Has anyone else's SwitchPlier 2.0 broken in the first 20 min of use?

[ChopperCharles]

Is this common, or just bad luck for me?  I squeezed it "too hard" I guess. The pin that goes through the moving jaw and into the handle appears to be too short. Putting force on the tool flexed the sheet metal around the plier head (the faux gears) outwards, and the pin popped out of the channel on the left side of the handle. This damaged the end of the channel, and now even the slightest force on the pliers pops the pin right out again. This results in the pliers sticking closed, and of course the inability to actually use the pliers for anything more robust than picking up nails off the garage floor.

And the herculean task that caused the pliers to fail? Cutting 12ga romex. That's right. Cutting solid copper wire, one of the easiest tasks for a multitool cutter. And it required 10x more force than should be required. The design of the SOG pliers actually appears to reduce leverage, instead of enhancing leverage, like the other SOG tools I have.

If this is a known issue that has been rectified with a longer pin, I'll send these in for warranty replacement. If not, I'll just return them to Amazon and not get a replacement. The cutters are pretty tiny and the tool seems unsuitable for basic tasks if it's going to break so easily.

I mean, I could actually fix the pin myself, I have a lathe and stainless steel round stock... but I shouldn't have to. This is a brand new tool, broken less than 20 minutes from when I opened the box, doing a task every other multitool in my collection excels at.

Charles.

[SteveC]

Wow, that's disappointing !   

[Fuzzbucket]

Bummer.

[Juan el Boricua]

I'm really sorry that this is happening to you, CC, but it appears that this is a recurring problem; these are three examples, taken from the manufacturer's website among others.
 

[ChopperCharles]

I did send an email to Sauk and they came back immediately telling me to send it to them for warranty replacement. They didn’t answer my question though about whether the problem has been fixed or not. I did take it apart, and the pin is definitely too short, causing the problem.

I’m not entirely sure I still want them even if the pin was fixed though. The leverage reduction and poorly designed cutters may be enough for me to relegate this to a shelf queen even if it did work. And I don’t like that at all. I want All my tools to be users, not show pieces. Pliers are the most important part of a multitool, and cutters are the second most. This tool fails at both. 

I mean without that all it has going for it is a pleasing shape and the fiddle factor.

Charles.