I don't think Cutco's are bad knives, but I think they're very overpriced. They stay subjectively sharp for a long time, mostly because they cut pretty well even when they get dull. This is because of the convex-type grind. The downside is it's difficult to resharpen them. If a butcher is sharpening them for you, I'm curious how he's doing it- did he regrind a new bevel on a wheel or stone, or strop it out on a leather belt? If you're regrinding a new bevel then the old shape is gone. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a comment.
When I was Sous Chef at a previous job the Exec bought a couple Cutco's. One day he & I compared his 9.25" Cutco Chef's knive with my 10" Shun Classic. The Cutco was much, much heavier than the Shun. But it felt good in the hand. We did various items of prep, from veggies to meat cutting, trading knives periodically. Our unanimous concencus was that my Shun was sharper and cut better, althought the thinness of the Shun blade may have accounted for part of the difference. This was only about six months ago, so I don't know how his edge will hold up long term, but my Shun is still extremely sharp.
Bottom line: as a chef I've spent a lot of time with a knife in my hand. The Cutco knives are okay, but I'd prefer a Messermeister, Wustof or Henckels for my money. The Cutco's cost just as much, and while the warranty is good, if you're careful with them it's not a big factor. I'd hate having a knife I had to send in to have resharpened.
IMO Cutco is the cutlery equivalent of Bose speakers- an average product with incredible marketing. Both companies make fair to mediocre goods yet have managed to build up an near-mythological following. And both count on the fact that the average consumer isn't expert enough to sort out the marketing hype from fact. Cutco isn't a ripoff, exactly, but neither is it "the world's finest cutler." They're basically Chicago Cutlerly with a better agent.