ikon Razors

Guys, after reading this I have to ask, is iKon known for poor quality control?  I ask because of not only what I have read here but because I have three iKons.  The first two I purchased because I saved a fair bit of money because they had very minor cosmetic flaws (that I could not even see) but did not affect the shave and the third was a gift with a known blade placement flaw that, if one knows what to look for and how to adjust it, can be corrected.  So, overall, are iKon products quality control plagued or not?

Freddy , I don't think so.  Its possibly a case of you hear all the bad experiences because people are angry but the happy, satisfied shavers are just smiling and shaving and having a great day, nothing to grip about and only a small percentage of satisfied customers post about their positive experiences compared to the dissatisfied folks.  Thats my take and I may be wrong but I've got 5 ikons, 6 if you count the 102 I bought my son and there hasn't been a single problem.  

Some companies have a policy not to sell their seconds because it can give the impression that their products aren't top quality to have defects on the market.  The third razor you mentioned I assume is that single blade razor.  I don't know about bringing a flawed product to market, seems like a poor decision to me.  Even if its sold cheap with a clear disclaimer about the flaw people will still gripe about it as if they'd paid full price or, as your doing here, drawing inferences about the overall quality of the company and frankly, I don't blame you.  Thats why I don't think a company ought to sell seconds at any price, they should be scrapped. The risk to the reputation is greater in my opinion that whatever profit /loss minimization achieved by selling the second.

Marko, yes the third was the SE razor, the El Jefe. As I pointed out elsewhere, the biggest disappointment for me was the safety bar side of the OSS. It was just too mild for me. The open comb side of the OSS, the Shavecraft 101, and the El Jefe all give beautiful shaves.

I understand where you are coming from about seconds. Mine was a gift so that definitely comes into play. However, if a corrected El Jefe head comes out then I shall be sorely tempted to get it because of my experience with the flawed original.

I don't know if this is going to get me banned from other forums.

I can't speak to quality control. I have never bought a new Ikon and had a problem.

I do remember when Greg trolled one of the moderators on another forum via eBay listings. It was ignorant and personal and the craziest thing I had seen shaving related at the time or since. It was an epic and monumental time. He had active listings that used the person's screen name and picture from the forum. The listing text was raunchy and skathing. Full of thinly veiled vulgarities and inuendos. At the time I wasn't sure what was going on. I didn't know whether to laugh or be offended. I have a streak of offensive humor myself but this was nuclear level trolling of the highest order.

The odd references and intensely personal tone of the thing turned me off. The refusal of anyone to speak about it publicly was bizarre as well.

Then the auto correct started. Censoring. Questions. Heck you couldn't even discuss Nikon cameras without being censored.

For weeks these listings on eBay kept popping up. The tension was building. It was palpable. You could feel it in the atmosphere on the forums. On the blogs. On the whole community at large.

The more innocent people who knew nothing about the drama, and most still don't including me, the more people asked innocent questions about the brand or why it was being censored, the more they would get piled on. There was blood in the water. People were arguing. People were accusing each other of all kinds of things. Being shills. Being power hungry. Being trolls. Being rule breakers.

It was insane.

One guy with an axe to grind.

I've never had much interaction with Greg. I have posted to some forums and groups he is a member of. He even had his own forum for a while.

At the end of the day he makes razors, or designs them and has them made. He is not a guy who seems like he goes out his way to engage in dialogue often online in public. He seems quick though to speak bluntly and lash out if someone criticizes him publicly. I have seen him slam people who have seemingly justified gripes. On forums, on Reddit, on any venue he hasn't been banned from and even on some that he is banned from.

The eBay thing was miles over the line. It was not even the worst that he did they say.

He had been accused of calling people's places of employment and making scandalous accusations. Whether that actually happened I don't know. It's been said that he is vile and disgusting. Again, I don't know. I don't ask. Most people don't tell.

So, while the razors get mixed reviews, I have to wonder. How much of the reputation is deserved? Every brand has the odd complaint or quality control lapse. Not every brand has an owner or employee who suffers no fools.

The lengths he had been said to have gone to while engaged in a beef were extraordinary. Was it justified? Did it all actually happen? Hard to say.

The razors are what they are. The censorship is over. The tension and hurt feelings crop up from time to time.

Greg is blunt and vulgar. At times I have seen him post some far from polite things online. Check Reddit. See for yourself.

Knowing that he's willing to speak to customers in public like that, I have to believe that he's far less reserved in email or private messages.

He's an alpha level troll.
I do have to wonder, like I said, if the trolling and criticism he receives back online is 100% justified all the time. Are people who have friends who have been burned making up complaints about his products? Probably sometimes.

It's just too hard to tell.

The El Jefe is a prime example of why I'm somewhat skeptical about the heavy criticism of his products. Not his personality. He definitely deserves most of the rough around the edges descriptions. Everyone who bought the El Jefe from him got a partial refund as soon as complaints about blade alignment reached critical mass. Didn't have to ask.

I don't pick fights. I just want nice gear. I don't go looking for drama. There is a disproportionate amount of it in the wetshaving world though. I have never had a bad Ikon razor. I believe some people have. All vendors have issues occasionally. I do believe that Ikon doesn't take criticism lying down if he feels it's not justified.

Everyone has to decide for themselves at the end of the day though.

Ah yes, the double edged sword that is the current state of internet commerce and social media, everybody gets to voice their opinions or someone's opinions or just make stuff up. I've never met the person behind ikon, or any other online vendor/artisan so I cannot judge them. Everything I've heard would fall into the category of "heresay" if this were a court of law which it isn't. Further, we're not usually privy to any of the background context that might have led up to an ill-advised online outburst. The guy may have just gone Popeye. You know, "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more" We just see the part where he goes all spinach on Bluto and we conclude that he's got anger issues. Like most folks here, I try to focus on the product and while its nice to make a connection with a vendor or an artisan its not essential in my opinion. I can't imagine the pressure on these people from countless customers and online "friends" - it makes me think of the scene from the movie Jesus Christ Superstar (great movie BTW) where Jesus is being inundated by the poor and infirm all wanting to be healed and helped in some way until even He reaches his breaking point.

I take everything I read online with a grain of salt what with fake news and people with agendas you never know whats real or not. If something is repeated often enough it seems to eventually be accepted as truth whether its based in fact, fiction or a combination thereof.

This I know for a fact - the ikon razors that I own and use are very nice shavers and I like them.

Marko , your post seems to describe "social" internet communications in a nutshell.

And, thanks for the Popeye reference! It makes sense(and gave me a little chuckle.)

The soap opera melodrama, here and elsewhere, is silly. Some of you guys and your glass houses . . . just saying.

The soap opera melodrama, here and elsewhere, is silly. Some of you guys and your glass houses . . . just saying.

Maybe. My intent as OP was to say that I like the razors and don't really care about the rest. I try to separate the maker from the product. Same with art or literature - does it make a difference to you if the author of your favourite book or the painter of your favourite painting is actually a really unpleasant person? It shouldn't, so why does it matter with respect to razors or soaps? Its been my experience that anytime something is done to a high level of excellence, there is usually a dysfunctional, obsessive person behind it. Don't ever go in to the kitchen of a top rated restaurant. Would you still enjoy the meal if you knew you couldn't stand to be in the company of the chef?

I agree; personalities are largely irrelevant. Most of the iKon products I have, I like. Those I dislike have nothing to do with whether or not the proprietor is a nice guy or not. Same goes for artists, actors, writers and musicians. I may despise some of them as individuals, but that doesn't detract from the quality, craftsmanship and beauty of their work.

I agree; personalities are largely irrelevant. Most of the iKon products I have, I like. Those I dislike have nothing to do with whether or not the proprietor is a nice guy or not. Same goes for artists, actors, writers and musicians. I may despise some of them as individuals, but that doesn't detract from the quality, craftsmanship and beauty of their work.

You are correct, (or I agree with you), but I will add this in the form of an analogy.

There are two mom n pop hardware stores in the town I am from. They both sell largely the same products, are open the same hours, and have comparable pricing. One simply has better, friendlier customer service. I do 90% of my business there, but I have nothing against buying stuff at the other one, and do so on occasion

That could be applied to any small business, whether online or in my home town.

Even though it is online, I still kind of think of us as a little community. There is more stuff to buy than I will ever live long enough to get around to buying, though God knows I have tried my best in the last few years. I simply tend to do business with the vendors that appreciate my business, and who go the extra mile to keep it.

We do put a capital D in drama sometimes. It is amazing how worked up a bunch of grown men can get over stuff as trivial as grooming products.

Yep, if customer service sucks, color me gone, no matter how good the product is.

Yep, if customer service sucks, color me gone, no matter how good the product is.

I hear you and I feel the same way. I've only ever bought one razor directly from ikon and everything went smoothly so obviously I have no problem. I had an issue with a major vendor a year and a half ago. It was something that neither I nor the vendor had any control over - my credit card was compromised and the bank cancelled the valid charge to that vendor in addition to the wrongful ones. The vendor contacted me and I contacted the bank. I offered to pay the vendor the amount ($100) again and when the bank corrected the error they could just credit my account. Easy right? The vendor said no, they'd wait until the bank sorted it out. Well the bank stuck to their original error for whatever reason - the whole process took almost a month. The vendor then contacted me and sent me a paypal invoice which I paid promptly, problem was the vendor was all snarky like I was trying to rip them off. This really annoyed me as I'd been a good customer, never had a problem before and I offered right away up front to pay for the charge again. I told the vendor that I didn't appreciate the treatment and he more or less told me to ** to which I may have responded that he could go ** too.

So this vendor is doing very well and everybody seems to love them but he treated me badly so I won't buy anything from him even if its something I want and he's the only vendor selling it. In the words of Elizabeth in The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, "Ronald, your hair is all nice. Your clothes are all pretty. You look like a nice guy, but guess what? You are a bum." You can insert the vendor's name in place of Ronald. My point is, I get all the negative sentiments towards ikon because of service issues because I feel the exact same way. Stuff happens, machines break down, items get damaged but how you respond to that stuff determines your quality