Saturday, 28 July 2018

Zen Imports - you rock!

This is a shout-out to Zen Imports, the Australian agent/distributor for Leatherman products (among others).

Their customer service is EXCELLENT!

The back story:

My wife gave me a Leatherman Pocket Survival Tool II (PST II) in ... umm, ... er, 1987?

I carried it almost every day (even on airplanes before 2001), and it did yeoman service until 2005.

I lost it when I was working on a computer, used it to undo the cable screws, then put it down on the desk while I carted the broken computer to my car and carried in the replacement. In the barely five minutes that I was gone, some low-life stole it. I still have the belt-pouch.

My business partner bought me a replacement, but the PST II was unavailable, so he gifted me a Wave. It's a nice device - the pliers' grips don't cut your hand, unlike the PST II - but I found that it was uncomfortably heavier and larger at first. I got used to it eventually.

Fast forward through more than 12 years of almost daily use - it goes everywhere that my pants go - and the safety lock on one of the knife blades started being less of a lock and more of an aesthetic feature.

Seeing as the internet is a thing now, I started looking online for replacement parts, thinking that I could just replace the locking spring. (It turns out that the spring is part of the main chassis, so this was a futile search.)

In my searching, I ended up at the web-site of the afore-mentioned Zen Imports, where I encountered a chat window asking "What can I do to help?".

I explained the situation and was told, "Send it to us. Leatherman products have a 25-year, no questions asked warranty. No proof of purchase is required. Just fill in the warranty form first."

Now to the juicy bits:

I duly completed the form, and sent it and the Wave to the east coast.

Yesterday, I received a parcel from Zen Imports - a brand new Leatherman Wave.

Total cost to me - $7.95 parcel post across Australia.

Well done Zen Imports, and thank you!