Case Repair and Quality Control

The W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company has a very rich history that began in 1889 when William Russell (“W.R.”), Jean, John, and Andrew Case began fashioning their knives and selling them along a wagon trail in upstate New York. The company has produced countless treasures and it continues to do so as one of the most collected brands in the world.
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Aimus Moses
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Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

Has anyone else sent Case Cutlery a Case brand knife for repair in the last couple of months? I did, and let me tell you I'm not the least bit satisfied with the work they did. I sent them a couple of knives. 1 was a 54 Trapper pattern. It had cracks in the handles at the middle back spring pin, so I contacted Case and they said it was warranty covered and to just mail it to them. It would be re-handled free of charge. Other than the cracked handles there was nothing at all wrong with the knife. The knife is unused, carried, or sharpened. When I get it back the handles were replaced but, neither of the 2 blades had any snap (and I mean weak!), and this 54 Trapper snapped like a bear trap before I sent it in to Case. There were gouge marks in the brass liner caused by some kind of cutting instrument, I'm guessing where the knife was taken apart. The bolsters and brass liners, on the end where the blades open, had numerous dents and pings all over them where it was apparently struck with something to hammer the knife apart. After Case's repair work on the knife, with both of the knife's blades opened fully, I can hold the knife up to a light and see cracks between the liners and the back springs wide enough that I could throw a wild cat through. I've had Case Cutlery to repair a few knives before and it seems that all the knives that I've had to pay for the parts and labor were repaired with good attention to detail and had no problems. The knives that I have sent to them that were "warranty" work covered showed very shoddy work on Case's part. I mean to tell you the 54 Trapper pattern knife I sent them was in better condition before I sent it to Case for repair. I have some other Case brand knives that needs repaired and the repairs falls under the Case warranty but I'll be danged if I'm going to send the knives to Case Cutlery only to get them back in the same bad shape as the other Case warranty repaired knives were returned to me in. I contacted Case about the problem with the 54 Trapper and was only sent the usual E-mail of send your knife to Case. What for? So they can finish the job of destroying what was once a nice Case knife? I think I'm about through with buying any more Case brand knives and products. I believe I'll be spending my money on buying GEC, Queen, Schatt & Morgan, Bear & Son, and other US companies that stand behind their products better and have at least some quality control. I apologize for my ranting on about this but, this is just unacceptable from any US cutlery company but more so coming from Case Cutlery. Case's knife quality use to be the norm, now it's more of a lottery.

Aimus
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tjmurphy
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by tjmurphy »

Damn Aimus. I would sure contact them by phone and tell them exactly what I thought of their warranty work. I would let them know that I am a collector, that case, for the time being, is one of my interests and that I was a forum member on AAPK. :x :(
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stockman
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by stockman »

I also had a bad repair on a warranty by Case. On a 1970 stockman 4318. I put mine in a
antique store and sold it for a user.
Aimus Moses
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

Tom, I did contact Case about the lousy work on the knife. All I got back was the same old pre-recorded E-mail response of; Case knives are covered under a life time warranty bla, bla, bla, bla, send your knife to Case Cutlery to be inspected and Case will fix it if it is a warranty covered problem, if not someone at Case Cutlery will contact you about the repair costs before any work is done...bla, bla, bla... and so on. That same old E-mail that I'm sure everyone gets from them. There wasn't a "I'm sorry,,,,, or we apologize for the problem,,,, and not even a Hi, By, Kiss my foot or nothin. I don't have to pay good money for a companies product and get something back like the mess they made of my 54 Trapper pattern knife. I've dealt with Queen Cutlery, Buck, Bear & Son, Schrade USA and others that didn't do what Case has done. Those companies were johnny on the spot for any problems I had. Hell, I sent Bear & Son Cutlery an E-mail about 7 or 8 O'Clock one night about a problem and the owner of Bear & Son Cutlery contacted me at 9 or 10 O'Clock that same night from his automobile to see what my problem was with a Bear & Son knife I have, and he fixed it pronto. If it was just 1 Case brand knife that I've had this to happen with, I would say it could happen by mistake to anyone but, almost every "warranty" repair Case knife I've sent to them comes home to me with some other problem that it didn't have when I sent it to them. It's either with a functioning problem or a cosmetic problem with the knife. As long as I'm paying my $$$$ to get a Case knife repaired, they come back home with no problems. It just seems like there is a pattern here on "warranty" (read FREE) repaired Case knives. I think I'll stick with only pre-1965 era Case knives. They don't have parts for those era knives anyway so there's no need for me to even have to mess with Case Cutlery about them. I really think it's a shame that Case Cutlery is losing ground in todays market but, now I can see why they are.

Aimus
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tjmurphy
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by tjmurphy »

It's too bad they don't have the same repair ethics as the Zippo side of the business. I've sent dozens of Zippos back for repair and they've done excellent repairs. Zippo says; "It works or we fix it for free", and that's just what they do. The only thing Zippo doesn't warranty is the finish. Sorry for your bad experiences.
"There are none so blind as those that refuse to see"

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Aimus Moses
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

I wish Case worked like Zippo too, if they do good repair work. The thing that makes me the maddest is these people doing the repair at Case Cutlery on a Case brand knife KNOWS better than to send a knife back to an owner in the shape that my 54 pattern trapper was in. They are supposed to be professionals at they're trade there, the best at repairing knives that have the name and letters "Case XX" stamped on them. I'm not a knife repair man of any brand of knife but I at least have enough common sense to know not to send a knife with no blade snap on either blade (opening or closing), and it beat & banged all to hell, back to the owner. I don't know what kind of drugs they're on, or what kind they need to be on but, I'll be damned if they don't need to straighten their asses up at Case Cutlery when it comes to their products, repairs, and customer service. As of this moment I'm officially through with Case Cutlery, all of their newer knives that they offer, and their so called customer service. If I buy Case anymore, it will be vintage Case. The only way anyone will ever catch me with a newer Case brand knife is if someone gives it to me free, and then I'll only have it as long as it takes me to sale or trade it off. It wont be spending the night at my house that's for sure. I'll go with one of the repair guys here on the site for my other Case brand knives that need repaired. There's no need for Case Cutlery to expect a Christmas card from me again. They have made my list but, it's not my Christmas list, it's that other list that should be kept in the bathroom because of the smell. I'm going to just shut up because the more I think about it the madder it makes me. ::disgust::

Aimus
GeorgeCAtl
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by GeorgeCAtl »

Aimus,
You may remember I had a warranty issue a few months back which I won't rehash.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 66&t=17127

But, I did get a favorable outcome. Speak with Mary Ann in customer service ---- she was very helpful. I also got in touch with Tom Arrowsmith and that's when things happened. I received a nice letter from Tom and he actually changed the policy regarding the material defect being warranteed for future customers.
If its not right, do not be satisfied until it is. Case has a long heritage and reputation to uphold------and I was assured (and shown)they do stand behind their product.
Ramrod

Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Ramrod »

Aimus,
I've had similar experiences with Case recently. In a single word....PATHETIC
Mark
cbnutt
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by cbnutt »

the new case offerings, and there warenty work are both sub standard, ::td:: ill share something about GEC. i recevied a mink skinner the other day i had posted about trading for, one blade had a 'slight' bit of side play, actualy i was being way to picky about it, not a problem at all, but, i called Ryan at GEC. i couldnt beleave what he told me, he said he will mail out a another mink skinner, i can look at both, and decide which one i want to keep, and send the other back, or if i dont like either, can excahnge for another style of knife ! ::tu:: thats EXELLENT service, above and beyond in my opinioun, trusting me enough to just send another knife ! ill be buying more GEC. knifes for sure ! ::tu:: :)
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cbnutt
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by cbnutt »

i probly should say some of there knifes of course are ok, i recently got a new sodbuster jr. in cv, thats fine, i do think if the store you buy at has several, you need to ask to look at a few before buying of the same model, as a couple i looked at wernt as tight as the one i got.
Shoot low sheriff, he's ridin a Shetland.....
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Elvis
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Elvis »

One would think that with the machinery that the factories have, each knife would be exactly the same, but with that said, as someone who works on knives, I can tell you that no two hand-assembled knives are exactly alike. I'm not sure how it's handled now, but years ago, a cutler was at the end of the line fine-tuning each knife. I'm thinking that wasn't such a bad idea.
Aimus Moses
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

I want to say I'm sorry to all the members and non-members that has read this thread. I was very angry at the time I wrote it, and I shouldn't have flew off the handle and used words that were inappropriate for this website. So to everyone out there in WWW land I apologize to you. Phil and Dale (and the other moderators), I apologize to you also. Neither of you said anything to me about my angry post but, I shouldn't have put either of you in the spot where you might have had to. I'm still not a happy camper where Case Cutlery is concerned. I am going to send the knife back to them and write a letter in detail about the problems that they made on my knife. I honestly think that when you send any company back one of their products because of a problem, a person wouldn't be wrong in thinking that the company has it's own experts that handle things like that. After all they are the ones that build them, that should make them experts on their product doesn't it? I wish I had someway of showing a picture of my knife to all the members here on AAPK. I'm not stretching the truth about this, the knife looks like a 12 or 13 year old kid attempted to repair my knife. This run in with Case has left me sick at my stomach. I won't be dealing with Case Cutlery again until they prove to me that they have made a 180 degree turn and are putting out the type of work that they were once known for. Once again, I apologize to anyone and everyone that I may have offended with my posts on this thread.
Regards,

Aimus
Aimus Moses
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

Ramrod wrote:Aimus,
I've had similar experiences with Case recently. In a single word....PATHETIC
Mark
Mark, were your similar experienced "problem" Case knives repaired under Case's warranty or did you have to pay for the repair? I've never had a problem with a Case knife being repaired when "I" was pulling the $$ money $$ out of my pocket to pay for the parts, & repair labor. As I said in my other posts on this thread, the problem Case knives that I have gotten back were all repaired under Case's warranty. Now I don't know how Case Cutlery works at their factory, by that I mean they may start a new (greenhorn) employee out on repairing returned Case knives. How ever they are doing it, they definitely need to make a change because it's not working out right for the customer. At the prices of Case Cutlery knives, am I wrong to expect a knife to be repaired and fixed to where it is working correctly and looks good with no cosmetic problems?

Aimus
cbnutt
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by cbnutt »

your 100% right, and shouldnt be sorry , no need to apologize, case should make it right.
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Jeffrey
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Jeffrey »

You should try to send the president an email or call him. I bought a Hen and Rooster Congress a couple of years ago and found that the blade was getting dented on the main spring so I contacted Frost cutlery and Mr.Frost agreed to give me a knife of equal value. So I get this seahorse whittler that was just terrible. The glue was dried seeping from behind the shield, the grinding was terrible the bolsters were not set right it was not a $50.00 knife by far. I never contacted them about it because I was sick of playing phone tag. Its like after Frost got a hold of H&R the craftsmanship has gone down! ::disgust::

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... ty#p128520
PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS!
Ramrod

Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Ramrod »

Aimus Moses wrote:
Ramrod wrote:Aimus,
I've had similar experiences with Case recently. In a single word....PATHETIC
Mark
Mark, were your similar experienced "problem" Case knives repaired under Case's warranty or did you have to pay for the repair? I've never had a problem with a Case knife being repaired when "I" was pulling the $$ money $$ out of my pocket to pay for the parts, & repair labor. As I said in my other posts on this thread, the problem Case knives that I have gotten back were all repaired under Case's warranty. Now I don't know how Case Cutlery works at their factory, by that I mean they may start a new (greenhorn) employee out on repairing returned Case knives. How ever they are doing it, they definitely need to make a change because it's not working out right for the customer. At the prices of Case Cutlery knives, am I wrong to expect a knife to be repaired and fixed to where it is working correctly and looks good with no cosmetic problems?

Aimus
Aimus,
Yes, the problems I had involved warranty work as well. ::shrug::
Mark
Aimus Moses
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by Aimus Moses »

Thanks Mark, that's what I figured and was wanting to know. Case Cutlery might not know it but they are going to repair 1 more of my Case brand knives, the one that THEY messed up. After they fix my knife (AGAIN) to my total satisfaction, I could care less if they go broke and shut their doors for good. I'll buy a Rough Rider China made knife before I ever buy another current era Case brand knife. And that's saying something because I'm anti-China anything. I don't see why Case Cutlery doesn't go ahead and start importing and selling China made Case brand knives. There's not much difference in the quality between them. If I wanted to spend my hard earned money on buying junk, I would have bought some of that China crap that SMKW and Frost has made up. Case Cutlery has ruined their self with me. I'm going to make it a point to tell anyone that's even thinking about buying a Case brand knife what they have done, and how their warranty repair really is. It's a shame how they have changed, Case used to really mean something. Not anymore.

Aimus
miked32
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by miked32 »

i think that Case has the best repairs department out there.i have sent several back over the years...got some back just last month and have been 100% satisfied every time...top notch in my book........ ::nod:: ::nod:: ::nod:: ::nod:: ::nod::
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LC
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Re: Case Repair and Quality Control

Post by LC »

Aimus Moses wrote:Thanks Mark, that's what I figured and was wanting to know. Case Cutlery might not know it but they are going to repair 1 more of my Case brand knives, the one that THEY messed up. After they fix my knife (AGAIN) to my total satisfaction, I could care less if they go broke and shut their doors for good. I'll buy a Rough Rider China made knife before I ever buy another current era Case brand knife. And that's saying something because I'm anti-China anything. I don't see why Case Cutlery doesn't go ahead and start importing and selling China made Case brand knives. There's not much difference in the quality between them. If I wanted to spend my hard earned money on buying junk, I would have bought some of that China crap that SMKW and Frost has made up. Case Cutlery has ruined their self with me. I'm going to make it a point to tell anyone that's even thinking about buying a Case brand knife what they have done, and how their warranty repair really is. It's a shame how they have changed, Case used to really mean something. Not anymore.

Aimus

Sorry about your experience with Case Repairs but you can keep all that Chinese stuff and Frost Cutlery and send all your Case Knives to me :shock: :shock:
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