Terms of Service

Effective October 1, 2026

Knife Medic is a knife sharpening service in Gurnee, Illinois. These terms cover what you can expect from us and what we ask of you. If anything is unclear, email ryan@knife-medic.com or text 847-582-4132 and we will explain it plainly.

By checking the box on our booking form, you agree to these terms.

What we do

We sharpen kitchen and household knives and kitchen scissors. We pick them up from your porch and return them to your porch. You do not need to be home.

We run two pickup days a week and we serve all of Gurnee. There is no order minimum and no route to wait for.

Thursday. Knives out by 4:30 PM, back on your porch Saturday. Book by Wednesday 9 PM.

Sunday. Knives out by 9 AM, back on your porch Monday evening. Book by Saturday 9 PM.

Pricing and payment

Sharpening is $12 per knife, flat. No tiers, no upsells, no service fees. No minimum.

Kitchen and household scissors are $5 per pair.

Repairs are separate and quoted individually. If a knife is chipped, has a bent tip, or has damage beyond a normal edge, we will assess it and send you an estimate before doing any repair work. Repairs typically run $5 to $20 per knife. You are never charged for repair work you did not approve.

You do not pay until your knives are sharp and back with you.

How payment works. When we return your knives, we email you an invoice from Stripe, our payment processor. It is payable on receipt by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. If you would rather pay another way, tell us and we will work it out.

There is no late fee. If an invoice goes unpaid we will send a reminder, and if we still have not heard from you we will follow up directly. We would rather have a conversation than send a third email.

We may change our prices at any time. The price shown when you book is the price for that booking.

Our guarantee

If a knife is not sharp, tell us and we will come back and re-sharpen it at no charge. No deadline, no limit on how many times.

That is what razor-sharp guaranteed means. We keep working until the edge is right.

If a knife cannot be brought to a good edge because of how it was made or how it has been treated, we will tell you honestly rather than keep trying, and you will not be charged for that knife.

Because you pay after your knives come back, you are never out of pocket while we sort something out.

This guarantee covers the quality of our sharpening. Damage and loss have a separate process with a 7 day deadline, described below.

Sharpening changes your knives, and that is the point

You authorize us to physically alter the edge of every knife you send us. Sharpening removes metal. That is how it works, and it is not reversible.

This means:

• Your knives lose a small amount of steel each time they are sharpened

• We may reprofile an edge if the existing angle is damaged or inconsistent

• Minor cosmetic marks, scratches, or finish wear can occur as part of normal sharpening

If you do not want a knife altered, do not send it.

Safety, please read this part

Your knives will come back significantly sharper than you gave them to us. A properly sharpened knife cuts skin faster and more easily than a dull one, often before you feel it.

• Handle every returned knife as though it is brand new and dangerously sharp

• Wash by hand, carefully, before first use. Never leave a sharpened knife loose in a sink

• Keep returned knives away from children and pets

• Do not test the edge with your finger or thumb

You accept all risk of injury from handling your knives after we return them. We are not liable for cuts or injuries arising from the use, handling, storage, or washing of sharpened knives.

Pickup and return at an unattended location

Our service works by leaving and collecting knives at an agreed location, usually a porch, without either of us present.

By booking, you specifically ask us to collect from and return to an unattended location, and you agree that leaving your knives at that location completes our return of them to you.

Knives at an unattended location are there at your own risk. We are not responsible for knives stolen, damaged by weather, moved by another person, or lost before we collect them or after we return them.

If you would prefer a hand-to-hand pickup or return, tell us when you book and we will arrange it.

You agree to:

• Wrap or sheath blades so nobody is injured handling them

• Leave knives in the agreed location at the agreed time

• Keep knives away from children and pets while they are out

• Give us an accurate address and a phone number you actually check

Do not leave accessories with your knives. We are not responsible for sheaths, blocks, cases, magnetic strips, guards, or anything else left with them.

Knives we may decline

We may decline to sharpen a knife if we judge that sharpening would damage it, would be unsafe, or would not produce a usable edge. That can include hand-forged single bevel Japanese knives, antiques and collectibles, thin-edged damascus, ceramic blades, serrated blades we cannot service properly, and blades damaged beyond what sharpening can fix.

If we decline a knife we will tell you why, return it unaltered, and not charge you for it.

We reserve the right to refuse or discontinue service to anyone.

Valuable knives and declared value

Our liability for any one knife is limited to $400 unless you declare a higher value before pickup.

If a knife is worth more than $400, or matters to you more than that, tell us before we collect it. Email ryan@knife-medic.com or text 847-582-4132 with the knife and its value. We will confirm in writing whether we will accept it at that declared value. There is no additional fee for declaring value.

We do not currently accept knives with a declared value above $1,500. If you have one, we would rather tell you that now than take it.

This is not a formality. It is your opportunity to set the coverage level, and it is the only way our liability rises above $400.

Knives collected without a declared value are treated as worth no more than $400 for all purposes under these terms, whatever their actual value.

Our total liability for any single pickup, and for any single event affecting more than one customer, will not exceed $5,000 regardless of the number of knives involved.

Knife Medic carries insurance covering customer property while it is in our care.

If we damage or lose a knife

We handle your knives carefully. We photograph knives at pickup and at return as a record of their condition. If you would rather we did not, tell us when you book.

If we damage or lose a knife through our own fault, we will repair it or replace it with a knife of comparable type and quality, at our discretion, up to the limits in the section above.

We are not responsible for:

• Pre-existing conditions, including chips, cracks, bends, rust, pitting, metal fatigue, prior poor-quality sharpening, and loose or damaged handles. Not photographing or noting something does not create any presumption about a knife's condition

• Normal metal loss from sharpening

• Minor cosmetic marks from normal sharpening

• Inherent defects in the knife, including manufacturing faults and weaknesses not visible before work began

• Knives we advised against sharpening where you asked us to proceed anyway

• Knives at an unattended location, as described above

• Injury from handling sharpened knives

We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages of any kind, including lost time, inconvenience, or sentimental value.

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for gross negligence, willful or wanton conduct, or for using your property as our own.

Telling us about damage or loss

If a knife comes back damaged, or does not come back, tell us within 7 days. Email ryan@knife-medic.com or text 847-582-4132.

Seven days is short on purpose. It lets us investigate while both of us remember what happened and while the knife is in the condition it came back in.

This 7 day deadline applies only to damage and loss. If you are simply unhappy with how sharp a knife is, there is no deadline. See Our guarantee above.

Cancellations

There is no cancellation fee. Cancel any time, for any reason, at no charge.

If we arrive and your knives are not out, we will reschedule you for the next available pickup at no charge.

We may cancel or reschedule for weather, illness, or equipment problems. If we do, we will contact you and rebook at your convenience.

Returning your knives

We return your knives to the same place we collected them. If we cannot reach you, we still bring them back. You do not need to respond to anything to get your knives home.

The only time we hold onto knives is when returning them would not be safe or sensible, for example if the address turns out to be wrong, the property is clearly vacant, or there is nowhere secure to leave them.

Knives we cannot return

If we are holding knives because we could not safely return them, we will try to reach you twice, by text and by email, on separate days.

If we have not heard from you 90 days after the second attempt, we will donate the knives to a local charity or dispose of them safely.

We will not sell your knives and we will not charge you for storing them. If we cannot return them, we would rather they go somewhere useful than sit in a garage.

Arranging a return and then not being there does not restart the 90 days.

Ninety days is a long window and two separate attempts is a real effort. One message from you resets everything.

What we do not guarantee

We guarantee our work, as described above. We do not guarantee a specific edge angle, a specific level of sharpness on every knife, or that any knife can be returned to like-new condition.

Results depend on the steel, the blade's condition, and how it has been treated. Where a knife cannot be brought to a good edge, we will tell you and you will not be charged for it.

Photos and your name

We may photograph knives we have sharpened, including before and after shots, and use them on our website and social media. We will not publish a photo of your knives, your home, or anything identifying you, and we will not use your name or a quote from you, unless you give us permission in writing first.

If you change your mind about something already published, email us and we will take it down.

Service area

We serve Gurnee, Illinois. If you are just outside and want us to come, email us and we will tell you honestly whether we can.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the business grows. The version posted when you book applies to that booking, and we keep a record of which version you agreed to. Material changes get a new effective date.

Resolving a problem

Talk to us first. If something goes wrong, email ryan@knife-medic.com or text 847-582-4132 before doing anything else. This is a one person business in your town. Almost everything gets solved in one message, and we would rather fix it than argue about it.

If that does not work, these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, and any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts of Lake County, Illinois. Either of us may bring a qualifying claim in small claims court instead.

We have not asked you to give up your right to a jury or to join with others in a claim, and we are not going to.

Contact

Knife Medic
665 Angelo Ave
Gurnee, IL 60031

Email: ryan@knife-medic.com
Text or call: 847-582-4132