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!
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.