Victorinox Customer Service = CRAP!!!

[captain spaulding]

I just received my new Swisstool and the sheath it came in is defective right out of the box. The button closer does not latch and makes the sheath useless. I e-mailed there CS and got no reply.  I decided to call today and talked to a unhelpful woman that told me I had to send in the sheath for them to examine before they would give me a replacement. I said sure, just send me a shipping label and it will be on its way. She refused and said they will not do that.  I then told her I find it ridiculous that I spend all this money on a multitool to receive a defective sheath and now she want's me to waste my time and money sending it back to them. I don't think so. She then tells me I can just buy a new sheath and they will send it right out.  I laughed at her and told her that was ridiculous and to have a nice day. I then sent another e-mail letting them know how much I enjoyed my last CS interaction. No word back yet.  I really can't believe how I was treated and that they will not replace a defective sheath. A terrible first experience with there CS. I swear I will fight it with everything I have. I find this just terrible to treat a customer like this after they spend a lot of money to get a quality product and receive a defective item.   

[space cowboy]

Major Bummer for sure! I hope it gets resolved for you.

[lowtech]

This is not the kind of CS i a m used to from Vic.

Granted, the store me and my Dad used to bring our knives to was an old , well known cutlery store and teh owner would forward the SAKs for 1,50 DM (abou 0,8 $  i think) to Victorinox Switzerland and when he called you you could collect your very own, carefully repaired SAK. Sadly, this store no longer exists.

About a year ago i sent some stuff to victorinox, some showed usual wear from use, some plain abuse.
I explained in a letter that i would like to have them repaired at my expense and even asked for a Bill to pay before they would repair the knives.

To my surprise i received no bill, but perfectly serviced (and one exchanged) Victorinox with a nice note that they would not take my offer of paying them, but repair their tools for free.

I felt a little bad, as the tools were clearly no warranty cases but just worn or abused, but i got the feeling that Victorinox not only wants to sell as many tools as possible but that they stand behind their product and maybe even enjoy that those tools get used and sent in for repair instead of thrown away and replaced.

Just thought i´d share my very good experience to lighten your mood.

It´s not a factory fix, but maybe a Shoe Repair shop is able to rivet a new button in place cheaply?
Would make the sheath useable and save you the hassle with unfriendly CS personell.

I´d offer you a sheath, but on mine the Velcro is badly worn from years o f use, so it´s not better than yours really.

[enki_ck]

Reminds me of this thread. --> http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=40551.0

Very sorry to hear that. I hope you manage to get a good one.

[captain spaulding]

I just received a response from the first e-mail I sent. I'm not even going to respond until I receive a response to my second e-mail.

[sir_mike]

It sounds familiar to me! 

I think I mentioned this before but I contacted them regarding a small tinker I have with tons of play, like the springs are broke or whatever.  I was interested in getting it fixed as it was my first sak that I had for almost 30 years.

They wanted me to ship it to them but they couldnt tell me if they could fix it til they seen it, then if they could fix it, they wanted me to pay $11.95 for return shipping.

I told them that I wasnt going to spend the money shipping if they couldnt tell me over the phone if it can be fixed cause they should know nor will I pay $11.95 for return shipping as it doesnt cost that much.

Now I consider sak's throw aways and will deal with them again!

Good luck!

[Syph007]

Sounds like a case of the local in country representative vs home country.  Ive only heard awesome reviews of Vic switzerland service, but not perfect US.  And Ive only heard of awesome leatherman service in the US, but poor in other countries.

[captain spaulding]

Sounds like a case of the local in country representative vs home country.  Ive only heard awesome reviews of Vic switzerland service, but not perfect US.  And Ive only heard of awesome leatherman service in the US, but poor in other countries.

It's sad how that works out.

[Top-Gear-24]

Sounds like a case of the local in country representative vs home country.  Ive only heard awesome reviews of Vic switzerland service, but not perfect US.  And Ive only heard of awesome leatherman service in the US, but poor in other countries.

Very true, sadly enough  ...

Leatherman and Victorinox are both crap at dealing with repairs in my country (ordering new tools from leatherman is no problem, great service, ordering new tools from Victorinox ... a pain in the *ss) my son's "first sak" had a problem with the saw, when you clossed it the saw would catch the side of the handle, so you had to pull it a bit to the inside before you could close it completely.

We noticed this when we got home from the shop, so I went back with it, they returned it to Victorinox Belgium and it took about two and a half months to get a new one ... two and a half months being an awful long time for a 6 year old (6 at that time) ...

You can read about it here.

It's always sad that good brands get a bad reputation because of their service centers in other countries ... 

[sawman]

I don't know of too many companies that do offer return shipping labels.  LM sure doesn't, so if you want to boycott Vic you might as well add them to the list also...

[captain spaulding]

I don't know of too many companies that do offer return shipping labels.  LM sure doesn't, so if you want to boycott Vic you might as well add them to the list also...

No one's boycotting anything. I'm just pissed they sent me a defective sheath and want me to pay more money to get what I already payed for. I bet Leatherman would of handled this much better and probably just sent me a new sheath for free without wanting the original one to examine. I know I have gotten replacement tweezers from leatherman just because I asked. Shipped on there dime.

[PTRSAK]

Here in downunderland our consumer laws make it the seller's responsibility to deal with any DOA defects. Then they (the seller) deal with the manufacturer.

This covers things that come out of the packaging faulty, like your sheath.

In fact we have some pretty good consumer laws that most people are not aware of. People moan and bitch if their TV dies a month after the "12 month warranty" "expires".
But under the law, "Goods must be of merchantable quality – they must meet a level of quality and performance that would be reasonable to expect, given their price and description."

So if your expensive TV dies after 13 months it is the seller's (not manufacturer's) responsibility to get it repaired and they can then use the provisions of the act to recover their cost from the manufacturer.

On more than one occasion I have marched into a retailer's shop armed with a copy of the ACCC's brochure "Warranties and refunds. a guide for consumers and business"

http://transition.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=322947&nodeId=0d27732a8eba631f0d2ea13ccf345092&fn=Warranties+and+refunds.pdf

Other surprising things in there are that disclaimers like
"No responsibility for loss or damage."
"Goods left for repair at owners risk."
"All care but no responsibility."  etc are illegal.
The repairer or service provider must care for the goods and return them in undamaged condition.

I'd be looking into what your local consumer protection laws say about faulty from new items and then quoting the act to them.
It's surprising what an attitude adjustment occurs when they become aware that you know your rights.

Another good tip is to always ask the name of the customer service person on the phone and then if they give you grief, ask to be transferred to their supervisor. If they hang up, ring back and ask to be put straight on to the customer service manager and tell them how "Jane Smith" was unhelpful and hung up on you when you asked for your call to be escalated.
It works. My brother ended up dealing with the state manager for Sunglasses Hut after the pimply faced youth in the store gave him grief about getting a refund on some expensive sunglasses where the rubber on them went gooey after a week in the sun, saying that because he had used them they couldn't give him a refund.

Keep chasing the problem up the chain until you get a fix.

</rant>

[captain spaulding]

Very good advice, but i'm not going to take it to that degree. If they refuse to send me a new one for free without returning the original than so be it. That's the end of it. I have a ST300 sheath I can use until I get a proper sheath.

[sir_mike]

Very good advice, but i'm not going to take it to that degree. If they refuse to send me a new one for free without returning the original than so be it. That's the end of it. I have a ST300 sheath I can use until I get a proper sheath.

You should tell them that you will send the defective one in the package you receive the replacement and return label in. 

[scrappy]

This is a shame. I have tried to get help from their cs before and I have to admit their reps are not knowledgable about their products.

[captain spaulding]

Very good advice, but i'm not going to take it to that degree. If they refuse to send me a new one for free without returning the original than so be it. That's the end of it. I have a ST300 sheath I can use until I get a proper sheath.

You should tell them that you will send the defective one in the package you receive the replacement and return label in. 

I would be great with that. 

[Mud Shrimp Moe]

My Swisstool sheath wouldn't snap shut either until I twisted the button a bit and lined the insides of the button with the male part of the snap. It only goes in the button a certain orientation.have you tried that? It's a bit of a fussy button design, really.

[papercut]

Vic service in the Asian country I live in is very bad, it is treated as a revenue stream rather than a customer service operation.  Plus the people involved would rather not deal with small margin knives, they would rather deal with large margin designer goods. 

Trash and crap, Vic needs to fix this.

[lowtech]

Sounds like a case of the local in country representative vs home country.  Ive only heard awesome reviews of Vic switzerland service, but not perfect US.  And Ive only heard of awesome leatherman service in the US, but poor in other countries.

I can relate to that phenomenon.
I´ve heard good things about Gerbers US service. When i tried to turn in an older MP 600 (I´m in Germany), they would not even bother. They told me the tools cannot be fixed and i would only get a replacement if i was the original owner and could show a receipt to show that I´m still under warranty.

I now think about shipping it to Gerber, US, telling them about my experiences with the german CS.

Again, with my first Gerber MP it was no problem - The shop i bought it at (the same my Dad bought his and my SAK) took it from me, asked 1,5 DM for shipping and returned me a brand new MP 600 a few weeks later- No receipts, no trouble, no call centers. I just told him i bought it there and could not find the receipt anymore and he took my word for it and made it right.

Too bad shops like this get rarer by the minute.

[hennypenny]

In the UK, Leatherman Customer Service is great, but Gerber is crap. The other option is to return the whole thing back to the seller, for a full refund. As the item is defective, you are entitled to free return postage.
I've yet to send anything back to Victorinox. Their tools are of such quality, I may never need to return anything ever!
Still waiting for my Spirit RT from Felinevet .......... it's taking a long time!

[Theron]

Is there a Victorinox store nearby?   I'd take it there and let them do the grunt work for you if there is.
That's one advantage to living in a major city...too bad most everything else sucks.

[greenbear]

I'm quite shocked to read this thread. Here in the UK we have a thing called "The Sale of Goods Act" which makes it the sellers responsibility to put things right.  Occasionally one comes across an awkward retailer but a mere mention of the act is usually enough to correct any problems at all.

[Yalius]

I'm quite shocked to read this thread. Here in the UK we have a thing called "The Sale of Goods Act" which makes it the sellers responsibility to put things right.  Occasionally one comes across an awkward retailer but a mere mention of the act is usually enough to correct any problems at all.

It's odd; maybe this is my American upbringing showing itself, but I can't seem to put myself in a mindset where the retailer would be the one on the hook for warranty responsibility. To my mind, the retailer is no more responsible for a warranty than the trucking company or postal service that delivered it. They're just a link in the chain that delivered the good to me, and it's the manufacturer's responsibility for the quality of the product. Putting the retailer on the hook for putting things right seems like shooting the messenger.

[Theron]

I'm quite shocked to read this thread. Here in the UK we have a thing called "The Sale of Goods Act" which makes it the sellers responsibility to put things right.  Occasionally one comes across an awkward retailer but a mere mention of the act is usually enough to correct any problems at all.

It's odd; maybe this is my American upbringing showing itself, but I can't seem to put myself in a mindset where the retailer would be the one on the hook for warranty responsibility. To my mind, the retailer is no more responsible for a warranty than the trucking company or postal service that delivered it. They're just a link in the chain that delivered the good to me, and it's the manufacturer's responsibility for the quality of the product. Putting the retailer on the hook for putting things right seems like shooting the messenger.

That's my feeling as well.

[KiwiMark]

It's odd; maybe this is my American upbringing showing itself, but I can't seem to put myself in a mindset where the retailer would be the one on the hook for warranty responsibility. To my mind, the retailer is no more responsible for a warranty than the trucking company or postal service that delivered it. They're just a link in the chain that delivered the good to me, and it's the manufacturer's responsibility for the quality of the product. Putting the retailer on the hook for putting things right seems like shooting the messenger.

In this country we hold the seller of goods responsible - often the manufacturer is in another country and they are not the one that the buyer has dealt with.  You pay your money and the retailer supplies you with goods, they are the ones that took your money, they are responsible.

Trying to push the blame off to some backstreet Chinese factory because they made the product is not in any way acceptable.
Pushing the blame off to a Swiss company and telling the customer to contact them isn't all that much better.

There is no reason why the shop you purchased the faulty goods from can't talk to their supplier and arrange to get a replacement, but that is their problem.  I deal with the shop, the shop deals with the importer, the importer deals with the manufacturer - that is the proper chain of command most of the time.

[Yalius]

Trying to push the blame off to some backstreet Chinese factory because they made the product is not in any way acceptable.
Pushing the blame off to a Swiss company and telling the customer to contact them isn't all that much better.

Why not? It wasn't the retailer that made the good, they're just part of the chain. And isn't there a little bit of caveat emptor still applicable?

[AimlessWanderer]

I'm in agreement that it's the sellers responsibility. He's the one I entered into the trade agreement with, he's the one I gave the money to, he's the one to put it right if there's an (immediate) problem.

If you think about it, without this protection a seller could be palming off a load of crap and having all his customers running round trying to fix the problem while he sits there with a huge grin on his face. Likewise if the seller had sold these with all good intention he wouldn't be getting the feedback that his products are crap and that he needs to switch to selling something else or we ain't giving him any more dosh.

If the tool is received in good order and the seller has indeed sold me worthy goods, but they fail later - then that's the manufacturers responsibility to pick up the pieces

[captain spaulding]

A little update. After they received my second e-mail telling them how I was treated and what I thought of there Customer Service I was contacted (by phone) by a nice woman from Victorinox. She apologized and told me she would arrange a shipping label and sent me the link. I don't understand why this is not how the situation was handled from the start, but that's just how it goes I guess. Anyways I will be sending the defective sheath back and getting a new one.     

[Mercury]

I can see both sides of the coin here.  Most of my warranty dealings have been with US companies like Leatherman and Danner.  All 4 tools I have warrantied with Leatherman over the years were shipped to Leatherman on my dime with no guarantee.  All 4 tools were returned to me on LM's dime either brand new or repaired and like new.  All tools that required a sheath were shipped back with a new sheath. 

My Danner problems were with lace eyelets breaking, and Danner provided a shipping label and covered all shipping TWICE on a $170 pair of boots, with an apologetic letter in the second package stating that the third pair of boots did not come with a warranty. 

So the way I see it, if it was the tool, Vic would be well within their right to say, "ship it on your dime and we'll correct it".  Since it was a sheath and therefore a minimum sum for them to take a bath on, they should have just offered to send you a new one free of charge from the get go. 

It's a shame you had to remind them what CS is, I would expect better from Vic considering the quality of their product.

[captain spaulding]

I can see both sides of the coin here.  Most of my warranty dealings have been with US companies like Leatherman and Danner.  All 4 tools I have warrantied with Leatherman over the years were shipped to Leatherman on my dime with no guarantee.  All 4 tools were returned to me on LM's dime either brand new or repaired and like new.  All tools that required a sheath were shipped back with a new sheath. 

My Danner problems were with lace eyelets breaking, and Danner provided a shipping label and covered all shipping TWICE on a $170 pair of boots, with an apologetic letter in the second package stating that the third pair of boots did not come with a warranty. 

So the way I see it, if it was the tool, Vic would be well within their right to say, "ship it on your dime and we'll correct it".  Since it was a sheath and therefore a minimum sum for them to take a bath on, they should have just offered to send you a new one free of charge from the get go.

It's a shame you had to remind them what CS is, I would expect better from Vic considering the quality of their product.

I agree with everything, but the highlighted section is what I was thinking the whole time. Now they are wasting money on the shipping label and effort to "inspect" it which I am sure will be one glance at the sheath and it gets thrown in the defective pile.