Subject: [Tweeters] Outrageously bad "warranty" of Brunton binoculars
Date: Thu Jan 3 06:38:15 PST 2019
From: Steve Loitz - steveloitz at gmail.com

dan&erika, I'm interested in the timing re your experience. For at least 11
years, Nikon has had a lifetime no-fault repair/replace policy. Prior to
that, Nikon bins came with a 25-year limited warranty.

Nikon's repair/replace policy worked great for me a few years ago when I
bashed my 8x20 LX L compact bins on a rock during a mountaineering trip,
knocking the bins out of collimation. Immediately after returning to
civilization I contacted Nikon on-line, promptly got an RA and shipped the
damaged bins to Nikon. Within a few days I received an email confirming
receipt of the bins. A few days after that Nikon emailed a message
acknowledging. To my delight, roughly 10 days later I received a brand new
pair of bins. Although Nikon took my credit card info re a $10 handling
fee, I was never charged.

My Zeiss 8x32 FLs are covered by a lifetime warranty and a [now expired]
5-year no-fault policy. The terms of the lifetime warranty expressly
exclude damage resulting from accidents.

The respective warranty policies affects my behavior: When heading out in
rugged terrain, I pack my LX L bins or take my wife's Monarchs : )


On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 5:52 AM dan&erika <danerika at gmail.com> wrote:


> I had the opposite experience with Nikon. When I bought their binoculars,

> they had a lifetime warranty. Years later, despite no longer issuing

> life-time warranties, when the binoculars needed minor repair, Nikon

> honored their warranty by replacing the binoculars with a superior model!

> It did help that I initially bought the binoculars from a camera store

> rather than over the Internet; the store, National Camera Exchange in

> Minneapolis, helped with my brief negotiation with Nikon. Dan Tallman.

>

> On Wed, Jan 2, 2019 at 11:35 AM Gary Bletsch <garybletsch at yahoo.com>

> wrote:

>

>> Dear Tweeters,

>>

>> Brunton, a company that has existed for over 100 years, sold binoculars

>> to me in 2004 with a lifetime warranty. Now the company refuses to honor

>> it. Their representative said something like, "Oh, people abused that

>> warranty. We changed that warranty. Now we offer a one-year warranty. We

>> don't make binoculars any more. We wouldn't be able to fix them." He also

>> refused to consider refunding the purchase price.

>>

>> When I was shopping for the binoculars back in 2004, I had Swarovski,

>> Nikon, Zeiss, and other top brands in my hand. I liked the Bruntons best,

>> but a little voice kept telling me, "Don't trust these Brunton people, they

>> are newcomers in the binocular market." I should have listened to that

>> voice.

>>

>> Have other Tweeters ever faced such a situation, when a company sells

>> something with a warranty, then reneges on it? How outrageous!

>>

>> Yours truly,

>>

>> Gary Bletsch

>>

>>

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>

>

> --

> Dan or Erika Tallman

> Northfield, Minnesota

> danerika at gmail.com

>

> http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com

>

> ".... the best shod travel with wet feet...Beware of all enterprises that

> require new clothes ...."-;H. D. Thoreau

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--
Steve Loitz
Ellensburg, WA
steveloitz at gmail.com
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