Dartmoor, again....and not good.

[Great Pebble]

Having sung the praises of the Dartmoor since purchasing it at Christmas, I've just suffered a failure with it which is not only irritating, but positively dangerous.

I was in the garden attempting to cut a "hearth" for demonstration purposes, and was chopping fairly heavily at a piece of Apple wood when the "rubber" outer coating on the handle became detatched from the pastic inner on a down stroke, the blade almost flew off down the garden, I managed to retain it.

Before I'd given the matter much thought I applied a few dabs of super glue to the inner plastic and set the outer back on again, but now, thinking about it, I'm not happy to use the blade again for any sort of heavy work. I'm also annoyed that I attempted a repair as I would have liked to take the matter up with WS, I probably can't now.

I feel this to be a major safety issue and I'm not a bit pleased, to say the least.

 

[Adi007]

That is a major issue that I feel needs reporting to Wilkinson Sword. Never mind that you had to carry out a field expedient repair - that's not the reason you are complaining and doesn't detract from the actual flaw.

 

[leon-1]

Nick, this specific tool is advertised as being able to handle this sort of work, I would imagine that this would be covered under your warranty and considering the amount of money that these are sold for it would definitely be worth taking it up with WS.

The other thing, if this is supposed to be a tool for survival then it has failed in a relatively short space of time, I don't know how often it has been used since Christmas, but think of it like this, in a survival situation this will be used heavilly every day.

If you had been stuck somewhere for 3 months this tool probably would of failed at around the midweek of week 4 (24days), not very good (probably a good reason that the armed forces don't use them).

 

[Great Pebble]

It has been heavily used, but has never been abused.
I've never done anything with it that I wouldn't call "reasonable" for a knife of this size/design.
Not quite sure what to make of it.
To add insult to injury, or injury to insult even, I have since managed to nick myself while brightening my old MOD knife to use in the stead of the Dartmoor on my trip next week, still considering whether or not I'm going to need a stitch.

All in all, not having a good day.

 

[Hoodoo]

Definitely report this to WS and let us know what you discover. No way should this be happening.

 

[RovingArcher]

I agree with the rest that you should report this to WS. That blade should not have failed in anyway in that short a span of time.

 

[Tony]

Most companies will bend over backwards to make up for the inconvenience, disappointment and the saving of their reputation. Excellent customer service is a must have...

 

[Great Pebble]

E-mailed them this AM laying out the nature of the failure and explaining that I felt it to be a particularly dangerous defect and hence was not prepared simply to contact the vendor.
Have asked for a representative to contact me soonest, I'll give it about ten days or and then follow up with a letter.

I know I should probably have used the Royal Mail in the first instance, but if e-mail gets a response, so much the better.

Will keep you advised of any developments.

 

[maddave]

E-mailed them this AM laying out the nature of the failure and explaining that I felt it to be a particularly dangerous defect and hence was not prepared simply to contact the vendor.
Have asked for a representative to contact me soonest, I'll give it about ten days or and then follow up with a letter.

I know I should probably have used the Royal Mail in the first instance, but if e-mail gets a response, so much the better.

Will keep you advised of any developments.

I'll be interested to see how this develops

 

[Nod]

I'd telephone them if they don't respond over the next couple of days.

I spoke to Vanessa in Sales and Marketing, she's was very helpful when I called about the Dartmoor.

I'm going to check my handle over when I get home. Don't want that coming loose like yours did........it could have been fatal if someone had been close by.

 

[Hoodoo]

I've worked with Vanessa and she's always very helpful. I'm sure she will do whatever she can.

 

[Great Pebble]

Back from a week (almost) in the woods, to discover that "A Vannessa from Wilkinson Something-Or-Other" had indeed 'phoned. Too bad I missed her.

However, I also have a e-mail from the same lady advising that I should contact her and arrange for a courier to call and collect the Dartmoor as they want to "examine" it, this being the first report of such a failure.

More as it happens etc.

 

[Great Pebble]

Dartmoor was collected by courier Wednesday.
Got a phone call this morning from Vanessa, the techie bods at Wilkinson had looked at it and could determine no reason for the failure. My knife will be sent to the States for further testing, which is, unfortunately, destructive.....

I have been offered a new Dartmoor, from the numbered batch which I'm more than happy to accept.

I must say that WS really couldn't have acted any quicker in this matter and in terms of phone calls and e-mails I was kept abreast at every stage, good work.

I have asked to be informed of the eventual findings of the testing and will pass on any info.

 

[rapidboy]

Sounds like WS customer care is spot on.
Glad to hear you got it sorted.

RB

 

[Great Pebble]

Hmmm....

Having thought the matter closed, to good effect. I've recieved a note from them today asking if the knife had ever been subject to "extremes of heat or cold", "contact with liquid chemicals" or "extremely wet conditions". not sure what to make of that.

 

[leon-1]

Hmmm....

Having thought the matter closed, to good effect. I've recieved a note from them today asking if the knife had ever been subject to "extremes of heat or cold", "contact with liquid chemicals" or "extremely wet conditions". not sure what to make of that.

GP, you did point out that you are in Northern Ireland .

 

[Great Pebble]

I did actually consider pointing out that something described as a "survival knife" might, possibly be expected to take extremes of hot and cold or wet conditions in it's stride. I confined myself to mentioning that the knife i'm using at the moment, also a Wilkinson designed survival knife, albeit some 20 years old, is not as pleasant to use but does manage to retain it's essential components....

 

[rapidboy]

Did you receive the replacement knife yet?

 

[Great Pebble]

No,

Apparently it won't be sent until they determine what caused the failure in the first place, up to a couple of weeks according to the e-mail I got this afternoon.

Not sure what to make of it, certainly a more formal tone to todays contact than the ones I had previously.

 

[rapidboy]

:***: that ,
It seems pretty unfair that you are without a knife while they "determine why it failed" , i would be on the phone every day giving them an ear bending.
Hope you get it sorted soon mate ,let us know how it turns out.

RB