PSA Re New King Cobra, Customer Service, Grooming Network, Inc. Classic Shaving

I am sorry for your loss.

Unacceptable behavior from the vendor.

"Excess profits breed ruinous competition" ; Steve Hurt, economics professor

This is happening in the shaving world and will cull the weak and feeble.

Thanks, gentlemen, for the kind words of support.

I'm not worried about the financial end of it. Pay Pal will make it right, and even if they didn't, it's not a life changer. However, I wanted my shave brethren to know  the kind of treatment I got with this company so they could make a more informed decision before doing business with them.

By the way, I wasn't kidding about the package-this is exactly what they sent.





And this email I received from them today-well, they probably shouldn't have sent... I wonder if they edit reviews. We'll see and I'll report back.

That packaging shows you how much pride they have in their products.

Michael,
As stated in the previous email, we did design the latch to be more difficult, as we received too many complaints with the last batch that they were too easy to open. It was meant to be tighter. That being said, you can send the Cobra razor in for a full inspection for us to be sure that it is fully functional. However, if the latch is normal and is designed as intended, we will be sending is back, as we do not accept returns on personal care items.
Thank you for understanding,
…

Breanna Buchmiller
Customer Service
The Grooming Network

So, did you send the razor back? Their above response indicates that they are open to examining it. Perhaps they will agree with you and refund your money or give you a new one. This is not an ideal situation, but it might be premature to bash them too much before giving them the chance to make good on it after they see it. (Of course, if they say there is nothing wrong with it, then bash away.)

I appreciate your comments, gnocchi but look carefully at the language that they used:


However, if the latch is normal and is designed as intended, we will be sending is (sic) back, as we do not accept returns on personal care items.


In other words, if it is 'designed as intended', and 'normal' according to them, they'll send it back as they 'do not accept returns on personal care items'.

The translation is, 'we'll tell you whether it's right or not, and if we say it's right, tough luck.'

The darned thing took two hands to open, and in response to another poster, I'm not that old, and I'm very strong in my hands. I also own both an original King Cobra and Cobra Classic, enjoy them, and know how the mechanism is supposed to work.

There's no way I'm going to open a razor with both hands with a blade in it to get the blade out, and apply that amount of force. The possibility of a slip when applying that kind of force could result in a serious cut. In my legal opinion, they're just asking for a lawsuit-I'm sure there are product liability lawyers out there that would lick their chops over this, especially if they don't remedy this after they've been put on notice.

I would have been happy if they said, send it back, and we'll send you another. No issues. But after 5 or 6 emails and getting the brush off each time, I felt like the members here should know about it before dealing with them. I simply won't deal with a company like this, and I opted to let PayPal run interference for me. They had their chance to have a satisfied customer and they blew it.

You would think that they might treat someone who has bought a King Cobra, a Cobra Classic and then buys a BACKUP King Cobra and Cobra Classic, not to mention the kickstarter Occam's Razor, with a little courtesy.

If you look through my many posts, I tend to be very happy with my shaving gear, and have gone out of my way to praise companies for their outstanding products and services. I'm not a 'basher'. But in this case, a heads up was, IMO, well deserved.

I appreciate your comments, gnocchi but look carefully at the language that they used:


However, if the latch is normal and is designed as intended, we will be sending is (sic) back, as we do not accept returns on personal care items.


In other words, if it is 'designed as intended', and 'normal' according to them, they'll send it back as they 'do not accept returns on personal care items'.

The translation is, 'we'll tell you whether it's right or not, and if we say it's right, tough luck.'

The darned thing took two hands to open, and in response to another poster, I'm not that old, and I'm very strong in my hands. I also own both an original King Cobra and Cobra Classic, enjoy them, and know how the mechanism is supposed to work.

There's no way I'm going to open a razor with both hands with a blade in it to get the blade out, and apply that amount of force. The possibility of a slip when applying that kind of force could result in a serious cut. In my legal opinion, they're just asking for a lawsuit-I'm sure there are product liability lawyers out there that would lick their chops over this, especially if they don't remedy this after they've been put on notice.

I would have been happy if they said, send it back, and we'll send you another. No issues. But after 5 or 6 emails and getting the brush off each time, I felt like the members here should know about it before dealing with them. I simply won't deal with a company like this, and I opted to let PayPal run interference for me. They had their chance to have a satisfied customer and they blew it.

You would think that they might treat someone who has bought a King Cobra, a Cobra Classic and then buys a BACKUP King Cobra and Cobra Classic, not to mention the kickstarter Occam's Razor, with a little courtesy.

If you look through my many posts, I tend to be very happy with my shaving gear, and have gone out of my way to praise companies for their outstanding products and services. I'm not a 'basher'. But in this case, a heads up was, IMO, well deserved.

That is utterly atrocious customer service! And a response so nonchalant from a reputable vendor is inexcusable. Good to know that you have PayPal Michael. From the looks of it, I'm canceling my pre-order of the Occams Razor that they keep pushing back. And to be honest, I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on ordering the King Cobra as I had sampled the Cobra Classic in one of your pass arounds. Shame on them. Extremely unprofessional. Let them have it, with both barrels!

I appreciate your comments, gnocchi but look carefully at the language that they used:


However, if the latch is normal and is designed as intended, we will be sending is (sic) back, as we do not accept returns on personal care items.


In other words, if it is 'designed as intended', and 'normal' according to them, they'll send it back as they 'do not accept returns on personal care items'.

The translation is, 'we'll tell you whether it's right or not, and if we say it's right, tough luck.'

The darned thing took two hands to open, and in response to another poster, I'm not that old, and I'm very strong in my hands. I also own both an original King Cobra and Cobra Classic, enjoy them, and know how the mechanism is supposed to work.

There's no way I'm going to open a razor with both hands with a blade in it to get the blade out, and apply that amount of force. The possibility of a slip when applying that kind of force could result in a serious cut. In my legal opinion, they're just asking for a lawsuit-I'm sure there are product liability lawyers out there that would lick their chops over this, especially if they don't remedy this after they've been put on notice.

I would have been happy if they said, send it back, and we'll send you another. No issues. But after 5 or 6 emails and getting the brush off each time, I felt like the members here should know about it before dealing with them. I simply won't deal with a company like this, and I opted to let PayPal run interference for me. They had their chance to have a satisfied customer and they blew it.

You would think that they might treat someone who has bought a King Cobra, a Cobra Classic and then buys a BACKUP King Cobra and Cobra Classic, not to mention the kickstarter Occam's Razor, with a little courtesy.

If you look through my many posts, I tend to be very happy with my shaving gear, and have gone out of my way to praise companies for their outstanding products and services. I'm not a 'basher'. But in this case, a heads up was, IMO, well deserved.

I'm not defending them or their customer service, but my point is that the case is not closed--they have not refused your return. Although they are giving themselves wiggle room, they have left the door open for you to return it. The worst that can happen is they return the razor to you and you're in the same boat as you are now.

But if the razor is as bad as you say--and I'm sure it is--then I predict when you send it back, they will have to see that and make good on replacement or refund. At least I hope so. And if they don't, flame away. It will cost them much more than they saved by not making good.

You should give them that chance, I think.

Passive aggressive customer service. WTF? Each and every customer and purchase is critically important to the bottom line; be it a styptic pencil or very expensive razor. No prejudice should be shown to any paying customer and each customer needs to be viewed as an investment in the businesses future Protect, nurture and respect.Penny wise, pound foolish. They should eat that razor with a smile and send a new one post haste. They are riding this shaving boom with no regard to the long term detrimental ramifications of sheety cust service to their business. Fat, dumb and happy. In reality it is extremely short sighted on their part. Nordstom's is Nordstom's because its f'ing Nordstrom's, Customers are people with feelings and emotions as well as wallets.


But, hey, what do I know I'm just a gardener.

Improper focus or lack there of. Me thinks something on Their end is driving this that we are not privy to. Regardless....that would be the 'reason' not an 'excuse'. There is no excuse.

That email reads like it was written by one of my attorneys, lol

The QC on the batch prior to the latest release of Cobras ( a while back) was horrific as well. I think I went through 3 returns before finally getting a quality razor. I believe that was prior to the brand being sold. It was a bit of a chore dealing with their CS at that time, but in the end it was at least made right. I have tried a lot of razors and the Cobras are some of the best in regards to the shave out there. It's a shame they can't seem to get the QC/manufacturing aspect down better.

ksn you might have hit on one of the reasons. Prior history of high return rates for qc issues. They may have smiled and ate razors early on but since the issue on their end has yet to be resolved the razors don't taste so good now and the smile is not genuine. But the burden of the companies failure to resolve supply issues is borne by the customer. Way too many email exchanges with no resolution and calling the customers credibility in question by burden of proof is wrong. Sloppy. I'm sure expensive razors are tough to eat but doubly so when you are the origin of the issue. Again, not knowing facts sucks, but its pretty easy to connect the dots. I'm sure they have no audit process to to back track issues to the source.so they can be corrected. Their past leads me to believe they really must like eating razors since they continue to repeat the same behavior. "What's for dinner? "razors" " Not again, that's every night this week". "Shut up! Chew and smile".