Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Swarovski warranty

Casey,

Glad that you brought this up, as I bought the SLCneu in 2010 with the latest internals at that time. Then, Swaro was providing free upgrades. I suggested that my buddy get his upgraded, for free, but he never did it. I also had a lot of time behind the Swaro LRF, which is basically 1/2 of the binos.

Perhaps it's just my perception, but Swaro NA customer service seemed awesome in 2010 - 2014. And as recently as 2018, I had good experiences with them. I asked for a price on 8x25 eyecups, and they sent them for free.

Jason

Swarovoski told me both prism's are cracked..... yet the right barrel focus's fine the left barrel won't focus.... and what are the odds of both prism's being cracked?

Now I understand why so many people think you are a douche bag......

Oh and douche bag alpincrick, in case you missed it I used the used bino's for 3 seasons before they chit the bed. I stated clearly that while in my possession they were treated with great care.
So $450.00 to repair a $500 bino is no warranty at all.
This is the worst I have been burned on optics and I have owned a fair amount.
Thanks fanboy

Glad it hasn't happened to you. I know all we can go by is our own experience with certain brands, companies, people, etc. but I hope you're not as arrogant as you come across in an immediate dismissal of things that happen to other folks just like yourself, who spend [bleep] tons of fine looking through glass taking care of their gear.

Wouldn't you think that just eating the cost of fixing these binos, Swaro would be better off than the negative publicity that a thread like this causes?

The single best bino I've ever looked through, period, end of story was the 8x32 Nikon EDG. Ergos were perfect for me, best focus mechanism on the planet, unbelievable flat field glass. Too bad Nikon is the worst marketer to ever appear in the optics market.

Johnny thanks for your input here. I value your point of view. I have heard great things about the Nikon EDG and have good luck with their scopes, how is the warranty? also heard Nikon is getting out of the scope business, does that include all sport optics, like bino's?

Casey, show them your super hero cape. 😎

Bro, sorry for your troubles on your alpha glass. I’d be picking up meopta meostars glass. 😎

Edited....From Doug. Grins

Thanks brother Beav...... It seems many share your recommendation, crazy part is they were #1 on my list until a "deal" on the Swaro showed up.....
I am really tempted to get the Swaro trash returned and tear them apart to prove Swaro and Casey a liar....

JG,
Until the STX came along a EDG 85mm spotter was the best spotting scope I had ever looked through. I have been told the EDG binos were probably a bit better than the European alphas but have never had the opportunity to look through any of them. The EDG line seem to be pretty much ignored by the hunting and birding fraternity it seems.

Who am I to question your god-like qualities..........

Carry on.

I Hate to hear a bad experience on this.

My one and only experience with their CS was good. They cleaned an old Habicht rifle scope for no charge . There was debris inside causing the picture to be grainy.

I hate to hear this, all of my CS experience with them has been outstanding but I haven't sent anything to them in several years.

If they're cheapening out then they're cutting their own throats, word of mouth from many folks who have had outstanding customer service from them over the years has sold a LOT of swarovski products. If they throw that away then they're no better than the rest and aren't worth the premium price that many, including myself, have paid for their good name.

I hope swarovski is watching this thread.

Trust me this thread will get noticed. The dealers that sell them couldn't be stupid enough not to pass it along to the bean counters. How they respond is yet to be seen. I for one will be watching. Because I just purchased a brand new 10 x 56SLC. Not necessarily just to have Swarovski but everyone's eyes are different. And my eyes prefer a bigger field of view and plenty of light. So I decided to go with what I thought would be the absolute best in the industry. Time will tell.




Take care, Willie

Based on your story, IMO Swarovski should fix the binos at no charge to you.

Glass as expensive as Swaros should be bulletproof against any normal, day to day hunting environment.

Stories like this push me personally towards brands like Vortex.

It doesn’t matter if they were previously dropped or not. If the exterior is in good shape and showing no signs of gross deformation, I.e. they don’t look to have fallen down a mountainside, Swarovski should be giving them at no charge. 1st owner, 2nd owner, doesn’t matter.

Update, I called customer service and argued my case. They said of the $450 rebuild estimate if I didn't want the lenses replaced that would take $150 off.

So they want $300 to repair the prism's, I argued those should be covered under warranty, the binoculars show no sign of external damage and I know for a fact they have not been dropped during the 3 yrs I have owned them.
The C.S. rep said he could knock 20% off of that. So now I am at $260 for basic repairs. This is still a difficult decision for me as they failed under normal conditions, what if they fail again? another $260-$300 for repairs?

So I made some progress. But I have lost confidence in the product and company.

Brother Irfubar, my opinion is only what I would do....Fix them, sell them, and by a pair of MeoStars and never look back.
GW went through 3 pairs of Swaros. They fail again, you’re gonna throw them down a mountain.
Might as well get some cash for them and go a new direction. 😎