Pearl Flexi Dissapointment

[gpjoe]

So, I caved in on Black Friday and decided to "treat" myself to a new (non-vintage) razor. You know, modern marvel.

Mistake.

I bought a Pearl Flexi (V6, according to the seller - The Razor Company). Of course I read a few threads here first, and went out on the net and read some more. Everything I read said that the latest version was fine, no alinement (military spelling) issues.

Wrong.

My first shave was OK. Started on "1" and completed my first pass (I'm a 3-pass shaver), no problem. Dialed the razor up "1.5" and completed pass #2, still fine. Went back to "1" for my final pass (ATG and touchup) and drew blood on my upper lip, under my nose. No big deal, likely operator error and unfamiliarity with a new razor.

I licked my wounds (really superficial, no chunks of skin missing) and took this picture for my SOTD photo.

When I looked at the pic, I thought the blade gap looked uneven in the picture (wider on the right). Curious, I grabbed a flat toothpick and adjusted the razor until I felt the slightest resistance between the blade and the safety bar on one side of the razor. As I slid the toothpick left-right, the resistance (gap) didn't seem to change. Great! It seems the gap was consistent along the entire edge - on that side.

I removed my wooden "feeler gage" and tried to insert it under the blade and the other safety bar and there was no way it was going to fit. The gap was much smaller.

So, it appears that my Flexi has a very inconsistent gap between the two sides of the razor. The gaps are even along the safety bar on both sides, just different from one side to the other - at all settings.

The best part [sarcasm] is the I am hearing crickets from the seller...

THE RAZOR COMPANY IN ORCHARD LAKE MICHIGAN

...after repeated customer service inquiries regarding guidance on achieving resolution. When I call (3x, during posted business hours) the phone rings for a bit then disconnects.

I am disappointed on two levels:

One: After reading that the bugs have been worked out of this razor after the initial run it appears there are still issues with it. It's a beautiful razor, very well made but not really usable if you cannot reliably set a consistent blade gap.

Two: I really like to support business in my state, but can no longer support The Razor Company if they don't care enough to even answer the phone or respond to my emails.

I guess I'll use Maggard for my Michigan connection, and Pastuer for out of state, both of which have provided stellar customer service for me in the past, but I will never, ever spend another penny at The Razor Company.

I'm just putting this out there as a caution. It seems that there are still issues with this razor, and I cannot seem to get a resolution from the seller. I will try to contact Pearl directly, otherwise I have a nice looking paperweight. After trying for over a week, and getting no response, it appears that The Razor Company has no intention of helping resolve my concerns. Be cautious if you buy a Flexi, and buy from a reliable seller.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

So, I caved in on Black Friday and decided to "treat" myself to a new (non-vintage) razor. You know, modern marvel.

Mistake.

I bought a Pearl Flexi (V6, according to the seller - The Razor Company). Of course I read a few threads here first, and went out on the net and read some more. Everything I read said that the latest version was fine, no alinement (military spelling) issues.

Wrong.

My first shave was OK. Started on "1" and completed my first pass (I'm a 3-pass shaver), no problem. Dialed the razor up "1.5" and completed pass #2, still fine. Went back to "1" for my final pass (ATG and touchup) and drew blood on my upper lip, under my nose. No big deal, likely operator error and unfamiliarity with a new razor.

I licked my wounds (really superficial, no chunks of skin missing) and took this picture for my SOTD photo.

View attachment 1571443

When I looked at the pic, I thought the blade gap looked uneven in the picture (wider on the right). Curious, I grabbed a flat toothpick and adjusted the razor until I felt the slightest resistance between the blade and the safety bar on one side of the razor. As I slid the toothpick left-right, the resistance (gap) didn't seem to change. Great! It seems the gap was consistent along the entire edge - on that side.

I removed my wooden "feeler gage" and tried to insert it under the blade and the other safety bar and there was no way it was going to fit. The gap was much smaller.

So, it appears that my Flexi has a very inconsistent gap between the two sides of the razor. The gaps are even along the safety bar on both sides, just different from one side to the other - at all settings.

The best part [sarcasm] is the I am hearing crickets from the seller...

THE RAZOR COMPANY IN ORCHARD LAKE MICHIGAN

...after repeated customer service inquiries regarding guidance on achieving resolution. When I call (3x, during posted business hours) the phone rings for a bit then disconnects.

I am disappointed on two levels:

One: After reading that the bugs have been worked out of this razor after the initial run it appears there are still issues with it. It's a beautiful razor, very well made but not really usable if you cannot reliably set a consistent blade gap.

Two: I really like to support business in my state, but can no longer support The Razor Company if they don't care enough to even answer the phone or respond to my emails.

I guess I'll use Maggard for my Michigan connection, and Pastuer for out of state, both of which have provided stellar customer service for me in the past, but I will never, ever spend another penny at The Razor Company.

I'm just putting this out there as a caution. It seems that there are still issues with this razor, and I cannot seem to get a resolution from the seller. I will try to contact Pearl directly, otherwise I have a nice looking paperweight. After trying for over a week, and getting no response, it appears that The Razor Company has no intention of helping resolve my concerns. Be cautious if you buy a Flexi, and buy from a reliable seller.

Pretty important issue. That’s unfortunate. Being overseas I’ve only dealt with TRC customer support by email, and they did respond and deal with my issue very well. Maybe try that way - at least there’s a record then and something the TRC team have to get to, rather than just a missed call that isn’t in their workflow. I hope you get this resolved quickly and you have a razor in your hands that works correctly.

 

[Big_T]

Very sorry to hear this. Hopefully, you will get some satisfaction from Pearl directly. I am a bit surprised at the lack of response from TRC, although they will probably only tell you to contact Pearl directly. In case you don't know, TRC is a new supporting vendor here on B&B. Maybe your post will get their attention.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Sorry to hear about your experiences. Is there an outlier chance that the cap has to be oriented in a specific way like on the Progress?

 

[ivan_101]

The slanted blade thing has been a serious problem in the first 2-3 versions of the Flexi. Then they claimed everything has been rectified. A couple of months ago I bought a v8. Guess what. You load the blade and the gaps aren't equal (especially well seen on the higher settings). We are not talking slanted. Gap on one side is wider than on the other. You unscrew and load the cap the other way, and everything is fine. Don't ask... I am glad it at least loads even one way.

 

[gpjoe]

The slanted blade thing has been a serious problem in the first 2-3 versions of the Flexi. Then they claimed everything has been rectified. A couple of months ago I bought a v8. Guess what. You load the blade and the gaps aren't equal (especially well seen on the higher settings). We are not talking slanted. Gap on one side is wider than on the other. You unscrew and load the cap the other way, and everything is fine. Don't ask... I am glad it at least loads even one way.

This is precisely the issue I am having. I tried rotating the cap 180 and that had no effect. I could live with that.

 

[gpjoe]

Very sorry to hear this. Hopefully, you will get some satisfaction from Pearl directly. I am a bit surprised at the lack of response from TRC, although they will probably only tell you to contact Pearl directly. In case you don't know, TRC is a new supporting vendor here on B&B. Maybe your post will get their attention.

Yeah, I don't mind them telling me to contact Pearl directly, but they haven't responded to repeated emails, and their phone doesn't seem to work. It rings a few times then disconnects.

Just disappointed with no contact whatsoever. Every time I've contacted Pasteur or Maggard I get a response within 24 hours, usually sooner.

 

[kingfisher]

Some razors have been designed specifically to be more agressive on one side than the other..... guess you don't really need that particular feature in an adjustable razor, though, lol.

 

[Rob72]

If I had to guess, and I may be doing TRC a gross disservice, they may have old stock mixed with new. Unless you rotate, who could know? You get down to a couple of razors on hand, you order a new case. They arrive and the invoice says, "V-6". What do you have for sale? V-6...and a couple you don't think about, because, IIRC, the razors aren't marked(unless they started after V2).

And, Pearl may still have some issues. I was/am very happy with mine, but I know others have had issues. Pearl is very good about covering their customers whether direct purchasers, or from dealers,

 

[gpjoe]

If I had to guess, and I may be doing TRC a gross disservice, they may have old stock mixed with new. Unless you rotate, who could know? You get down to a couple of razors on hand, you order a new case. They arrive and the invoice says, "V-6". What do you have for sale? V-6...and a couple you don't think about, because, IIRC, the razors aren't marked(unless they started after V2).

And, Pearl may still have some issues. I was/am very happy with mine, but I know others have had issues. Pearl is very good about covering their customers whether direct purchasers, or from dealers,

I did find another thread in which someone posted a screenshot of a correspondence with Pearl that explained the serial numbers of the early run. Mine is well past that group.

 

[Phoenixkh]

When I bought my Pearl Flexi, I was in contact with them directly because I couldn't get my credit cards to work on their site. @LRod bought his from Murphy and McNeil (Murphy and McNeil | Traditional Shaving Marketplace - https://murphyandmcneil.com/

The guy from Pearl told me: Murphy and McNeil always have the latest version.. mine was a V10: they are selling V11s now.

I've had very good luck with The Razor Company. I've placed several orders with them with no issues. I've talked to Jason on the phone many times. I'm a bit surprised you are having issues with their customer service. Since The Razor Company is now a vender here, I'd try PMing them... see if that works.

 

[Shaun asleep]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem. I had a last version Flexi and had the same (or similar - blade gap was skewed on each side as well) issue. I eventually managed to fix it by turning the head just a little bit with ALOT of (manual) force. The thread is glued tight for some reason.
In my case it was basically because of how the spring was inserted. Someone on the forum pointed out how exactly these Gibbs-like system work, I think it was @Scaramouche who explained how exactly the position of the spring could affect the way the head moves up and down) Once I managed to turn the head about a quarter turn, I'm guessing the spring was eventually in the right position.

Do this at your own risk obviously.
But for me it eventually proved to be the solution. I did end up selling it, but only did so because I had aqcuired an Ambassador (which in turn has also already been sold).

PS, pearl customer service never bothered to reply to my e-mails.

Ps2, the seller did allow me to return it, but I chose not to because of the fix.

 

[gpjoe]

So, I'm not sure if this thread had any bearing or not, but I just got an email from Jason at the Razor Company. He is sending me a pre-paid label to return and exchange the razor.

I like to be fair, so after repeated, unanswered phone calls and several emails, I explained to them that 60 bucks is not life-changing money but assured them I would get my money's worth of publicity here at B&B, and only after explaining that to them, did I post this thread.

I finally got a response, I'm sorry I had to resort to that but...

Kudos to The Razor Company for making this right! Thank you Jason.



Really, that is all I wanted/expected.

Still, I would be very leery of buying a Flexi from any vendor. It seems to me that they are still having issues, even with current production runs.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Unfortunately, a percentage of defects occur in all manufactured products. Let's hope your exchange works out better. An exchange is the best way to resolve the issue.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I'm glad Jason took care of you.

 

[gpjoe]

Unfortunately, a percentage of defects occur in all manufactured products. Let's hope your exchange works out better. An exchange is the best way to resolve the issue.

Absolutely, defects happen in manufacturing.

I worked in Quality Control for a defense contractor, and to me this seems more than a random defective razor. The blade misalignment seems to be an ongoing trend based on many reports, and that leads me to view it as manufacturing procces problem or poor design rather than random.

Based on that, I would never recommend it to anyone unless they want to roll the dice on getting a "good" razor.

 

[hugosf]

The best part [sarcasm] is the I am hearing crickets from the seller...

I had a similar experience with this seller too

 

[gpjoe]

I had a similar experience with this seller too

I "loved" this post only because it feels affirming, not because you experienced trouble.

 

[LRod]

I had the V10 from Murphy and McNeil as @Phoenixkh already mentioned. Zero issues!
That was the latest version when I bought it. I had read that everything above V2 had been fixed but I guess not. (From here on, I won't recommend the Pearl to anyone!) It's a shame because it really is a well built tool. And about TRC, I've never had any issues with them on other purchases. Glad you got it resolved!

 

[NorthernSoul]

Absolutely, defects happen in manufacturing.

I worked in Quality Control for a defense contractor, and to me this seems more than a random defective razor. The blade misalignment seems to be an ongoing trend based on many reports, and that leads me to view it as manufacturing procces problem or poor design rather than random.

Based on that, I would never recommend it to anyone unless they want to roll the dice on getting a "good" razor.

I guess this uneven gap problem didn't really become evident until after adjusting the razor a few times? Or is always uneven?