Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Grr.

Last night I was on one of the last rows of my Hap blanket when this happened:


Why yes, that does happen to be the cable of an interchangeable needle that has lost its join. Why yes, that DID happen towards the end of a project. Why yes, I did lose about 20 rows of work when this happened.

Let us just say that I will not be buying knitting equipment from this particular company any longer. This was just the final straw. I don't want to name this company, as I'm not feeling vindictive, just pissed, although I'm sure most of y'all can figure it out.

Problems with equipment:

  1. Bruce got me a swift from this company for Christmas. It arrived with the threads on the wooden screws stripped. I sent it back. They sent another one back to me. It worked once, and then the threads on the wooden screws stripped. I didn't bother to send it back again. Bruce fixed the problem with a binder clip.
  2. I ordered two sets of interchangeable needles from them in the last two years. The finish comes off the metal after one project which makes the... not smooth. I called the company for replacement needles, which they gladly sent to me. I was happy. I wasall "yay, great customer service!"
  3. Of the two sizes of replacement needles, one needle of each size didn't screw fully onto one of the cables. I tried all of my cables. It would not attach fully to either needle. I threw those out. Didn't bother to call for another replacement, because at this point I was just pissed.
  4. The cable detaches from the join (see above) on a project that was not straining the damn thing at all.
I am exceedingly annoyed.

I will continue to buy yarn from this company because it is of good quality and great prices, but equipment? No.

7 comments:

  1. grrr
    very annoying indeed - this has happened to me too with this particular needle and that way
    All I can say is the german very fast ones are still my favorite - not the interchangeables though - I haven't tried them

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  2. The german very fast ones are also my favorite. Unfortunately they haven't been in my budget... sigh.

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  3. Susan Bates "velositY" brand (which only come from US size 6 upwards) are good--buy them in stores like Michaels/AC Moore/Jo Annes--(with coupons) Made in Mexico as i recall. I am very happy with them (cheaper than the german brand, nearly the same quality)

    i have interchangeables.. they have there uses..
    but just as often i sub two shorter needles for 1 super long.

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  4. I've heard of lots of people who have this problem with this particular brand of needles (well, at least I'm guessing it's the brand I'm thinking of: I recognize the purple cable), but I have to say I love my wooden ones from the same company. I've had them for a year, and none have broken (except for the 2 mm needle I sat on...) and no cables have come loose either. Maybe I'm just lucky?

    I do love their yarns though, it SUCKS that they don't deliver to Europe! Thank God for nice friends in the States who are willing to order to their house and then ship it to me :)

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  5. I had the same set as you, and said screw it after the same thing happened to me one too many times. I went ahead and bought the addi set, and I'm really really happy with my purchase. The investment is great, but the join is solid.

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  6. I guess that helps me narrow down which brands to look at when I decide I want a set. Sad.

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