Well,I said I would post back on my experience with Zeiss customer service on my FL's and I just received them back a few minutes ago. So here it is:
A little background...I bought a used set Victory FL's in early May. When I got them, they were a little rougher than the owner let on, but the price was super cheap, so there you go.
I sent them to Zeiss right away, as they seemed to need colimating and certainly cleaning, and the end cap on the hinge had gone missing. I also asked them to check them out to see if they needed glass or anything else, and to please let me know what their impressions were so I could make a decision on next steps.
So this is mid to late May.
Well, I never heard from anyone, but I got a bill for about $500. Fair enough, glass is not covered by the warranty. But I called as I had thought it was. The person I talked to looked at them and said she would not bother, as the marks were minimal and would not affect anything. When I asked why the tech just billed me, she basically admitted that they did not read the letter (which they request you send to them) the tech just saw 'glass, clean, refocus' and just billed me whether it was needed or not.
Fine, that's okay, she was nice and honest. I'll just do the warranty stuff, which was cleaning and collimating etc. They say it will be out by the end of the week. So I wait. I check after a another month. One more week they say.
So I wait.
Finally, I call them in late August. They tell me they are ordering glass for it and it will be a few more weeks. That's surprising, but sounds good enough to wait for. So I wait.
Then I called last week. No return call. I call again. No return call. I call again. No return call.
Then they show up at my door today. What did I get?
Nothing really. They might have cleaned the inside and done the collamating and they did replace the little badge. But the outsides were dirty, clearly not cleaned at all. There was dust on them from probably sitting on a shelf. Honestly, I am not sure they did anything other than replace the badge.
So 5 months of waiting for a poorly executed cleaning, hopefully refocused, and a little badge.
I like the binos....but NOT the service. If I had gotten new glass as they said I would, I could overlook the wait etc. But they really did not even do a very good job with the basic warranty stuff...and made me wait 5 months for that.
So my response on Zeiss service? If service is important to you, my experience suggests you look elsewhere. I have read of great service on here from Zeiss, and I have a Conquest HD scope that I like as well. But if I ever get to the high end stuff at full price, Zeiss will not be on the list for me. I am definitely very disappointed in what I got back and how long I had to wait to get it. YMMV.
That sucks!!
