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What's the latest on Meopta? (1 Viewer)

Thanks, had missed that post by John, or that information within it, or did not retain it because it was military! Currently when you click on the likeliest-looking item that a Google search for "meopta binoculars" brings up, second in the results list, after the one for Meopta Store, you go directly to the MeoGuard page. Meopta puzzles me on many fronts. Yes, have read Troubador/Lee's interviews with a top exec of Meopta, just did so again.
 
So, per thread title, what's the latest on Meopta...?

The latest is that they are 100% not interested in repairing a pair of binoculars purchased in the UK less than a year ago.

I'm a very unhappy (now) former Meopta owner...

Purchased a pair of 8x56 B1 Plus last November and was recently aware of issues related to dioptre adjuster. After a period of testing by the retailer I purchased from, it was confirmed that the dioptre adjuster was at times not engaging properly. No problem, it would be sent to Czech Republic for repair. This was a few weeks ago.

Phone call received today, Czech Republic not replying to emails, despite persistence. Former UK distributor not interested. Retailer even tried to get them repaired in the USA, but they too were not interested.

So, the only conclusion I can draw from this is that if you purchased a Meopta instrument in the UK and it develops a fault and needs repair, the warranty is worthless. Fortunately, the very excellent dealer I purchased the binoculars through are considerably more ethical and reliable than Meopta, and have refunded me in full.

I am, personally, disgusted with Meopta.

End of rant.
 
So, per thread title, what's the latest on Meopta...?

The latest is that they are 100% not interested in repairing a pair of binoculars purchased in the UK less than a year ago.

I'm a very unhappy (now) former Meopta owner...

Purchased a pair of 8x56 B1 Plus last November and was recently aware of issues related to dioptre adjuster. After a period of testing by the retailer I purchased from, it was confirmed that the dioptre adjuster was at times not engaging properly. No problem, it would be sent to Czech Republic for repair. This was a few weeks ago.

Phone call received today, Czech Republic not replying to emails, despite persistence. Former UK distributor not interested. Retailer even tried to get them repaired in the USA, but they too were not interested.

So, the only conclusion I can draw from this is that if you purchased a Meopta instrument in the UK and it develops a fault and needs repair, the warranty is worthless. Fortunately, the very excellent dealer I purchased the binoculars through are considerably more ethical and reliable than Meopta, and have refunded me in full.

I am, personally, disgusted with Meopta.

End of rant.
Thanks for the heads up James, I will keep a close eye on mine in view of your experience. What a bummer, I expected more from Meopta but am not in the least bit suprised at the excellent response of SWO.

Must admit that I am still absolutely delighted with both of my Meopta's and I hope that I do not experience the same problem with mine.

Forewarned is forearmed.
 
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I too loved my Meopta’s, a simply outstanding glass, and I'm full of regret regarding what has happened. SWOptics did offer me an 'open box', thoroughly checked and correctly functioning copy they have in stock, which I was very tempted by, but in truth, there seemed little wisdom in pursuing them in the knowledge that they too would come with a worthless warranty. I decided to cut and run and draw a line under this unfortunate episode.

A big thank you to SWOptics, Russell, who has been handling this situation, in particular. I've purchased through them several times and on each occasion their customer service has been outstanding. It helps too that their staff are all extremely knowledgeable naturalists with excellent product knowledge and enthusiasm for the products they sell. They're a great outfit and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I'm just sorry that they are the ones who will be out of pocket as a result of this.
 
I have had positive experience with Meopta warranty just recently, didn't pay a dime as they arranged a pickup and provided a new item.

Just out of curiosity, did you contact Meopta directly, or did the SWO try to do it?
 
I have had positive experience with Meopta warranty just recently, didn't pay a dime as they arranged a pickup and provided a new item.

Just out of curiosity, did you contact Meopta directly, or did the SWO try to do it?
Very interesting...!

I purchased the binoculars from SWOptics last November, so called them to let them know I sensed an issue with the dioptre mechanism and to find out what the procedure was to get them fixed under warranty. They asked me to send the binoculars back to them and said that they would oversee the process of sending the binoculars to Meopta for repair.

My understanding is that they emailed Meopta in Czech Republic for advice on the repair procedure, but received no reply to either the original email or subsequent chaser emails. They contacted the former UK distributor to see if they could assist, but they said they could not, so they then contacted the US distributor to see if they could help.

No help was forthcoming from any of these, and no reply from the parent company themselves. This is all I know. All very strange, but I have no reason to doubt what I'm being told by SWOptics. You, on the other hand, have had no problem with communication with Meopta, nor getting whatever issue you had with your product, sorted.

I don't know what to think now... 😕
 
Meopta had full-site vacation during first two weeks of July. They were completely shuttered. Could this be the reason in any way?
 
Meopta had full-site vacation during first two weeks of July. They were completely shuttered. Could this be the reason in any way?
It's certainly possible, but that still doesn't explain why they didn't reply to SWOptics on their return. SWOptics tell me they also sent follow up emails, but still no response from Meopta.
 
I can think of a number of reason why that might happen.
I have made a similar experience with Nikon. Bought a Prostaff P7 from their own website. Diopter snapped off after using it 5 times maybe. Wrote them an email through their online contact form. Never received an answer to this day.
 
Do not Meopta still make military scopes? I thought the US military used a version of the S2...
 
I have made a similar experience with Nikon.
And yet we all know Nikon continue to make and service their products... so apparently a consumer must be more persistent? Likewise we can't necessarily conclude from Bentley's report that Meopta no longer provide service -- no one actually said that -- just that arranging it can be harder than it should. The company is obviously having difficulties even with internal communication, and being owned now by venture capitalists can't help.
 
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Hello,
just to inform in August I had issue when my B1+ 12x50 HD, which fell on ground and get out of collimation.
Meopta repaired them very well, they came back fully refreshed like new in three weeks.
I had them registered for warranty and contacted Meopta directly over their official web shop contact.
They were very helpful, really nice service on par with Swarovski, so for me it was really great customer service.
 
Anybody have any insight on this? Have they closed the door to sports optics for good? In the USA? Everywhere?
 

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Meopta.com itself now shows only "MeoGuard DF" products for the military, basically the MeoStar 8x32, 10x42, and 12x50 bins and the S2 scope. I suppose they've finally left the consumer optics business, as many were guessing they would.

I wonder what the B2 series would have been like...
 
Meopta.com itself now shows only "MeoGuard DF" products for the military, basically the MeoStar 8x32, 10x42, and 12x50 bins and the S2 scope. I suppose they've finally left the consumer optics business, as many were guessing they would.

I wonder what the B2 series would have been like...
Hopefully, they’ll honor the warranties for their optics, and we won’t be SOL if we service or repair covered under warranty.
 
Unlikely. I think they just understood that they are up against SRBC, so they need to play with the price point.

The local eshop keeps enough MeoStars B1+, that means they keep making them.
 
Meopta eshop is alive and well in Czechia, even having another sale on MeoPro Airs...
That would be Binoculars ...
Very strange.
Meopta Sports Optics - European premium optics won't even let you see a 2024 pdf catalog, you get "404 Unavailable". It can be downloaded from the EU site.

No wonder Google reports "People also ask: Is Meopta still in business?" (meaning binoculars of course)

I'm going to stop responding to threads about Meopta. It's just ridiculous.
 
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