A few weeks ago, I sent my 1985 Swiss Army Knife back to Victorinox for a broken blade replacement.
It came back today, fully repaired, cleaned, polished, lubricated and in a new box.
Total cost: £10 + return postage.
They sent the knife back with an invoice. I didn’t have to pay a penny before the job was done.
A product that’s been out of production for almost 40 years, repaired at very little cost by the original manufacturer.
I’m stunned. Happy, impressed, grateful and stunned.
I have at least a couple of victorinox Swiss army knives, I will keep this in mind!
Zippo also have lifetime warranty / free repairs. I got mine repaired some years ago, from what I remember I only had to pay postage (from Norway to the US in my case).
Got one with a bent hinge and was thinking about it but they bent so easily that I’m not even sure it’s worth the effort.
This is refreshing. Someone clearly took pride in their work.
They also make an excellent all-rounder kitchen knife that only costs 5€. It’s super sharp despite being in use for years. Best purchase ever.
I used to hate these knifes because of the plastic handle that felt a bit cheap and stubby. Then i found one in a store marked town to 10 bucks or something and i bought it for things that i wouldn’t use my nice knifes for. I really started to like it, super sharp and easy to resharpen
I have the same knife I think, I sharpen it every couple of months and it’s still my go-to after 5 years despite the shutty plastic handle. Great steel for the price.
Did they send back the original blade as well? I suppose they may as well since they have no use for it and it may be sentimental for the owner.
I think this is good practice from repair people: my motorbike mechanic would always keep the old parts when replacing them, to show me the status when I was taking the motorbike back. It’s a sort of transparency move that I actually appreciate.
And moreover, the old part is still yours, so it makes sense to give it back to you, unless you explicitly say otherwise
Unless those red plastic side covers are broken.
You mean they don’t repair the plastoc covers?
They do not. Those covers are no longer made, at least not for mine, which I believe is the same model as the one pictured.
Edit: Disregard everything I wrote below! The new knife was from a different manufacturer, Swiza!
Back when I was a kid, one difference in quality between Vic knives and all the cheap knock-offs was obvious to everyone, even if you had no clue about sharpness, holding an edge, manufacturing tolerances, etc.
On a Vic knife, the corkscrew held its shape.
On the cheap knock-offs it unwound and lengthened if you didn’t screw it into the cork all the way.Unfortunately, now that I’m 40 years old, on the newest model of Vic knives, the corkscrew lost its shape after a couple uses and can’t be folded back into the knife.
To some small part of my soul that still retained its childhood values, this feels as if Superman died.Removed by mod
And that’s why I buy $5 pocket knives. I’m not spending twice as much to wait two weeks for a replacement when I depend on my pocket knife every single day.
I try to BIFL whenever I can but this is one case where the trade-off of a cheap knife are better.
No, seriously, every day. I’m a handyman. I’m lost without my pocket knife. I have to replace one about every two years.
I do the same thing and I’ve had my Leatherman for over a decade now
Dunno what you’re doing that requires a new knife every two years!
Buying knives for $5 probably has something to do with it
Usually losing them. Though there was this one time where I shorted some wires And the best portion of serratedness became useless.
Ah carelessness, I see! Not a great quality for a handyman 😜
