Buyer Beware
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I love to share my favorite products. I have so many of them. There are plenty of kitchen gadgets I could rave over, or even non kitchen gadgets. Unfortunately this is not a raving post unless we’re talking raving mad… annoyed, etc. Believe me, I’m not nearly as annoyed and mad or shocked as I was when this incident took place but I’m still annoyed none the less.
You see… early in the month I was making dinner one night, not completely unusual… cutting cheese by hand for baked mac n cheese. I could have just as easily pulled out the food processor and shredded the cheese that way, but I didn’t want to dirty more items than need be so I cut the cheese into small blocks by hand. Half way through the block *snap*! No I’m not even remotely kidding. My knife literally snapped in half. Thankfully I was mostly unharmed outside of a sore hand the next day. No lacerations or anything serious. But really… a snapped knife?! How in the world??? It’s not like I let my knives sit soaking in a solvent meant to eat away at stainless steel. They might not always get washed they day I use them but this should never happen. And it’s not like this cheese was a brick. I mean it’s cheese! How hard can cheese really be? Okay, clearly hard enough to snap what seemed like a perfectly good knife in half. I’m obviously being a bit sarcastic here people… I mean we ARE talking cheese!
I shared this picture on facebook, even getting a response that this happened to someone else with the exact same knife! Uhm helloooo Furi there’s a problem here.
I then took to twitter attempting to direct the tweet at Furi but sadly no they do not appear to have entered the world of social media. Instead, I directed it at both Rachael Ray and the Food Network merely hoping to even get some kind of a response out of them… maybe contact information or something helpful. You see… the reason for the above is that Rachael Ray has her name on these knives which also means the Food Network promotes them since she’s one of their ‘stars’. Okay that last part is debatable but let’s not go there. I liked the knives for the grip not who had their name on them or was promoting them, period. Did I get a single response from either party? Nope.
Okay let’s try email. After much searching I found a US email address for Furi. THREE weeks later and still no response. Okay, I was going to give up but then decided I’d give it a shot and forward the original message to the Australian end of the company… the email got bounced back!!
So much for that limited lifetime warranty – which by the way is listed as 25 years. So I got screwed out of at least 20 years.
I in no way claim these are top of the line knives but they still shouldn’t snap in half like this one did. I’m honestly kind of appalled and saddened that companies are out there claiming to have product warranties and don’t even bother responding to consumers when they have an issue.
Why am I bothering to write a post about this? Because I’m annoyed, yes! But because it’s clear this company doesn’t care about their customers or about having a good product that holds up to regular use. I don’t want you to end up in this stinky situation that I have ended up in. I’ve surely used the knives plenty to justify the money spent on them but that’s still no consolation to the empty spot in my knife block.
Oh and on a side note, when researching replacement knives I read one particular article that had both top brand knives and celebrity chef knives being tested. The celebrity chef knives were in the bottom rankings. A little food for thought.
So… buyer beware. Always buy from a reputable company that everyone swears by. Furi is absolutely NOT one of them.
I’ll be honest, this is one of my worst feared kitchen nightmares, my knife snapping as I use it. Thankfully it hasn’t happened yet, but your post scared me a little bit.
I’ve always been wary of the celebrity endorsed stuff. This just reconfirms it.
Glad you are safe!
Great, revealing and honest post! This is what we like, honest information that we can all use.
Have you tried calling them? They have a number listed for “Orders & Help” (925) 417-0617.
Lindsay – no I haven’t tried calling them. I guess in one way how I look at things is if they give you multiple options for contacting, then they should all be sufficient. I mean at this point do I even want a free replacement of a knife that isn’t up to par? Probably not.
that stinks. I am so hesitant to buy knifes for that reason. we have some hand me down ones from a restaurant, they have held up well, hoping they won’t giv eout one day
I had the same thing happen with mine and I was thinking about it, you might contact cooking.com, the run the food network store online. Good luck!
This may not be for everyone, but I buy knives at Sam’s Club. I get their Bakers & Chefs brand Santoku and chef’s knives that are in their food service section. They are great knives and VERY inexpensive.
I learned about them when I worked for a caterer; they always used that brand of knife. I like these much better than my knives that are from “a reputable company that everyone swears by”.
Yikes! I’m just glad you are okay.
Wow! I won’t be buying any those knives any time soon!
Whoa! That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. I know very little about knives (I literally own two crappy knives from Target) but I think the really nice ones like Wusthof are one piece of steel that extends all the way through the handle – eliminating the risk of this happening. This just reconfirms for me that I need to invest in a nice knife sometime soon!
These ones appear as though they’ve been made that way too however that seems to not be the only thing that matters and definitely all brands aren’t created equally! I’ve been eyeing a few different brands for a new knife and just can’t make a decision yet. No rush really.
Glad to know you weren’t hurt. I will beware.
Glad you were not hurt… but how annoying! From the comments, it seems to be a trend and if I were Rachel Ray, I’d certainly want to hear about it. Have you tried to contact her management company? Obviously I’m sure you have better things to do than track down a contact but principle is principle and with a limited warranty, I’d want my money back. Annoyed? I’d be pissed! I have a set of Henckel knives that I bought in Germany 15 years ago that are still my favorites.
Thanks for sharing!
I can’t believe you got no response from anyone! What a terrible way to run a brand.
Glad you did not cut yourself! Make sure your next knife has a full tang – meaning the blade extends all the way through the handle. It should make such claim on the packaging. With knives, it’s worth it to pay a little extra for something that will last and keep you safe. I have Global knives and I love them! Worth the investment. The blade and handle are seamlessly welded together so there’s no danger of separation.
Thanks for stopping by to comment. These knives do have a full tang but the construction and quality in general clearly isn’t as great as other brands out there. At the time of purchase I was more concerned with how the knife felt in my hand, as I was taught to do, than to be concerned with top brands, etc etc. Price was also a factor at the time as it often is for most people. Live and learn.
I’m glad you are okay. You really could have been injured by this. So frustrating that you got no response! But honestly…I’m glad you wrote this post. Because I will be sure not to buy this brand…not just because of the shoddy quality….but because of their lack of customer service. A great informative post and many thanks for sharing it!
I am relieved to hear you weren’t hurt in this incident. This is just unacceptable and I am glad you shared this info. I am always nervous buying knives. But I have to say I have a cheap knife my brother bought me that I love and use daily, for 24 years now. It has a plastic handle and was dirt cheap and I love it to bits. I also have a semi-inexpensive set I bought at Costco. I love those too. I won’t buy these for the same reason as Anne above me. If they refuse to care about their customers, I refuse to buy their products.
GOOD FOR YOU for posting this! I hope the company gets in touch with you now!
Oh no! Judging by your other responses this is not the first time this has happened, I will remember that the next time I am knife shopping. I’ve been thinking about buying a wire cheese slicer, I’ve heard they work well….
I’ve had more kitchen utensils and gadgets break in the last year than in my entire life. The new whisks I got for my birthday last year fell apart within 6 months, the bowls split at the bottom – and I don’t even microwave or put them in the dishwasher, the glass bowl that came with my kitchenaid this christmas lost a chunk from the rim (if I had dropped it – I wouldn’t be bothering to mention it). It’s sad but as tired as this expression is – they just don’t make things like they used to. And the customer service sucks. Kitchenaid did replace the bowl but made sure I understood it was a one time courtesy. My father has had his for over 20 years and nothing has ever been wrong… 6 months. poof.
lol, way to get my BP up ;)
Seriously it’s sad to say but I agree – things are definitely not made they way they use to be. Quality is hard to find and when you do find it, it often costs and arm and a leg which is hard to justify in this economy. I guess that’s why I find myself waiting to splurge on fancier items and on those little items not minding so much if I buy a cheapo. Some cheapo items are totally okay but it depends on what it is. I actually had a similar experience with a KA item – my coated beater blade started chipping. They replaced it telling me the same as you – one time courtesy. I just wish they (generally speaking) would make products that truly lasted. It wouldn’t stop us from buying products so they wouldn’t go out of business… in fact it’d get people to rave about them and more people would buy their stuff!
I’m really shocked that NONE of the companies/people that you attempted to contact got back to you, especially when you tried on Twitter. It has become such a public forum with information spreading so rapidly, I can’t imagine a company wouldn’t want to jump in and stop that somehow.
I’ve gotten to a point where I just buy cheap-ish knives and such because the “good” ones that I’ve gotten in the past haven’t lasted very long either! I’d rather just buy the cheap ones and keep replacing them, I suppose. You are right. Quality is much too difficult to find and much too expensive these days.
Wow – so glad you’re okay! And thank you for the information!
Yikes, this is why I always buy full tang.. Not like that helps though because my Chicago Cutlery snapped while I was cutting tomatoes. They don’t make things like they used to make it.
These are supposedly full tang. I could at this point slice through the orange handle to verify for sure but info I have read says they are. It’s not like the blade just snapped away from the handle, I can see metal still inside of the handle. Ah well…
That’s exactly what happened to mine.. Company never even gave me an explanation. Thank goodness you weren’t hurt!
I had an old Ginsu knife from back in the 80’s. Remember those? Loved that thing. Used it like crazy. Then, one day part of the handle broke. Of course, the knife was about 25+ years old. I did drop a note to the Ginsu company asking about whether it was covered by their lifetime warranty. They sent me a brand spanking new one. That’s how a company should handle that kind of thing.
So sorry to hear that about your knife. It’s never happened to me … yet, though. I think it can happen to any type of knife t hat the handle is a seperate piece. I’ve invested in the set of the Furi Pro line. It is all one piece. I’ve been loving them for the last 8 years.
I signed up to sell some Cutco knives almost 10 years ago and got the demo set, they still work quite nice, one thing I learned is to never buy a knife who’s metal doesn’t go down the handle. I do intend to buy more Cutco knives but they are damn expensive.
My wife bought a 6″ Gusto-grip chef’s knife several years ago. The soft orange handle coating has turned to goo and sluffed off. While there is a hard plastic handle under the goo, it is too small to hold comfortably. I would stay far away from these knives
I have one of these that has been my go-to veg knife of YEARS, and i bought it used at a garage sale about 10 years ago. PERFECT blade size and radius, great granlon edge, but I’ve always hated the handle. too small and skinny.
I should point out that i own Wusthof, French Sabatiers, F.Dick, MAC , and other quality knives, and i just liked the way this thing chopped an onion.
BUT….
Mine went in stages’
1) Handle discolors. Turns the cutesie bright orange Rachel color into sort of a dumpster-juice greenish brown. Looked horrible in my block.
2) Handle softens
3) Handle tears, revealing a hard plastic handle WITH A LOGO ON IT. It’s like they were expecting you to find this when that crappy coating turns to goo.
Now they appear to only offer metal handled knives on their site I hate those.
No response from customer service, BTW
I had the same thing happen. I was very lucky, I was drying the knife and as always never have my hand near the sharp side of the blade and it broke right in the dish cloth.
Thank you for posting. Mine did the same thing,the blade shaped close to the handle. Like you I was shocked, I did not get hurt but sure could have. I was cutting potatoes at the time nothing that should of snapped the blade.
I honestly loved this knife. I did have it for several years prior to the snap. Like you no responses from the company and I did or thought I reordered the same knife on amazon ( like I said I did love the knife) it was a Rachael Ray knife but it seems her name is on a new knife. This one is terrible, the handle does not have the rubber type grip and honesty it feels cheap.
Now I am searching for a good, reliable,not terribly expensive knife.
Brenda in Iowa
I highly recommend Wusthof or Henckels, if you’re still searching for a new knife.
Thank you for sharing this. I also tried emailing them because my handle has a gross dark spot under it but no response. Glad you didn’t get hurt.
Just had one do the exact same thing. Was even cutting cheese too. Saw your post as I was looking in vain for warranty information on.
Same thing happened to my wife. And ironically it was also on cheese. These are called the cheese breakers I guess.
Same knife but the plastic (?) part of the handle broke inside of the “jelly” outer covering. I too cannot contact Füri. After reading your post I replaced it with a Wüsthof parer. The handle is riveted, so it should last.
I know I’m 9 years late to the party but we had 2 sets of those exact orange Rachel Ray knives. It was a gift, and we didn’t need extra knives at the time. So we put the boxes in a closet and forgot about them. We only started using the first set 2 years ago and the larger clever snapped in the same way. We opened the second set in December and the small paring knife that matches yours in the photo snapped as well. I’m not expecting anything from the manufacturer, Food Network et al, but you’re spot on- it’s pretty lousy when a celebrity endorses a sub-par product.
Thank you for your article! The exact same thing happened to my RR knife. I’ve been hunting for a contact for the warranty to replace the knife. Alas, like you and many others, no luck. It is nice to know I’m not alone.
My Furi Gusto Grip broke tonight, same exact place!
When I researched, I came across your post. Mine lasted10 years. 😞 I loved this knife 💔
I was just about to contact Furi when I spotted your post. My knife did not break but the plastic handle is basically decomposing. It is very sticky as if the plastic is breaking down. I guess I just live with it until it breaks. Thank you for your sincere comment.
I got a Furi knife several years ago. I love it, until I put it in the dishwasher as I had heard is okay on the RachelRay cookshow. Then the handle fell apart . The blade is still good and I continue to use it everyday, although the handle is missed up.