Justin King
Well-Known Member
I had a customer order a knife with a textured and etched finish, carbon steel blade. He has had the knife about 3 weeks now and has contacted me twice saying that spots of rust are appearing on the blade even though it is stored in a dry environment and has not been used. He has asked if I will buy the knife back from him.
My first reaction is to do just that, but the situation is nagging at me. The issue is probably fixable and may not even be due to any fault of mine. We all know carbon steel will rust, why it is doing so in this particular case could be due to any number of circumstances, many of which are beyond my control once he has the knife in his posession.
I am more than willing to try to solve the problem for him, but the fact that he has asked for a return instead of a remedy strikes me as unusual. The knife was apparently acceptable to him when he recieved it. Are rust spots that appear after the sale/delivery a defect that I should be held responsible for?
I don't want to make character judgements about my customers, or approach this from a suspicious point of view, but I can't afford to leave myself vulnerable to every customer with buyer's remorse, or someone who spends their rent money on a toy, and then decides they need it back to pay rent.
What would you do?
My first reaction is to do just that, but the situation is nagging at me. The issue is probably fixable and may not even be due to any fault of mine. We all know carbon steel will rust, why it is doing so in this particular case could be due to any number of circumstances, many of which are beyond my control once he has the knife in his posession.
I am more than willing to try to solve the problem for him, but the fact that he has asked for a return instead of a remedy strikes me as unusual. The knife was apparently acceptable to him when he recieved it. Are rust spots that appear after the sale/delivery a defect that I should be held responsible for?
I don't want to make character judgements about my customers, or approach this from a suspicious point of view, but I can't afford to leave myself vulnerable to every customer with buyer's remorse, or someone who spends their rent money on a toy, and then decides they need it back to pay rent.
What would you do?
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