Does Leatherman honor their warranty without having the original receipt sent along when shipping it back?
That has been my experience. I've carried a Leatherman Wave nearly every day for many years. The company gave me one when I started. It broke once when I loaned it to a coworker who promptly broke the pliers trying to pry something. The secretary sent them in and Leatherman sent a replacement.
Fast forward a decade- this pair was pretty much worn out from heavy use. The tip of the pliers broke off from abuse, and the other side ground down to match. The file worn out completely, scissors worn out, screwdriver bits broken. I was in Portland one day and drove right by the Leatherman factory so I stopped in their retail store. I showed them my old used and (admittedly) abused tool, not asking for or expecting any warrantee for the kind of use it had seen. It wasn't defective in any way, just plain worn out. They replaced it anyway, with a smile! They also had some good deals on factory seconds so I bought a couple smaller tools.
First time I used the pliers it broke in half.
Chucked it and never looked at one again.
Sounds like you got a defective pair. That shouldn't happen, but it does occasionally even with the best brands. The companies that shine are the ones that treat you right when it does.
This brings up another question I have wondered about. When I have something that's broken or doesn't work right I try to fix it or check into the warrantee. I have seen a lot of people that just won't bother. Why is that?
I watched a guy throw away a brand new scope because the crosshair was broken, clearly a factory defect. He was too lazy to take it back or send it in so he threw it in the garbage. Twice I've had people give me broken guns. I guess I'm too nice because I fixed them and gave them back. A friend said he had been shooting with a buddy once, by a lake. His buddy's .22 pistol was jamming. He said it had been jamming for a while and he was tired of it, so he chucked it into the lake! (I suspect alcohol might have been involved with that stupidity, but I wasn't there so can't say for sure.)
I've even looked up warrantee info for friends, once even called to get a return authorization number, and they still don't bother. I just don't get it.