Poor experiences with Korin?

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Taz575 said:
In regards to JCK's shipping, from what I remember the last knife I got from them several years ago, the package was marked as samples or something and I don't think it had a declared value on it?? Maybe as a "sample" and not with a declared value, the price goes down, ie no tariffs, fees, taxes, duties, etc? They use Japanese EMS shipping IIRC (unless something has changed, going by memory here). Kinda risky since if the package is lost/damaged, they may not have any insurance or claim available on it and they eat the cost of that package.

Haven't ordered anything from Korin :(
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Hmm... thats a little sketchy, but I guess if it works for them?

It's rough because JCK doesn't have nearly the same costs as Korin. If Korin was just an online store based in Japan it would be an entirely different story, but then Korin would be boring... Customer won't be able to try knives out in person, they won't know what they're buying, and we would never meet the amazing people we get to meet in the showroom. ::sigh::

BUT! I brought up having things shipped directly from Japan. Management is thinking about how to do this, since there is Korin Japan is a one man company. It might take a little time, but bare with me. :)
 
I've purchased knives and accessories from both the storefront and via the website. I've never had any issues whatsoever. In fact, I've received calls to clarify orders on a couple of occasions, so I have no complaints at all. Quite the contrary, I've always been very happy with the service I've received, although I too have been disappointed not to have been able to see Mr Sugai sharpen when I've visited when in NYC. Luck of the draw, I suppose.
 
Korin_Mari said:
Hmm... thats a little sketchy, but I guess if it works for them?

It's rough because JCK doesn't have nearly the same costs as Korin. If Korin was just an online store based in Japan it would be an entirely different story, but then Korin would be boring... Customer won't be able to try knives out in person, they won't know what they're buying, and we would never meet the amazing people we get to meet in the showroom. ::sigh::

BUT! I brought up having things shipped directly from Japan. Management is thinking about how to do this, since there is Korin Japan is a one man company. It might take a little time, but bare with me. :)
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By the way, for what it's worth, I believe JCK and Korin are at the same price point product wise. Shipping, I realize not at all. I just wanted to make this clear for those who might have thought Korin jacks up the prices, because we have a store front or something along that line. Trust me, we try really hard to stay competitive, and for those times we miss something, we price match.
 
Korin_Mari said:
I brought up having things shipped directly from Japan. Management is thinking about how to do this, since there is Korin Japan is a one man company. It might take a little time, but bare with me. :)
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If this is happening, it would be great. Shipping from Japan to Australia is way more economical than US. Am looking forward to the good news.
 
Any time I've done price comparisons between Korin and JCK they were usually within like $5, so well done there. Just to chime in on JCK's shipping costs: I seem to remember my $360 Mizuno got here (USA) in 2-3 days via EMS shipping with a declared value of $30 and a shipping charge of about 2800 yen. Looks like cutting corners to reduce tariffs with the declared value, and he's just swallowing the higher shipping cost as a selling point.

I don't expect you guys to be able to compete with that directly with your storefront costs, and just by you doing this thread looking for suggestions it makes me want to go browse through your online store, which admittedly I haven't done in a while. If you're looking for a suggestion, it would be very cool if you expanded your inventory. I really like how JCK has the Specials that come up with new things in limited quantities, or how Jon and JapaneseKnifeImports seems to add a new product line every month or two. I have little incentive to pull up your webstore and browse around if nothing new ever pops up.

If your overall custom service approach is the same as you display on this forum, I don't see very many more complaints heading your way. :D
 
JasonD said:
Any time I've done price comparisons between Korin and JCK they were usually within like $5, so well done there. Just to chime in on JCK's shipping costs: I seem to remember my $360 Mizuno got here (USA) in 2-3 days via EMS shipping with a declared value of $30 and a shipping charge of about 2800 yen. Looks like cutting corners to reduce tariffs with the declared value, and he's just swallowing the higher shipping cost as a selling point.

I don't expect you guys to be able to compete with that directly with your storefront costs, and just by you doing this thread looking for suggestions it makes me want to go browse through your online store, which admittedly I haven't done in a while. If you're looking for a suggestion, it would be very cool if you expanded your inventory. I really like how JCK has the Specials that come up with new things in limited quantities, or how Jon and JapaneseKnifeImports seems to add a new product line every month or two. I have little incentive to pull up your webstore and browse around if nothing new ever pops up.

If your overall custom service approach is the same as you display on this forum, I don't see very many more complaints heading your way. :D
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Thank you so much for your great suggestions and input. Releasing something new every so often is a super awesome idea that we can probably do. :D
I will bring this up to management and see if we can do something similar.

By the way, your comment is really encouraging and was the best way to end my work day. I really appreciate it, thank you. :)
 
This is not limited to you folks, but it did happen a couple of years ago on an item from Korin and is one of my pet peeves.......offering next day delivery service but not actually sending the item out for two days. I'm not talking about out of stock items, but something that is in stock. I understand you can't order something at the end of the day and expect it tomorrow, but I would suggest what a lot of online retailers do, and clearly identify an hour of the day by which if you place an order that day, overnight is actually overnight. OR...state clearly that despite offering next day delivery service, that doesn't mean the stockist will actually package it today.
 
Namaxy said:
This is not limited to you folks, but it did happen a couple of years ago on an item from Korin and is one of my pet peeves.......offering next day delivery service but not actually sending the item out for two days. I'm not talking about out of stock items, but something that is in stock. I understand you can't order something at the end of the day and expect it tomorrow, but I would suggest what a lot of online retailers do, and clearly identify an hour of the day by which if you place an order that day, overnight is actually overnight. OR...state clearly that despite offering next day delivery service, that doesn't mean the stockist will actually package it today.
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Thats a really good point. Thats for bringing that up. I will have the web team put a notification. Thank you for your suggestion, I never would have thought about it. :)
 
I've made three knife purchases from Korin. The only gripe I had was a couple of years ago, the staff members I talked to were not able or willing to verify whether the Ittosai Kotetsu line of double beveled knives in what is probably VG-10 is hardened to 63 hrc (which I thought would be really cool, at the time), as it was stated on the website (and still is). I suspected it was a mistake since it looks just like a number of other knives that all have 63 layers and most likely are hardened to 60-61 hrc.
 
I've spoken with Korin staff 2 times in the past. Both times they were extremely helpful. I love that there are cooking/kitchen related stuff as well as the usual knives to purchase. The staff were polite, and quick to answer my queries.

Ultimately I couldn't buy because the shipping made it prohibitive. Yes I could probably afford to buy it... but why would I pay half an item's value in shipping?

Also, i have purchased from JCK 3-4 times in the past. $7 worldwide shipping is amazing. Heck, i would buy bowls one at a time from Korin when I felt like it if Korin could match it. :D

Plus a konro. Plus Binchotan...

I'm glad you're considering how to implement a from Japan shipping method though.
 
We are trying to implement something and discussing with our POS system provider as I type. This is very exciting... :)
 
Can I make a suggestion? I think it would be exciting for Korin to have specials from time to time like JCK does. JCK's specials are usually very interesting with respect to steel, handles, profiles and geometry. It's nice to see variety not to mention, you guys may find the next "It" knife.
 
James said:
Can I make a suggestion? I think it would be exciting for Korin to have specials from time to time like JCK does. JCK's specials are usually very interesting with respect to steel, handles, profiles and geometry. It's nice to see variety not to mention, you guys may find the next "It" knife.
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Awesome suggestion! Thank you! I will bring this idea up to management and push for it. :D
 
I have one supplier I get stuff from (fishing rod business) and use their online ordering system. If I add an item to the cart and then remove it, it will often find it's way back into the cart at the checkout phase, even if I saved the shopping cart after I removed the item. Other times, I select an item and it adds a completely different item to the cart. Drives me nuts!!!!

I second or third the idea of having special items, different steels, handles, etc!!
 
u gotta point there. i do love koki cheap shipping price. it's always $7

Candlejack said:
Well.. if you're waiting for something i'll make some story up to get you to become better at something.


No but seriously, i haven't had any experience with Korin, as i haven't found you to be as competitive as other stores when it comes to international buyers.
Perhaps you should try to expand in this market?

Like shipping from Japan as mentioned earlier, i'm used to pay like 7 bucks for shipping from Koki, so paying like 40-50+bucks from Korin isn't really that competitive, especially when the product itself is often a few dollars more expensive. (but that's what's needed when you have physical stores)
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Hello hello,
Sorry I've been missing for sometime and not contributing to this community as much as I would like to.

I recently noticed a comment about our sales people being rude or condescending, so I wanted to apologize for any ill feelings, disappointments, and frustrations. I hope this person was referring to an experience he had several year ago and not recently. Not that it makes it acceptable, but we our staff has changed since.

If for any reason any of you ever feel like you were not taken care of by our staff, please let me know via PM or email. I may not be the most active or most knowledgeable participant (I have so much to learn) in this community, but I will always do my best to take care of you.

As always thank you for reading,
Mari
 
I've purchase from you twice. Once in store and once on line. Perfect twice. I am going to buy a 210 deba IH next.
 
I am a happy online customer from a few years ago. I bought a Masamoto VG-10 210 gyuto after a cooks illustrated article. My first introduction to the world of Japanese knives...
 
Castalia said:
I am a happy online customer from a few years ago. I bought a Masamoto VG-10 210 gyuto after a cooks illustrated article. My first introduction to the world of Japanese knives...
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Great! I hope it's serving you well. Thank you for the reassurance. :)

I know our website glitches out sometimes, but our web team REALLY tries to stay on top of it and try to solve problems immediately.
 
ecchef said:
I'll be back in NY early next month. Looking forward to visiting Korin and saying "Hi" to some old friends!
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Just curious, Dave - back as in 'visit' or as in 'relocating'?

Stefan
 
I've been to your showroom a dozen or more times in the last year, and have nothing but positive experiences. I've purchased large quantities of tableware online from Korin. Once, they made a warehouse mistake on quantities due to the markings on the boxes. It took one (honestly one) phone call to customer service....they evaluated the issue, shipped the missing quantity and sent me an e-mail confirming the fix all the same day I called. I feel you deliver good customer service.
 
ecchef said:
I'll be back in NY early next month. Looking forward to visiting Korin and saying "Hi" to some old friends!
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YAY!! Please tell one of the showroom people to go get me. I'm usually in the office. I look forward to meeting you. :D
 
Namaxy said:
I've been to your showroom a dozen or more times in the last year, and have nothing but positive experiences. I've purchased large quantities of tableware online from Korin. Once, they made a warehouse mistake on quantities due to the markings on the boxes. It took one (honestly one) phone call to customer service....they evaluated the issue, shipped the missing quantity and sent me an e-mail confirming the fix all the same day I called. I feel you deliver good customer service.
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I'm so sorry for that inconvenience, but I'm glad it was sorted out quickly. :)

We're constantly trying to step up our services and make sure we do everything we can.
 
Nothing but good experiences with Korin. Very easy to order on-line. Very efficient at processing orders & delivery time is usually with-in two day's of entering order. Would like to see a more economical method of shipping. Would like to see a wider variety of funayuki's. Keep up the great work and yes...... I'll take one of everything! :lol2:
 
I've never had a bad experience when ordering from Korin. Everything's always been shipped out within 2 days and packaged securely. I haven't had a problem where I needed customer service so I can't comment on that side of things.

I would also like to see a more economic shipping method. There's been a few times where I've not placed an order because the shipping was so high.
 
I'll be in NY in June for my next in store purchase. IH 210 deba
 
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