ThunderBall
Member
- Messages
- 93
I've been fan of Zeiss equipment for a while. My spotting scope is a 15-45x65 angled Diascope. I bought it used because the warranty said it was Lifetime and transferable and I've heard great stories about their service from friends and relatives. And I also owned a zeiss rangefinder before and really liked it. I've recommended Zeiss products to friends throughout the years some of which ended up purchasing Zeiss products.
The spotting scope worked flawlessly for the last 6 years often very in harsh conditions. During my recent elk hunt, however, the focusing knob stopped working. The timing was unfortunate but I wasn't worried. I sent it in to get fixed thinking that for sure it would be covered by the warranty.
It wasn't.
They said that the main tube had been tampered with and that I'd have to pay $595 to have it fixed. I have not tampered with the main tube and since it's been working fine for the last 6 years I doubt that the person I bought it from had either.
Once I was emailed the notice that I had to pay for the repair, I called customer service. Carrie was the person I initially spoke with at Zeiss. She was really nice. She said maybe I can talk to the manager to see if there was anything he could do.
His name is Everett Shurman. He wasn't as nice. The conversation started out cordially then eventually devolved. My point was that if they weren't going to honor the stated "lifetime warranty" then they shouldn't offer the warranty which misleads people. I definitely wouldn't have bought it if it were not for the stated lifetime transferrable warranty.
At one point he stated that if I wanted an iron clad warranty then purchase a Vortex. Then he added some other no so nice statements about Vortex. I have nothing against Vortex so I won't share them. After I told him I'd share my experience online and that particular statement about Vortex's warranty, the conversation got even more animated.
After some back and forth, that's really how it ended. They won't repair it and I'll never buy another Zeiss product.
If you are considering buying anything Zeiss please take my experience into account.
If posts like this arn't allowed, please let me know and I'll remove it.
The spotting scope worked flawlessly for the last 6 years often very in harsh conditions. During my recent elk hunt, however, the focusing knob stopped working. The timing was unfortunate but I wasn't worried. I sent it in to get fixed thinking that for sure it would be covered by the warranty.
It wasn't.
They said that the main tube had been tampered with and that I'd have to pay $595 to have it fixed. I have not tampered with the main tube and since it's been working fine for the last 6 years I doubt that the person I bought it from had either.
Once I was emailed the notice that I had to pay for the repair, I called customer service. Carrie was the person I initially spoke with at Zeiss. She was really nice. She said maybe I can talk to the manager to see if there was anything he could do.
His name is Everett Shurman. He wasn't as nice. The conversation started out cordially then eventually devolved. My point was that if they weren't going to honor the stated "lifetime warranty" then they shouldn't offer the warranty which misleads people. I definitely wouldn't have bought it if it were not for the stated lifetime transferrable warranty.
At one point he stated that if I wanted an iron clad warranty then purchase a Vortex. Then he added some other no so nice statements about Vortex. I have nothing against Vortex so I won't share them. After I told him I'd share my experience online and that particular statement about Vortex's warranty, the conversation got even more animated.
After some back and forth, that's really how it ended. They won't repair it and I'll never buy another Zeiss product.
If you are considering buying anything Zeiss please take my experience into account.
If posts like this arn't allowed, please let me know and I'll remove it.