There have been many posts with questions about the various razor refurbishing/plating vendors out there. I am submitting my experience with Razor Emporium (RE)for your pleasure. To start, I ordered a razor "tune up service" (http://www.razoremporium.com/razor-tune-up-service) on their site for $20 (plus shipping) on February 6th. A quick Google search for promo codes and voila, 10% off and now it's $18...so far, so good. I didn't get the razor, a '61 Fatboy, sent off until the 9th, a Monday. On Wednesday the 11th I received an email confirmation of receipt from RE and a statement that work would begin immediately. I was also promised updates during the process. Early on the 12th, I received a phone call from the man working on the Fatboy asking me a couple of clarifying questions to ensure we were on the same page. The razor was/is in aesthetically good shape, needing no replate, it simply didn't operate properly. We spoke for several minutes and upon hanging up I felt very comfortable that the razor was in good hands. The razor arrived on 19 February. It was in far better shape than when I sent it. The mechanics are now proper, and the razor is even prettier than before. It has been disassembled, cleaned and polished. A polishing cloth was included with the returned Fatboy. The process could not be easier. One simply orders the service one wants, downloads a one page form and completes it to send along with their razor, and sends it in...that's it. Obviously, a replate would take longer to be returned, but I doubt more than an additional week (pure guessery). The Fatboy is being PIFed for March, anyone can see it and vie for it, simply look for the EVERYBODY WINS PIF in the Freebies subforum. Now, I have read many poor opinions of RE on this and other forums. I am also of a mind that these opinions are voiced by a lot of people passing on something they just read as hearsay on the net. I am here to tell y'all that RE is a fine vendor and I would not hesitate to send anything to them for their services. I know there are a few folks out there that perform similar services and are satisfying a lot of customers as well, but don't let past negative experiences voiced about RE frighten you off...they got their stuff together.
I never sent anything to them, but did purchase a couple polished and plated LC New heads. Both looked great and functioned well. Personally, I have had nothing but positive experiences the few times I have dealt with RE.
Thanks for posting up your experience. I have a birth year slim in need of a tune up and the blade gaps checked.
When I first started researching and watching videos on DE shaving, Razor Emporium was my choice for ordering my Merkur 34C. Fast, easy, great prices, easy to navigate website. Definitely my main go to when I'm checking prices and such from now on.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I have a razor or two that could use a tune up. I bookmarked this vendor.
Yes, and sometimes with photos to back up the claims. There were also many people who sung Razor Emporium's praises, frequently with photos as proof. In all fairness, all the negative opinions I have read were in the past. Razor Emporium had some management changes, and claimed they were going to fix things. From all accounts, it looks like a big turnaround has happened. There is a lot of that going on in the wetshaving forums, and not just for Razor Emporium. They key is to look for evidence, logic and common sense in the claims. "Vendor/product sucks!" is rather meaningless. "Vendor/product sucks because... (insert factual evidence and logic here)" are two very different things. And no, "Vendor/product sucks because I let my emotions get out of control" is not evidence. Also, photos or it didn't happen.
I've sent two razors in to RE for the full revamp service. They did a great job and sent the razors back one week earlier than their quoted time. They communicated via email well and called me when they had a shipping question. In all cases, I thought they were courteous and professional. I have no problem recommending them to anybody.
I've been following this thread that is going on right now about a not-so-happy customer of Razor Emporium. I admit if I had his experience I would probably be pretty livid as well but I also know that things can happen and that it does seem as if they are trying to address the issue. If anything it does seem like their communication could be improved.
Three years ago I bought numerous SE razors from RE. It was when I was just starting out collecting, anyway I did have some issues with them. They resolved all but one. They gave it their honest effort. Fast forward to last year, my confidence in them had improved enough to order several high end razors from them. I was very satisfied. You can see one of the razors they sold me in my avatar. It was the most expensive razor I had ever bought at the time. I think RE has come a long way, and one day in the future I will buy from them again. I think they have proven themselves by me.
I sent two razors, a 48-50 super speed and a '66 1st quarter slim adjustable, to the Razor Emporium. The SS had a slight bend in the mechanism controlling the doors wich prevented one door from closing properly. I recieved an email when they arrived and another when they were shipped back. Both razors look and function flawlessly. Here are the before and after pics.
Very nice! Did you have them replated or just the tune-up service? If I read correctly on their site, as long as the condition isn't too far gone, the tune-up service will repair, repaint and polish to like new condition also.
Just the tune-up service, they came out amazing. These were my father's, who takes care of everything . Thanks Dad!
I used their tune-up service and it was fine. Ask Kerry (@razorburn) how it turned out, I traded it to him while it was being worked on.
