Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Really disspointed in zeiss C/S

I have yet to use them due to a failure... but I did send in a set of 10x40s to refurb after about 30 years of hard use... replaced all the lenses due to coatings being worn....

Lets just say you don't want to know how long that took.

Hasn't stopped me from adding more ponies to the stable though.

Had an issue with a pair of Zeiss binoculars that were my fault not a Zeiss issue (dropped them) and they repaired them in less than 4 weeks even with waiting on some parts since these were a very old set. Of the 6 or 7 scopes from Zeiss they have had ZERO problems.

Seems to me you shouldn't be "really disappointed" with Zeiss Customer Service until you've actually used Zeiss Customer Service and had a bad experience... that would be the fair thing anyway.

6-8 weeks.

My 3.5-10x44 started acting weird after I'd shot it a bunch last Winter. Called Zeiss, they said 2-3 months, loaner etc..

I didn't want to screw with a loaner scope beings it was Febraury or March not October. Sent the scope in and got it back 2.5 months later?
It took at least 2 months but came back fixed with zero issues since.

Try getting ahold of someone in the service dept. They dont return calls and dont answer the phone. Yes i know they are busy but im sure someone is there to take calls. I had an issue with a leupold two years ago. And in less then a week it was back on the rifle. I sent it over night and thats how they sent it back to me. I would go to leupold but its just not the glass as zeiss is. Hell the swaro Z5 i had was as good as the zeiss but i would not say it was better. Zeiss scopes are excellent scopes this is the first problem i have had with them. Thanks for everyones responces.

mine was not a failure, but someone (I think) dropped it.

I sent my conquest scope in to Zeiss in mid December, 2010 to repair a stuck reticle. After not hearing from them, I called last week - got an answering machine, so I left a message to call me with status. After two days and no call, I called again - and again got an answering machine. This time , however a lady returned my call within several hours and said my scope was in their system, had been sent to the factory (in the US) and that it would take around 8 weeks. The jury is out til I get the scope back.

Although I am a longtime Leupold scope user, I really like the glass on the Conquest - however, in my 50+ years of hunting have never had a Leupold problem.

Send an email to karen, it may take a little bit but she will get back to you. It seems you can only deal with either Christy or Karen. And yeah, they don't answer the phone and I've never gotten a call back. I prefer Christy, of the 2 she has at least some personality. I believe they may have pulled Karen form teh NC DMV, they look for a special breed over there.

mailto:kbookoutZeiss.com

Only in regard to Leupold does their CS suck. Leupold CS is Gold plated and of the highest rank to me so it is an unfair comparison.

What pissed me off is that I missed a deer, the only coyote that's crossed my stand in 15 years of hunting and shot a buck in the face before I would believe my precious conquest was at fault. It was off by almost 1&1/2 feet. Wasn't even a year old.

Never had a Zeiss fail but i've sent in a couple scopes and binos to Zeiss customer service for tune ups. I've always had excellent service from them. 163bc

I hate them all as well. My experience with Zeiss service in the past has been very good, replacement scopes, two week turn around speaking to the National Sales Manager etc.... I sent my Diavari in about a month ago, in reality I do not expect it back before June! On the other hand to temper the "they have great service argument...this is the second time the Diavari has been in for the same problem....not holding zero.

If Leupold would simply go to a darker reticule and not as thick as the HD in their 4X and 6X scopes life would be good for me.

I will send an email to them. Has any one did the loaner scope thing? What did it involve and what steps to get a scope sent to me.

I had great service from them...sent in a 9 year old pair of bins and received a brand new set of Conquests within a week.....Sold them and bought a used set of SLCs with the money....Sent those in to Swaro and they gave me basically a new set back for FREE.....so my Swaros cost me $300:)

I'm happy!

Bruz

Just ask for the loaner when you speak to them. I dealt with Karen.
I got a loaner from them once. A 6-24x72.
They ask for a credit card number (in case you forget to send the loaner back ) and send the scope out. Took @ 3 days to get the loaner which was the same model I sent in for service. Cannot remember if they paid return shipping on the loaner but IIRC, they sent me a prepaid label.
I do remember that the process was painless.

I had a Conquest fail, brand new, wouldn't hold zero.
I was sighting in at the range, 4 days before opening day of firearms deer season in Michigan.(new gun)
I called customer service and had a new one, next day air, mounted and ready to go by opening day.
Great service. Haven't had a problem with it since.

Its folks like this that make product price go up IMHO.

Well since I must be "folks like this".....please elaborate as to what I did that would cause costs to rise? Please.

rost495,

Could it be he is jelous?

Ringman,

I'm not sure what might be Rosts problem other than a lack of Character. Where I come from you don't make comments about a person you don't know. And even if you do know them and disagree you convey it politely. Not that I feel obligated to explain but these were the series of events.

1) After 9 years my Zeiss fogged internally.

2) I sent them in fully expecting to pay for a repair.

3) I received a call stating that they (Zeiss) would rather send me a set of Conquest 8x30.

4) when I got the Conquests I did not like them so I sold them here for $600.

5) I then found a pair of very old Swarovskis for sale here for a little more than I received for the Conquests.

6) I called Swarovski and asked what it would cost for me to have the binos serviced IF I bought them. The lady said that they would probably qualify for the NEU upgrade at no cost.

7) I bought them and called in the serial number. They did in fact qualify for the upgrade.

8) I sent them in and in a couple of weeks received the Binos as well as a 4 page replacement receipt an a new serial number.

I was blessed to receive great customer service from 2 of the Alpha Optics companies. I did not deceive or abuse the system at all. Comments like the one above are idiotic at best and insulting in this case.

Robert

Didn't realize you replied until I saw your PM.

The intent there, and this is IMHO, so its worth what you paid for it or less.

I buy something use it hard for many years, then get it repaired, its not faulty gear, its wear and tear. Then to buy another brand after you get one repaired, sell it, recover money, even though they didn't charge when they should have.... well it sits sorely with me. Then you take the used/abused cheap pair and give em to Swaro and they fix for free.

You said it yourself, you took advantage of the system to get a high dollar set of binocs for 300 bucks.

That costs us all IMHO.

I did not know all the info there, thats true, but even with them paying for your repairs, thats part of what runs costs up on the product.

Of course, my apologies, honestly, you were not the one that decided not to charge... they did that.

Interesting enough that when I sent mine in a few years ago they charged me to refurb them.

Policies must have changed and that can be reflected in rising prices.

Pretty simple, but then again, I do apologize, you really had no control over it at all.

Gives one pause.. maybe instead of buying new we should all find old abused optics and take advantage of their free repairs. Not really the way I roll, but then again if I did buy used and sent in, I guess I'd pay whatever bill they sent or didn't.

Kinda like the price you pay for Leupold is a bit higher to cover the stellar and oftentimes unbelievably generous customer service.

I think it was Sitka who saw a Leupold get run over by a truck and crushed and Leupold replaced the scope for free.

This is not without cost to the manufacturer and ultimately the consumer.