Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics German-made Zeiss Repair

Based on previous posts on this subject my recent experience might be of interest. I have done the unthinkable. I let a ham-fisted gunsmith break my German-made Zeiss Diavari-ZA 1.5-6X42 T* scope. He's now my ex-gunsmith. I had read here that the American Zeiss office would not provide service for scopes made in/bought in Germany. I find that's not completely true.
Last Saturday I sent an email to the Zeiss offce in Wetzlar, Germany explaining the damage to my Zeiss and asking for mailing instructions. I was very clear it was made in and bought in 1985 in Germany. Early this morning (German time) they forwarded my email to the Chester, Va Zeiss office who immediately turned it around back to me. I'm told to send them the scope, they will repair it and if it's needed, return it to Germany for me for repairs. Warranty was not discussed. It looks like the beginning of a good factory repair experience. I'll keep you advised.

Don Boyd

For what A Zeiss scope has ALWAYS cost, they damn sure better had back it with SOME kind of service if it has the Carl Zeiss name on it...

Rumors are GREAT aren't they??

Zeiss not backing a scope bought in Germany to a user here, would be as rediculous as Leupold not backing a scope broken in Europe because the user bought it over here..

A good company backs their products.

jim62, You're absolutely correct. The length of time since the last post on this subject highlights the time taken by Zeiss to repair one of their top-end scopes. They took 11 1/2 weeks to repair my German-made Zeiss scope. I sent it to the US Corporate Hqs near here in Chester, VA. After about 3-4 days they said due to damage to Horizontal/Vertical elevation adjustment mechanisms my scope had to be returned to the World-Wide Repair Facility in Wetzlar, Germany. That Chester office packaged and shipped the scope to Germany. On return, the invoice shows it was "refurbished" from end-to-end, all moving parts disassembled, cleaned, lubed (if needed) and reassembled. The housing for the reticle adjustment hardware was replaced. Parallax re-aligned and the busted part (scale disk?) replaced. Total cost $300. I know that's not what we've come to expect from companies like Leupold but I'll pay it for the Zeiss quality. (I have a Leupold VX3 2.5-8X on my Model 77 and like it.) I had two employees there at Chester come up to me privately and ask to buy the scope. Their comment was, Zeiss doesn't make them like that anymore!

this is an older model zeiss, is that correct? this isnt a victory diavari 1.6-6x42?

i bet turnaround time is quicker because parts are more readily available on current scopes. I have heard of zeiss send a new scope when/if the old one couldnt be fixed.

My Diavari was made in 1985 or earlier. I do not know of any association of the words Victory Model connected with the Diavari of that time. I too have heard of several top line scope companies sending new current models when repair parts for an older scope were no longer available. In fact, I had that happen to me with an old Redfield (made in Denver) when I lived in Aurora in 1970. I had had that scope since the early 60's and it wasn't new then. They gave me a choice and I chose the Redfield 1X4 variable. Put it on my .375 and left it there till mid-80's. Replaced with a Kahles but still have the old Redfield and it still works fine.

Wow yours is old. Been going strong for 25 years?

Just out of curosity how much cheaper are/was they in Germany than in the states..

I got a kind of special deal. Bought my scope from a US Military Rod & Gun Club salesroom. Because of our NATO status we could get the sale certified for Tax-Free purchase so I paid about $350 or so for the scope. At that time (1984-85) I'm not sure what a Zeiss Diavari went for here in the states, but I think close to $1000.
You may find it humorous to know I spelled out this lineage to the Zeiss Hq in Germany in an email after reading the drivel here on this forum about no service for Zeiss scopes in America that were bought in Germany. Fortunately for me the Zeiss staff were kind enough to ignore my idiocy.

Don Boyd


Good Ol' Days

Don Boyd