I almost got suckered into a gimmick!

I was doing my weekly supermarket shopping at my regular store when I heard over the loud speaker. "We will be giving away a stainless steel pairing knife to everyone over 21 today". I thought, Oh! I like free! However having take part in these kinds of things before, I knew I'd have to wait through a sales pitch in order to get my free knife but I thought it's a small price to pay. LOL

So, the guy starts talking and he demonstrating this knife. Now I must note I am a total sucker for anything kitcheny; bakeware, cookware, utensils, appliances, anything! So this really has my attention. He goes on to say that this knife will never rust, never dull, and will cut through just about anything (he demonstrated with a steel hammer, a wooden cutting board and a tomato). It made serious cut marks on the hammer and cut the board like butter. I was very impressed and in the back of my mind, I'm thinking I'm so getting these! The set included; 3 large knives, 4 steak knives, 3 pairing knives (2 in the box plus the free one), 1 filet knife & 2 little juicer things. All for just $33.99! You don't get this many knives if you order the set online either. (he also stated that if any of them ever break, even if it's your fault, they will replace it for free). At this point, I'm about 2 seconds away from yelling GIVE ME MY SET NOWWW! I mean this is an amazing deal! :drool

The woman next to me and I start talking and she is telling me how good of a deal she thinks it is and I'm agreeing with her. She told me she was going to buy them for her daughters wedding. I though that would be a good idea, I mean knives that never rust, dull, are tough as nails and will be replaced for free even if YOU break it? Hard to pass that up! I was holding the box in my hands and this little voice in my head said, I should check the reviews first. I do always try to check reviews of product before I buy it and not be so impulsive. LOL I handed him back the box telling him I wanted to think about it (I could tell he wasn't too pleased :-D ). I walked away and I took out my phone and googled reviews on this these and WHOA! I looked at 3 different review sites and at least 80%!! of people who reviewed them said how crappy of a product these were. The common complaint was they rusted extremely easy, easier than other stainless steel items they owned. The next was how quickly they dulled. That's two of their biggest selling points shot to pieces! I decided based on the reviews, I would pass.

I remembered the lady who was going to purchase them for her daughter and I would have felt bad if I did not go and warn her. I mean, how embarrassing is it to get someone a present (that you think is great) and turns out to be total crap? I approached her right as she was about to check out and I showed her the reviews on my phone. She thanked me immensely and gave the knives to the cashier telling her she didn't want them anymore. She then said, I guess I'll have to get the ones my daughter wants! we laughed about that and went our separate ways. Moral of the story, all that glitters is not rust free stainless steel, so do your research! :-D

These were the knives.

 

Good for you Dy!

This is a typical example of clever false advertising.
They state "Surgical stainless steel" this phrase instantly tells the buyer they are made of the same materials as surgical instruments and implants.
Unfortunately it doesn't always ring true in the buyers mind that if this is true, why does something the size of a pea cost so much money when talking about piercings or implants cost at least twice as much as this entire set of blades?
The reason? The "Ingredients" of the steel is the same, however, the quantities of said ingredients is different, higher percentage of the cheaper ingredients and lower pecentage of the expensive.
It's a lot like when you see a PC at Best Buy or Walmart that claims "DUAL CORE 2.4" but doesn't tell you the bus and also claims "4GB RAM" but fails to mention it's low power no name RAM and also claims "500GB HDD" but fails to mention the low quality internal parts and then states in flashy lettering "1GB Graphics" but fails to mention it's basically a simple card with slow clocks but lots of Vram.
But this is the trick of salesmen and marketing.
Certain phrases trigger certain responses in buyers.
I'm a salesman, I do it too with the difference I will never lie, yes I make things sound as good as I can but I also ward people off things they either do not need or is not right for them, frequently meaning they spend less money.
In certain workboots and hiking boots I will use the term "Military Grade" , this lights up peoples eyes, although it is perfectly true but something that is not stated anywhere.

Bottom line is, in most cases there are no bargains unless it is the quality product on sale or clearance.
A brand or product claiming to be "As good" as a product twice it's price is outright lying.

With the knife set, if everything they said was true, every chef and surgeon in the world would use this brand, truth is none of them do.

Do not be fooled by clever wording and promises, as you did Dy, the best advice comes from those who have tried and tested the product.

And I have learnt over the years that pretty much everything you buy should be with the knowledge that "You get what you pay for"

 

I am still looking for knives that never dull.

Glad you did not get taken in on that deal.

:major

 

Really? I don't think I'd want that, I enjoy sharpening blades, but then I have a bit of a "thing" for knives :major

 

I did not say I would buy them, just still looking. :-D

Knives get dull with use, it is the nature of the tool.

 

Phew, you had me worried there for a minute :-D

The knife is also arguably the oldest and most widely used tool, which makes it the Batman of tools :major

 

Rule #1: If a huckster is pitching it at the grocery store or warehouse club, I'm not interested.

Rule #2: See rule number one.

 

Yeah, if they really were rustproof, blunt-proof, (which doesn't exit), and dirt cheap to boot, they wouldn't need to be hustling them in a shopping mall. The sales would literally take car of themselves. - Probably the only decent blade was the 'special' one he was demonstrating with.rolleyes

 

Me too. :-D

 

I thought you were going to go on to say that you later found out the woman was working with the seller, it is common to have a 'plant' in the crowd to get the 'buy ball rolling'

 

I never really thought of it like this! It's very true. He did state they were "giving away" this "fabulous" deal to get some word of mouth. Well they have some, but I'm sure it's not the kind they want. :-D

Very true but in all the ones I've taken part in, I only really do it for the free item LOL and usually I'm completely disinterested but like I said I'm a sucker for kitcheny items.

I could tell she was being honest. We stood and talked for several minutes about the pros and cons and I could tell she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted them. I do agree that they do have plants sometimes.

 

Thanks Ned. That made me laugh.

 

I have always used quality knives in the kitchen (i am very fussy) and want them to slice a ripe tomato without squashing it.
Most of my knives are Wüsthof http://www.wusthof.ca/ which are not cheap but really hold their sharpness for a long time,having said that they still need to be steeled at times.

 

Curiously, would you have been able to exchange them if the knives got rusty or blunt at some point in the future under the "absolutely free replacement"? I suppose it depends how long the company is still in trading not for long if they continue giving out free replacements.

 

we have granite tops as well (arn't they great but as you say definitely not for using a good knife on)

My brother inlaw used a cleaver on his and chipped the granite causing hundreds of dollars damage,:cry his wife was ready to use the cleaver on him:boxing

I was not sure if Wustof were available in the USA, there is only one store within 50 miles of us that sells them.

 

I had not heard of them but i checked out the website and they ship to Belgium,Now the bad news they are at least 20% dearer than here, maybe that they are heavily taxed as imports :confused

 

Oooh, I want these!! :drool I just looked them up in my area and yes they are expensive but I'm sure they are totally worth it. I'll just add them to the list of things I dream about owning one day. LOL (OT but this is my ultimate dream product http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy290/lotzasmilies/sigh.gif )

He was quite specific in stating they would only replace them if they got damaged i.e. broken.

I did! The funny thing is, I almost leaned over to the woman next to me whispered "you could probably find them cheaper on Amazon" but I had a feeling the guy wouldn't appreciate that much. :-D

 

So all you got to do is find a way to break them. :-D

 

Genius!!!! :-D

 

I never get sucked into them TV or Radio advertisements be cause most of the time they do not work or there junk.Same Rules apply for these people that sell at malls and stores

False advertisement about 95% of them time.They Can clame this and that all they want to try to convince you into buying another pice of junk item that barely last a year.

Now i do know of a knife that does not rust Ceramic knives they are VERY Sharp and can cut lots of stuff.But draw back is they cost alot be cause they are hand crafted by Experts *** that make Swords.

 

Surgical Steel? Meaning extremely sharp, and delicate.

 

Does your fishing tackle box have a Ginsu?

 

Why? I fish at the market. :-D

 

Fish is nasty. People need to let those nasty creatures stay in the ocean so I don't have to smell them when I walk through the supermarket trying to buy REAL food. :-D

 

Yikes Dyamond, where the heck are you shopping at?

 

I sometimes shop at this Asian supermarket. The place is fairly big (there are two sides) but the aisles are very narrow and the place is usually packed. I shop here when I'm looking for non-American products (meats, fruits, veggies) and they are usually pretty cheap (unless you want American items, I once saw a box of Cheerios for $5.99 :-D ).

The smell of that particular section is just awful but I still love this little place. Nothing I've ever bought from there has ever let me down taste wise and I'm not the type of person who is very adventurous in trying new foods.

 

I feel your pain, Dy. I have been known to block my nose and run by when passing the Asian Fishmongers at the Markets LOL. My g/f thinks I am a nut, which I quite possibly am, but hey, I just don't like inhaling stanky fish on a Sunday afternoon. Smells like :fart to me. Fresh fish smells fine to me, but that one makes me wanna uke.

 

and it does to almost everyone else, so if your store has stinky fish because it's not quite fresh, might want to think twice about the rest of the goods being hocked there.

but if the Asian's are raslin' up some lutefisk that's another story complete:yum

 

roflmao

My shop is next to an Oriental take-out place that sells fish heads (no kidding) and other mystery seafood. When they burn something (usually at least once a day), the smell drifts into my store. :crap

I go through at least one can of Febreeze or Glade every week.