New West Knifeworks

2/5 for the knife (Fusionwood 2.0 Santoku Peacock). 1/5 for customer service. 2/5 overall. Overall, I do really like the New West Knifeworks Fusionwood 2.0 Santoku knife and without all the issues would have scored it a solid 4 out of 5. Personally purchased a "mis-marked" second Fusionwood Santoku in Peacock to evaluate New West Knifeworks as a potential vendor for my employer. The Good. - The blade is well made and nicely finished. - Blade performance is quite good and compares favorably with the best knives on the market. - Great visual appeal. - Leather blade guard. The Bad. - Fit and finish. The knife I received is really let down by the fit and finish. Obviously, there will be a fair amount of variation from knife to knife since they are largely handmade, but in this price range, there should be zero obvious flaws. The grip panels are very clearly mis-aligned on my knife - by a lot. That should never happen at this level. - Balance. The balance on my knife is off. Not enough to be a problem, but still noticeable. - Customer service. Just plain poor. It took 4 days to get a response and the response was along the lines of: looks like you got a real second instead of a mis-marked one; hope you enjoy. Wow. Eventually, they did agree to take the knife back since it was not what I had ordered. - Price. The $200-$300 price range is very competitive and there are better choices. Several companies have high-quality cutlery on the market today, each with a different take on what is, realistically, a common product. Top customer service is one of the few things that really separates great knife-makers from everybody else and New West Knifeworks decidedly falls short here. Would I personally buy another New West Knifeworks knife? - No. I have no real confidence New West Knifeworks will stand behind their products. Will my employer be carrying New West Knifeworks cutlery? - No. My employer is very customer-service focused and New West Knifeworks does not meet our company standards. Not even close.
2 13 years ago (16-05-2014)