Zeiss service - terra binos (1 Viewer)

[Pauhana]

Just called zeiss about status of my Terra bino's I sent back for repair. Apparently they were sent back to Germany for repair with expected lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Zeiss has already had them 4 weeks without any communication of status. Would have been nice to know what was going on without me having to call. Something to think about if your in US and are thinking about purchase of these bino's

 

[james holdsworth]

Just called zeiss about status of my Terra bino's I sent back for repair. Apparently they were sent back to Germany for repair with expected lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Zeiss has already had them 4 weeks without any communication of status. Would have been nice to know what was going on without me having to call. Something to think about if your in US and are thinking about purchase of these bino's

It all depends on who you talk to. My pair had the blue badge fall off and Mike Jensen of Zeiss offered to swap my pair for one brand new - and all I wanted was a new badge to superglue back on!

Whatever the case, 8 to 10 weeks is way too long. They should offer an exchange if it was going to be such an involved process. Zeiss need to be consistent [and efficient] with how they handle these cases, as negative situations gain traction much faster than positive.

 

[Pauhana]

Kinda my thought. My experience with Nikon was totally different. Hand to send a pair of monarchs back. I got the replacement pair back before I got letter acknowledging they had received bino's for repair. Maybe that spoiled me. At least still have my old monarchs as a backup pair

 

[james holdsworth]

Send a PM to Mike Jensen, I bet he will be able to work out something more equitable.

 

[ceasar]

Just called zeiss about status of my Terra bino's I sent back for repair. Apparently they were sent back to Germany for repair with expected lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Zeiss has already had them 4 weeks without any communication of status. Would have been nice to know what was going on without me having to call. Something to think about if your in US and are thinking about purchase of these bino's[/QUOT



Did you originally send them to Zeiss USA headquarters in North Chesterfield, VA. for repairs? It's curious that Zeiss USA would forward a Terra ED all the way to Germany for any repairs? I could see them doing that with an HT but not a $350.00 binocular they could replace with a new one.

http://www.zeiss.com/sports-optics/...upport/customer-service.html#service---repair

Bob

 

[Pauhana]

Yep that's the address they were sent

 

[Kammerdiner]

My FL had to go back to Germany once. It took over two months and it arrived back without the rainguard. Zeiss replaced that no charge, although it took two tries to send the right one.

And luckily the FL wasn't my only option because it was spring and I would have been a little ticked off with nothing to use.

Zeiss should follow Swaro's lead (and others!) and set up a full-service shop stateside. For all I know it's already in the works.

It also should not be a case of "It all depends on who you talk to." That's a crummy way to treat your customers, even though, yes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And squeaky wheels on Birdforum get more than the customary amount of grease, too.

 

[perterra]

It also should not be a case of "It all depends on who you talk to." That's a crummy way to treat your customers, even though, yes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And squeaky wheels on Birdforum get more than the customary amount of grease, too.

Agree completely, unfortunately it has become very hard to find customer service people who are geared toward customer satisfaction when the business model most companies work with pays the bonuses to the ones with the least logged reworks. Dont know if that applies to the current issue here, but in my experiences a company may say they strive for 100% customer satisfaction but penalize their folks who bend over backwards to make the customer happy.

 

[stereotruckdriver]

Just called zeiss about status of my Terra bino's I sent back for repair. Apparently they were sent back to Germany for repair with expected lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Zeiss has already had them 4 weeks without any communication of status. Would have been nice to know what was going on without me having to call. Something to think about if your in US and are thinking about purchase of these bino's

This is a surprise, my thoughts were opposite of Bobs though.
I was thinking since they are fairly new and from China the service center here wasn't set up for these binoculars.
Still a replacement made more sense.
It might be a blessing, you could end up with a dynamite Terra.
Don't know what your problem was we have an 8x42 with a little tweek could be very, very good.

Bryce...

 

[perterra]

This is a surprise, my thoughts were opposite of Bobs though.
I was thinking since they are fairly new and from China the service center here wasn't set up for these binoculars.
Still a replacement made more sense.
It might be a blessing, you could end up with a dynamite Terra.
Don't know what your problem was we have an 8x42 with a little tween could be very, very good.

Bryce...

This is very true.

 

[brocknroller]

Just called zeiss about status of my Terra bino's I sent back for repair. Apparently they were sent back to Germany for repair with expected lead time of 8 to 10 weeks. Zeiss has already had them 4 weeks without any communication of status. Would have been nice to know what was going on without me having to call. Something to think about if your in US and are thinking about purchase of these bino's

Pauhana;

Leica's CS and repairs are getting bashed on the Leica forum, Zeiss doesn't want to get bad PR like that. As others have recommended, send Mike a PM, better yet, an email if he accepts them, and see if Zeiss USA will send you a new unit. You shouldn't have to wait that long, whatever the reason.

The Great Kahuna

 

[Pauhana]

Yes sent him a PM last night. Problem was with one of the eyecups.

 

[mjensen6577]

Just saw this stream and will check my PM and will reply to Pauhana. Just to clarify our position, we have a transferable limited lifetime warranty on Terra, but we are currently instantly replacing any Terra binocular that we receive for service... regardless of the severity of the problem.

I will evaluate what slipped and I'll make sure my team is correctly implementing our defined procedure.

Apologies.

 

[Pauhana]

Received pm back from Mike today and shd have my binos on tue. Thanks to all
Randy

 

[brocknroller]

That's good to hear, and also to read Mike's post about instant replacement policy on the Terra. I hate to see bad PR on this model since it was a noble gesture on Zeiss's part to introduce an affordable bin with the blue badge, which carried the risk of tarnishing the brand, as some have expressed. It was a risk worth taking, IMO. My only regret is that the focuser is too fast for my tastes/eyes. Otherwise, it is a worthy contender for Nikon, Vortex and others making bins at this price point.

<B>

 

[perterra]

That's good to hear, and also to read Mike's post about instant replacement policy on the Terra. I hate to see bad PR on this model since it was a noble gesture on Zeiss's part to introduce an affordable bin with the blue badge, which carried the risk of tarnishing the brand, as some have expressed. It was a risk worth taking, IMO. My only regret is that the focuser is too fast for my tastes/eyes. Otherwise, it is a worthy contender for Nikon, Vortex and others making bins at this price point.

<B>

Amen brother Brock

 

[chris butterworth]

o <- Is that a touch of tarnish I see?

 

[St. Elmo]

Let me first put this into context…. I really like Zeiss, I'm very happy with my Victory FL 8x42, and plan on keeping it a long time…

That said, I've got to ask… is the Terra automatic replacement policy just a way of foisting design testing and quality control onto the purchaser? Is it a way of finding out what should have been found out by proper and arduous pre-production testing? It just seems kinda fishy…

I'd really like to be wrong.
Mike

 

[james holdsworth]

Let me first put this into context…. I really like Zeiss, I'm very happy with my Victory FL 8x42, and plan on keeping it a long time…

That said, I've got to ask… is the Terra automatic replacement policy just a way of foisting design testing and quality control onto the purchaser? Is it a way of finding out what should have been found out by proper and arduous pre-production testing? It just seems kinda fishy…

I'd really like to be wrong.
Mike

I doubt it - the Terra's are a brick and seem very well put-together. I have only heard a couple of minor niggles so far, nothing major.

If they seemed frail or somehow designed without quality or durability in mind, I might think otherwise.

 

[perterra]

Let me first put this into context…. I really like Zeiss, I'm very happy with my Victory FL 8x42, and plan on keeping it a long time…

That said, I've got to ask… is the Terra automatic replacement policy just a way of foisting design testing and quality control onto the purchaser? Is it a way of finding out what should have been found out by proper and arduous pre-production testing? It just seems kinda fishy…

I'd really like to be wrong.
Mike

I suspect there will always be things that slip through the cracks. Once production starts there will be problems that QC wont catch. There will be a part thats out of tolerance used.

What the automatic replacement policy implies to me is that the manufacturer and not the distributor may be covering all the warranty. Zeiss is probably not out anything on replacements. If Zeiss were making these inhouse, then yes they would pay the cost for replacement.