Just looking for others experiences with Nikon. I have an older Nikon scope I bought new about 15 years ago, a 2-7 x32 variable that just started malfunctioning, where the variable knob will not turn, so it is locked at 2x.

Have not started the process with Nikon, but am looking for others experiences with them before I do start the process.

I had a 4.5-14 Buckmasters that I have owned for long while go down a couple of years ago. I called Nikon and got an RA # which went very smoothly and sent it to their repair facility in California.

It took a total of 14 days to get the scope sent in, fixed, and sent back. 10 of those days was transit time with UPS.


I thought they did very well and the scope is still working fine.

Anyone else?

nikon's camera repair policy is absolute [bleep]. Won't buy another one. Hope their scope policy is better.

they won't fix it. they'll replace it. i sent in a nice little 1.5-4.5x20mm UCC that cost $225 new and got back a completely different style 2.5-6x36 that was 3 inches longer and had a turkey plex on it that i could have bought on amazon for $150. ended up selling it for $100. fugg nikon.

That was pretty much my experience. Only mine was a $10k survey instrument.

No more Nikon.

had an issue with Nikon, all they would say is send it in. I asked if they would fix or replace, and the reply was always "send it in" then you're at their mercy. funny thing was all I wanted was a fix on an aftermarket accessory. the scope itself was fine. they still wanted me to send the whole works in.

Good luck, no more Nikon for me either because of that.

Took me about a year and countless phone calls to convince them that I did not need to send in a scope to get replacement adjustment turret caps. Then another six months to get the matte black instead of the silver ones they sent the first time.

Had a similar issue with an older pre-Monarch 3-9×40....sticking variable ring. They replaced it with a new Monarch 3 2.5-10×42. Good trade on my part but if I was trying to scope a lightweight rifle it wouldn't be my first choice. I'd submit a claim and send it back in and follow up with a phone call to make sure you get a choice on replacement if they decide to do so.

Good luck if you don't have the original sales receipt and registration info. If you do, your chances are 50/50 at best.

For those that are saying good luck, have you had recent dealings with them on a warranty? I have and had good timely service. It's my understanding that they have made great strides in their CS.

In your dealings, did you have the receipt and warranty card? Not sure I will be able to find those.

No in fact I had bought it used from a buddy and I'm not sure where he had gotten it from. I assume because of age they didn't have parts or didn't want to even mess with trying to repair.

Nikon recently implemented the same warranty as Vortex - the "I'm and idiot who doesn't know how to use a scope or binocular so no matter what I do they will send me a new optic". While this might sound good it costs the rest of us more money in the way of higher prices because of idiots and the me, me, me mentality. It will also hinder improvements in existing optics lines. Say Nikon improves the Monarch 3 series of scopes with better glass or 5X magnification ranges. I can literally take every Monarch 3 scope I own and smash it with a hammer, send it in and get a new one free. So what reason does Nikon have to make improvements?

So taking a company up on its lifetime warranty is a me, me, me attitude? I was hoping they'd just repair it for a nominal fee but they didn't give that option, it was replacement only. The consumer controls price. If they start marking them up too high to cover warranty costs people will go with another brand.

No using a lifetime warranty is fine but having to have a lifetime warranty that covers everything regardless of what happened to compete is rediculous. If the magnification adjustment stops working after 10 years it's one thing but if you drop your rifle out of the tree and your scope gets smashed on a rock how is it the manufactures fault in any way shape or form? It's just sad that manufactures need to have to offer such stupid things to compete.

Ask the higher end fly rod makers how a no fault lifetime warranty worked out for them? They couldn't change the guides they put on the rods or even the color they paint the blanks because as soon as they changed something on the rods they would get a huge spike in warranty returns because people were breaking the rods on purpose to get the newest version. When warranty replacements started approaching 50% of the total rods the companies made they decided that something needed to be done and they stopped honoring the warranty in the way they were in the past.

I have had excellent C/S from Nikon on two different occasions. I bought a scope from a guy on here once, claimed nothing was wrong with it, when I got it and looked through it, looked like you were looking at a football. I called them, they gave me an RGA number, I sent it in and in about 10 days they sent me a brand spanking new one. Only thing it cost me was the freight to them.

As long as we're talking warrantees, anybody have to deal with Minox? I recently bought a $600 Minox, brand new in the box. Mounted it on the rifle I wanted to use for an upcoming elk hunt. Hot it mounted on the rifle, got it all leveled out and proceeded to bore sight the scope. Well the elevation went smoother than a babies bottom. When I went to set the windage, the crosshair never made it to the vertical line in the bore sighter. Stopped dead about a three lines shy of the line. Called Minox and they told me where to send it in. It's in the hands of Fedex now. Probably won't see it till sometime next year and my hunt starts in 30 days. GRRR! You'd think something that cost that much would be in working order. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Paul B.

PJ the question is were the crosshairs moving? Did they move as much as they should and your scope mount or rifle has something off on it? I've mounted many scopes that had all the travel they should have but the mounts or rifle were the problem that didn't allow the rifle to be sighted in.

Did you shoot the gun or just trust the bore sighter?

someone on this site works for nikon. i sent one back and had posted here that i sent it back,he pm'd me and asked me to give him my order number from nikon and he checked on it for me. i got mine back very fast.they repaired it.

I can't argue with you there. The no fault warranties while nice to have if you need it, have to drive the costs up. I'd be fine paying 25% less knowing if I damaged it due to obvious neglect that the warranty wasn't valid.

i sent an older Monarch in for repair and received a model back that was at least 200 dollars higher than the one i sent in. Only took a couple weeks total time. Great service. BURRIS on the other hand sucks ass. ED K

The crosshairs moved toward the vertical line, then stopped and would go no farther. The adjustment knob felt like it had run to the end of it's allowed movement.
Paul B.

So...

the majority of folks have a bad experience with a company standing behind what they make and sell,

Customer service is hit or miss with that company, at best.

Why would someone buy a product from them, when there are many companies that DO stand behind what they sell?

I will give them a call later and see how it works out. From these posts I am hopeful of a positive experience.

CV, Nikon will take good care of you. Drop me a note if I can be of any help to you in the return process. I'm sure they will replace it with a like model since your scope is no longer made. Please keep me in the loop to let me know how it goes for you. I do freelance Shooting Event's/PR for Nikon but I am not a Nikon employee. I do have the ear of some higher ups at Nikon and they take CS seriously.

I have been looking at buying a back up set of binos. I am a solid Zeiss guy but at 1k and up the Nikons look like a decent option for a back up.

Any ideas here? Stay away from them because of the warranty issues or???

I sent a 3 X 9 Monark in for not holding zero on my wife's 6.5 Grendel. The scope has less than 100 rounds fired under it. That was 8 weeks ago and no response. I don't have a lot patience with poor customer service. That will be my last Nikon.

My NIKON 520 (?) is currently at NIKON. Camera won't turn on. Everyone on the internet identified this as a software problem, which sounds like a manufacturing/design defect. Nikon is trying to conceal the defect and control the spin, because Nikon refuses to tell me what is wrong with the camera - just send them $150 and they will fix it.


Complete BS.

i had a brand new rimfire prostaff that sit in the box for 10 years. yes! installed it, and it wouldn't track for nothing. the adjustments meant nothing to that scope. after filling out a lot of computer generated paperwork, etc. they examined it and sent me a brand new replacement. it's as bright as the original, and both boxes said "Phillippines."

i'm satisfied with that service. but that said, warranties are an expense that somebody pays.

We're talking about nikon sport optics, not cameras. They are so different as to they shouldn't even be considered the same company.

I bought a pre Monarch from a guy here on the fire it was old enough it had red accent stripes I put it on an 7.62 x 39 AR it just was not clear
I went to the site and started an RA shipped it back they sent back the same Japanese scope clear as a bell I was just thrilled

Its really a great little AR scope
Hank

Well, were you looking at a football?

Thanks for the offer, but I called CS line and explained the problem, and received a Service number. Customer rep seemed a little puzzled over the model of scope, and problem, but eventually settled on the fact that it will need to be sent in. I will be sending it in later this week. So far so good.

I have a pair of Monarch 5, 10x42, that I have hunted with for the past two years and I am very happy with them.

Nikon has Never, I repeat Never require me to produce a sales receipt or waranty card for anything I sent in. I bought two older scopes from someone else, told Nikon I was not original owner and they said, no problem. You're still covered. They treated me very well.

A quick update for my original post. Sent the malfunctioning scope in on about 12-1-15. Received a replacement scope today, a Monarch 3, 2x8.

All parts of the process worked pretty easy, so I will compliment Nikon on their customer service overall.

Good to hear.

I hope they get more consistent with top notch CS.

Bman940, hope you see this post and pass on kudos to whoever you interact with at Nikon.

So glad all worked out the way it is supposed too. Thank you for the update.