Gold Plated SAK. Which one. Or Neither. :D

[Chako]

That doesn't sound good.

Well, I can tell you, they sent me a single beautiful Charge handle scale with my last purchase. When I emailed them stating that there must have been a mistake, they replied that it was a one off, and that if I was interested, we would talk. I was interested...and sent them an email. I never got  a response. Who knows. 

It doesn't sound like them to sell something that badly scratched.

[AimlessWanderer]

Well this is all sounding quite unprofessional. Are they buying Grade II scales from vic to make it cheaper, or did they have a major calamity in the plating process?

This is all very inconsistent too:

The generosity of their giveaways,
The fact they list one of the models in the colour that won before even announcing the winner (have they even done that yet?),
The announcement that said "we'll update the website at some point but we're not very good at getting round to it" (very heavily paraphrased)
The fact that some people have made good reports about them in the past (from what I recall)
Chako's rather bizarre experience with the handle scale
... and sending you out a badly plated, heavily scratched tool that they surely must realise people paying a premium price for a gold plated tool would be unhappy with

I just don't get it but I must say it all sounds extremely sloppy from an organisational and care perspective

Really sorry to hear about your experience NNR, and I hope they do make things good for you. I'd still say don't write off the whole of the US for purchases just because of this (and I've had several dismal experiences with Leatherman too  ) all we can hope is that TTC (are you reading this fellers?) pull something out of the bag to win back some respect

Fingers crossed for you 

[Chako]

All I can say, it would have been stunning...

[captain spaulding]

I am just catching up on this thread. N_N_R, I'f I where you I would be incredibly disappointed as well. I can't believe that, that is how they received them from Victorinox. If it truly was then they should eat the cost and not sell them in that condition. Do they think a customer is going to pay top dollar and receive a knife looking like that and be happy about it? It's just not all adding up. At first I expected customs as it made the most sense and once he said he did send the signed certificate about the gold and it wen't missing would make sense that customs opened it, lost the card, and damaged the knife, but if he saw pictures and is saying he has more that look exactly like this then that theory goes out the window.  Either way I would personally return it for a refund and move on.

I know how it feels to be so excited for a item and be incredibly let down once you receive it. It has happened to me more times than I care to remember. Whatever you decide to do please keep us informed.

[N_N_R]

Yeah, thanks, guys.

Well, Stephen (that's how he signs his e-mails) really went to great lengths to make me happy. I received an refund-sent email last night from PayPal, so now I guess I should wait for some time for the money to appear in my actual account.

But yes, I also do not understand how can they sell such things. Or buy them. Or accept that from Victorinox. If they buy items with defects, why don't they sell them cheaper or something. What's the point in gold plating a crappy looking knife 

Another thing: in his latest email, he explained to me that they were a small shop with 6 people working, 3 ful-time, 3 part-time, then he explained that... they actually got only about $16 profit from a knife. Well........... thanks for the explanation, but what can I say, eventually, wiht all the money and taxes piling up, I can again say that this knife costs a bit more than the summer monthly bills (let's say for June) of my 3-member family. So if the profit is little for them, the loss is huge for me, too. Moreover, if there are only 6 people, one of which the owner, how can possibly a signed statement go missing.

Now I'm also wondering what the condition of Sypho's knife will be. (Which strangely, hasn't arrived yet?)

Stephen also said that such empty spots/unplated spots on the tools were... to be expected as there was friction between the tools. Well, I'm not a fan of that explanation either, because... the can opener does not touch another tool right there and even if it did, the unplated spot wouldn't be... that... small and wiht this shape. But anyway, perhaps it's possible.

Next time I decide to buy something from them, I will just... ask for a picture of the real thing I guess.

[GigaHz]

I can see the little chips on the edges making it through Victorinox, but not all the scrapes and scratches on the top of the knife. Syph had pictures of his new orange farmer and it had chips gone from the edges. Did the seller see the pictures of the top of the knife?

[N_N_R]

I sent the seller the pictures that you see here.

[Syph007]

Acording to the tracking mine should be here today.  I'll post pics.

[Chako]

Hope it goes better.

[Syph007]

All I can say, it would have been stunning...

Those are very easy to do.  You start with the parts full dipped at 15 volts, and dial up the voltage to 100 as you lift them out of the electrolyte solution.

I can see the little chips on the edges making it through Victorinox, but not all the scrapes and scratches on the top of the knife. Syph had pictures of his new orange farmer and it had chips gone from the edges. Did the seller see the pictures of the top of the knife?

Exactly.  Alox SAKs DO NOT come with scratches like that from Victorinox, that is absolutely not true.

[sawman]

As much as I hate customs, I'm not thinking they're responsible for this. This appears to be the doing of TTC. I'm not impressed

[N_N_R]

As much as I hate customs, I'm not thinking they're responsible for this. This appears to be the doing of TTC. I'm not impressed

Well, the GUY did say so. I mean, he said this is how they received most Victorinoxes. Which is still weird, like why don't they return them to Victorinox, but try to sell them.

Maybe it happens with the SAKs only, maybe the beautiful Leathermans are okay and just as impressive as they appear in the pictures.

Well, I'm glad they did the right thing. Customers are really valuable for them, it seems.

[sawman]

Aren't you still out shipping costs?

I sure hope they value the business. At $16 per knife/tool they'll need to sell a lot of them. 

[GigaHz]

And I don't think many people that have seen this thread will be thinking about getting a gold SAK.

[sawman]

And I don't think many people that have seen this thread will be thinking about getting a gold SAK.

That's a good point. Say... what's a quick and easy way to remove gold plating? 

They'd better get to restoring those suckers and maybe they can sell them plain!

 

[pfrsantos]

As much as I hate customs, I'm not thinking they're responsible for this. This appears to be the doing of TTC. I'm not impressed

Well, the GUY did say so. I mean, he said this is how they received most Victorinoxes. Which is still weird, like why don't they return them to Victorinox, but try to sell them.

Maybe it happens with the SAKs only, maybe the beautiful Leathermans are okay and just as impressive as they appear in the pictures.

Well, I'm glad they did the right thing. Customers are really valuable for them, it seems.

+1

 

[Chako]

I know, but it still would have been stunning. 

[Syph007]

I know, but it still would have been stunning. 

Its a really easy DIY. Im sure you have lots of Ti things to anodize. 

Here is the anodizer I bought.  This is even a canadian site.  Comes with everything you need.

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=72&cat=Other+Tools

[GigaHz]

What gold are you going to use? 24k bullion?

[N_N_R]

Acording to the tracking mine should be here today.  I'll post pics.

Is it there yet? I'm curious to see pictures. They said all scales were scratched, there were noticeable scratches and wear even on the silver scales. Therefore yours should also look this way      Unlesssss....they'll say only the scales for some models were like this hehe.

[pfrsantos]

Acording to the tracking mine should be here today.  I'll post pics.

Is it there yet? I'm curious to see pictures. They said all scales were scratched, there were noticeable scratches and wear even on the silver scales. Therefore yours should also look this way      Unlesssss....they'll say only the scales for some models were like this hehe.

It only happens in models sent to girls, because everybody knows they know nothing about knives and MTs and stuff...

 

[N_N_R]

WWWWELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL   I must've really appeared like more than a.. blonde, lol (no offense intended) if they thought I'd take the scratches for some fancy decoration

[pfrsantos]

WWWWELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL   I must've really appeared like more than a.. blonde, lol (no offense intended) if they thought I'd take the scratches for some fancy decoration

You should pay extra! Do you know how much trouble it is to put all those scratches in a SAK?!

 




(that's what an old second-hand book seller I know used to say to me when I complained about some page-tored-book price)

[N_N_R]

   Right. Now the knife has character. Who wants a... character-less knife

[N_N_R]

Btw, guys, what's there in the box in a brand new knife?

On TTC's ebay page it read that they send all the original paperwork from Victorinox. However, there was absoultely nothing n my package. Just the box (quite damaged) and the knife inside. And the eBay invoice/thing.

[Syph007]

My minichamp arrived, but I already had buyers remorse before it showed up... so Im not sure what Im going to do with it.  I think I might just swap the cellidor for some alox scales and pass it on.

The coating is pretty fragile as I expected.  It wears off the areas near the pivots very fast.  I could carry it and show how it will get all chipped off fast but then it just feels like I wasted 60 bucks to prove what I already knew. 

Its pretty much as I expected but the scissors dont really work, since the coating binds too much.  That would wear off though eventually and they'd start to work I would guess.

Overall though meh its just not for me, but I can see how people would like it to just have something different in a collection.  I'll stick to proper coating methods for tools.. BO, DLC and TiNi 

[N_N_R]

Thanks for showing the minichamp! For some reason I was under the wrong impression that yours was alox, too

They do look cool, indeed. I haven't really used mine, so no idea how fast it will wear off, but perhaps you're right. It's just nice to ... have a unique item. That's why I hoped mine would be/look brand new.

So, how did yours arrive? Do you have the original Victorinox brochures and leaflets and stuff inside? Or is it only the knife in the box?

[zoidberg]

So what happened? You got a refund yeah? And you get to keep the knife?

[N_N_R]

So what happened? You got a refund yeah? And you get to keep the knife?

Yes, I got a full refund (knife + shipping) and I got to keep the knife, as the guy said, to cover my customs & other taxes. And in exchange for that, they asked me to leave them positive feedback on eBay. But despite the disappointment, I think they did deserve their positive feedback in the end. 

[Corwyn]

Wow. That's amazing. So nice of them. I think I'll buy one too...