Customer satisfaction for a jackknife lover ~ February 13, 1997

David Heiller

Here’s a tale of customer satisfaction.

About a month ago I was at Stanton Lumber. I stopped to admire their Schrade knife case. Every good hardware store has a display of jackknives. And Schrade (which rhymes with spade) is as good as they come.

I pulled out a Schrade jackknife that I often carry. The knife used to belong to my wife’s father, Gordon Olson. We found it in his belongings after he died in 1993.

The knife has been used a lot. You can tell because the main blade is thin and curved from many a sharpening. One of the three blades is broken.

David loved his jackknives, and was never without 
one. He is posing here with his booty from
 a Christmas laden with jackknives.

I like this knife. It’s very good quality. The blade holds an edge, which means it is good steel. It is small. I can keep it in the pocket of my dress pants without it being noticeable.

Some of the people at work don’t like the knife. They know I use it on everything. They cringe when I cut one of Hazel’s cakes with it. “Where has that knife been?” Lynn will ask like clockwork.

There’s another reason I like this particular knife. It’s a connection to Cindy’s dad. He was not an easy man to get to know, but at least we had a love of jackknives in common.

I imagine this knife was a favorite of Gordy’s. I sometimes wonder how he broke the blade. I wonder where he got the knife, and what it meant to him. Did he admire its balance, its keen edge?

Did he open the blades and like the feel of them snapping shut? Did it come in handy the way jackknives always seem to do, cutting fishing line, or opening a letter, or prying on something that—oops—broke the blade?

I showed the knife to Del Delaney, who owns Stanton Lumber. He noticed the broken blade, and said I should send it to Schrade, because they have a lifetime warranty. They might send me a new one, he said, as he gave me the address.

I wrote to Imperial Schrade Corporation in Ellenville, New York, and sent the knife. I hated to part with it. I didn’t know if I would ever see it again.

A couple weeks later, I received a package from Schrade. I eagerly opened it. Inside were two jackknives, the one I sent them, and a brand new one.

They sent a cover letter that explained, “Although the knife model which you had sent is not available at our factory, because it is either out of stock or discontinued, we have taken the liberty of substituting a knife of equal value and usefulness in order to fulfill the terms of our Limited Lifetime Warranty.”

Wow. Now that is customer satisfaction. The knife I sent them, which they said was a model 580Τ, must be 30 or 40 years old. Who knows how long it has been broken. They sent a very nice knife, a model 340Τ, as a replacement.

I showed the new knife to Del. He pointed it out in his display case. It sells for $23.95.

It occurred to me that Del might have lost a sale by telling me to send in the old knife. Del doesn’t care about things like that. I’m sure he likes to make a buck like the next guy, but not at the expense of showing customers other options which is what he did for me.

The next time I buy a knife, it will be a Schrade. And I’ll buy it at Stanton Lumber.