Minox refused to repair my binocs.

My Vortex range finders button would stick sometimes, I walked in to their lobby, told the receptionist what was wrong, within minutes I had the newest , 1level upgrade in my hands, no charge.

A friend had been a fan of Stiener until he needed some warranty work done. No more.

Bought the Vortex Fury range finding binos, I carelessly left the covers off and the objective looked like it was sandblasting from grinding off the rocks. Sent them to Vortex told them what I did & asked for a repair quote. They sent a brand new pair in the box including the chest rig free of charge. Didn't expect that but Ill recommend them to anyone, you usually don't hear the good on the negatives but Leupold, Exo Mountain Gear, & Yeti are a few others who stand behind their products.

WOW!! You mustnot have any really good ones.

I had a 8.5 X 25 X 50 Leupold. I got it with canted reticle. Sent it back 3 times. The 3 time I had it upgraded to MLR or so crap. Still came back canted. But it had the Newest latest greatest reticle. Sold that junker at a pawn shop cut my losses. Bought 7 or 8 Nightforce scopes since then. NEVER had an issue.

Like anything else there are good ones, and not so good ones. A likely ratio is one of the first kind to nine of the latter

Please let us know what they say Waggler. I for one am very curious. Below is what they sent back to me when they received my binoculars.......


Dear Chancey,

We have completed the inspection on your Dialyt ("ClassiC") 10x40, Serial # 2858167.

Note: Fortunately we don't see fungus growth as far as we can tell without opening. This means that we can still open the optic and replace the needed parts. This is time sensitive as fungus could develop and we will not be able to open it for service. The repairs listed below would have to be approved as a whole.

Note: If fungus is found when opened the repairs will cease to continue. As this could contaminate other optics in our shop.

Inspection Results

· Focus drive and diopter needs reworked

· Eye cups damaged

· Left prism has fog

· Left objective lens has fog

· Left ocular lens has water internal

Necessary Repair(s)

· Rework and lubricate focus drive and diopter

· Replace left prism

· Replace left objective lens

· Replace left ocular lens

· Perform alignment

Necessary Repair(s) Cost is $1,183.22

Goodwill Repair(s)

· Replace both eyecups

· Clean outside of optic

Optional Repair(s)

· Replace right ocular lenses

Optional Repair(s) Cost is $158.95



Total for Necessary Repair is $1,183.22

Total for Necessary Repair with Optional Repair is $1,342.17

Thanks Osky. I did call them after they sent me that quote. I talked to the customer relations people and gave my thoughts that I thought fogged up glass should be covered under warranty. They informed me that they gave me a good deal to buy the updated model for $750 dollars rather than spending the $1300 on repairs. Said they were giving me that set of binos for $300 off. I respectfully declined and asked them to send them back to me. I did not ask for one of their supervisors or try to go up the chain.

It just sucks cause those binos were my workhorse, and Zeiss don't even make that model no more. When you get used to using a tool, it is hard to replace it.

My best friend has a pair of Swaro ELs. He dropped it on a rock and broke one of the lenses. He sent it to them, and they gave him a brand new pair free of charge. Swarovski honors their warranty.

Hoss, I don't know about Leupold as I have never had to send one of my scopes off; they have served me well. But I can say one thing about Nikon. Their customer service is top notch and they honor their warranties. I sent beat up, lens cap broke, scratched glass, non-focusing 20 year old binos to them, and they fixed and refurbished them free of charge.

Find some mold somewhere and soak your binos in it, then send them back in a friends name.

That’s insane. By the response Zeiss sent back to you I am to gather that all these past years the factory repairs went back out contaminated and dangerous number one, and number two the repair workers all these years have been dropping like flies due to fungal diseases?
There are air filtering/exchange systems that handle that for even the biggest factories, I am invested in one such company maybe my people should talk to their people?

Call me crazy but working with sealed optics in which a completely dust/contaminant free environment would be the optimum, a company like zeiss is behind the eight ball?
Silly me.

I’m glad this topic came up. As I said I do have a couple Zeiss, and as I also said I do not think for the valu they are the best out there. I “ need” two more pieces of glass at this time and this thread has taken zeiss off the table for me for good.

Osky

i sent in a Zeiss spotting scope for repair a couple years ago. They charged me zero and even paid for shipping.

I have since switched to Swarovski spotters and binocs. Nightforce and Leupold scopes.

A fine example of an over-rated friend.