eitanaltman
Well-known member
So I recently picked up a used pair of Cabela's Euro HD 8x32 for a nice price. This was a bin I'd been wanting to try for a long time, and I absolutely fell in love with them. Phenomenal ergonomics, extremely wide, clear, sharp optics, wonderful balance, top notch build quality... I find them more comfortable and pleasant to use than my wife's 8x32 UVHD. They give up very, very little to the Leicas optically or mechanically, with the only obvious gap being the coatings (the Leicas have great brightness, whiteness rendition and color saturation, the Meoptas still lag behind with weak blue saturation giving a slight yellow/green cast) and slightly more "luxurious" materials, but in all other respects they are basically alpha quality.
IMO, with the dark green armor and tapered black eyecups, if you changed nothing but swapping the Meopta logo for Swarovski and upgrading them to Swarobright coatings, they could be sold as "Swarovski SLC new neu" for $1500 and nobody would bat an eye.
These quickly became my go-to optic for daily birding, as I prefer 8x32 for general use. Thus, it was a gut wrenching morning when they failed on me. Some dirt bits fell into the left ocular, so I went to screw off the eyecup and clear the mess, as I've done many times before. With these, just like the Leicas, you screw the eyecup up to the last position, then push past a small final bit of resistance and the eyecup clicks free to screw fully off.
Well, that morning, the eyecup did not click past that stop point on the first attempt. So, not really thinking about it, I turned a little harder. I felt a twist and some friction, and the eyecup popped loose and I screwed it off. Thinking nothing of it, I blew off the debris, and screwed the eyecup back on.
When I put them back up to my eyes, I could not see through them! It was like when you accidentally leave the objective cover on one barrel, there was no image through the left barrel. Panicked (since I don't use objective covers!) I held the binoculars out away from my face, and I could see two exit pupils..... but the left EP was not where it was supposed to be. After a few moments of confusion and fiddling, with a sinking feeling I realized that the ocular had literally come unglued and, when the eyecup got "stuck", had rotated the entire occular completely out of alignment! Twisting the eyecup back to each end, I found I could keep twisting and rotate the eyepiece within the barrel.
Just my luck! I happen to be one of the cursed few who always experiences little issues with binoculars, some of them defects, some borne of my own fumbling ineptitude. In this case, however, I would consider it to be a clear mechanical failure, not a product of abuse.
That said, considering these are second hand, I was fully expecting and willing to pay for repairs. I wasn't looking for a handout, caveat emptor and all. I've sent binoculars for repairs with several other brands, with transparent explanations, nearly always with good results; for example, I sent in my old pair of Minox BD 8x32 BR for some focus knob and eyecup problems that were 100% my fault (dropped them!), admitted it was my fault and that I was not the original owner, and offered to pay for the repairs in the note I sent in with the bins. Minox sent them back, fully repaired, for zero cost, no questions asked.
So I headed to google and checked the Cabela's warranty. I had the impression they were one of those "we take care of you" outfits, considering their popularity and success within the hunting/outdoor segments. Sure enough, they proudly tout their "Legendary Guarantee", and they claim on the optics section that "Cabela's Brand Optics are guaranteed for the life of the product under normal wear and tear and against defects in workmanship." Well, I think, this certainly qualifies as a "defect in workmanship" if screwing off the eyecup caused the entire ocular assembly to twist out of alignment. It also states, "Unfortunately, Cabela's does not offer any repair or cleaning services for optics."
That's curious, and slightly ominous. How can you guarantee a binocular for its life if you can't repair it? Maybe they just swap for a comparable model from their demo / bargain cave sock if they deem it to be a defect covered by warranty?
I contacted Cabela's customer service, and explained the situation. I was clear that I wasn't looking for a refund or exchange (these have a 13xxx serial number so are 2013 production, and likely purchased at least 5 years ago), I just wanted my favorite binoculars to work again. I asked about the seeming conflict between the "guaranteed for life" part and the fact that Cabela's states they do not do repairs on optics. If you don't do repairs, how is the guarantee fulfilled?
The response: "Good afternoon, I am sorry to inform you that these being 5 years old, they would be considered to of had their life time and would no longer be covered. Defects are something that happen within the first year of use and not several years of use afterward. This would be considered a normal breakdown in materials. I am truly sorry for this. If you are interested in a new pair , we could look at a a discount for you."
I pointed out the warranty on the Meopta Meostar version, and explained that a <5 year "life" for a $1000 optic is absurd and completely out of line with comparable offerings from Minox, Leica, Zeiss, etc. After a bit more back and forth, this was the line they stuck with. Guaranteed for "life"... but we won't repair them, and WE get to decide what the "life" actually means. So the "warranty" is essentially worthless. And why would I want a discount on a new pair that I would not have a decent warranty on?
Flummoxed, I did some googling, and found that I am not alone. For example, the top review on the Cabela's Euro HD page gives 5 stars but notes, "HOWEVER, THIS IS IMPORTANT: Buy the Meopta model to save a hundred bucks and get a lifetime warranty. Buy the Cabelas-branded version to spend more for the same product AND there will be a very good chance they will find a loophole and refuse to honor the warranty." I also found similar stories on some other hunting optics forums of Cabela's saying "too bad, it's past the product life according to us".
I should have realized I was dealing with a retailer, not an optics manufacturer that cares about their product. To a high volume retailer, servicing a product 5 years after purchase is crazy. If a Cabela's Euro HD bin/scope breaks on you after a few years, it's a paperweight. Now I will seek to contact Meopta and pray they will let me pay for the repair, although google searches indicate they may not provide any service to Cabela's branded versions. If that turns out to be the case, does anyone know of USA based repair shops that can service Meoptas?
Curiously, I could not find any mention of this on Birdforum. I know some out there, like me, end up going with the Cabelas Euro HD version instead of the Meopta Meostar for various reasons, so I expected to find some discussion. So I felt the need to post that I would emphatically encourage everyone to ONLY go for the Meopta branded version! The identical Meopta version comes with either a 30-year or lifetime transferable warranty, depending which page loads for you. I have no doubt that Meopta will take care of you, and also no doubt that Cabela's will NOT.
Better yet, buy from a high integrity small business retailer like Doug at CameralandNY or Steve at Optics4Birding.
So if you think you may be saving a bit of $$ going for the Euro HD branded version of the Meostar binoculars or S2 scope, especially second-hand, think again. When you buy used optics, warranty coverage is crucial. Lesson learned, and hopefully I save someone some grief in the future.
IMO, with the dark green armor and tapered black eyecups, if you changed nothing but swapping the Meopta logo for Swarovski and upgrading them to Swarobright coatings, they could be sold as "Swarovski SLC new neu" for $1500 and nobody would bat an eye.
These quickly became my go-to optic for daily birding, as I prefer 8x32 for general use. Thus, it was a gut wrenching morning when they failed on me. Some dirt bits fell into the left ocular, so I went to screw off the eyecup and clear the mess, as I've done many times before. With these, just like the Leicas, you screw the eyecup up to the last position, then push past a small final bit of resistance and the eyecup clicks free to screw fully off.
Well, that morning, the eyecup did not click past that stop point on the first attempt. So, not really thinking about it, I turned a little harder. I felt a twist and some friction, and the eyecup popped loose and I screwed it off. Thinking nothing of it, I blew off the debris, and screwed the eyecup back on.
When I put them back up to my eyes, I could not see through them! It was like when you accidentally leave the objective cover on one barrel, there was no image through the left barrel. Panicked (since I don't use objective covers!) I held the binoculars out away from my face, and I could see two exit pupils..... but the left EP was not where it was supposed to be. After a few moments of confusion and fiddling, with a sinking feeling I realized that the ocular had literally come unglued and, when the eyecup got "stuck", had rotated the entire occular completely out of alignment! Twisting the eyecup back to each end, I found I could keep twisting and rotate the eyepiece within the barrel.
Just my luck! I happen to be one of the cursed few who always experiences little issues with binoculars, some of them defects, some borne of my own fumbling ineptitude. In this case, however, I would consider it to be a clear mechanical failure, not a product of abuse.
That said, considering these are second hand, I was fully expecting and willing to pay for repairs. I wasn't looking for a handout, caveat emptor and all. I've sent binoculars for repairs with several other brands, with transparent explanations, nearly always with good results; for example, I sent in my old pair of Minox BD 8x32 BR for some focus knob and eyecup problems that were 100% my fault (dropped them!), admitted it was my fault and that I was not the original owner, and offered to pay for the repairs in the note I sent in with the bins. Minox sent them back, fully repaired, for zero cost, no questions asked.
So I headed to google and checked the Cabela's warranty. I had the impression they were one of those "we take care of you" outfits, considering their popularity and success within the hunting/outdoor segments. Sure enough, they proudly tout their "Legendary Guarantee", and they claim on the optics section that "Cabela's Brand Optics are guaranteed for the life of the product under normal wear and tear and against defects in workmanship." Well, I think, this certainly qualifies as a "defect in workmanship" if screwing off the eyecup caused the entire ocular assembly to twist out of alignment. It also states, "Unfortunately, Cabela's does not offer any repair or cleaning services for optics."
That's curious, and slightly ominous. How can you guarantee a binocular for its life if you can't repair it? Maybe they just swap for a comparable model from their demo / bargain cave sock if they deem it to be a defect covered by warranty?
I contacted Cabela's customer service, and explained the situation. I was clear that I wasn't looking for a refund or exchange (these have a 13xxx serial number so are 2013 production, and likely purchased at least 5 years ago), I just wanted my favorite binoculars to work again. I asked about the seeming conflict between the "guaranteed for life" part and the fact that Cabela's states they do not do repairs on optics. If you don't do repairs, how is the guarantee fulfilled?
The response: "Good afternoon, I am sorry to inform you that these being 5 years old, they would be considered to of had their life time and would no longer be covered. Defects are something that happen within the first year of use and not several years of use afterward. This would be considered a normal breakdown in materials. I am truly sorry for this. If you are interested in a new pair , we could look at a a discount for you."
I pointed out the warranty on the Meopta Meostar version, and explained that a <5 year "life" for a $1000 optic is absurd and completely out of line with comparable offerings from Minox, Leica, Zeiss, etc. After a bit more back and forth, this was the line they stuck with. Guaranteed for "life"... but we won't repair them, and WE get to decide what the "life" actually means. So the "warranty" is essentially worthless. And why would I want a discount on a new pair that I would not have a decent warranty on?
Flummoxed, I did some googling, and found that I am not alone. For example, the top review on the Cabela's Euro HD page gives 5 stars but notes, "HOWEVER, THIS IS IMPORTANT: Buy the Meopta model to save a hundred bucks and get a lifetime warranty. Buy the Cabelas-branded version to spend more for the same product AND there will be a very good chance they will find a loophole and refuse to honor the warranty." I also found similar stories on some other hunting optics forums of Cabela's saying "too bad, it's past the product life according to us".
I should have realized I was dealing with a retailer, not an optics manufacturer that cares about their product. To a high volume retailer, servicing a product 5 years after purchase is crazy. If a Cabela's Euro HD bin/scope breaks on you after a few years, it's a paperweight. Now I will seek to contact Meopta and pray they will let me pay for the repair, although google searches indicate they may not provide any service to Cabela's branded versions. If that turns out to be the case, does anyone know of USA based repair shops that can service Meoptas?
Curiously, I could not find any mention of this on Birdforum. I know some out there, like me, end up going with the Cabelas Euro HD version instead of the Meopta Meostar for various reasons, so I expected to find some discussion. So I felt the need to post that I would emphatically encourage everyone to ONLY go for the Meopta branded version! The identical Meopta version comes with either a 30-year or lifetime transferable warranty, depending which page loads for you. I have no doubt that Meopta will take care of you, and also no doubt that Cabela's will NOT.
Better yet, buy from a high integrity small business retailer like Doug at CameralandNY or Steve at Optics4Birding.
So if you think you may be saving a bit of $$ going for the Euro HD branded version of the Meostar binoculars or S2 scope, especially second-hand, think again. When you buy used optics, warranty coverage is crucial. Lesson learned, and hopefully I save someone some grief in the future.
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| ... and I didn't expect the "warranty" to be literally worthless after having had good experiences with many other brands.