provide a level of service that can not be surpassed. Its amazing that by offering this type of support where a manufacturer will lose money in some cases on a unit after service issues but in the grand scheme these are the.companies which thrive and its because they think about a lifetime relationship of their products and the individuals who purchase them.

There is not treating a customer poorly but treating them fairly and there is treating a customer like a valued and important part of your companies success. They are nearly opposite ends of the spectrum. I have seen companies provide this type of superior customer support and seen them thrive and grow by building that reputation as a brand that appreciates its supporters. Sometimes as these manufacturers grow larger as a result of their proven reputation they begin to slowly stray away from the level of support they owed their succes to. Individual customers lose their value and become not worth going above and beyond for any longer. Basically companies forget how they got where they are now. Support becomes less proactive and eventually the brand will suffer. Companies that become very succesfull rarely do so based solely on the quality of their product. They do so based on the type of support they offer after the sale

 

[Dean C.]

Here is DPX's warranty page Customer Service its not what you think it is IMHO. This is just me personally but I think that pro tech has treated you very fairly and their warranty is superb. If your godfather had an issue that was in any way shape or form their fault they would gladly fix it for you. When you called you got the actual owner of the company that is very cool not many owners of a company that size will pick up the phone just saying.

As you stated the mantis tillers the tines are flat out no questions asked in the warranty that is more than likley a huge selling point for mantis. Pro tech makes no bones about their warranty as do other knife manufacturers like benchmade, emerson, kershaw and spyderco. This is in no way a customer service issue at all.

Plus if it were me and I called for example Emerson Knives Inc and Mr. Emerson him self picked up the phone I personally would be blown away and would be very happy.

 

[whocares]

The problem was absolutely that they didnt even care to see it before proclaiming non warranty. When I explained what happened initially he suggested that I reprofile my tip. I said it broke to far back to be corrected in such a manner.

My perspective was and still is that the blade broke an 1/8 to maybe even 1/4 inch back from the tip where there is quite.a bit more mass

HERE IS MY BIG QUESTION!! IF THE BLADE HAD SNAPPED AN INCH FARTHER UP THE BLADE WOULD THAT BE CONSIDERED MORE LIKELY TO BE WARRANTY? IS AN 1/8 to a 1/4 inch back still the tip?

 

[Dean C.]

I would consider it the tip especially considering the profile the blade had. The godfathers have a very thin delicate tip. Great for some light stuff and piercing and that is about it.

 

[Knife Lady]

It seems your options are to either be out the $250 you paid for the knife and not have a working knife or spend an additional $60 and allow them to repair it and you will have a working knife. I think I would be focusing on that proposal instead of worrying about something you cannot change. You may not and obviously do not agree with their decision but worrying about it will not allow you to move forward. I do know Brad will go out of his way to help his customers and sometimes even customers that has not bought the knife in question from him. Have you tried to contact BladeHQ to see how they take care of their customers after a sale. They may have a bigger pull with Protech since they are such a big company.

 

[joslar15]

The problem was absolutely that they didnt even care to see it before proclaiming non warranty. When I explained what happened initially he suggested that I reprofile my tip. I said it broke to far back to be corrected in such a manner.

My perspective was and still is that the blade broke an 1/8 to maybe even 1/4 inch back from the tip where there is quite.a bit more mass

HERE IS MY BIG QUESTION!! IF THE BLADE HAD SNAPPED AN INCH FARTHER UP THE BLADE WOULD THAT BE CONSIDERED MORE LIKELY TO BE WARRANTY? IS AN 1/8 to a 1/4 inch back still the tip?

Sounds like a broken blade is a broken blade if it results from being dropped five feet onto concrete. I would be pissed if my Ultratech were to meet a similar fate. But since it is my EDC most of the time, I'd just suck it up and embrace whatever solution Brad was able to come up with for me. That's the first time I've ever spent that much for a knife and I'm going to get my money's worth enjoyment from it. Move on, life's too short!

 

[jspy5]

It seems your options are to either be out the $250 you paid for the knife and not have a working knife or spend an additional $60 and allow them to repair it and you will have a working knife. I think I would be focusing on that proposal instead of worrying about something you cannot change. You may not and obviously do not agree with their decision but worrying about it will not allow you to move forward. I do know Brad will go out of his way to help his customers and sometimes even customers that has not bought the knife in question from him. Have you tried to contact BladeHQ to see how they take care of their customers after a sale. They may have a bigger pull with Protech since they are such a big company.

Excellent points Sheila on both accounts. Speaking for myself, I would just suck it up and call it what it is, an unfortunate accident. I would rather pay $60 and have a fully functional and original condition Godfather.

 

[cmr13]

The problem was absolutely that they didnt even care to see it before proclaiming non warranty.

Sounds like a broken blade is a broken blade if it results from being dropped five feet onto concrete.

+1

It doesn't matter what it looks like or where it broke, it still isn't under warranty because it was dropped. It didn't fail. It was broken on accident.

 

[shootersix]

my dream car was a subaru wrx, a year or two after i came out, they made a version that had transmission plate, skid plates, and all kind of things to protect it from damage if you took it rally racing, BUT if you took it rally racing you voided the warranty. subaru even went so far as to check autocross sites, and if you were using your wrx for auto cross, they mailed you a letter saying that your warranty was null and void, and they would not cover repairs.

i dont know protec's warranty(but my father owns 2 godfathers, one all black and one tuxedo), but i know that most knife companys void the warranty if you use your knife as a screwdriver, prybar,can opener, or for any use other than cutting, i'm not calling your character into question, but im sure for every one blade that fell onto a concrete floor, there are 10 that say that "they fell on the floor" that were used as a screwdriver, and how would protec know if you used it as a knife, or as a prybar?

dude i hate to say this, but your out 60.00, either pay protec 60.00 to replace your blade, or pay someone 60.00 to reprofile the one you have

ans next time hold that handle a little tighter,or tell whomever to hold it tight, cause it really kicks!

 

[whocares]

Knifes getting sent back and im paying the cash to get.fuxed.

So i guess the issue is resolved and so now can the thread be

 

[Dim Mak]

This is why I don't let anyone touch my knives.