Simpsons cracked handle

[iron maiden]

I have a Chubby 2 (Vulfix made) which has developed the infamous cracked handle near the knot. My wife got this for me last year as a Christmas gift, and I have treated it with kid gloves...yet, the handle still cracked.

I sent an email to Diamond Edge (where she got it from) and Vulfix to see what could be done to correct the problem. Here is what I got from Diamond Edge:

If you would care to return it to us, we can return it to the manufacturers for comment and see what happens from there.

We close for Christmas on Wednesday, and re-open on 4th January. You may wish to wait to return it until early in the New Year.

Please enclose a note which we may forward to the manufacturers with the brush.

With regards


Diamond Edge Ltd.

Not too bad I thought, but I was hoping for something more concrete. What really upset me is the email I got from Vulfix....

If you wish, we can re-set the head in a new handle at a cost of £19.95 + £7.95 postage?

If so, please return to the address below via US ‘Snail Mail’ and I’ll ensure the job gets done.

Best regards,


For the sake of not offending anybody, I have not posted the names of the folks who emailed me back.

Being as how this brush was well over $100 USD, I'd rather not have to pay around $40 to get it fixed since the cracked handle seems to be an ongoing PITA concern with Simpsons brushes. Plus, since the handle just cracked for no reason, who is to say that even if I paid money to get it fixed that it wouldn't crack again??


Would any of you have any information as to how I can get this taken care of without costing me any cash? Seems like Simpsons would have better customer service than this....

 

[Gary Young]

Can't comment on the present owners but in the family's days our customer service was classed as very good.

Simpsons never used to have 'infamous cracks'.

Can you tell me where exactly the brush has cracked?

Gary

 

[Bestarrkin]

Can't comment on the present owners but in the family's days our customer service was classed as very good.

Simpsons never used to have 'infamous cracks'.

Can you tell me where exactly the brush has cracked?

Gary

Gary, firstly welcome to the B&B. I have read all post of the "Simpsons Brushes" thread. But I obtained a butterscotch Simpsons brush and it has cracks where are located in the knot ring. I assume that catalin is caused those cracks.

 

[iron maiden]

Gary,

The brush handle is cracked right near the top, where the knot goes in. From what I've read here, this has been something of a problem in recent years.

Sadly, I thought myself immune from this. I have about a dozen Simpsons brushes, and have never had a bad one in the bunch....until now.

Anyway, I was reading your posts on the other thread....glad to have you here.

 

[TMH478]

I can't blame you for being steamed! Sounds like a "recall" notice needs to come into play if this is a common issue with these brushes. Wow! I would have thought they would have taken care of it for you.

 

[iron maiden]

I thought so too.

Simpsons always had a good reputation for customer service, so I'll admit my expectations were pretty high. I still say they could do better.

Still hoping somebody here knows somebody over there.

 

[mblakele]

Sorry to hear about that, Dave. You could try to PM the Simpson (Vulfix) account here at B&B: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/member.php?u=30105 - although you might have to wait until after the holidays for a response.

Here's what Joel had to say about a similar issue with a PJ2, a couple of years ago (before I joined B&B): http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=73813&postcount=63 - the rest of that thread is interesting reading, too. I think Joel's point is good, but I hope Simpson does step up and make you whole.

 

[Gary Young]

Gary,

The brush handle is cracked right near the top, where the knot goes in. From what I've read here, this has been something of a problem in recent years.

Sadly, I thought myself immune from this. I have about a dozen Simpsons brushes, and have never had a bad one in the bunch....until now.

Anyway, I was reading your posts on the other thread....glad to have you here.

I can only go on personal experience turning handles when we owned Simpsons.... It can be due to too much pressure being used with the tool when forming the handle (or the tool being worn - making the turner apply extra pressure). I don't know the method used nowadays to produce the handles so can't comment 100% correctly on the reason. Maybe a batch of materials which have inherent faults?

 

[iron maiden]

Does anybody out there know who to contact at Simpsons???

 

[Altair]

It seems like the plastic or what ever the material is was not made correctly.

I had a brush crack like that. Its the Royal Shaves house brand brush. It still works but the material cracked after 6 months.

Good Luck!

 

[Greybeard]

Does anybody out there know who to contact at Simpsons???

[email protected]

 

[iron maiden]

That's who responded to me....

 

[iron maiden]

Giving this thread a bump....

 

[Tha Baron]

In my mind... it sucks your brush cracked and is likely to get worse. However, I tend to think that given the age of the brush (over a year) I would not expect the manufacturer to fix it for free.

At some point they have to draw the line on when they are liable to fix/replace something like this. Why should a manufacturer of shaving brushes be held to any different standards than say an electronics or consumer goods manufacturer.

From their perspective, there are too many variables involved that could influence how their brush is handled, stored, used, etc. Seems odd that the handle would crack after a year of use from a manufacturer defect. IMO this is likely something the user has unintentionally caused.

I would take the £28 on the chin to get the handle replaced and buy my next Simpson from a Vendor that is more sympathetic to these sorts of issues.

YMMV.

 

[rajagra]

They don't have any warrany details on their website. That's disappointing.

It seems odd that they are offering to fit the head (is that just the knot?) to a new handle. Overall it is an inefficient way to resolve the problem. It would be good if they just sent you a new brush and asked you to mark the old brush as defective (cut a chunk out of the handle or burn a mark on it.) You could then send them a photo - alongside a written reference number - and they could be sure the same brush would not be used for another freebie.

In fact, even if they charged £20 plus one-way postage, that would be a bargain for keeping a broken spare, and wouldn't work out too expensive for Vulfix either.

 

[chrisgee47]

I have a Simpson Colonel in Best which I bought about 2 years ago, and that developed a small vertical crack from where the knot is fixed. I squirted in a dollop of Super Glue to stop it getting any worse and it seems to have worked. Disappointing though to have it in the first place.

 

[iron maiden]

Vulfix agreed to a discount which I was comfortable with, so I sent them my brush to be replaced.

This was back in Jan 6, 2011...and it still has not arrived on the Isle of Man according to my last email.

How long does it take to get a package to England?

 

[Tha Baron]

Vulfix agreed to a discount which I was comfortable with, so I sent them my brush to be replaced.

This was back in Jan 6, 2011...and it still has not arrived on the Isle of Man according to my last email.

How long does it take to get a package to England?

Sheesh... Thats quite a journey for it not to be there yet. Hope it works our for you.

 

[nav]

Maybe you should get a New Forest "Tubby" instead.

Sorry, couldn't resist as there is another thread going on bashing New Forest brushes for naming a brush "tubby", which is similar to chubby.

But on topic: did you email the crack pics to them and explain that yours is not an isolated case?

 

[iron maiden]

Nav,
No, I didn't email them any pics. Vulfix dropped their price on a repair so I was satisfied with sending it in. I was just wondering if the brush should be there by now or not.