Do you know someone at Leatherman?

August 3, 2007 12:10 PM

I'm stuck in a Leatherman support nightmare. Please help me with contact info for someone in Leatherman who has the power to help me.

My favorite multi-tool has had issues, and Leatherman's support on this particular issue has been atrocious.

I'm still trying to work it out with them, so I'm not going to post the particulars and embarrass them while there's still a chance that they'll make it right with me.

I need names and email addresses of people within Leatherman who have authority to help a customer.

I'm at a dead end with [e-mail] and TeresaG. I've also Googled for Leatherman email addresses, but I'm empty-handed.

Please? And thank you!

posted by SlyBevel to human relations (18 comments total)

PS, my email is in my profile if there's anyone who can only help privately.
posted by SlyBevel at 12:18 PM on August 3, 2007

i don't know anyone at Leatherman, but many people have gotten their support issues resolved by flexing the mob justice of The Consumerist.

Try sending them an email -- it helps if you have a good horror story.

Also, I'm super-curious what's wrong with your leatherman -- I've never had any trouble with mine.
posted by fishfucker at 12:48 PM on August 3, 2007

What "issues"? I'm a Leatherman fanatic.

I go through about 3 leathermen (leathermans?) per year, and have never had any problems with sending broken leatherman tools to them and getting back a perfect tool.
I've even sent one to them that, to me, had a loose joint on the pliers, and got back a perfect one. Takes a couple weeks.

AFAIK They have a lifetime warranty, like zippos.

I can send you a loaner if you're desperate.
posted by asavage at 1:03 PM on August 3, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

ASavage - Very flattered to have you answering, you're a hero of mine. Their warranty is 25 years, though, not lifetime.

I've considered going to Consumerist, as I read them all the time.

But as I've said, I'd really like to give Leatherman a chance to make it right before I go spewing details all over.

Ah what the hell, though. We're all friends here, right?

The core issue is this: Recently I lost my trusty Charge XTi, and had to buy a replacement. Having loved their former flagship model, I bought the new flagship model, a Charge TTi.

In short, the TTi should never have passed QA. It's got a bad handle hinge, a blade that scrapes as it opens and closes, and the entire pliers assembly, wire cutters, crimpers, et al. is horribly misaligned. Finally and worst of all, the needlenose pliers don't even meet at the tips when you close the pliers.

I never dreamed that I'd get such a problematic tool from Leatherman, but there it is.

If they simply sent me a new one quickly, I'd be peachy, but I sent my tool over a month ago now and Teresa is telling me it'll be another two weeks to repair and ship it back rather than sending me a new, properly made replacement.

And dammit, I use my Leatherman (when I have one) every single day. There's a lot about the service I've encountered so far because again, I don't want to burn a bridge. But honestly, is Leatherman a premium brand or not?

And so again...does anyone here know someone at Leatherman who gives a damn about Leatherman's reputation?
posted by SlyBevel at 1:20 PM on August 3, 2007

There's a lot about the service I've encountered that I haven't said here...
posted by SlyBevel at 1:23 PM on August 3, 2007

I have a Charge TTi and it does not exhibit the problems you mention. You got a bad unit. It is not bad engineering.

You said yourself that Leatherman is honoring their warranty by repair or replacement. While your wait is certainly frustrating, it is unusual, and it does not reflect on whether Leatherman "is a premium brand" or not.* It reflects on your ability as a human being to accept the limitations of the capacity of your fellow human beings ("Teresa") to help you.

It seems unlikely that you are "at a dead end", because you have explained to us that they will send you a replacement tool within two weeks.

My advice to you is to stop down your outrage, understand the limitations of support staff, and see if receiving a new tool in two weeks will heal you. You should know that you are coming off as unreasonably upset.

*I purchased my Leatherman at a redneck truckstop. It is hardly a premium brand, though, as noted in this thread, other customers routinely receive surprisingly good service.
posted by fake at 2:14 PM on August 3, 2007

Fake-

Let's try paying attention next time.

1. I didn't say it was bad engineering, I said that it shouldn't have passed QA. That's Quality Assurance, which is where a bad unit is supposed to be stopped from entering the marketplace.
2. How a company treats loyal customers does make a difference to premium status. I've already stated more than once here that there are customer service problems in my case that I haven't talked about here.
3. Again, not paying attention...They haven't promised a replacement, which is exactly what I've already said here would fix the situation. They've promised to repair the badly flawed unit and send it back to me. Not good enough.
4. Can you name a better multitool brand? It sure as hell isn't Gerber. In their market, Leatherman is widely considered the best. Even by me, and even after this, hopefully.
5. I myself have had good service from Leatherman in the past, and I don't dispute others' experiences. All I know is that this is a bad one, it seems uncharacteristic of Leatherman, and I want resolution.

Please don't snark up my thread again. Begone.
posted by SlyBevel at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2007

Ok, let's try this:

Does anyone have an email address for Jake Nichol, CEO and President of Leatherman?

Googled, tried using the company's email format, etc.
posted by SlyBevel at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2007

Just curious, what is the matter with Gerber? I've had mine for five years and use it almost every day
posted by darkmatter at 3:56 PM on August 3, 2007

Gerber's ok. I've had a couple of them. But they've never quite matched the fit, finish, and attention to detail in design of Leatherman for me.

For instance, after losing my last Leatherman, and while waiting for the new one to arrive, I bought a Gerber Suspension to trial.

The pliers felt wimpy, the blades all opened from the inside, there was no serrated edge, and when folded, the tool was larger than a fuller-featured Leatherman folded. It was no contest on the Suspension.

I saw their model that competes with Micra as well though, and it looked pretty competitive.
posted by SlyBevel at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2007

Please don't snark up my thread again. Begone.

You don't get to choose who answers your questions. You'd get much better answers in a more appropriate forum for consumer outrage, like the Consumerist, mentioned above.

If you understood that it was just your single unit that was defective, why didn't you return/exchange it to the retailer who you purchased it from? You'd have gotten a brand new one, and it would have saved you all of this anguish and effort.
posted by fake at 5:27 PM on August 3, 2007

Again with the assumptions.

1. How do you know that I got it at a retailer?
2. I was/is brand-new. I still have the packaging.

Get lost.
posted by SlyBevel at 5:44 PM on August 3, 2007

Whoops on number 2 above. I misunderstood. Sorry.

Anyway, you're not answering my question. It was about contact info. Remember?

Real answers only, please.
posted by SlyBevel at 5:46 PM on August 3, 2007

If you're a member of LinkedIn, Jake Nichol has a profile there; if you're a premium member (or whatever they call it), you can send him a direct message through LinkedIn.

(And jesus, SlyBevel, if you're treating the folks at Leatherman like you're treating some of the folks here who are trying to help, I hate to say that I'm that much closer to understanding some of their responses to you.)
posted by delfuego at 6:36 PM on August 3, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

I can see that I've been snippy here. Fake, I'm sorry.

Once again, there are details I haven't gone into here, and it's been trying for me.

I did see that Jake has a LinkedIn account, but I'm not a premium member. I'm debating paying the $20 for a month just to get the one email address, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

Leatherman's email server is pretty prompt about bouncing emails to bad addresses, and I've experimented with that a bit. Whatever Jake's email is, it's not in any of the standard formats.

I did successfully get an email through to TimL though, and that may get me somewhere.

Is anyone willing to use their Premium LinkedIn account for a fellow MeFier?
posted by SlyBevel at 7:02 PM on August 3, 2007

I would be surprised if anyone who has read this thread is willing to do that.
posted by Jenga at 9:12 PM on August 3, 2007

*sigh*

I don't know what to say. I'm frustrated and I clearly brought my frustration to the wrong place.

I am sorry that I did that. It was a stupid thing to do, and I'd like to geniunely apologize to everyone I've offended here.

I really didn't intend to subject you all to my internal drama. Thanks for trying to help.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:40 PM on August 3, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Good news-

I got an email from Leatherman support today saying that they'll be replacing the unit and shipping it out today or tomorrow.

I know I was nutty the other day, and I'm really not like that. I hope I haven't burned bridges with anyone here, and I'm very sorry if I have.

Cheers,
SlyBevel.
posted by SlyBevel at 4:24 PM on August 6, 2007