Hubertus Knives, getting worse ??

[horizonod]

Last JANUARY I went to the Shot show and spoke with Beatte and Henning about the poor quality of the knives we had been recieving from stateside suppliers. They blamed a couple of US sellers that do some of the assembly and assured me in no uncertain terms that if I purchased directly from them there would be no problems and all knives would be checked for quality before sent. Taking their word for it I placed a sizable order.

When the order came there were several problems. Some of the knives didn't opperate correctly, some had huge liner gaps, some had chipped or mared scales, some had the hairiest of hair triggers and some hurcules couldn't open.

I sent Henning an email. He was busy getting ready for another show but promissed to get this taken care of as soon as he got back. This was in early February. Time went by with excuse after excuse. Finally I decided I would fix the ones that I could. After fixing nearly 2 dozen knives and getting them working correctly, closing liner gaps etc, I still had 18 knives that were not saleable and non repairable without disassembly.

I have emailed and emailed and emailed with Hubertus and gotten broken promise after broken promise.

Here it is the middle of June and I still have 18 defective knives that can't be sold. That's a pretty large percentage of the total we bought and for the price of Hubertus knives it is simply not acceptable.

I'm done buying Hubertus knives and I consider the owners Beatte and Henning to be people I would never do business with again because hey cannot be trusted to keep their word or do the right thing. Not only do I think Hubertus quality has taken a nosedive but I don't like dealing with shammers and scammers. An oversight is an oversight but this has gone on WAY too long. This is not an oversight, this is a flat out rip off.

Has anybody else had these types of issues?

[natcherly]

I did some research on Hubertus and found this interview with Henning Ritter. In the interview, he says his wife, Beatte, owns the cutlery company as it was founded by her grandfather. So unless Henning's last name was also Ritter, he took his wife's last name! Maybe you should be grinding on her

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKaP6YtT1k

You will also note some interesting history. The grandfather started the business in 1932. Lots of interesting things going on then in Germany. One of their biggest sellers was a German "Boy Scout" (aka Hitler Youth) knife. This same knife can be purchased today - only the insignia has been changed....

[Vagrant]

I would not be as critical as you are BUT, I have NOT been the worlds greatest Hubie fan.
However every time I expressed my concerns, I was gently corrected or the problems were "explained". I have had excellent ones but have also had ones I sold [at a loss] as "seconds". I still think that no matter what shipping method is used and no matter how carefully things are packed, nothing "good" ever happens on the "trip across the pond"
I have also been assured, I'm wrong about that

[horizonod]

Some people that have older Hubbys think the liners are thinner on the new ones. This could be why there are so many liner gaps, especially as the size increases.

Quality concerns and QC aside though , I was promissed good knives by the company owner and got about 30 klinkers, was told they would make good, waited so long I had to fix all but the unfixable and I'm still waiting.

Beate is the one I spoke with at Shot and she personally assured me the knives I ordered would be first rate. Any that were not would be replaced quickly. Neither has been the case.

Nearly every time I get an excuse it's "we are very busy getting ready for a knife show and will be gone a few days. We will take care of it as soon as we return".

I would think if you already had a good customer it would be good business to take care of the customer that's already dropped several grand on your product, then worry about new customers.

My very first auto was a Hubby and it worked flawlessly. Maybe I got lucky but for the price of Hubertus knives I'm not willing to roll the dice anymore on the chance of getting a good one especially knowing the company won't stand behind their product and would rather explain away, deny or ignore problems.

Personally I get the feeling that they are too tight with a Euro to shell out the shipping.

[Vagrant]

I would be tempted to "bite the bullet" and pay the shipping costs to return the defective ones And, give them the option of refund or replacement.
At least, that way they can verify the quality issues.
[Unless the return trip DOES make them better]

[j.a.c.]

Show up at one or two of the knife shows that they are busy preparing for with the clunkers and address the issue when there are lots of people checking out the knives.
Repeat an need till they honor their word.

[Bama]

I like the j.a.c. solution!

[horizonod]

Show up at one or two of the knife shows that they are busy preparing for with the clunkers and address the issue when there are lots of people checking out the knives.
Repeat an need till they honor their word.

I was going to do that at Blade but we couldn't make it this year. If stood there discussing the clinkers with them while onlookers listened and saw the crap knives I wonder what I could have "bargained for" in order to get me the heck away from their table.

It's bad enough getting crappy high priced knives but the screwing bugs me more.

[j.a.c.]

I figure if they've been giving you the run around for 5 months then the chances are they have no intention of making good on anything they promised , so you wouldn't be loosing out if you walked up to their table with lot's of people standing around and asked ... Do you honor returns on defects or knives with Q.C. problems ? Of course they will say it's a priority.
Then you just dump a pile of clunkers and tell them you would like to return all of these and have in fact been trying to for over 5 months.
Doubt you'll get anything out of the deal ,but the crowd will vanish in a hurry.

Keep an eye open for upcoming events that are in your area and maybe you'll get a chance.

[Bill DeShivs]

The only show that the Ritters go to in the US is the SHOT Show, to my knowledge.

[SRD115]

I'm not a seller so I may be way off base on this, but the response by Hubertus almost makes me think that the defective knives you received were "dumped" on you with Hubertus thinking you would just eat the loss and not go to the trouble of returning them for replacement. The defects pictured are obvious. I can't see this happening during shipping, and it's equally difficult for me to believe they were sent to you by accident. It's a sad state of affairs. I like Hubies and have several in my collection. Fortunately I have acquired them from reputable dealers who don't send out junk. Good luck!!!

[Milu]

I Haven't bought a Hubertus in a couple of years. The last came from a German retailer, it was replaced twice (by the retailer) and then I gave up. The retailer told me the ones that came to him were all like that. Shame.

[Viking45]

In all honesty- I would suggest Beatte and Henning take a good look at their personnel.
Seems obvious they are trusting and allowing employees to run the show.
Just a guess but I would bet they have some new people slapping knives together because some of those liner gaps are absurd!
At first I would say a chip could happen in shipping but being right at a pin I doubt it.

One or two I can understand but spending a couple grand and having over 20 messed up knives is insane.
We buy German knives for the old style and hand crafted quality,otherwise we would buy Bucks for a fraction and have a case of consistently perfect knives.

Such a darn shame that a once fabulous German knife maker has gone down hill.

[natcherly]

I heard somewhere a few years ago that Hubertus does not actually have on-site assembly. Parts are farmed out to individuals who put them together at home on a piece-work basis. This business model makes a lot of sense from the owners' standpoint as it eliminates or greatly reduces a whole lot of overhead such as plant floor space, utilities, employment taxes, employee benefits, etc. On the other hand, if I were an at-home assembler paid on the number of knives I put together, I would do my damnedest to push out as much product as I could. And if I knew there was little or no QC to worry about (because the owners were always traveling to "shows" such those on the Rivera or in Bordeaux ) I would not give a rat's pattotie how bad they were. Does this sound like what is happening here?

[Bama]

Makes sense to me. I think that would be a really cool job, but like you said if you are being paid on a per knife assymbled qc could get shaky really quick.