Prolog
Early this year, about when you are still in a middle of a winter, but already can feel strong scent of spring in the air, I felt like a new rifle. This innocent feeling started the following story of amazing bad luck which continued to pure sadness but ended in the most exemplary customer service from two Canadian companies.
This story will now unfold before you in fine details and pretty pictures, but, my dear captive audience, I warn you as you might get worried in the middle of it - please don't be concerned as it all ends well.
Chapter I - The Rifle
So the feeling for a new rifle grew steadily and I went to a couple of shops and handled this and that until I got to a used Sako Black Bear in 9.3x62. Short, handy, smooth action, double stack magazine, open receiver, great action sights - it all clicked together, but I felt like shooting a lot and 9.3x62 is not a caliber I can handle a lot of.
So I've started to shop around for a new Sako Black Bear in more humble chambering but no one had any in stock. A fellow CGN gave me a tip or two as he himself just bought the last .308 in Canada. As I know now, Sako stock dries up quickly and it is hard to get something specific even if it does exist in a catalog. My search took a month or so and I finally acquired Sako Black Bear in 30-06.
This is arguably a matter of taste, but I really liked the feel of synthetic stock - soft, gripy, all weather; fluted 20 inch barrel, slick 60 degrees action, action sights which have both windage and elevation adjustment, easy to point and shoot nice carbine.
I didn’t have a scope of it, yet I went to a range to play with irons and found them to be very good under 50 yards but not as well further down the range. The front sight is too big and round to aim accurately and elevation is hard to control precisely because there is no flat point at the rear notch to align to.
Nevertheless the rifle shot nicely, action was smooth, I was happy. Soon some other things occupied my life and left it without a proper scope for later.
Chapter II – The Scope
I was in no rush and it took long time to decide what I want for a scope. There is so much to choose from and amount of available bells and whistles is quite significant. But the thing is I found most of them well… unnecessary. In fact I dig simplicity way more than complexity, especially fake complexity. And it’s not really because I’m cheap on gear, it just does not feel right for me.
Long story short, I made quite unconventional choice – Schmidt and Bender Zenith 1.5-6x42
It is very “low power” - but the field of view is awesome. Should be very bright even at dusk - an exit pupil at x6 magnification is 7mm. Any target I want to shoot at, within the ranges I’m comfortable with, can be hit with x6 magnification just fine. I don’t plan to place 1000 yard shots, so why bother with all the possible “features” with zillion knobs, a good glass however is always pleasure to look through. Yes, could get a Swaro Z3 for half a price or something or newest Zeiss HD5 2-10x42, but hey, I never had a S&B, time to try good things in life, what could get wrong anyway? Besides that 30mm tube looks so good with that Zenith front bell curve
And so I placed my order with Wolverine Supplies for the Zenith.
Chapter III – The Bleak Omen
In a several days the scope has arrived. I opened the package, the beauty of solid fit and finish and unforgettable design hit me right away. I hold it up to the window and took a look thought it.
I won’t lie to you – right at this moment I’ve smiled, really, I did. But it was not a smile of happiness. Oh no, sir. It was a gloomy irony filling me. I was holding a brand new scope made in Germany by a company known to be at least second to none in scopes… and it had an eye lash stuck to the reticle somewhere at the first focal plane. I know what you might think, shake it or just clean the lens or something. But no, it was defective S&B right out of the box with an obvious hair right at the center of the view next to the cross hairs. The irony was just too strong I have to say.
And I wrote an email to Wolverine and they had no questions just gave me a return number and I sent it back for exchange. I had no doubts really; I liked everything about the scope even more after I hold it, just wanted a replacement. “How could that get passed quality assurance?” I thought, “quite a luck”. Yet as story develops you will see that it was just a glimpse of the things to come.
Chapter IV – The Pleasures of Mounting
Where and back again, it took 2 weeks for Wolverine to get my return and the replacement to arrive to back me. (They even added complimentary S&B lens cleaning kit as a token of appreciation, very nice gesture thank you very much) And I was again holding up the brand new Zenith next to the window only this time to behold pristine glass crossed by finest quality reticle lines – it was perfect.
As you might know there are several options for rings and mounts available for Sako 85, but I heard good things about Sako own Optilocks and Wolverine had them in stock for the sizes I needed so I’ve ordered them together with the scope. Obviously Sako own rings and bases matched the rifle perfectly with sizes and finish, however I want to also note that this was the easiest mounting experience I’ve ever had. The reason is that optilocks have plastic inserts which slide on top the tube before you screw the ring uppers. Not only the inserts allow very tight fit between scope and rings without marks or damage, but they also invaluable when mounting. You can set everything up, close the rings and tight the screws a bit, when you can check the alignment and the scope can still rotate it on these plastic inserts with ease. The scope will sit tight enough not to move while you are checking the alignment or shouldering the rifle, but still able to move as you apply more pressure. Sako did a good job here, I liked it.
This is how result looked like:
This is long action bases, medium height 30 mm rings. You can note that there is some gap between the front bell and the barrel, so I could possibly still fit it with low rings (4 mm lower as compared to medium height rings). Yes, the gap is in fact 3.5mm and by moving the front ring slightly back it would fit, however if you remember the rifle has action iron sights and the front sight is a sizable white bead. Again a fellow CGN member previously mentioned to me what he could see the front sight creating a flare in his scope as it was sitting on a low rings. So I wanted to have a bit of clearance and move the line of the scope over the front sight.
It actually played out very well, the height was acceptable. Front sight disappears from the scope view right after 3x power and below that it does not create a flare because the magnification is low you can actually see it out of focus, but it does not disturb the view at all.
The clearances everywhere are very nice with majestic bolt to scope clearance while cycling.
I was very happy with the results. Now I had to try it in action as soon as possible.
Chapter V – The Range Trip
And finally I was at a range, nicest day +25, shade, shooting table and fresh targets in front – you can feel a wave of calm happiness growing inside you… And so I started to zero the scope. The clarity of the glass in the real outdoor condition was well… spotless. The brightness, resolution and color transmission are just perfect. The German #4 reticle is indeed a perfection of simplicity and function. In this Zenith it is also a first focal plane, so the size changes with magnification, but at the whole range from x1.5 to x6 the view of the reticle in all sizes is just top notch. It is very easy to acquire at low magnifications and very precise at x6.
I made about 10 shots and was very happy, closing in on the zero settings. I mean really happy and then I touched the magnification ring. It didn’t move.
Wait what?.. I moved my eyes from the objective to the ring to make sure I’m holding it right and tried again. The magnification ring DIDN’T MOVE.
It took me a minute absorb and couple of tries to make sure – no mistake. The magnification ring had stuck at x6 and the scope was busted. Brand new Schmidt and Bender broke from firing less than a box of non magnum ammo at a clean range under mild summer weather.
SECOND IN A ROW out of the box S&B was defective. Made in Germany, eh? I have to say, I didn’t smile this time, not at all.
The day was obviously ruined, but at least I was sure that Wolverine won’t let me down. I screwed back the turret caps, there was no point of adjusting them anyway. Oh well, let’s just finish off the opened box of ammo.
I fired a shot, it hit nicely on the paper, I cycled the action open and then cycled it back - the bold didn’t move forward… WAIT WHAT? The bold could not move forward - there was a spent cartridge on top of the magazine! What the hell?! In disbelieve I’ve cleaned it out. I’m looking at it, I cannot see anything wrong. Here it is in action - the bolt moves forward, round chambers, gun fires, I cycle the bolt open… the spent brass ejects… spins up and drops neatly back to action!
I guess it was some kind of a shock, but I had no feelings at this moment. My head was clear but there was no emotion. I turned the rifle and inspected the bolt, the action and the bottom of the scope. Action was clean, nothing was broken, the bolt was fine, the extractor was fine, ejector… well sako has blade ejector hard to break that, but I checked it was also fine. And the bottom of the scope is fine … ah damn it!
There are dings at the bottom of the turret cap. I just screwed the caps on and now the brass hits the cap and drops back to the action, before that I was zeroing and the caps were off. I’ve picked up the ejected brass, yes no doubt, look at this
…WAIT WHAT? two cartridges felt into action, just two. There are more than two I’m looking at, why all of them have the hit mark? Grrrr…
They were hitting the turret all the damn time chipping it, but I could not notice it because the spent cartridge was deflected out of the action! Isn’t this just awesome? Why I’m not even angry, am I? No, but why? Ah, because I’ve just absorbed the idea that the scope is busted as the magnification ring had broken just before that! Nevertheless let me sit down and get this straight. Brand new Sako - arguably one of the best widely available premium production rifles on the market, fitted with Sako own rings and bases set to not extra low, not low, but medium height rings (the only higher option available from sako are just 4 mm taller and are for 75mm to 83mm scope objectives, I have 42mm mind you) fails to eject 30-06 empty casing - a most common cartridge. Not only it fails to eject and blocks the action with brass, it also damages my scope turret with quite a force to bend the brass, chip the metal of the turret and if I were to continue I bet I could crack the turret.
And this is on a table top at a shooting range, perfectly leveled rifle and no stress. In the bush would this probably be a “hold it mr. wounded bear, don’t charge me I need to clean up my magazine fed but now single shot premium rifle” type of story?
All this happens at the same time as I had two premium german built scopes fail one after another out of the box. Life is stranger than fiction.
I packed up and drove home. I’m glad I didn’t take any friend with me this time so no one I know saw my total defeat. On my way home as I was crossing an abandoned railway tracks I thought about chances of all this happening all at once and I concluded that with this kind of “luck” I should expect a 19th century steam engine to appear out of thing air and hit my car to make an epic ending to such unfortunate and unlikely chain of events.
Chapter VI – Getting the Rifle Right
Next day I woke up from the sadness and started damage control. I grabbed my rig and went to Al Flaherty’s – local shop I got the rifle from. I told the story showing the rig, the dented scope, the brass and so on. They said they can do nothing but to send it for warranty repair. Since the rifle on warranty is a liability of the distributor the store needs to send it back to distributor and wait for their evaluation.
Well, I said, send it back but make sure you tell them the story and how upset I am. They suggested I deal with the distributor directly, “it’s a 30 minute drive from here”. At first I rejected an idea of running around the province with broken merchandise, but the store would only send it to the same people. Also I thought that the story at that point simply required me to go all the way to the end, so I took the address and directions to the distributor and off I went.
Sako, as you might know, was bought by Beretta at some point. In Canada all Beretta Group products and Sako specifically are distributed by a company called Stoeger Canada, located in Whitby, Ontario. These are basically the people who import all of it to the country and all your warranty claims go back to them.
As I arrived, I was slightly worried that they won’t even talk to me much, but I was met with understanding. We sat down, I told my story, showed the rifle, the damaged brass and dents on the scope. We tried the action with an empty brass and dummy rounds and it was obvious that the issue persisted. It seemed as a bit of a surprise for them and they asked to take the rifle to their gunsmith for evaluation and we agreed to get in touch in a week.
Next Tuesday they called back. The gunsmith evaluation showed that there is nothing wrong with the action and there is nothing to be fixed or can be adjusted, but the geometry is as such that spent cartridge will hit the turret. So they acknowledge that as a warranty issue and will take the rifle back. But they cannot offer me a replacement in short action (I’ve asked for .308 win as it is shorter and Sako action are made in different lengths) because they don’t have anything in stock. They however followed up with Al Flaherty’s and will credit them back the rifle and I can go back deal with them.
Now that was something I was pleased to hear. Right on Stoeger Canada! So I went to Al Flaherty’s, all easy now, right? I came in, glanced at Sakos they had on the rack (some magnums, nothing I could use) explained who I was, referenced the phone call from Stoeger Canada and asked for a refund. Now Sam, the owner joins the conversation and promptly says “no refunds”. Well, I once again explained the situation - I bought a rifle, there was a warranty issue, the distributor took the rifle back and they are crediting you back the cost. The distributor did not have a possible replacement in stock, you don’t have a possible replacement in stock, Sako is very hard to get due to wait times, it was unfortunate, but everyone gets back the money no loss. No, says Sam, no refund, buy another rifle or anything in the store, no refund. "We have other rifles. But I don’t want anything you have. You can order something you want. And wait for how long? As soon as it comes, no refund."
I left the store. Remember in prolog I mentioned that feeling for rifle I had at the start of all this – I swear I wish it was fishing or something! Every step of the way is like cursed. I placed another call to Stoeger Canada. “There is a new issue - the store refuses a refund, there are no rifles in stock to make a replacement; could you possible make a credit to another store which has Sako in .308 in stock so I could take it from them? No we cannot do that. Ok, when do you expect a shipment? Next month, but we don’t know what will be there, we order more than they sent us. So even if I go back to the store and make an order using your credit there is no way to tell when it will get to me before the backlog clears plus some random chance on if the exact rifle I ordered is in the shipment.- Yes” (Oh here we go again!) “… but a warranty replacement goes before other orders and you can deal with us directly on that one, so once next shipment comes we can go though and see if there is something close to what you want and it is another model I can just pay off the difference and take it”.
Yet again, Stoeger Canada was right on! Now that is no bull#### way of doing business. Yes, I will gladly deal with you directly and wait till the next shipment. When a business appreciates a customer I can appreciate a business. As for Al Flaherty’s – that was the last time I’ve been there. There is a difference between trying to get it right and just running a shop on a corner. I felt it very clearly and I’m not returning.
Chapter VII – S&B and Wolverine
Meanwhile, Wolverine got my returned scope. I’ve asked them to email S&B the story and ask them how a customer can trust their products after such experience. I was really curious on how they react to all that. Maybe it was just Zenith’s or Wolverine got a bad batch or what, I really wanted to know.
S&B even replied shortly saying in a detail why it could happen mechanically and it was a defect they need to repair, some apologies and so on.
But, this is not the best part. You see, Wolverine has this guy – Wolfgang Kuentzle I’ve been exchanging emails with. And let me tell you I was literary stunned by his attitude. The level of detail and attention to my concerns and questions was exceptional. As if pure amount of text he wrote each time and information he was looking up for me was not enough, he even translated what S&B said to me in an email in German! I know what you might think, I’ve even checked in disbelieve – it was NOT a machine translation, Google Translate makes no sense of that text whatsoever. He actually personally translated and typed English version of German text. During a conversation among other things I’ve asked what a warranty on Leica scopes was. You would expect maybe number or a sentence in return, a link to a website at best. No. Mr. Kuentzle looks up a printed manual included with the scope, finds exact pages with all warranty conditions and scans them for me. Dear Wolfgang I’m glad these 2 S&B broke on me so I could have this experience with you!
Back to business, Wolverine ran out of Zeniths to throw at me, as you might expect details on next available shipment were uncertain. Pushed by unstoppable momentum of “making it right” Wolfgang and I went through other available options. Wolverine, being exemplary retailer as they are, offered me a discount on anything I might like in exchange. So after some research I’ve ordered something else, but this is a completely different story…
Epilog
Here you go ladies and gentlemen, the Tale of Sako, S&B, Bad Luck and Customer Service ends here or rather goes into intermission. I hope it was more enjoyable to read then for me to go trough. Moreover we can draw some very valuable conclusions about products, companies and a supreme importance of customer service. Choose a brand which stands by its product and only deal with people who are willing to make an extra step after charging you credit card. Because anything can break, everything can go wrong and then an extra step will make a world of difference.
Have fun, life is good.
Early this year, about when you are still in a middle of a winter, but already can feel strong scent of spring in the air, I felt like a new rifle. This innocent feeling started the following story of amazing bad luck which continued to pure sadness but ended in the most exemplary customer service from two Canadian companies.
This story will now unfold before you in fine details and pretty pictures, but, my dear captive audience, I warn you as you might get worried in the middle of it - please don't be concerned as it all ends well.
Chapter I - The Rifle
So the feeling for a new rifle grew steadily and I went to a couple of shops and handled this and that until I got to a used Sako Black Bear in 9.3x62. Short, handy, smooth action, double stack magazine, open receiver, great action sights - it all clicked together, but I felt like shooting a lot and 9.3x62 is not a caliber I can handle a lot of.
So I've started to shop around for a new Sako Black Bear in more humble chambering but no one had any in stock. A fellow CGN gave me a tip or two as he himself just bought the last .308 in Canada. As I know now, Sako stock dries up quickly and it is hard to get something specific even if it does exist in a catalog. My search took a month or so and I finally acquired Sako Black Bear in 30-06.
This is arguably a matter of taste, but I really liked the feel of synthetic stock - soft, gripy, all weather; fluted 20 inch barrel, slick 60 degrees action, action sights which have both windage and elevation adjustment, easy to point and shoot nice carbine.
I didn’t have a scope of it, yet I went to a range to play with irons and found them to be very good under 50 yards but not as well further down the range. The front sight is too big and round to aim accurately and elevation is hard to control precisely because there is no flat point at the rear notch to align to.
Nevertheless the rifle shot nicely, action was smooth, I was happy. Soon some other things occupied my life and left it without a proper scope for later.
Chapter II – The Scope
I was in no rush and it took long time to decide what I want for a scope. There is so much to choose from and amount of available bells and whistles is quite significant. But the thing is I found most of them well… unnecessary. In fact I dig simplicity way more than complexity, especially fake complexity. And it’s not really because I’m cheap on gear, it just does not feel right for me.
Long story short, I made quite unconventional choice – Schmidt and Bender Zenith 1.5-6x42
It is very “low power” - but the field of view is awesome. Should be very bright even at dusk - an exit pupil at x6 magnification is 7mm. Any target I want to shoot at, within the ranges I’m comfortable with, can be hit with x6 magnification just fine. I don’t plan to place 1000 yard shots, so why bother with all the possible “features” with zillion knobs, a good glass however is always pleasure to look through. Yes, could get a Swaro Z3 for half a price or something or newest Zeiss HD5 2-10x42, but hey, I never had a S&B, time to try good things in life, what could get wrong anyway? Besides that 30mm tube looks so good with that Zenith front bell curve
And so I placed my order with Wolverine Supplies for the Zenith.
Chapter III – The Bleak Omen
In a several days the scope has arrived. I opened the package, the beauty of solid fit and finish and unforgettable design hit me right away. I hold it up to the window and took a look thought it.
I won’t lie to you – right at this moment I’ve smiled, really, I did. But it was not a smile of happiness. Oh no, sir. It was a gloomy irony filling me. I was holding a brand new scope made in Germany by a company known to be at least second to none in scopes… and it had an eye lash stuck to the reticle somewhere at the first focal plane. I know what you might think, shake it or just clean the lens or something. But no, it was defective S&B right out of the box with an obvious hair right at the center of the view next to the cross hairs. The irony was just too strong I have to say.
And I wrote an email to Wolverine and they had no questions just gave me a return number and I sent it back for exchange. I had no doubts really; I liked everything about the scope even more after I hold it, just wanted a replacement. “How could that get passed quality assurance?” I thought, “quite a luck”. Yet as story develops you will see that it was just a glimpse of the things to come.
Chapter IV – The Pleasures of Mounting
Where and back again, it took 2 weeks for Wolverine to get my return and the replacement to arrive to back me. (They even added complimentary S&B lens cleaning kit as a token of appreciation, very nice gesture thank you very much) And I was again holding up the brand new Zenith next to the window only this time to behold pristine glass crossed by finest quality reticle lines – it was perfect.
As you might know there are several options for rings and mounts available for Sako 85, but I heard good things about Sako own Optilocks and Wolverine had them in stock for the sizes I needed so I’ve ordered them together with the scope. Obviously Sako own rings and bases matched the rifle perfectly with sizes and finish, however I want to also note that this was the easiest mounting experience I’ve ever had. The reason is that optilocks have plastic inserts which slide on top the tube before you screw the ring uppers. Not only the inserts allow very tight fit between scope and rings without marks or damage, but they also invaluable when mounting. You can set everything up, close the rings and tight the screws a bit, when you can check the alignment and the scope can still rotate it on these plastic inserts with ease. The scope will sit tight enough not to move while you are checking the alignment or shouldering the rifle, but still able to move as you apply more pressure. Sako did a good job here, I liked it.
This is how result looked like:
This is long action bases, medium height 30 mm rings. You can note that there is some gap between the front bell and the barrel, so I could possibly still fit it with low rings (4 mm lower as compared to medium height rings). Yes, the gap is in fact 3.5mm and by moving the front ring slightly back it would fit, however if you remember the rifle has action iron sights and the front sight is a sizable white bead. Again a fellow CGN member previously mentioned to me what he could see the front sight creating a flare in his scope as it was sitting on a low rings. So I wanted to have a bit of clearance and move the line of the scope over the front sight.
It actually played out very well, the height was acceptable. Front sight disappears from the scope view right after 3x power and below that it does not create a flare because the magnification is low you can actually see it out of focus, but it does not disturb the view at all.
The clearances everywhere are very nice with majestic bolt to scope clearance while cycling.
I was very happy with the results. Now I had to try it in action as soon as possible.
Chapter V – The Range Trip
And finally I was at a range, nicest day +25, shade, shooting table and fresh targets in front – you can feel a wave of calm happiness growing inside you… And so I started to zero the scope. The clarity of the glass in the real outdoor condition was well… spotless. The brightness, resolution and color transmission are just perfect. The German #4 reticle is indeed a perfection of simplicity and function. In this Zenith it is also a first focal plane, so the size changes with magnification, but at the whole range from x1.5 to x6 the view of the reticle in all sizes is just top notch. It is very easy to acquire at low magnifications and very precise at x6.
I made about 10 shots and was very happy, closing in on the zero settings. I mean really happy and then I touched the magnification ring. It didn’t move.
Wait what?.. I moved my eyes from the objective to the ring to make sure I’m holding it right and tried again. The magnification ring DIDN’T MOVE.
It took me a minute absorb and couple of tries to make sure – no mistake. The magnification ring had stuck at x6 and the scope was busted. Brand new Schmidt and Bender broke from firing less than a box of non magnum ammo at a clean range under mild summer weather.
SECOND IN A ROW out of the box S&B was defective. Made in Germany, eh? I have to say, I didn’t smile this time, not at all.
The day was obviously ruined, but at least I was sure that Wolverine won’t let me down. I screwed back the turret caps, there was no point of adjusting them anyway. Oh well, let’s just finish off the opened box of ammo.
I fired a shot, it hit nicely on the paper, I cycled the action open and then cycled it back - the bold didn’t move forward… WAIT WHAT? The bold could not move forward - there was a spent cartridge on top of the magazine! What the hell?! In disbelieve I’ve cleaned it out. I’m looking at it, I cannot see anything wrong. Here it is in action - the bolt moves forward, round chambers, gun fires, I cycle the bolt open… the spent brass ejects… spins up and drops neatly back to action!
I guess it was some kind of a shock, but I had no feelings at this moment. My head was clear but there was no emotion. I turned the rifle and inspected the bolt, the action and the bottom of the scope. Action was clean, nothing was broken, the bolt was fine, the extractor was fine, ejector… well sako has blade ejector hard to break that, but I checked it was also fine. And the bottom of the scope is fine … ah damn it!
There are dings at the bottom of the turret cap. I just screwed the caps on and now the brass hits the cap and drops back to the action, before that I was zeroing and the caps were off. I’ve picked up the ejected brass, yes no doubt, look at this
…WAIT WHAT? two cartridges felt into action, just two. There are more than two I’m looking at, why all of them have the hit mark? Grrrr…
They were hitting the turret all the damn time chipping it, but I could not notice it because the spent cartridge was deflected out of the action! Isn’t this just awesome? Why I’m not even angry, am I? No, but why? Ah, because I’ve just absorbed the idea that the scope is busted as the magnification ring had broken just before that! Nevertheless let me sit down and get this straight. Brand new Sako - arguably one of the best widely available premium production rifles on the market, fitted with Sako own rings and bases set to not extra low, not low, but medium height rings (the only higher option available from sako are just 4 mm taller and are for 75mm to 83mm scope objectives, I have 42mm mind you) fails to eject 30-06 empty casing - a most common cartridge. Not only it fails to eject and blocks the action with brass, it also damages my scope turret with quite a force to bend the brass, chip the metal of the turret and if I were to continue I bet I could crack the turret.
And this is on a table top at a shooting range, perfectly leveled rifle and no stress. In the bush would this probably be a “hold it mr. wounded bear, don’t charge me I need to clean up my magazine fed but now single shot premium rifle” type of story?
All this happens at the same time as I had two premium german built scopes fail one after another out of the box. Life is stranger than fiction.
I packed up and drove home. I’m glad I didn’t take any friend with me this time so no one I know saw my total defeat. On my way home as I was crossing an abandoned railway tracks I thought about chances of all this happening all at once and I concluded that with this kind of “luck” I should expect a 19th century steam engine to appear out of thing air and hit my car to make an epic ending to such unfortunate and unlikely chain of events.
Chapter VI – Getting the Rifle Right
Next day I woke up from the sadness and started damage control. I grabbed my rig and went to Al Flaherty’s – local shop I got the rifle from. I told the story showing the rig, the dented scope, the brass and so on. They said they can do nothing but to send it for warranty repair. Since the rifle on warranty is a liability of the distributor the store needs to send it back to distributor and wait for their evaluation.
Well, I said, send it back but make sure you tell them the story and how upset I am. They suggested I deal with the distributor directly, “it’s a 30 minute drive from here”. At first I rejected an idea of running around the province with broken merchandise, but the store would only send it to the same people. Also I thought that the story at that point simply required me to go all the way to the end, so I took the address and directions to the distributor and off I went.
Sako, as you might know, was bought by Beretta at some point. In Canada all Beretta Group products and Sako specifically are distributed by a company called Stoeger Canada, located in Whitby, Ontario. These are basically the people who import all of it to the country and all your warranty claims go back to them.
As I arrived, I was slightly worried that they won’t even talk to me much, but I was met with understanding. We sat down, I told my story, showed the rifle, the damaged brass and dents on the scope. We tried the action with an empty brass and dummy rounds and it was obvious that the issue persisted. It seemed as a bit of a surprise for them and they asked to take the rifle to their gunsmith for evaluation and we agreed to get in touch in a week.
Next Tuesday they called back. The gunsmith evaluation showed that there is nothing wrong with the action and there is nothing to be fixed or can be adjusted, but the geometry is as such that spent cartridge will hit the turret. So they acknowledge that as a warranty issue and will take the rifle back. But they cannot offer me a replacement in short action (I’ve asked for .308 win as it is shorter and Sako action are made in different lengths) because they don’t have anything in stock. They however followed up with Al Flaherty’s and will credit them back the rifle and I can go back deal with them.
Now that was something I was pleased to hear. Right on Stoeger Canada! So I went to Al Flaherty’s, all easy now, right? I came in, glanced at Sakos they had on the rack (some magnums, nothing I could use) explained who I was, referenced the phone call from Stoeger Canada and asked for a refund. Now Sam, the owner joins the conversation and promptly says “no refunds”. Well, I once again explained the situation - I bought a rifle, there was a warranty issue, the distributor took the rifle back and they are crediting you back the cost. The distributor did not have a possible replacement in stock, you don’t have a possible replacement in stock, Sako is very hard to get due to wait times, it was unfortunate, but everyone gets back the money no loss. No, says Sam, no refund, buy another rifle or anything in the store, no refund. "We have other rifles. But I don’t want anything you have. You can order something you want. And wait for how long? As soon as it comes, no refund."
I left the store. Remember in prolog I mentioned that feeling for rifle I had at the start of all this – I swear I wish it was fishing or something! Every step of the way is like cursed. I placed another call to Stoeger Canada. “There is a new issue - the store refuses a refund, there are no rifles in stock to make a replacement; could you possible make a credit to another store which has Sako in .308 in stock so I could take it from them? No we cannot do that. Ok, when do you expect a shipment? Next month, but we don’t know what will be there, we order more than they sent us. So even if I go back to the store and make an order using your credit there is no way to tell when it will get to me before the backlog clears plus some random chance on if the exact rifle I ordered is in the shipment.- Yes” (Oh here we go again!) “… but a warranty replacement goes before other orders and you can deal with us directly on that one, so once next shipment comes we can go though and see if there is something close to what you want and it is another model I can just pay off the difference and take it”.
Yet again, Stoeger Canada was right on! Now that is no bull#### way of doing business. Yes, I will gladly deal with you directly and wait till the next shipment. When a business appreciates a customer I can appreciate a business. As for Al Flaherty’s – that was the last time I’ve been there. There is a difference between trying to get it right and just running a shop on a corner. I felt it very clearly and I’m not returning.
Chapter VII – S&B and Wolverine
Meanwhile, Wolverine got my returned scope. I’ve asked them to email S&B the story and ask them how a customer can trust their products after such experience. I was really curious on how they react to all that. Maybe it was just Zenith’s or Wolverine got a bad batch or what, I really wanted to know.
S&B even replied shortly saying in a detail why it could happen mechanically and it was a defect they need to repair, some apologies and so on.
But, this is not the best part. You see, Wolverine has this guy – Wolfgang Kuentzle I’ve been exchanging emails with. And let me tell you I was literary stunned by his attitude. The level of detail and attention to my concerns and questions was exceptional. As if pure amount of text he wrote each time and information he was looking up for me was not enough, he even translated what S&B said to me in an email in German! I know what you might think, I’ve even checked in disbelieve – it was NOT a machine translation, Google Translate makes no sense of that text whatsoever. He actually personally translated and typed English version of German text. During a conversation among other things I’ve asked what a warranty on Leica scopes was. You would expect maybe number or a sentence in return, a link to a website at best. No. Mr. Kuentzle looks up a printed manual included with the scope, finds exact pages with all warranty conditions and scans them for me. Dear Wolfgang I’m glad these 2 S&B broke on me so I could have this experience with you!
Back to business, Wolverine ran out of Zeniths to throw at me, as you might expect details on next available shipment were uncertain. Pushed by unstoppable momentum of “making it right” Wolfgang and I went through other available options. Wolverine, being exemplary retailer as they are, offered me a discount on anything I might like in exchange. So after some research I’ve ordered something else, but this is a completely different story…
Epilog
Here you go ladies and gentlemen, the Tale of Sako, S&B, Bad Luck and Customer Service ends here or rather goes into intermission. I hope it was more enjoyable to read then for me to go trough. Moreover we can draw some very valuable conclusions about products, companies and a supreme importance of customer service. Choose a brand which stands by its product and only deal with people who are willing to make an extra step after charging you credit card. Because anything can break, everything can go wrong and then an extra step will make a world of difference.
Have fun, life is good.
