Schmidt & Bender Warranty

[MikeTheRock]

As far as I've been able to see, the official warranty is only two years. Does anyone have any insights as to why it is so short or if I'm mis-reading something on their website or in the manuals?

Thanks

 

[bellero]

It used to be 25 years if I recall correctly.

 

[machinistbutler]

I think my zenith is thirty years. Never heard of a two year warranty.

 

[blargon]

The way i read the warranty is 2 years unconditional, 10 years for defects but not wear and tear.

They guarantee parts available for 30 years, but not free.

http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/service/warranty.html

 

[machinistbutler]

I think in the states they still get lifetime, most of europe changed the way they do warranty the last few years.

 

[Longshot]

Who deals with Canadian warranty issues? The illumination on my pm2 seems to have quit.

 

[MikeTheRock]

I think my zenith is thirty years. Never heard of a two year warranty.

The way i read the warranty is 2 years unconditional, 10 years for defects but not wear and tear.

They guarantee parts available for 30 years, but not free.

http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/service/warranty.html

Sorry - I should have been more clear I was looking at the PM series which seems to only have the two year warranty. I contacted S&B but all they did was send the manual for the PM series, which also refers to a two year limit.

Wolverine appears to add their own guarantee on top of/parrallel to the S&B warranty (a nice touch on their part BTW), but I'm interested in finding out for sure if the factory warranty is only two years.

 

[johnl]

Read it and weep.

http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/service/warranty.html

 

[1899]

There were some fairly recent changes in Europe to the laws regarding warranties, and this lead to the changes in length of warranties. I can't remember the details, but I am sure someone with good google skills will be able to find it.

 

[MikeTheRock]

Part of what prompted me to start this thread is the disconnect between S&B's stated warranty (on their website) and other information floating out there. For instance, Midway's website says the PM 2 has a 30 year warranty. Who knows, maybe the guy setting up the wesbite mis-read the parts availability bit from S&B's website.

I'm on the fence between NF and S&B, but I can tell you that a two year factory warranty would remove all doubt of which to go with. I've tried emailing S&B again in hopes of getting a real response instead of just a forwarded copy of their manual.

 

[1899]

Part of what prompted me to start this thread is the disconnect between S&B's stated warranty (on their website) and other information floating out there. For instance, Midway's website says the PM 2 has a 30 year warranty. Who knows, maybe the guy setting up the wesbite mis-read the parts availability bit from S&B's website.

I'm on the fence between NF and S&B, but I can tell you that a two year factory warranty would remove all doubt of which to go with. I've tried emailing S&B again in hopes of getting a real response instead of just a forwarded copy of their manual.

I can tell you there is absolutely zero doubt which I would go with. About a year ago he US chose the S&B as their Precision Sniper Rifle scope and prior to that the US Marines chose the 3-12x50 PM II - which beat out 25 others in a two year test. They could have chosen any scope in the world for either of those two contracts.

If you are willing to spend S&B money, then why not look at Hensoldt as competition, instead of NF?

 

[MikeTheRock]

Good point on the nod from the US government, but they probably don't look at the warranty issue the same way as a civilian user will.

I hadn't taken a hard look at Hensoldt yet, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[hawk-i]

Hmmmm, and still no answer as to how long the actual warranty is, or did I miss it somewhere?

 

[1899]

Hmmmm, and still no answer as to how long the actual warranty is, or did I miss it somewhere?

Yes, the link to S&B's website was posted:

With the present Schmidt & Bender scope you are purchasing a high-quality product for which we give you a worldwide warranty under the following conditions:

Within 30 years from the date of the purchase we undertake to entertain a permanent stock of the required spare parts and make sure that our service engineers have all the necessary skills and capabilities to perform the required repair work.

Within 2 years from the date of the purchase we grant a warranty with respect to the applicable statutory warranty claims of the buyer.

As far as the scopes of the Zenith, Klassik and Hungaria series are concerned, the warranty with respect to the statutory warranty claims shall be valid within 10 years from the date of the purchase, with the restriction that any jobs and repairs performed as a result of wear and tear will not be covered by this warranty from the beginning of the 3rd year from the date of the purchase.

The warranty will not be valid for damages caused by improper use.

The warranty shall become void after any intervention and repair performed by any repair service we did not authorize to perform the repair.

 

[1899]

Also note, as I mentioned earlier, laws passed in Europe put certain limits on warranties. See the last page of the operating manual for the PM II here clink on the last download "Instruction Manual PM II Dual Use":
http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/downloads/information/category/5-instruction-manuals.html

 

[hawk-i]

Thanks 1899, so two years for a 3000.00 plus dollar scope and no guarantee of parts availibility....well, I guess that's better than SFA! I wonder if this will reduce the value of a used S&B scope...would make one think, save say 500.00 off new price and no warranty or, pay the new price and get two years. I think I'd go for the new one.

 

[ivo]

It's a shame that the 2 scopes I was most interested in for my new build both have the yest warranties in the buisness. S&B and March are out. I guess I'll be ordering another USO pretty soon.

 

[ivo]

I can tell you there is absolutely zero doubt which I would go with. About a year ago he US chose the S&B as their Precision Sniper Rifle scope and prior to that the US Marines chose the 3-12x50 PM II - which beat out 25 others in a two year test. They could have chosen any scope in the world for either of those two contracts.

If you are willing to spend S&B money, then why not look at Hensoldt as competition, instead of NF?

You don't think S&B could have bought those contracts? We all know its not always the best "product" that wins a contract rather the best "contract" that wins a contract.

 

[bearkilr]

Thanks 1899, so two years for a 3000.00 plus dollar scope and no guarantee of parts availibility....well, I guess that's better than SFA! I wonder if this will reduce the value of a used S&B scope...would make one think, save say 500.00 off new price and no warranty or, pay the new price and get two years. I think I'd go for the new one.

No, they guarantee parts availability for 30 years. Read it again.

"Within 30 years from the date of the purchase we undertake to entertain a permanent stock of the required spare parts and make sure that our service engineers have all the necessary skills and capabilities to perform the required repair work."

And why is everyone so concerned over warranty periods? It's a rare occurrence that you'd need it on a S&B. Everyone seems to be getting pretty accustomed to the frequent trips their Leupold and Vortex take to the shop. It's not par for the course with all optics.

 

[1899]

You don't think S&B could have bought those contracts? We all know its not always the best "product" that wins a contract rather the best "contract" that wins a contract.

I doubt it, considering that the S&B is probably the most expensive scope in each respective category. Correct me if I am wrong, but they are also the only ones who grind their own lenses (they purchased their supplier).