Bernal Cutlery — Local services in San Francisco

To the owner: Thank you for publicly posting your response so others can view how you respond to criticism. My video clearly shows the knife being unable to cut through a tomato, and yet you have nothing to say about that. As to the employee jumping through acrobatics? He was the one denying service, pushing me to leave and go somewhere else to sharpen it. I had to present him a physical tomato to see how unusable my knife became. Please go ahead and post the security footage that shows how I walked around looking for things to complain about. This will clearly prove that I walked into your store, never said anything to anyone, other than looking at a few knives and asking the salesmen about whetstone sharpening. Do not spew lies of behavior I did not exhibit to try to discredit my review.

This review is strictly for their knife sharpening service.

Customer Service Unprofessional, dismissive, condescending—1/10. Enough said.

Knife Sharpening 2/10. Somehow, they made my already dull knife even worse. The blade was significantly reduced in both width and length, way more than what should happen with one professional sharpening. Honestly, with a bit of practice and a 5000 grit whetstone, you’d do better sharpening at home. They also charge 4x more than a local knife sharpener with 1/4 of the service.

Experience When I dropped off my knives, I mentioned this was my second time using their service. The first time, I couldn’t even cut a tomato, so I asked them to make it extra sharp this time. When I went to pick them up, I brought a tomato to test, and it still couldn’t slice through the skin. I showed them, and they struggled too, often mushing the tomato with force, but refused to sharpen it more, blaming the supposed “lower quality” of my stainless steel knives—which, by the way, I purchased from them for $120 and $300.

They told me there’s nothing they could do about it, to go somewhere else, and “do my own research” when I asked for a recommendation.

I went next door to their sales team and asked about sharpening to 8000 grit, and they said it was definitely possible with stainless steel. But back at the sharpening counter, it took 10 minutes of me pushing through their stubborn attitude to even try the 8000 grit. Fifteen minutes later, my knives were noticeably smaller and they STILL couldn’t cut a tomato without mashing it.

Also, check out that steep edge on my rectangular...

The rudest customer service I’ve ever experienced. And from the owner no less. I called the store to ask a few questions about a Japanese knife I was interested in buying. I said to the woman who answered that I’d like to speak to someone who knows a lot about that particular knife since I have quite a few questions. She barked, “What’s your question?” I repeated that I have a few questions that I’d like to ask someone who knows the knife well. She asked snarkily, “What makes you think I don’t know a lot about this knife?” I explained that I don’t presume to know whether she knows much about the knife, and if she does, then I’m fine talking to her. She smirked and said she was offended. Then she told me she’s the store owner and that what I said was very rude. She has a real chip on her shoulder. I feel sorry for the people who have to work with her - a snowflake who looks for offense and finds it everywhere. I ended up buying the knife for much cheaper from a very respected Canadian store - Knifewear. The Knifewear people I spoke to were wonderful. They answered all my questions and were extremely friendly and professional, unlike Bernal Cutlery.

*I just saw the response from this woman. Not only is she nasty and rude, she’s a paranoid liar. Our conversation was nothing like she describes. She describes the conversation as though I was out to get her. I don’t know her, don’t know her shop (just googled the knife and this store was one that came up). It’s ludicrous to say that I didn’t believe she was the owner. Why wouldn’t I?? She didn’t tell me she was the owner until the end of the conversation, after she had nastily demanded that I tell her what my question was. I certainly wasn’t “mad” that she wildly over-reacted and told me to shop elsewhere - by then, I had no intention of buying anything from her. She’s a vindictive, entitled woman who...

Okay, so I'm posting this review really just because I'm disappointed, not at the store but at the guy in the sharpening room who refused to sharpen my supposedly "unworkable" knife today (11/20/23). I've been coming to this store for at least three years now and have always loved my experiences here! I've bought knives, kitchen stuff, and! I've had my custom and some regular knives sharpening here with no issue ever, I've always been helped both cordially and quickly. To clarify, I am capable of sharpening knives on my own with the stones I have but sometimes like having the Bernal guys put a professional edge on my knives just for peace of mind. Today I brought a knife that I will admit is definitely beat up but really only has one major nick in the edge towards the base of it's edge. Upon arriving, I was approached by a tall gentleman who examined my admittedly beat up knife after I told him I knew that any edge put on it would not be perfect but that I just wanted something. After a quick inspection the dude literally just handed it back to me and said verbatim "I'll pass on that." Supposedly because of the nick in the knife which, if sharpened, wouldn't produce a good working edge because of the thickness of the knife.

I asked him earnestly if there was anything he could do but he simply said that he didn't and or couldn't do anything for the knife. Again, I was just really disappointed especially since I know there are sharpening machines in the shop which could have at least done something for the blade. But according to that guy I guess I just gotta throw that knife away because it's past being saved. I'm not saying I won't come back and that the store isn't filled with dope people, but in my humble opinion, out of all the times I've had stuff sharpened here, seems like that guy was just being lazy...