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Swarovski customer service (4 Viewers)

Alastair Rae

London birder
I managed to snap off the mounting bracket on my HD 65 mm so I took the scope along to my local Swaro dealer. They sent it off to Austria for a repair estimate and it came back completely fixed for no charge! I'm flabbergasted that they'd fix a 15 year old scope for nothing. Amazing customer service.
 
That is why I don't think there prices are so outrageous. That type of service is built into the price. And if you need it, you the cost of the item won't be an issue.
 
Swarovski are known for their excellent/generous customer service. This is one of the primary reasons i keep coming back to this brand.

cheers
Jeelan
 
Hi,
Thanks or this report. Nevertheless, I am not so happy for my side.
I have a Swaro ATX95 (bought in october 2012 from a dealer from his stock, so it is one of the first scope produced). I sent it back 3 times (once every 18 months) to Customer service for repair as the focussing ring becomes hard to turn, with jerks). Then after 6-10 months it appears again!
I am using it reasonably from sea level to 2000m altitude but this should not appear for such brand (or at least they should definitly fix the problem).
For my point of view on this problem, Customer service is not the best as the problem was never fixed. What's will happen when it will become out of guaranty???? Do they believe that I will buy a new one????
Regards
Yves
 
Hi,
Thanks or this report. Nevertheless, I am not so happy for my side.
I have a Swaro ATX95 (bought in october 2012 from a dealer from his stock, so it is one of the first scope produced). I sent it back 3 times (once every 18 months) to Customer service for repair as the focussing ring becomes hard to turn, with jerks). Then after 6-10 months it appears again!
I am using it reasonably from sea level to 2000m altitude but this should not appear for such brand (or at least they should definitly fix the problem).
For my point of view on this problem, Customer service is not the best as the problem was never fixed. What's will happen when it will become out of guaranty???? Do they believe that I will buy a new one????
Regards
Yves

I'm not happy either, Yves.

I just noticed when cleaning the objective on my ATS65 (had it from new for six months) that there's a noticeable chip right at the edge of one of the inner lens elements. I've never dropped the scope, so it has to be a manufacturing defect. Also, the twist-up ring on the eyepiece ocular (25x-50x) feels somewhat 'gritty' in operation. And the zooming's not all that smooth. These I can live with, but not the chipped lens element.

I've heard many times about Swarovski's legendary customer service, so I thought it would be plain sailing when I told them about these faults. They asked me to send the scope and eyepiece back via the UK distributor. So far so good. They sent me a repair form, but no postage-paid label. When I raised this, they said I have to return the scope at my expense. What? Am I being unreasonable here? Why should I have to pay to return faulty goods, almost new and under warranty?

When I've returned stuff to Leica, they've not only sent a prepaid label, but also collected from my place of work.

Anyway, I've kicked off at Swarovski about this, and they're reluctantly now going to arrange for collection. The inference I make is that they're doing me a big favour. The customer 'service' so far has been curt and rude.

I'd be interested to hear others' views.

Cheers
John
 
I was out birding when a gust of wind blew my tripod over and caused severe impact damage to my Leica 65 Scope and eye piece and scope body. The scope was 16 months old and the Leica passport warranty was out of date. I contacted Leica in Germany and they said they would like to see the extent on the damage. Then they emailed me a UPS delivery label to print off and to send the scope back. Then a week later I received an email saying that the Scope would be replaced by Leica as a goodwill gesture as the damage was so severe.The service I received from Leica was first class.
 
Got my scope and eyepiece back today (ATS 65HD and 25-50x). New objective lens fitted to scope (to replace the internally chipped one). Focus on eyepiece seems smoother and better, but still some 'grittiness' when moving eyecup back and forth.

I'm a bit underwhelmed by the experience. I had to push hard to get them to pay the carriage to send the items back, and the eyecup fault hasn't been resolved. No explanation why the faults (particularly the damaged objective) passed inspection when sent out. No communication that items were in transit.

However, two of the three problems (the biggest ones) have been fixed, and the third is not that big a deal.

Am I being too demanding or picky?

Cheers
John
 
I don't think you are being picky or demanding. There was clearly a manufacturing fault and you should not have paid the cost of returning the scope. That said, why not return it to the supplier. Anyway, I would have been surprised if they had explained why/how these faults had not been picked up on QC. But it would be nice to have had an apology for the inconvenience and an indication the thing was being returned.
 
I don't think you are being picky or demanding. There was clearly a manufacturing fault and you should not have paid the cost of returning the scope. That said, why not return it to the supplier. Anyway, I would have been surprised if they had explained why/how these faults had not been picked up on QC. But it would be nice to have had an apology for the inconvenience and an indication the thing was being returned.

Thanks, pretty much what I thought. As you say, it would be odd to have explained why the faults passed QC, but an apology would have been nice, as would prior notification that it had been fixed.

On the subject of carriage, they suggested I take the scope back to the retailer to avoid paying for its return. I explained I'd bought in online from the RSPB (having tried one out earlier that day). I said the RSPB is a charity anyway, and I wasn't going to press them to pay for the return. That's when Swarovski reluctantly caved in and arranged to collect the scope.

I won't be singing Swarovski's praises any time soon.

Cheers
John
 
Don't quite get your point. So you'd expect a bill for a manufacturing fault covered by the warranty?

Hi,

yes, of course the first thing a warranty should cover is manufacturing faults. If the supplier goes the extra way and does more, that's nice to have.

Joachim
 
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