crappy Nikon service

kytexican · Mar 13, 2009

So, here?s the story?I bought some Nikon binos for my boy. They worked fine for a couple of years, and then they broke. I sent them in to be repaired, and they informed me that it would be 10 dollars. I paid it and they were shipped back with the prisms re-aligned. Fast forward a few months and now the same problem has occurred. There was no mishandling of the binos, due to them sitting on a shelf, and the boys all having their own binos now. So I sent them back in and now they want to charge me again due to the fact that I have ?dropped them?
I will not pay them again for the repair that was obviously not fixed properly the first time. And no, I am not cheap. I have a .44 that I want to scope, along with a custom Marlin 880 SQ .22 that needs a scope. Do you think I'll buy Nikon? Ha. Not because they don't make good products, they do. However they don't stand behind their product repair.
Also the following is their correspondence, wonder what 4th grader wrote it: (All typos are theirs):
?I received and update from the department. We will no be able to to repair your lens on our expenses because on your previous repair was not covered by the warranty on the 2006. and the binocular was bumped or dropped to knock the prisms out of alignment. sorry for the inconvience that this may cause.?
Great huh.

HardcoreOutdoor · Mar 13, 2009

You get what you pay for. I like the Nikon Monarch line, that is what I have my son set up with but I know that I cannot expect the same level of customer service with them as I do with my Swaros which I think and have been told by those that know is the gold standard for high end optics warranty and customer service. If you want a lesser expensive set of optics with high end warranty and customer service, Vortex is the best answer.

Wade
www.HardcoreOutdoor.com

kytexican · Mar 14, 2009

Yeah, I know. My Zeiss haven't given me any problems. The problem with these is not that they broke. It's that I have already paid for this repair once.

Foreman4x4 · Mar 14, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Mar-14-09 AT 11:16AM (MST)[p]Seriously, you're complaining over $10.00 to cover shipping? And collimation doesn't get knocked out of whack sitting on a shelf...

bgmhiker · Mar 14, 2009

Seems a little ticky tacky to drag a companys name through the mud, especially when they offered to repair them for $10.00
just sayin...

SteveC · Mar 14, 2009

I have a Nikon Monarch 8x42. Three years ago, they fell out of the pickup with my noticing. They were in the case. When I drove off, the rear pickup tire caught the edge of the case and cracked the eyecup, no other damage. I managed to spot the case beside the road on the way out. A couple of wraps of electrical tape fixed the problem for the hunting season. So, I sent it back to Nikon, fully expecting that the warranty would not cover it, and it did not. They said it would cost $20.00, so I paid it online.

That same day, I got an e-mail saying that the part was out of stock and back ordered and that the repair would take at least three weeks. I was in no particular rush, so I did not really mind much. Two days later UPS showed up with a brand new Monarch in the plastic wrapped box, the enclosed invoice clearly indicated paid in full. It was a better binocular than the one I broke too. I can't fault that much. I also sent it back again recently for an alingment check. They charged $10.00 for the work. The alingment job seems well done. So when you get a charged repair back, be sure it's right before it goes on the shelf. Unused binoculars don't go out of alingment. That seems to leave the apparent flaw with the initial repair. If the warranty service is not full bore, out of alingment binoculars are not going to be viewed as a non abuse problem.

On another note, Vortex did repair a collimation issue, for free, and adjust the focus ratio, for free on a Viper I sent them. Leupold also repaired for free, a pair of old Gold Ring binoculars from 1993 that both focus and alingment issues. So there are company differences.

MuddyBoots · Mar 17, 2009

It sounds like the Monarchs are prone to the misalignment problem. I too had to send a pair back for the same problem. While camping, I had lightly dropped them onto a chair and they wouldn't come into focus. Nikon sent them back all cleaned up and fixed for somewhere around $10 if I recall correctly. I sold them shortly after. Figured if that had happened on a hunt it could have spelled disaster.