Leupolds at Bass Pro
- Thread starter Gillshot
- Start date
Many scope manufacturers have a similar arrangements in Canada (Nikon, Burris, Steiner, Vortex, Nightforce, Zeiss, Schmidt Bender to name a few). A few even have Canadian warranty depots and most will not do warranty in Canada for product not purchased through them. Phil.
nomad 68
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I find Nikon far more competitively priced. In fact, I have purchased one from you guys recently and may get a monarch 3 or prostaff 5 for one of my coyote guns. I am aware that Nikon runs a similar game to Leupold but it seems that they are keeping their pricing more reasonable. My Burris scopes are from a time when they were made in US and so far,so good. Iirc, I bought one in US. Thanks for the great service btw.
Somebody has to pay for a competent warranty centre in a small market like Canada, and that is through exclusive distributors. Leupold is not unusual.
Bass Pro is the offender, who does not care about its Canadian customers. Similarly, they are too incompetent to get some stick on French language labels, and thus discontinue selling reloading powder in Canada.
Cabelas seems to manage just fine in a foreign market like Canada, complying with our Canadian requirements.
Korth Group is a responsive service centre. The complainers should count their blessings, and maybe try not to cheap out. The lowest price is not always the best bargain.
Bass Pro is the offender, who does not care about its Canadian customers. Similarly, they are too incompetent to get some stick on French language labels, and thus discontinue selling reloading powder in Canada.
Cabelas seems to manage just fine in a foreign market like Canada, complying with our Canadian requirements.
Korth Group is a responsive service centre. The complainers should count their blessings, and maybe try not to cheap out. The lowest price is not always the best bargain.
That's just it, though. Who besides us in this thread knows about these arrangements prior to plonking down our money? And why should we be expected to? If I have a receipt from a business - and I'm talking about a large retailer such as Cabelas or BassPro - that is selling brand new Leupold scopes, then I should get the same warranty treatment as any of their other customers. As empirically demonstrated in this thread, they are damaging their reputation.
It's not unique to scope makers either. Watch companies do the same thing. That fancy Omega watch you bought at Costco or Amazon was not likely sold through an authorized dealer and does not qualify for factory warranty service.
For the "Canadian" price, I have come to realize there are better options than Leupold with the current Korth arrangement (the warranty helps retain value, and even if the scope was imported 'correctly' through Korth, the value is eroded somewhat as the question on the used market remains whether or not the particular scope can be serviced in Canada). Leupold is a good product, I've one on every rifle I own, all bought (or manufactured) new or used prior to 2008, but I will probably not be buying any more in the future. So yes, Leupold IS hurting their brand with this arrangement, as their warranty guarantee is no longer truly universal, no questions asked. Is it likely to be an issue? Not necessarily, as I've certainly not encountered any issues with any of my scopes, but it is (was) a lifetime warranty - anything can happen in the next decade(s).
The Leupold warranty is universal...it is made a little more complicated by a few dealers who choose to bypass the Leupold authorized Canadian distribution and warranty. Other than BassPro I am unaware of any large retailer in Canada not selling authorised product. If you bought your Leupold scope through "Buddy's Discount Sales" in the USA then it should come as no surprise that the warranty goes back through the USA. There are a few grey market direct importers in Canada who are breaching Leupold's own export regulations and unfortunately don't always advise consumers where their product originates from and where their warranty coverage has to go. To be fair I doubt that 1 or 2 Leupold scopes out of a thousand sold in Canada comes from this type of source. Phil.
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nomad 68
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Heard this today myself. Apparently Bass Pro was approached by the Cabelas ownership with an offer to sell. They are supposedly hammering out the details. Presently, Bass Pro has 94 stores vs 75 for Cabelas.
I don't see how that would have much impact on the current arrangement. In the end it's dollars and market share that are important and those eventually make the final decisions as to who sells what. Once in a while certain personalities knock heads in our industry and that sometimes results in surprising relationships. Currently there are big changes occurring in the optics business in the USA. Canada and Europe with many different individuals moving around...time will tell if the right people are in the best position. We try to keep in good relationships with all concerned and are careful not to publicly bad mouth someone today that we might have to suck up to tomorrow. Phil.
