Kevin Conville
yardbirder
Perfect. Thanks John, that's just the kind of feedback I was hoping for.
Where will actual prices be, USA ?
Yes, I have had a couple of Swarovski's sent in for warranty work that were not purchased in the USA over the years. Swarovski always covered them under warranty.
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......... As far as international shipping I have did it many times without any problems. You can return the binoculars to the seller or send them to Swarovski under warranty if there is something wrong with them. If you just don't like them you might be better off just selling them on Ebay because Swarovski's sell very quick especially a new model like the CL that isn't available yet in the US.
I called Swarovski of North America (SONA) to find out how they handle warranty repairs on binoculars not imported by them.
They will accept these units for repair. In most cases it will be sent by SONA to Austria for the repair work but under some circumstances they will do the repair in the US. My assumption is that it may depend on the extent of the repair. It makes sense to me to repair something simple here as opposed to going to the work of sending it off to Austria, tracking it, then receiving it back. Also in play is having the parts, tools and knowledge to do repair on models they do not carry.
The warranty coverage is determined by the warranty in the country were the binocular was originally sold. If the warranty for country A is 30 years and the binocular is 12 years old, then Austria will repair it under warranty. If the warranty is 10 years from country B, then Austria will not repair it under warranty. The lesson here is if everything else is equal on an anticipated overseas purchase, buy from the country with the longer warranty.
Both SONA and Austria will check their records to see if the item is reported stolen. If so, both will turn the unit over to law officials and not return it to the customer. SONA recommends the if purchasing a new or used unit from an unknown source, call in the serial number and they can tell the caller if it is a SONA unit and if it is a clean serial number for one of their imports. Also cautioned was that not all new units being sold in the US or on US web sites are from authorized dealers and they could be stolen items. Be sure and do a serial number check to be safe.
SONA can not do a serial number check on a binocular that was not imported by them because they do not have those records. The rep did not know if that information could be obtained by contacting Swaro Austria, but he had doubts.
I would assume if a SONA unit were stolen, it could then be reported and the owner would have a better chance of recovering it since SONA has the ability to track SONA imports.
Shipping costs to SONA are paid by the owner. Swarovski will pay for the shipping to Austria and for the return of the repaired binocular back to SONA and then back to the owner. The binoculars are sent to Austria in bulk shipments on a frequent basis at a much lower price than what an individual would pay. The rep did not know the shipping method used.
If it is a SONA unit and the repair will have some delay, then they can send the owner a loaner. That is unlikely if it is a non SONA unit.
Here are what I see as the down sides of purchasing a non SONA imported binocular:
- Longer repair turnaround.
- Most likely no lifetime warranty
- Possibly less goodwill on some issues
- Possible loss of the unit if sent in for repair and it was reported as stolen
- No loaner
- Assume it is less likely to be recovered if it gets stolen since it is not tracked by SONA
Upsides:
- Will be repaired by either Austria or possibly SONA
- No additional overseas shipping expense and hassle
Great stuff Bruce.
Lee
I told you Swarovski covered binoculars not purchased in the US. The 8X30 CL' s should be here any day. They were in NY city yesterday but I am in the Yucatan Pennisula birding and I won't get back into the states until Dec.11 so I will give a full report after that.I called Swarovski of North America (SONA) to find out how they handle warranty repairs on binoculars not imported by them.
They will accept these units for repair. In most cases it will be sent by SONA to Austria for the repair work but under some circumstances they will do the repair in the US. My assumption is that it may depend on the extent of the repair. It makes sense to me to repair something simple here as opposed to going to the work of sending it off to Austria, tracking it, then receiving it back. Also in play is having the parts, tools and knowledge to do repair on models they do not carry.
The warranty coverage is determined by the warranty in the country were the binocular was originally sold. If the warranty for country A is 30 years and the binocular is 12 years old, then Austria will repair it under warranty. If the warranty is 10 years from country B, then Austria will not repair it under warranty. The lesson here is if everything else is equal on an anticipated overseas purchase, buy from the country with the longer warranty.
Both SONA and Austria will check their records to see if the item is reported stolen. If so, both will turn the unit over to law officials and not return it to the customer. SONA recommends the if purchasing a new or used unit from an unknown source, call in the serial number and they can tell the caller if it is a SONA unit and if it is a clean serial number for one of their imports. Also cautioned was that not all new units being sold in the US or on US web sites are from authorized dealers and they could be stolen items. Be sure and do a serial number check to be safe.
SONA can not do a serial number check on a binocular that was not imported by them because they do not have those records. The rep did not know if that information could be obtained by contacting Swaro Austria, but he had doubts.
I would assume if a SONA unit were stolen, it could then be reported and the owner would have a better chance of recovering it since SONA has the ability to track SONA imports.
Shipping costs to SONA are paid by the owner. Swarovski will pay for the shipping to Austria and for the return of the repaired binocular back to SONA and then back to the owner. The binoculars are sent to Austria in bulk shipments on a frequent basis at a much lower price than what an individual would pay. The rep did not know the shipping method used.
If it is a SONA unit and the repair will have some delay, then they can send the owner a loaner. That is unlikely if it is a non SONA unit.
Here are what I see as the down sides of purchasing a non SONA imported binocular:
- Longer repair turnaround.
- Most likely no lifetime warranty
- Possibly less goodwill on some issues
- Possible loss of the unit if sent in for repair and it was reported as stolen
- No loaner
- Assume it is less likely to be recovered if it gets stolen since it is not tracked by SONA
Upsides:
- Will be repaired by either Austria or possibly SONA
- No additional overseas shipping expense and hassle
Edit: Be sure and call SONA first if you are planning to purchase a non SONA imported model to confirm any warranty questions you may have and to confirm the policies have not changed. The above is all based on a verbal conversation and should be confirmed if relevant to a purchase.
Dennis ..... When are you expecting your new CL to arrive?
Hi Kevin, its brilliant, total trust from me, the strap is mounted via a bayonet pin which locks in place and needs quite some pressure to disengage and then a counter clockwise turn to detach, also the pin itself snaps into the strap end and won`t unsnap without some considerable pressure so it won`t fall out on its own.
The cord end does`nt dangle loosely as a plastic keeper keeps the two cords together. Honestly I would`nt want to go back to a conventional strap lug.
Swarovski sell a conventional strap lug which fits on the FP system so you can use any strap you like.
I told you Swarovski covered binoculars not purchased in the US.