Benchmade Customer Service

[Jamie Jackson]

I just wanted to give a thumb's up to Benchmade's customer service. :up:

 

I've carried this knife daily for more than a decade. The pocket clip has loosened up from time to time, and I don't know about you guys but I generally don't have a # 6 trox driver on me...so I've tightened them with whatever I've had handy. Well they finally gave up the ghost and stripped out a good bit.

I e-mailed Benchmade last week, explained what I had done and asked how to go about purchasing a set of clip replacement screws. I received an e-mail reply within a couple of hours and my free replacement screws arrived today.

 

So while not nearly as nice as the beautiful custom knives I frequently see and admire here, I gotta say I'm pleased with my choice of a Benchmade Griptilian.

 

Just thought I'd let you guys know. And give a shout out for Benchmade while I was at it. :pleased:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GlockSpock]

Great! Might I add, SOG was great for me a month ago. I had an old knife I didn't use. The pocket clip had literally bent part of the knife handle. I sent it to them via whatever shipping method I wanted. Two weeks later I had a new knife.

 

They even honored my request of replacing the serrated blade with a plain edge.

 

Now, Benchmade is an American made company, but I was every bit as happy that SOG honored their "warranty" for such an old knife.

[willis68]

Great! Might I add, SOG was great for me a month ago. I had an old knife I didn't use. The pocket clip had literally bent part of the knife handle. I sent it to them via whatever shipping method I wanted. Two weeks later I had a new knife.

 

They even honored my request of replacing the serrated blade with a plain edge.

 

Now, Benchmade is an American made company, but I was every bit as happy that SOG honored their "warranty" for such an old knife.

 

 

While technically Benchmade is still a American company, many years ago they started outsourcing most of their line, that was tremendously disappointing me  as I use to own quite a few, I am glad to hear that their customer support is still on par though

 

 

In all honesty I like the Sog knives better than most new Benchmade knives, aside from their Blue and very expensive Gold Class the new ones are not so grand,  

Edited February 11, 2015 by willis68

[GlockSpock]

While technically Benchmade is still a American company, many years ago they started outsourcing most of their line, that was tremendously disappointing me  as I use to own quite a few, I am glad to hear that their customer support is still on par though

 

 

In all honesty I like the Sog knives better than most new Benchmade knives, aside from their Blue and very expensive Gold Class the new ones are not so grand,  

 

Well that is dissapointing.

[Jamie Jackson]

I didn't know this about Benchmade either...now take this with a grain of salt and consider it's a "wiki" link, but the claim is that Benchmade knives are "made in 'merica"

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmade

In 1996, Benchmade moved to Oregon City. Apart from some Red Class products, which are produced in their "off shore facilities",^[14] Benchmade produces more than 90% of its knives in Oregon City, and has succeeded in bringing others back to home production.^[15] Since 2010, all Red Class production knives have been discontinued, and as such, every Benchmade labeled knife is made in the United States.

 

 

and I also found this on a post from EDC forums from 2010:

 

From Team Benchmade:

 

http://edcforums.com/threads/benchmade-announcement-regarding-red-class-knives.69224/
As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary in Oregon, we’re more committed than ever to designing and manufacturing the world’s best sports cutlery and edged tools. We continually strive to provide high quality products that will deliver superior performance for our customers. It is with this commitment to quality in mind that we are proud to announce beginning in January 2010, all Benchmade branded products will be made in the USA at our factory in Oregon City, Oregon. These products will continue to be offered in our Blue, Black and Gold Classes. We will no longer offer products in our Red Class, although we expect inventory to exist in the marketplace for some time. Also, several of the more popular models from the Red Class will find their way, in one form or another, into our H&K and H-D knife lines. The USA Made models that were in Red Class will now be Blue class models (specifically, the Aphid® and the Rant®).

 

eta: just to verify the EDC source: http://www.benchmade.com/products/catalogs/2010consumer.pdf

 

Willis...was this just the "red class", which I was never aware of, that you were referring to?

 

And has Benchmade started offshoring again?

Edited February 11, 2015 by prag

[willis68]

The last I knew for certainty was several knife vendors dumped them for outsourcing to China and other Asian countries. The Red Class is definitely what I was referring to, There is a huge difference in the ones made in the USA and the imported knives.

 

If they have discontinued outsourcing, then God Bless them but I am not sure one way or another, all I know is that over the last 20 or so years I have seen some imported knives from Benchmade

[willis68]

I just looked on their website, The AFOII is a fantastic knife and I had one a couple of years ago, that is the Black class so I assure you that the AFO2 anyway is made in america and a damn good knife. I wish they would have never started outsourcing to begin with, that is when these different classes of knives started, it use to be any Benchmade knife was made in the USA and their was no question of their quality 

 

I plan on getting in touch with them sometime next month I will call and find out the facts as I would love to sell their products, but I will never sell anything aside from American made knives

[cj0e]

The last I knew for certainty was several knife vendors dumped them for outsourcing to China and other Asian countries. The Red Class is definitely what I was referring to, There is a huge difference in the ones made in the USA and the imported knives.

 

If they have discontinued outsourcing, then God Bless them but I am not sure one way or another, all I know is that over the last 20 or so years I have seen some imported knives from Benchmade

 

 

Looking forward to what you hear from them. Based on my knowledge (from a knife-specific forum and a Benchmade moderator chiming in over there) many of their H&K class knives are made overseas in China and other countries. Some Benchmade H&K knives are made in USA.

 

The rest: Blue, Black, and Gold are all USA made - afaik.

[willis68]

I 

 

Looking forward to what you hear from them. Based on my knowledge (from a knife-specific forum and a Benchmade moderator chiming in over there) many of their H&K class knives are made overseas in China and other countries. Some Benchmade H&K knives are made in USA.

 

The rest: Blue, Black, and Gold are all USA made - afaik.

 

 

This is what I have been lead to believe as well, I know several of the Black class knives are top shelf, 

 

So anything Black, Blue or Gold should be of the highest quality, I checked some posts from some trusted people on a few knife forums

[willis68]

This thread has me missing my AFO2 that I had a few years back, The next Non Protech automatics I pick up will be a pair of AFO2 knives One black and one satin, both plain edge

[daddyo]

One of the things I like about their CS is that when you buy a knife with either the "arrow" clip or the standard one, if you email or call and ask, they will send you a deep carry clip for free. They have sent me three or four now, I believe.

 

And when I bought an Aphid with an uncentered blade, I sent it to them and had it back in a couple of weeks with the blade perfectly centered.

[ReticulateLemur]

Looking forward to what you hear from them. Based on my knowledge (from a knife-specific forum and a Benchmade moderator chiming in over there) many of their H&K class knives are made overseas in China and other countries. Some Benchmade H&K knives are made in USA.

 

The rest: Blue, Black, and Gold are all USA made - afaik.

 

Just checked the 943 I ordered this week and it has "USA" on the blade right under the logo.  Take that as you will.

[willis68]

Just checked the 943 I ordered this week and it has "USA" on the blade right under the logo.  Take that as you will.

 

 

That is an Osbourne modeled Blue Class knife, it is one of the very good ones

[AECS]

I have an auto Stryker that I love, have carried it with me literally around the world on deployment with me.  Great knife that I would love to send in for service but cant seem to part with it for that long...

[willis68]

I had a conversation with an executive of Benchmade last week, yes they did drop the Red Class, and are now back on my want list. As I mentioned before the AFO2 is an outstanding knife and the one I would recommend for any of you to buy who want a Beefy hard use knife. I compare its likeness to Pro Tech's Rockeyes, both hard use knifes but the AFO2 has a safety that is nice to have

 

After my conversation with them they are back in my good graces and I am definitely back on board as a fan of their knifes, I have a few Butterfly knifes and a couple of AFO2's I will be buying this year  

[Jamie Jackson]

willis;

 

Thanks for "doing the work" on this and the update and clarification.

 

It's good to know that beyond my personal experiences with Benchmade (excellent so far) that they are still (again) adhering to quality standards.

 

As mentioned in my first post, I am rather fond of my Griptilian...and I have an AFCK I picked up at Gunsite in 1992 that is one heck of a smooth and ergonomic knife as well.

 

The AFO's look nice btw. Tempting... :pleased:

[tnhawk]

I'm glad to see Benchmade products are American made again.  The knives I have from them have been quality products.

[jbrownch]

Most of the Benchmade knives are USA manufactured, including the HK series. It's easy to find out where the knife is made by checking sites such as Blade HQ, The Cuttlery Shoppe, just to mention a few. These sites always list where the knife is manufactured in the spec. section of the knife. I have seen some Benchmade's on Amazon's site that were made overseas. Benchmade is my go to company when looking for a knife, and as many here have stated their CS is excellant.

[Tooreal]

Like the WiKi Site "PRAG" Referenced in his post, if you read the entire Article?! Benchmade has Not manufactured any of their knives anywhere except the United States for about 5 years and the small amount of Red Class knives that may still be in the open market out there were only a small Fraction made for a very short time!!!
That was one small amount that Benchmade Broke Away from because they Only wanted American Made Products, that Red Class didn't last long after Benchmade pulled away to open their Facility in Origan...

Benchmade has Always had Top Tier First Class Customer Service, Including a Repair & Replacement Guarantee Like No Other Company, Period! They keep it simple and keep their Customers Happy with an Excellent Product Line that starts out with Great entry level knives that are priced accordingly, and Gradually step Up in Class with Different Materials being used to assemble a More Expensive knife with a Matching price to pay for those materials, and it Steps Up in Class all the way Up to the Gold Class Knives which are the Cream of the Crop in their product Line of knives, and the pricegrabber shows it too!!!

Benchmade knives are Collected by More people in the US than any other knife, that I'm aware of?
Benchmade has made a Reputible Name for them selves, and with such a Large Product Line here In the US and the Number of knives they sell yearly Here and abdroad, I say they are doing a Reeally Good job with their Business, especially when you consider they are making Production Knives like most knife Companies..

If I had to Guess, I would say that Benchmade & Spyderco sell & Manufacture More knives Yearly and the Most knives Yearly than any other Company in the Business!!!

Why the Harshness towards Benchėmade "Willis"? They're just selling knives! Now Spyderco knives, if they aren't made in Golden Colorado, you can Bet it's made in Taiwan!? Tvvhey make knives all over this Big World Nice Ride BTW ?

[willis68]

Like the WiKi Site "PRAG" Referenced in his post, if you read the entire Article?! Benchmade has Not manufactured any of their knives anywhere except the United States for about 5 years and the small amount of Red Class knives that may still be in the open market out there were only a small Fraction made for a very short time!!!
That was one small amount that Benchmade Broke Away from because they Only wanted American Made Products, that Red Class didn't last long after Benchmade pulled away to open their Facility in Origan...

Benchmade has Always had Top Tier First Class Customer Service, Including a Repair & Replacement Guarantee Like No Other Company, Period! They keep it simple and keep their Customers Happy with an Excellent Product Line that starts out with Great entry level knives that are priced accordingly, and Gradually step Up in Class with Different Materials being used to assemble a More Expensive knife with a Matching price to pay for those materials, and it Steps Up in Class all the way Up to the Gold Class Knives which are the Cream of the Crop in their product Line of knives, and the pricegrabber shows it too!!!

Benchmade knives are Collected by More people in the US than any other knife, that I'm aware of?
Benchmade has made a Reputible Name for them selves, and with such a Large Product Line here In the US and the Number of knives they sell yearly Here and abdroad, I say they are doing a Reeally Good job with their Business, especially when you consider they are making Production Knives like most knife Companies..

If I had to Guess, I would say that Benchmade & Spyderco sell & Manufacture More knives Yearly and the Most knives Yearly than any other Company in the Business!!!

Why the Harshness towards Benchėmade "Willis"? They're just selling knives! Now Spyderco knives, if they aren't made in Golden Colorado, you can Bet it's made in Taiwan!? Tvvhey make knives all over this Big World Nice Ride BTW ?

 

 

 

 

 

If you would read what i posted, and knew anything about me I am someone who prefers American made products, and it is terrible disappointment when an American company that was pretty much the Gold standard of my knife world started outsourcing and Red class was made,  They have acknowledged this and stopped the Red cllass, as far as harshness how is this for harshness? When speaking directly with Benchmade on the phone, after they explained everything to me, I Bought this AFO2 directly from Benchmade, it is one of the BEST automatic knives I have ever used as I said they are back in my good graces

 

I have told Protech that if they ever outsource their knives, I will drop them like a bad habit 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2015 by willis68

[tbenedict]

I'm not sure where the frustration is.  I have four Benchmades and they are my favorite.  My first was an older lockback that I never use, but does have the AT-34 steel.  My second was an Osbourne 943 that is still my favorite non-collectible....uber smooth.  It's so nice, I just can't make myself use it.  

 

And I have one of their outsourced mini-Ambush knives.  I think it is AUS-8.  For the money, it is a great knife, but not in the same league.  I would probably carry it more if the pocket clip was wider/more pants friendly.

 

Remember Spyderco is in an similar league and has their outsourced Byrd line.  Again, great knives for the money, but not in the same league.  Also, FWIW, the Byrd line used to be made by Sanrenmu, which has a cult following for their value.  I have 3 of the SRM's and they do great (function/edge holding) and don't break the heart if you lose them.

 

I'm all for quality, but I also don't turn my nose up if the functionality meets the purpose.

[willis68]

I'm not sure where the frustration is.  I have four Benchmades and they are my favorite.  My first was an older lockback that I never use, but does have the AT-34 steel.  My second was an Osbourne 943 that is still my favorite non-collectible....uber smooth.  It's so nice, I just can't make myself use it.  

 

And I have one of their outsourced mini-Ambush knives.  I think it is AUS-8.  For the money, it is a great knife, but not in the same league.  I would probably carry it more if the pocket clip was wider/more pants friendly.

 

Remember Spyderco is in an similar league and has their outsourced Byrd line.  Again, great knives for the money, but not in the same league.  Also, FWIW, the Byrd line used to be made by Sanrenmu, which has a cult following for their value.  I have 3 of the SRM's and they do great (function/edge holding) and don't break the heart if you lose them.

 

I'm all for quality, but I also don't turn my nose up if the functionality meets the purpose.

 

 

 

I know, not many people understand the things that bother me   :cool:

Edited March 14, 2015 by willis68

[tbenedict]

Also, I heard BM will send replacement clips for either free or shipping, i.e. I could get a deep carry clip for that 943 for practically nothing.

 

In comparison, I have a Cold Steel Voyager about ten years old with a broken clip (not as robust).  Their CS told me it would be $7-8 for a new one.  SMKW has the new design on sale for $25, but I'm not going to support that.  The clip on my $10 SRM-763 is better and the knife has better overall functionality anyhow.

[Tooreal]

Benchmade will send you replacement Belt Clips if you call and request them. I Got 3 replacements a couple years ago with new screws to boot, and it didn't cost me a dime. Their Customer service has always beenTop Notch, and when I mainly carried 1 of several Benchmades as an EDC Knife, I would send them off to Benchmade for a Spa Treatment. They would come back just like Brand New which was really nice...
If you happen to find an older BM knife with a warn out Partially serrated Edge Blade, call the BM and if the have a Plain Edged Blade in a certain Blade material that you want, they may Very well put it on there for you?!! It happens & it did for me several times. That was nice!