Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We agreed to a presentation because it was from the son of our very close friend with whom we have an excellent relationship and really trust, so agreed to it. We were explicitly told that we won't have to buy and the demo is just to help the presenter with his college stuff since he would get paid for the presentation. I am fairly handy myself and do a lot of stuff around the house and our vehicles so was curious to find out. The presentation started ok but soon turned to one of those TV infomercials (remember RONCO) as we were tried to be WOWED with the demo of the cutco knife cutting through rope and leather and the scissor cutting a penny. I assumed that the knives would be expensive so when I asked as to why someone would use a Top$ knife to be put to such abuse, the guy had no answer except if you have to do it in an emergency. I immediately picked up a serrated knife from my block and it cut through rope to which we were told that the cut was not as smooth as the Cutco knife. I have a bunch of tools (Blade Knives, machete, sheet-metal snips etc) which are more than capable of doing that stuff over and over again with less fatigue and stress. Anyways we played on but then the hustling started. First we were pitched the largest set for almost 2K and then the set size was gradually reduced to include different combos of knives at different price points (still in hundreds). We kept refusing everything mainly because we already have two blocks of knives in the kitchen, one purchased from Sears almost 6 years ago and the other one from Macy's a couple of years ago. Both of them work just fine and we really didn't have a need for any more knives. Even after showing those sets the hustling continued and eventually we were offered to pick up any two or three favorite knives for a special one time price, available through that salesrep only, good only until he left. With more than two hours into this nonsense, we picked up three for a meager $200 + taxes and shipping and for our support were magnanimously offered a free vegetable peeler. Now came the worst part. After the presentation we were again hustled into giving names of 20 family and friends anywhere in the US and were told that they would only have to consent to a demo. No kidding, just like we were promised. We declined and politely asked the dude to leave as we realized that this is just another Pyramid scheme (does AMWAY ring a bell) where they exploit your trust in your friends/family/peers/acquaintances. The guy wouldn't take no for an answer until we parted with a couple. After he left (more that 2.5 hours later) I decided to check the Cutco website. While we were told that the knives will be replaced for just the cost of two-way shipping even if broke them due to misuse/abuse, here is what is listed on their website. FOREVER REPLACEMENT SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR MISUSE OR ABUSE Should you damage your CUTCO through misuse or abuse, we will replace the item for "ONE HALF of the CURRENT RETAIL PRICE" plus shipping/handling and tax. Send the product with an explanatory note to the CUTCO address below. Basically they can charge you whatever they want based on their own assessment and their price at that point in time. This is just like RONCO who makes more money is returns/exchanges per/piece as opposed to direct sales. We got the knives and started using them but found out they weren't any better or worse than the existing ones we already have. We use a mix of serrated and plain knives for everything that you may need in a regular kitchen and these Cutco ones aren't that exceptional. Of course we didn't try these to cut any ropes or pennies or any sheet metal with these. We returned them under their 15 day return period (UPS confirmed delivery) and are now awaiting the refund since the payment was accepted by a check only. Another piece of info that we came to know is that though Cutco charges you TOP $ for these knives, yet they won't sell it to commercial chefs with their warranty and all. If these knives are so phenomenal and last forever, then why not. In the hand of a trained chef, they won't be misused since those folks depend on these for their livelihood and are likely to pay far more attention to cleaning and storing them as compared to us, regular home users.