Victorinox Swiss Tool X quality rant

[in_sympathy]

It's been a while since I bought my Spirit X and I always wondered if instead I should have bought s Swiss Tool X. So I did - they are now available at a reasonable price on DLT Trading... It arrived and I can tell three things:

1. Victorinox claims there is a wire crimper there. Could not find it.

2. One of the handles is kinda ok, but the other one has really significant tool play - way worse that anything I have ever had. Even worse than locking tools on a Work Champ. I compared it to my Spirit X - it's perfect there. Not a single loose tool. Sadly a whole different story here. And I read on local sites - one guy says he ordered 3 SwissTools X recently from the same store and all 3 had excessive tools play. Not good.

3. Fit and finish - that's unbelievable from Victorinox, but just look at the pictures. What is that on the handles? Never seen anything like that. Trust me - it looks way more horrific in person - camera can't quite catch that.

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Overall this is incredibly sad. Will be selling this tool of course.  If you remember - I had to return my first Spirit X because of the plier head was too loose and didn't cut anything well. Now this. Too bad Victorinox loosened their QC as well

[pfrsantos]

Wow, very surprised and very sorry to know you got such a poorly finished tool. Hope you can get a new one from them.

[Barry Rowland]

I've heard things have slipped a bit at Vic, but that's terrible.

[nate j]

Will be selling this tool of course.

I would try to make a warranty claim with Vic.

[in_sympathy]

I would try to make a warranty claim with Vic.

If I bought it in Ukraine - I would. If I would live somewhere in EU - I also would. But here I tried it - my Victorinox luggage case got cracked during the last flight and we didn’t notice until we came back home. I have been waiting for Vic to find contacts of the local service center here for a month and then they failed to do so and said “sorry, that’s not a warranty case”. The official store I bought it from said the same. Polycarbonate is not repairable. Had to throw a 300$ plus luggage away after the third flight.

So I mean here it’s useless and hopeless. But somewhere else I’d definitely go for it.

Or if I’m wrong and anyone had similar case - please share and I’ll give it a try then.

[Farmer X]

That's certainly a let-down. Hope you're able to get it resolved to your satisfaction. And might the wire crimper be between the pliers pivot and the handles?

[greenbear]

Gosh, that really is poor. I bought a a standard SwissTool not too long ago and it was pristine, none of the issues you are seeing there.

I would suggest you send it back for replacement.

[EMZ]

The tool you showed surely escaped quality control. It's weird there are more quality control issues with these tools coming from the same seller.
One should wonder where all the disqualified tools go to. Are they destroyed, reassembled, given for free/at a discount to its personel, discarded to unknown places, or collected for unauthorised sale...?
If I were you I surely would contact Victorinox Switserland and inform them of your findings.

I looked a little bit into the wire crimper of the Swiss Tool. The Swiss Tool does indeed has a crimper for electrical wires, although it is hard to see.
In my collection there's only one Swiss Tool, the one that's similar to the older type French Army 'Felin' Tool, so I haven't got much reference materail. Anyway, I  think it is sufficient.
Two pics:
1. From the manual. #23 is the wire crimper.
2. The tool itself. The small somewhat widenth piece at the beginning of the handles is the wire crimper.

[Farmer X]

I figured that's about where the wire crimper would be. Thanks for the photo!

[in_sympathy]

The tool you showed surely escaped quality control. It's weird there are more quality control issues with these tools coming from the same seller.
One should wonder where all the disqualified tools go to. Are they destroyed, reassembled, given for free/at a discount to its personel, discarded to unknown places, or collected for unauthorised sale...?
If I were you I surely would contact Victorinox Switserland and inform them of your findings.

I looked a little bit into the wire crimper of the Swiss Tool. The Swiss Tool does indeed has a crimper for electrical wires, although it is hard to see.
In my collection there's only one Swiss Tool, the one that's similar to the older type French Army 'Felin' Tool, so I haven't got much reference materail. Anyway, I  think it is sufficient.
Two pics:
1. From the manual. #23 is the wire crimper.
2. The tool itself. The small somewhat widenth piece at the beginning of the handles is the wire crimper.

Hey, thanks for the support and explanation!

After reading your comments I did contact Vic - we'll see what they have to offer.

As for the crimper - I still can't quite figure it out. I mean I kinda see it, kinda crimps the caps, but does so more with handles than with some part of the pliers like on SAKs or Wave Plus plier head. Maybe it's designed for thicker wires, but I need it for crimping those around 1mm in diameter - have you tried using it for such a wire gauge?

[Barry Rowland]

I've carried a full size Swisstool for years and had no idea that was there! 
Oleksandr, I hope Vic treats you right and replaces that.  That's definitely not up to their level of expectation.

[EMZ]

"have you tried using it for such a wire gauge?"

No never. I'm blessed with two left hands...

[sv4]

It's been a while since I bought my Spirit X and I always wondered if instead I should have bought s Swiss Tool X. So I did - they are now available at a reasonable price on DLT Trading... It arrived and I can tell three things:

1. Victorinox claims there is a wire crimper there. Could not find it.

2. One of the handles is kinda ok, but the other one has really significant tool play - way worse that anything I have ever had. Even worse than locking tools on a Work Champ. I compared it to my Spirit X - it's perfect there. Not a single loose tool. Sadly a whole different story here. And I read on local sites - one guy says he ordered 3 SwissTools X recently from the same store and all 3 had excessive tools play. Not good.

3. Fit and finish - that's unbelievable from Victorinox, but just look at the pictures. What is that on the handles? Never seen anything like that. Trust me - it looks way more horrific in person - camera can't quite catch that.

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Overall this is incredibly sad. Will be selling this tool of course.  If you remember - I had to return my first Spirit X because of the plier head was too loose and didn't cut anything well. Now this. Too bad Victorinox loosened their QC as well

That certainly looks like it slipped past QC. Swiss tools used to be perfect, both mechanically and in finishing too. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of a general decline in Victorinox fit and finish.

[in_sympathy]

So I have an update regarding all this in case you gents are interested 😃:

1. I did email Victorinox Knife Support and even recorded a short video of the issue. Sent it on Monday and didn’t hear anything back as of today (Sunday). We’ll see.

2. I contacted DLT and their representative did confirm that he indeed read my comment and checked for the best tool they had available and sent me this one. The rest of them are in even worse condition. Wow. Wow also because I wanted to reorder it and maybe sell the bad one since it’s stupid expensive sending it back to the US from Ukraine (getting it here was like 15$ and getting it there is another 35$ so it’s like 50$ down in total - doesn’t make much sense).
 
3. I checked two Swiss Tools at the local Victorinox Authorized Reseller store in Kyiv and they are literally exactly the same. Pixel to pixel. Same defective finish in the handles, same wobble on the Phillips and the file and some other tools… literally the same. Third WOW.

Here’s the video btw:

[in_sympathy]

So having realised all of the above I sent this email to DLT representative:

Code: [Select]

Hey Nick, thanks for getting back to me on this.

I actually sent you another reply on the day I received this email from you, but somehow it must have got lost. And maybe for good, because I had time to investigate further and now all I can say is actually thanks for checking the tools and picking up the best one for me.

After checking local Victorinox authorised reseller store and comparing the one I got from you with the ones they have for sale I can definitely tell that they are pixel to pixel identical with exactly the same cosmetic defects on the handles and exactly the same tools wobbling.

Sad to discover such a bad quality drop from Victorinox, but I do see now that it has nothing to do with you.

One more thing - thanks for letting me know that the other Swiss Tools you have for sale are the same or worse because initially I wanted to either return or sell this one and reorder another one from you - now I see that it’ll be no different.

So thanks for your help and support, keep up the great work and best regards from Ukraine.

P.S.: looking forward to seeing Leatherman Ratchet back in stock and maybe some nice Black Friday deal on a Leatherman Arc :).


[Farmer X]

A shame Victorinox apparently let those slip though while QA went to lunch. But score one for DLT Trading; their customer service is superb. Reminds me that I should place an order from them before the end of this month.

[Barry Rowland]

This, more than anything else, is why I didn't upgrade to the oho bladed Swisstools.  I'd heard things had slipped quality wise, which is not good at all.  SV4 said it best: Swisstools were known for being faultless in quality. 

[Grand_Banana]

Wild that DLT has Swisstools that are all bad quality.  What in the world is going on… I wonder if they received a whole batch that missed QC?  DLT does have great customer service.

[in_sympathy]

Well from what I've had my hands on today here in Kyiv - it's the same all over the world. The one from DLT and the ones I tested locally at the store are i_d_e_n_t_i_c_a_l. And that's incredibly concerning. I mean where do I find a new Swiss Tool of a decent quality then? 🤔

[Barry Rowland]

I hate to say it, but I'd be searching the used market Oleksandr.  It's sad. 

[nate j]

So, not only are new SwissTools like $150+ now, but the quality has gone to pot?!?!?!
 
 

[sv4]

So I have an update regarding all this in case you gents are interested 😃:

1. I did email Victorinox Knife Support and even recorded a short video of the issue. Sent it on Monday and didn’t hear anything back as of today (Sunday). We’ll see.

2. I contacted DLT and their representative did confirm that he indeed read my comment and checked for the best tool they had available and sent me this one. The rest of them are in even worse condition. Wow. Wow also because I wanted to reorder it and maybe sell the bad one since it’s stupid expensive sending it back to the US from Ukraine (getting it here was like 15$ and getting it there is another 35$ so it’s like 50$ down in total - doesn’t make much sense).
 
3. I checked two Swiss Tools at the local Victorinox Authorized Reseller store in Kyiv and they are literally exactly the same. Pixel to pixel. Same defective finish in the handles, same wobble on the Phillips and the file and some other tools… literally the same. Third WOW.

Here’s the video btw:

Thanks for the update. So it does look like the quality of Swisstools have gone downhill indeed. Very sad to see this happening at Victorinox. The last time I bought a Swisstool was at least 6 years ago, so I guess it’s time to browse through the local Victorinox dealers to see if they still have any “new old stock” available.

[IMR4198]

   If Victorinox is giving their plier based tool the 'quick and dirty rush them out the door' treatment, I wonder if the new SAKs are getting the same lack of attention?  Anybody seen any evidence?  Best wishes.  G
 

[Farmer X]

I haven't bought a new SAK for a little while. For whatever it's worth, my latest ones had no QA issues.

[Swisster]

I got this recently off Ebay for $75 and I would never pay $150-ish new that they are now. They don’t warrant over a $100. There has been a major price hike on Swiss Tools the last couple years. I bought this because of the price after having sold off my Leatherman Wave Plus. $80 was my limit for a Swiss Tool X from Ebay and got this like new. It was a push on the Swiss Tool X and the Wave Plus that I bought new for $80 and sold for $80. It was basically swapping out multi tools at the same price. Rarely ever use a multi tool but for like new and $75 it  was worth getting and I probably won’t use this but a couple times a year. This has no play in the pliers yet and all of the fit and finish is very good and way better than Leatherman stuff in it’s build quality     

[Grand_Banana]

I got this recently off Ebay for $75 and I would never pay $150-ish new that they are now. They don’t warrant over a $100. There has been a major price hike on Swiss Tools the last couple years. I bought this because of the price after having sold off my Leatherman Wave Plus. $80 was my limit for a Swiss Tool X from Ebay and got this like new. It was a push on the Swiss Tool X and the Wave Plus that I bought new for $80 and sold for $80. It was basically swapping out multi tools at the same price. Rarely ever use a multi tool but for like new and $75 it  was worth getting and I probably won’t use this but a couple times a year. This has no play in the pliers yet and all of the fit and finish is very good and way better than Leatherman stuff in it’s build quality     

That’s a stellar deal  there’s no manufacture dates on swisstools, correct? So we can only estimate production based on the pliers cast and victorinox shield/print stamps.

[Swisster]

It’s more like era’s of production on Swiss Tools and not specific years. I’m just glad to be rid of the mediocre build quality Leatherman stuff. My Swiss Tool X is rock solid and the price was good. It’s not something I would carry but it’s something to have that is a nice multitool and maybe will get used occasionally.

[Grand_Banana]

It’s more like era’s of production on Swiss Tools and not specific years. I’m just glad to be rid of the mediocre build quality Leatherman stuff. My Swiss Tool X is rock solid and the price was good. It’s not something I would carry but it’s something to have that is a nice multitool and maybe will get used occasionally.

I think it was Explorer who just also just picked up a like new Swisstool. Pristine and high quality (maybe he mentioned it in one of the similar threads there’s a couple I’m losing track) for a great price.  I think you’ll never be happier with another MT.  I use my Spirit nearly daily, unless I’m doing a challenge, and it’s perfectly capable to replace a small tool belt. Plus it’s just comfortable to use. I imagine the full size ST is too.

[in_sympathy]

Another update:

So I never heard back from Ukraininan Victorinox representative on both of the two cases I ever had.

I sent them a kind reminder yesterday and here's the reply I just received:

Dear Mr ****
 
Your inquiry and reminder has been escalated to me as it seems you remained until today without any reply from our Partern in Ukraine.
 
Probably because you bought the Swiss Tool in the USA - we don't know. We also don't know if you received an original one or a second-hand.
 
Does the function work - can you use the Tool ?
 
Anyway, we see the scratches and of course those are not normal and we propose in your case that you return it to the seller if you are not satisfied or you keep it.
 
To send it in to us in Switzerland is very costy and shold be the last solution - you surely agree.
 
With best regards
 
Daniel Mettler
Customer Service
Senior Manager Customer Assistance

Here's what I wrote back:

Dear Daniel, hi.

As I described before the tool was purchased new from DLT Trading - I already sent proofs or purchase and can do it again if needed. And DLT Trading can proof that the tool was purchased from them brand new.

As for the fact that I bought it in the USA - true, but what happened to the international lifetime warranty? Please have a closer look at the video and photos attached - those are not scratches - those are manufacturing defects, just like the wobbling tools.

Looking forward to a better solution from you. For example I could get the tool locally replaced by a Ukrainian representative and then I’am sure you will find a way to compensate them.

Conclusion: Victorinox warranty seems to be a scam. In both cases I ever had to deal with Victorinox warranty for the goods I  purchased both here in Ukraine and overseas the results were the same. They claim to try to contact local reps, fail, then they say "oh well, we're deeply concerned". Note taken.


P.S.: Steve Jobs used to say "Let me tell you a story".
So there is a local small company called Case-it. They make EDC pouches like Maxpedition and so on.
I bought one like 10 years ago and then recently purchased another one because the bands on the old one got way too loose and didn't hold the tools anymore.
They asked why would I buy a new one - I told them and they offered to replace the bands for free. After 10 years.
I refused - I said, like, come on, it's been 10 years, don't worry about it. But they insisted.
I said ok, but didn't send the pouch in.
They reminded me again in a week and I sent it and got it back like new for free.

That's how it's done, dear Victorinox.

[Barry Rowland]

I can't speak for Victorinox Ukraine, but I can't speak highly enough about the warranty service I experienced with Victorinox USA.  It's truly first class.  I even had a repairman call and speak with us at home about a knife we sent in for repairs.