Alexis Powell
Natural history enthusiast
...there really shouldn't be a need for warranty service ever, if they are built right the 1st time. 40 - 50 years isn't that much to ask for something that is metal and glass.
That's what I always want to think, but I haven't found it to be the case in practice. Most of the alphas that I own have been returned for service for one reason or another, but never related to abuse (I treat my bins more gently than anyone I know who actually uses his/her bins regularly). If you do a search for past posts by me, you'll find a detailed account of some of my repair experiences, but here's a quick summary of some alphas.
Bausch & Lomb 8x42 Elite (waterproof version)
Internal fiber visible in view after a few years; substandard contrast/resolution.
Poorly repaired (flaws to rubber armor, dust and fingerprints inside) so I returned it.
Replaced under lifetime warranty at no cost (I hand delivered to repair headquarters).
Leica 8x32 BA Trinovid Ultra
Internal fiber visible in view a few weeks after purchase.
Repaired under warranty at no cost except my shipping.
Leica 8x42 Ultravid BR
Flawed coatings on one objective (had an employee's palm print in the coating!)
Repaired by Leica under warranty but with flaws to rubber armoring (my shipping cost)
Repaired by Leica under warranty but with cracks to diopter window (my shipping cost)
Repaired by Leica under warranty, finally to perfection (my shipping cost + $35 fee for service after third year since purchase. Incidentally, that is the only fee that I have ever had to pay for repair of a binocular or scope, whether alpha or not alpha (the latter repair experiences of which I am not including in this post but include 5 bins from Bushnell, 1 bin from Eagle Optics, 1 bin from Leupold, 1 bin from Meade, 3 bins from Nikon, and 2 bins from Swift) and it made Leica, which is a "luxury" brand, seem petty and ungenerous in comparison to all the other binocular makers/brands I've dealt with. I wrote a detailed hand written note and a similar e-mail to the company about this but received no reply. When I've written to Nikon or Zeiss in the past, I've also received no response. Swarovski, on the other hand, has always responded with what appeared to be genuine, informative, and personal responses to my comments or queries).
Nikon 8x40 Classic Eagle
Internal fiber in view after a year or two.
Repaired by Nikon at no cost except my shipping.
Swarovski 8x32 EL
Went out of alignment within weeks of purchase due to flawed ocular assembly.
Repaired by Swarovski at no cost except my shipping.
Swarovski 8.5x42 EL
Focus knob stiff, rubber cover of focus broke loose.
Repaired by Swarovski at no cost except my shipping.
Zeiss 8x20 Victory
Went out of alignment after a few years; grease on prism.
Replaced by Zeiss under warranty at no cost except my shipping.
Zeiss 7x42 Classic
Focus stiffened or become irregular in heat of summer several times.
Repaired by Zeiss on ~4 occasions (but never really fixed in the long run) at no cost except my shipping.
--AP
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