Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Like most people who are even considering this sharpener, I am an avid cook with nice knives, and wanted a tool to help keep them in top form. I did a lot of research, and used the ATK recommendation as the clincher for this sharpener. Despite reading some negative reviews, I figured there was some user error, and a chance I might receive a defective unit. Well, it was defective, but I really did not anticipate the defect being that this sharpener would gauge the sides of my knives. I did a practice run on an old knife, and had some initial problems getting the blade flush, so attributed the scouring to that. But after working out the kinks, I went to sharpen my trusted (more expensive) chef knife and the same thing happened. Sorry, but no sharpener, especially one at this price, should ever do this! If it's true that the company's customer service says you should tape the sides of the knife, then they have no business selling this unit. It will go back immediately, but I'll always have the gauges in my knife as an unpleasant souvenir of my Trizor XV.