First Look: Raz War Australia and their El Che product

I always try to make my first on-line shave purchase anonymously. I do this so the company doesn't do anything unusual to alter my initial customer experience. My approach to RazWar Australia was the same as ever; make a purchase, sit back and see what happens. Except, I didn't count on an awesome international communication network. Let me explain.

I subscribe to as many aussie subscription shave companies as I can on Twitter. Try as I may, I couldn't find Raz*War Australia's active twitter account. So, I sent a tweet to RazWar International  (located in Europe). Soon after, I received a helpful reply from some bloke named "Pierre De Nayer". Pierre stated that Raz*War Australia was about to relaunch their twitter feed but it wasn't quite active yet. Hey, thanks Pierre. (I thought then that that Pierre guy was a really dedicated PR chap, working so late in Europe. Replying to tweets on the weekend, etc! What an employee!).

On Monday, my phone rang and it was the guys from Sydney Raz*War. To this date, I cannot work out how they connected my twitter/ blog to my order and then got my phone number. Frankly, I am not sure that they know how the connection was made. To put it in the words of Mark "It was a lucky guess". Indeed it was.

Over the next couple of weeks, you will read a couple of reviews of RazWar Australia products that the guys from Sydney were kind enough to add some extra stuff into my order. Most of the extra stuff I received was distributed to other people, so they could provide their perspective of the products (I obviously kept the blades I purchased!).



The El Che Starter Pack.

Usually I would talk about the packaging and customer service but that's a bit moot here. Not that I found anything to be a problem with either the packaging or the customer service. The lack of anonymity changed the playing field, so I just cannot compare previous experiences with this one.

But, what I will talk about is the equipment I purchased. I selected the El Che razor blades to start of with. Now, Raz*War does things a little different- you purchase the "Starter" package of handle and blades first (you also get a carry pouch for the gear as well). After that, you subscribe for blades only. This makes the first purchase a little more expensive than other companies, but I will quickly add that it was still competitive to some of the companies I have reviewed.

You don't have to buy a starter pack. You can purchased the handle and blades separately, but this is the most expensive option. The one-off "Starter Pack" purchase is the logical and most economic choice.

After that, if you decide to go with a subscription model, you have a selection of blade refill options for the El Che . Sure, you can make ad hoc purchases but for simplicity, the subscription is the way to go- and you have options. The options for the El Che are

     - Four (light user) or Five refills (regular user) per month, which are
     - Shipped every month or shipped every second month
Now, Raz*War isn't the first company to do the "Light User" option but I do like the breadth of the options available.





The awesome El Che handle

The El Che handle is outstanding. A finely crafted piece of cool metal that sits superbly balanced in the hand. It looks modern and feel delightful. What surprised me was the weight. It was probably the heaviest "subscription" handle I have held. Indeed, it had a similar weight to a more expensive, non-supermarket wet-shave razor handles. And here is the kicker- add the weight, balance, feel and style and you have one d@mn fine piece of shaving technology in your hand. Like one of its competitors, you know this handle has been built for shaving and it takes itself serious. And this one could double as a prop out of a J. J. Abrams Star Trek movie.

I am looking forward to putting a blade onto this stylish piece of metal and seeing how it performs in its designed task....
 

Oh, and remember that Pierre bloke I mentioned above? The chap who answered my tweet? Yeah. He ain't no paid PR employee. He's the CEO of the company over in Europe.