Sorry to hear about this Vic, I have had bad experiences with a couple of manufacturers in the past personally and it does put you off. In my role at Focalpoint Optics we come across bad service occasionally and as good service for our customers is something we pride ourselves on our only sanction is to drop any supplier who does not come up to standard. We have dropped a couple of suppliers like this in my time as manager, one that was dropped in addition to these has since been taken on again as they have proved themselves to be a changed outfit!
Swarovski are undoubtably superb at aftersales service, they always seem to do the decent thing and customers go away pleased. However Leica and Zeiss (since we're talking the top 3 brands) have changed considerably and they both now give excellent service too. All three brands supply spares which we can replace & fit for customers free of charge, but only if the original equipment was purchased from us. Opticron too have an excellent record of customer service but as expected with a more budget brand their spares are available at varying costs, but we have those in the shop too, and none usually cost more than £10.
I f you want just pop out and have a look at what's available & a chat about aftersales service, Vic, I wouldn't write off any brand just yet, as always whichever suits your eyes the best is the best one to get
Wish I could say the same for Leica. I sent a pair of Leica 8x32 back via the shop at Stockport {now sadly only dealing on line as the personal service was excellent). The binos had some type of black dust inside. They came back with not even a note to say what they had done with them. After using them for a couple of days they were as bad as ever and I went back with them. The owner of the shop was not very impressed with Leica to say the least and sent them back again paying for the insurance out of his own pocket. Again they were returned and everything seemed fine until some months later. Using them on a wet day one of the object lens had fogged up inside. On checking closely, they had cleaned the inside of the bins but had only forgotten to replace the rubber seal!
I've had dealings with them twice prior to this for repairs that were needed due to faults in the bins rather than anything I had done , on each occasion the service I got was awful. As the next pair of bins I buy will probably be my last I intend, to get Swarovski as I wouldn't touch Leica again with a barge pole.
I
-- Edited by vic chatterton on Thursday 19th of November 2015 12:12:58 PM
Hi Craig, pleased to be able to help & I agree it was a fabulous example of the sort of after sales service that Swarovski give. Damage like that, self imposed, would have cost big bucks if the full cost had been passed on to you. But Swarovski did a cracking job at a fraction of the price that I expected. Today I replaced a customers objective caps for his Swarovski SLC bins, again I needed to contact them for the bits & they were sent free of charge, all I had to do was fit them!! I can't fault this service and hope that our little part in it all helps too
About three weeks ago I was out with the dog - a recently acquired rescue. I always take a pair of bins with me, usually the pair I keep in the car, but on this occasion for some reason I had taken my 12month old Swaro's. Unfortunately the dog decided to jump up at me for some unknown reason and I heard that horrible noise that could only have been claw on glass! I instantly checked to find a lovely scratch across one objective. To say I was annoyed is an understatement. Anyway I phoned Doc at Focalpoint who was hugely helpful and arranged for them to be sent back to Swarovski for a quote and repair. I was prepared for having to go through the rigmarole of an insurance claim, but Swarovski somehow managed to repair them for a ridiculously low price and I got them back last week, repaired, cleaned and sparkling. Huge thanks to Doc and Swarovski. Needless to say I will not be taking them out again if the dog (who's still here and healthy) is coming along.
__________________
No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
