Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leica Warranty Issue #2...

Not that we're a superstitious bunch......grin.

All I can say is that my 2 Geovids have run perfectly without a hitch for those 5 or 6 years. Perfect ranging, long battery life and you obviously are quite familiar with the glass 'cuz of your spotters.........gin clear, end to end.

I owned 2 Leica BN's and 2 of their 1200 LRF's as well prior to acquiring the Geovids. I made the decision to consolidate my "necessary gear", of which glass and rangefinders belong. The Geovids were the obvious choice.....and a very limited one at that time as well. For a total of literally only a couple of ounces more (than a Leica bino and LRF's combined weight) and a few more $ (not much, either), I carry one piece of equipment rather than 2 and if that's not enough, I can range an animal faster than one can even place his hand in his pack or pocket in an attempt to retrieve his stand alone rangefinder........which then still requires the reacquisition of the animal and the eventual repocketing of the rangefinder until the next potential target reveals itself. On some days, that can happen quite often.

You know what's best for you and this post is offered to convey my last several years experience with this fine offering. My son and daughter love them as well and on a varmint hunt where there are multiple targets at varying ranges, this unit is invaluable. Try spotting a particular PDog at 400 yards with your binos and then try to acquire him quickly with a stand alone rangefinder. If the guy next to you has a Geovid and has targeted the same 'dog, that 'dog will be mist before you can even get your rifle pointed in the right direction......truly. I know, I do it to my varmint huntin' partner all the time.........and love it.

I suppose any company can put out a lemon and even though I've only owned a small sample of 7 Leica's, I've not had any problems so far with any of them. If and when you decide to "bite the bullet', I hope that your experience will be as satisfying as mine.

I've got the 10X's and 8X's, but had I the choice of only one, I'd opt for the 10X's.

Good luck........

Man am I glad I bought the Zeiss Binoculars (per Rick's recomendation) and not the Leica's! I have been hoping to upgrade my range finder and was very interested in the new Leica, I guess the only other contender is the Swaro for a bit more money.

At one time I bought one of the last demo 8x32 Trinovids with a lifetime warranty and I got the same deal as Matt. The notice sent me said 10yr. I called right back and spoke to Liz (at that time) and she straightened out after I explained things but even that minor bump made me nervous. The paperwork I submitted plainly stated lifetime. To me it was a sneaky attempt.

I have been contemplating another Leica but doubt it now.

I will say I have used their warranty and service dept on several occasions with little trouble but the last time was probably 2 years ago.

If they continue they will see a market share loss.

Dave

I'm a huge Leica fan, having used the 10x42 BA's for the past 10 years being very satisfied. Having said that, after hearing several stories like Matt's, I'm probably through buying their stuff. When you spend that kind of bucks on optics you do not deserve that kind of service, period. I'll anxiously check out the new Zeiss rangefinder. Good luck Matt.

Terry Moore is a totally class act. In my opinion, the rest of Leica USA is not so much.

I've talked to other gun writers about this and they seemingly always respond, "Well, Leica is a really small optics company. Because of this, they think really, really small."

OK, if that is the reason, maybe Leica USA should not promise "lifetime" and deliver less. Nobody likes a lie.

I also have boo-coo Leica gear and I purchased it simply because I love their optics. I have never received, nor asked for, a free or discounted Leica product. I paid my hard-earned dollars, just like everybody else, for my Leica stuff.

I may rethink that loyalty when it comes time for me to buy new optics.

Steve

10-4

The only Leica product I have right now is an LRF 1200 Scan. I love it, plain and simple. I have never had to use Leica's customer service or warranty, so I can't speak to any of that.

However, what has me most curious after following all this for a while, is whether or not Leica is truly trying to pull a fast one on their customers, or whether there was some kind of snafu regarding warranties within the company. Let me explain.

Let's say that Leica recently changed their policy such that no Leica USA product will be covered under a Lifetime warranty. The employees are told that "from now on, all our products are covered by the 10 year warranty" ...

So, when these items that were produced prior to that time, and have a lifetime passport warranty card with them, are sold ... the customer fills out the card and sends it in. Are the employees just seeing "warranty card" and not really paying attention to it ... then grabbing what they think is the new, standard warranty document (the 10 year warranty) ... filling it out, and sending it back to the customer?

I know that example probably isn't written too well, but you get the point, I hope ...

Thing is, if they are actively trying to scam their customers, there's just no excuse for that, and I can't see how anyone can support purchasing anything new from them. However, if they are simply screwed up internally, and this systemic problem is truly an oversight that needs to be fixed, there is still hope.

From the sounds of it though, I have to say it sounds like they are trying to pull one over on their customers and just send back the 10 year warranty cards in hopes that the customer will get the mail, see it's the warranty card, and then just file it away - all the time thinking they are covered for a lifetime, when in reality they are only covered for 10 years ...

oh well ... time for me to just sit back in the cheap seats again and continue to watch/read here as to how things progress with this issue ...

That's my take, having BTDT........

Once again it matters who is answering the phone.
ONE thing I learned from my east coast FIL is if you don't get the answer you expect or want ask somebody else. Sometimes this just means calling the "800" number again to get somebody in a better mood or getting ahold of someone in charge but it works.

In today's age of communication, people talk-------fast. It won't take long for the Big Three to become the Big Two if Leica doesn't shape up their act learn what customer service is. For the last few years I've been second guessing my Swaro purchase, thinking maybe I should have gone with Leica. At this point I'll live with whatever optical deficiency my ELs might have, and be happy that Swaro knows how to treat it's customers.

Gentlemen,
I greatly appreciate your input and support...

Friend Steve,
Completely concur on Mr. Moore...

I have Leica 8x42 BLs, 8x20 BLs, 8x20 BCs, Televid 77 APO Angled with 20x-60x Zoom and 32x fixed. Not to mention an LRF 1200 Scan. I've been buying Leica for more than a few years. HAD decided to buy a Geovid BRF, however, a 2 year Warranty on a $2100-2800 Binocular Rangefinder is too much of a chance for my money...

And yes the "lie" is the part that makes me see red more than anything else. They could benefit from some intensive truth in advertising and customer service training. I find the entire situation distasteful...

Best Regards, Matt Garrett
757-581-6270

Matt ... with what you've just said, I'll have to now consider that what Leica is doing is 'on purpose', and trying to pull a fast one on their customers ... and I couldn't agree more that it's extremely distasteful at best.

Thanks for the info ...

I hope this thread gets forwarded to Leica... I've only had one 8x32 BN and 8x20 BR and currently have an 8x32 BR and LRF 1200, so I'm not in the customer class of some on this thread, but I plan on buying more optics in the future. Would like to see Leica's USA service get cleaned up.

And they NEED to offer a 7x32 Ultravid... ok, that's just in case they're actually listening to customers (grin).

Come on now. Don't you think I've been busy making peoples lives miserable over at Leica since I saw this thread.
It is being discussed as I type with all the head Muckity Mucks at Leica.
It is in no way any intentional scam at Leica to get out of lifetime warranties on the existing goods in the market place that still have those warranty cards. It is a mass of confusion due to multiple warranty changes in the past year. It is all being smoothed out and the CS people are being advised so everyone is on the same page.
Please (I know I am asking a lot) be patient. Those of you that know the way these European companies operate know that there is a slow understanding curve between the parent company over in Europe and the USA. They do not react/respond the way we do.
We all know that Leica makes the type and quality of product that is what other companies strive for. This CS/Warranty issue is being straightened out, have no concerns. If I can be of ANY assistance to ANY of you, whether you purchased your Leica from me or from some other Leica dealer, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US. We are here to help out all memebers of this forum.

Thanks Doug and as I pointed out and can be as simple as the individual on the other end of the line needing a "tune-up".

One problem I see is the changing warranty and the fact it has been a constant change for the last 2-3 years. Started with the demo products and now the new product.

Dave

Thanks Doug,
I love Leica gear but this thread was starting to worry me a bit, especially since I am paying off a new 8x32BN on layaway at my local sporting goods store. I was starting to worry about sending in my warranty card when I pick them up in a week or two.

Thanks for calming the waters a bit.
John

I'll worry about this when/if I ever break my 8x42 Ultravids. If/when that happens, if they fix it, great. If not, well, I'll just buy Swaro, or Zeiss, or whatever.

Until then, there's plenty else that'll be worried about LONG before that.

And besides, I can always just call Doug (or rather Neil, as Doug's always off fishing somewhere fun..... ), and get schit taken care of or replaced with something else.

My favorite pair of binoculars is, in fact, a pair of Leica 8x32s but I realize that none of the foriegn companies stand behind their guarentees like American companies do..Ziess really ripped off a couple of friends of mine.

I won't buy another foriegn glass, if its not made in the USA then I will do without..I, and a number of my friends have been ripped by several of the foriegn optic companies in past years and I talk to clients all the time that have complaints about foriegn optics and failure to guarentee for reasons that are ridiculas....

Ray, have you heard of any bad CS experiences with Swarovski? I'm a Leica guy, Leitz 7x35, Trino 3x32BN, Ultravid 8x42BR and a 900 CRF, so haven't had any Swaro CS experience but I have read lots of very positive comments here about Swaro's customer service. They might be the exception to your foriegn company rule of thumb. Actually I have had good experiences with Fujinon, Nikon and Pentax as well.

And THAT is why I will always buy my optics and camera gear from Doug.

Kudos, my friend!

rb

i guess this thread made me narrow my search for a pair of binos to zeiss and swarovski .