Dissappointed with service on Leupold Binos

travis_

travis_

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London, ON
Just thought I would write a review of my recent experience with Sail and Leupold. I am slightly disappointed with the service from both.

In early January I bought a pair of Leupold 10x25 binoculars on sale for $99 at Sail in Burlington. Having had a problem with Leupold VX II scope (dysfunctional power ring that was defective from new) I felt slightly more inclined to spend a less and buy Bushnell. However, Leupold’s warranty on these (lifetime for original purchasers) made me reconsider. I decided for the warranty and price it was worth it.

The day I unpacked them the sticker with the serial number (that also said ‘Made in Philippines’) fell off. I emailed Leupold to inquire about how this would impact my warranty. They guaranteed me that it wouldn’t be a problem (which it hasn’t been – yet).

Anyways, I hunted with the binos maybe 4-5 times with a maximum of 15 hours of in-field usage. During this use they were never dropped, hit or abused. Nonetheless, the cheap plastic collars inside the eyepieces broke. Unfortunately this happened in the last week which is about three months from the initial purchase.

I called Sail and asked if they would deal with the warranty issues for me as I did not want to have to pay to ship them to Leupold for repair. Sail told me it wasn’t a problem and that they would pay for shipping. So I drove 45 minutes to their store and filled out the appropriate paperwork with them. After all of that they told me I would have to pay for the shipping. I told them that I had been told over the telephone earlier that day that Sail would cover it. In turn they said that I was misinformed by the person I spoke with and that they definitely would not do anything for me.

In light of this I decided I would contact Leupold directly. I assumed they would take care of me in this instance because the product is new and clearly defective. However, Leupold head office said that they wouldn’t pay for shipping because I was a Canadian customer and that I could call Korth Group (Canadian repair place) and request that they pay for shipping. I asked if Leupold would reimburse Korth for this cost and they told me they wouldn’t. Of course Korth would not pay shipping, which is understandable because they are just a repair centre and not the manufacturer.

In the end, I am out the shipping cost to have them repaired – regardless of the fact that they have barely been used and are clearly cheap defective junk. I know it is not a lot of money and the binos were definitely on the low-end of Leupold’s line, but I feel it is the point of the matter and not the money. In fact, the low amount of money it would have cost Leupold and that my treatment was different because I am a Canadian customer makes it even worse. I feel that Leupold was cheap while Sail is just full of incompetent staff and unwilling to go a bit extra to help a customer out.

I have had great experience with warranty from FoxPro and Streamlight in the past. FoxPro or Streamlight didn’t make me pay shipping on their defective products. They footed the entire bill and ensured that I received the quality product that I paid for.

Please don’t flame me for being cheap - like I said it is the point of the matter….
 
Did they cover shipping on your scope when you had it repaired? I'm guessing not. So why would they do it on your binoculars?
Seems to me you want them to cover shipping as they were so cheap the shipping cost is 25% of total price they were new.
Sorry, but very few manufacturers cover shipping to the repair facility. My advise; buy some better quality binoculars. :)
 
bearkilr said:
Did they cover shipping on your scope when you had it repaired? I'm guessing not. So why would they do it on your binoculars?
Seems to me you want them to cover shipping as they were so cheap the shipping cost is 25% of total price they were new.
Sorry, but very few manufacturers cover shipping to the repair facility. My advise; buy some better quality binoculars. :)
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I thought they should have paid shipping because the binos were immeditely defective. And the fact that it'll cost about 25% of the purchase price for me to have a functional pair doesn't seem right to me. Leupold should stand behind their product. If its so 'cheap' than they shouldn't make it.

Just my opinion.
 
Yeah if the employee on the phone said they would cover it from Sail then they should have covered it even if they miss informed you. Customer service is the key to repeat customers and a successful buisness. Hope you never go back.
 
travis_ said:
I thought they should have paid shipping because the binos were immeditely defective. And the fact that it'll cost about 25% of the purchase price for me to have a functional pair doesn't seem right to me. Leupold should stand behind their product. If its so 'cheap' than they shouldn't make it.

Just my opinion.
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But you knew ahead of time that Leupold doesn't cover shipping. Initial purchase price has no affect on a company's warranty policy.
You used them for 4-5 hunts, 15 hours total usage. That's more than you'll get out of $100 worth of gas these days. :)
Chalk it up to experience, save up and buy a better quality set. You can get a decent quality set for $400 and up from various manufacturers, and in an 8x20 or 10x25, you can head to Ebay and probably pick up a Zeiss, Leica or Swarovski for a few hundred, if you're on the ball.
 
You paid more in gas for the hour and a half driving you did and 2 hours of time, than shipping would have cost you. Pay the shipping or buy better binos
 
Really? You are making a fuss about shipping cost of bimbos, 1 way........ You do realize that they will pay for the shipping back to you right? You do realize that using them for 3 months only doesn't make them bnib right? You cheeped out on the binos now you're cheating out on shipping? Buy right buy once, or shut up and get with the program, geez!
 
LuckyLuc82 said:
Really? You are making a fuss about shipping cost of bimbos, 1 way........ You do realize that they will pay for the shipping back to you right? You do realize that using them for 3 months only doesn't make them bnib right? You cheeped out on the binos now you're cheating out on shipping? Buy right buy once, or shut up and get with the program, geez!
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It should also be noted that Leupold cheaped out on making the product. I didn't realize that they made really low end stuff until now. I also used to think their products were made in America. I realize $130 (reg price) for binos is not that much, but the comparable bushnells were one third the cost and I just went with Leupold because of the name/warranty. I thought buying Leupold was 'buying right'.

And like I said in my initial post I wouldn't mind paying for the shipping if the binos had some use on them or they were older. But really not working after basically being hung around my neck for a dozen hours is Leupold's fault not mine.
 
I've put wear on binos after a single trek in the dense woods, if they were damaged because of use how can you say it's the company's fault, if you said you opened the box 3 months after purchase hung them around your neck and they got damaged I'd be on your side. Using them in the field even once in my mind puts you out of most people's sympathy category. Just pay the shipping, they will do a good job and you won't be disappointed.
 
Correct. They're warranty is lifetime. No reciept needed. You do not need to be the original owner.

Take a look on their Facebook page. They've had some pretty crazy returns and always make it right
 
I'm assuming that they are the yosemites? You must have got a dud, which sucks and I sympathize. On the other hand I love mine for the price(if that is the make you have). I would send them in mad have them repaired, there's always the possibility once korth oworks on it they could be a perfectly fine pair, that at the end of the day you're into for only 120 or so bucks. I don't think it is a surprise for Leupold USA not to deal with you, that is their multinational policy. Their deal with korth means its gotta be with them. I don't mean to be rude, but yes you did know Leupold cheaped out on the bino's, otherwise they wouldn't have been cheap. Last thing I would say is most of the time on the phone if someone is promising you something in retail, get their name, you need someone to back you up that they said that, otherwise it's your word against a telephones.

That sucks you were dicked around, like TV press pass said, try Vortex. I hear more good things about their warranty than anyone else's.
 
TV-PressPass said:
Correct. They're warranty is lifetime. No reciept needed. You do not need to be the original owner.

Take a look on their Facebook page. They've had some pretty crazy returns and always make it right
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Cool. Their prices seem to be in the range of Leupold as well.

This last set was my first bino purchase and I didn't do as much research as I should have. I thought if I wanted an excellent warranty I would have to buy Leupold or some Euro brand that would be super expensive. In light of Vortex's product I guess I was wrong.
 
Blegend said:
I'm assuming that they are the yosemites? You must have got a dud, which sucks and I sympathize. On the other hand I love mine for the price(if that is the make you have). I would send them in mad have them repaired, there's always the possibility once korth oworks on it they could be a perfectly fine pair, that at the end of the day you're into for only 120 or so bucks. I don't think it is a surprise for Leupold USA not to deal with you, that is their multinational policy. Their deal with korth means its gotta be with them. I don't mean to be rude, but yes you did know Leupold cheaped out on the bino's, otherwise they wouldn't have been cheap. Last thing I would say is most of the time on the phone if someone is promising you something in retail, get their name, you need someone to back you up that they said that, otherwise it's your word against a telephones.

That sucks you were dicked around, like TV press pass said, try Vortex. I hear more good things about their warranty than anyone else's.
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I assumed that Leupold head office was just going to refer me to Korth but they didn't. They said I could send them to the US or to Korth and that if I was located in the US they would consider paying for shipping. Which I think is BS. There are plenty of locations within the US that would cost more for shipping as I am located on the border. Also, why would Leupold pay for an American but not a Canadian? What is the difference?

Another kind of insulting thing that Leupold did was suggest that I request Korth pay for the shipping. I asked if Leupold would reimburse them and they said no. So it seems strange that they would even think of having an independent repair centre foot the bill for that. Why would they expect Korth to pay?

Korth said they will likely just send me out new binoculars after they receive mine and that they have received others like that.
 
Sail is a joke same with a lot of their staff in my experience.

Was at the Oshawa location today and had a guy telling me that the parallax adjust on the scope was a bullet drop turret, that the bases I was looking for wouldn't work for the gun I had even though I have the identical gun with those bases, that I should use the highest rings possible, the list of stupidity goes on and on.
 
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