bausch and lomb lifetime guarantee (1 Viewer)

bought a pair of 8x50 elites about 12years ago,they came with a lifetime warranty,lately the optical lens coating has came away. I contacted the firm who asked me to post the binoculars to themselves{at my own cost}the binos were sent to Germany,three weeks later I get an email saying the parts are no longer available and the binos will be returned,does anybody know who I can contact regarding the worst customer service ive encountered

B&L is no more, and is now Bushnell, contact them, I suppose you did before you asked here.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry that's who I did contact.totally inept

joe1969 said:

Thanks Jerry that's who I did contact.totally inept

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Joe:

I am sorry if I came across a bit harsh. B&l has been gone for a while now
and Bushnell has acquired the name and more.

I am pleased to see that Bushnell is still honoring the wty. of Bausch and Lomb. They made some superior optics during the day.

Your question was very important, and be sure to come back again.

Jerry

This is the state of so many companies today. A company that built its hard- (and honestly-) earned success upon providing a quality product over decades and supporting that product with dedicated customer service is sold. Then, the new control entity slaps the name it acquired onto some Chinese crap and reaps unearned profits off of that asset. Moreover, when you go to the new owner for parts or service, the answer is almost always, "we no longer support that product" (translation: "we're making profits off of something we didn't work for, and you're totally screwed"). Lesson to be learned: don't buy Chinese crap bearing a purchased name that was once an indicia of quality (unless, of course, you like to be burnt).

Just for the record, the B&L 8x50 Elite has always been a Bushnell product. It is a superb binocular, made in Japan, to very high standards, for Bushnell, then given the B&L label. B&L stopped making bins many many decades ago and Bushnell obtained license to use the name on its best binoculars and scopes (until about the year 2000). Thus, all of the beloved birding binoculars of the 1980s and 1990s with the B&L label, such as the B&L Elite, the 7x26/8x36/10x40 Custom models, and the 2nd tier Discoverer models were Bushnell products made by Japanese manufacturers. It is my understanding that Bushnell was sold a time or two in recent years, and the new company may not be as good about customer service as the original Bushnell, but I don't really know, so let's not start rumors!

As for Bushnell's customer service, I've only dealt with the USA (world corporate) headquarters and repair facility, and it's been some years since I've done even that. In the past, they always took good care of me. They repaired bins when possible (even very old models), and if parts were unavailable, offered me my pick of current models of equivalent quality. My most recent experiences (~3 years ago) involved problems with friends' low end bins, such as the Bushnell 8x42 Legend Ultra HD, which are made in China, and which they replaced rather than repaired.

In the case of your 8x50, since parts are not available, I think your only options are to request replacement with another model (if one would satisfy you--nothing is equivalent to what you have), or to send your bin to an independent repair person who might be able to send the lenses off for recoating (expensive!).

--AP

I can't say what Bushnell service is like right now but 4 years ago I sent in my now 20-year old 8X42 Elite for replacement strap tabs and new eyecups (they are the old rubber type) and they were returned quite rapidly with those problems solved plus they were completely re-armored and re-badged. Not bad for a binocular of that vintage.
Peter

Alexis... okay, okay, I was on a rant.... sorry....

B&L guarantee

joe1969 said:

bought a pair of 8x50 elites about 12years ago,they came with a lifetime warranty,lately the optical lens coating has came away. I contacted the firm who asked me to post the binoculars to themselves{at my own cost}the binos were sent to Germany,three weeks later I get an email saying the parts are no longer available and the binos will be returned,does anybody know who I can contact regarding the worst customer service ive encountered

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Joe, can you give more details about "the lens coating has come away"?
If the exterior coating on the eyelenses or object glasses has "come away" has that been caused by over energetic cleaning and not something one would expect to be covered by a guarantee as it's not a manufacturing or material defect ?

richard866945 said:

Joe, can you give more details about "the lens coating has come away"?
If the exterior coating on the eyelenses or object glasses has "come away" has that been caused by over energetic cleaning and not something one would expect to be covered by a guarantee as it's not a manufacturing or material defect ?

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thanks for the input guys,ive had a pair of carl zeiss for over40 years now and never had any issue with the lens coatings as well as no issues with my two pairs of leica,so I don't feel like its over zealous cleaning:eek!:.my leica trinovid 10x42 armouring came loose and leica bent over backwards for me,paying postage to Portugal,and the binos came back like new.
as I said earlier what is the point of a lifetime warranty if they wont honour it:t:

NDhunter said:

B&L is no more, and is now Bushnell, contact them, I suppose you did before you asked here.

Jerry

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Who’s on first? ... What day is it?

Davis Bushnell sold his company to B&L in 1972. Since that time, both companies have changed ownership and direction more than once and who is the parent company, today?

I know of one major name in optics that people THINK make their own telescopes and binoculars. ‘Fact is ... they do only ONE thing to ONE product. The rest of their inventory comes OFF THE SHELF FROM CHINA. :cat:

Bill

PS As long as people believe in Santa, that the binocular market is stable, and dishonesty is a viable tool for selling, there will be lifetime warranties.

well after been told to email,what seemed like every department in the company,i was eventually linked through to the manfrotto department,what can I say they were brilliant,inside two hours and after several emails I had picked a brand new pair of the legend m series 8x42, and they were posted the same night and I received them the following day.having now used the said binoculars over the last week all I can say is wow what a bargain these bins are,especially in America