Colin,
Your experience is very much a reflection on the quality of service by
Steiner's Australian agents. Did the agents give any reason why they had not
forwarded the bins to Steiner in Germany?
We are generally not well served by the agents for the majority of distributors
of optical gear in Australia. I use Pentax bins and 'scope. I have never needed
their service, as I have only damaged my bins and 'scope in such a way as to
make them irreparable. I have used them for camera repairs where they worked
wonders, but the results did not come cheaply. In the USA, the agents for
Pentax provide a repair or replace service costing USD19.95, postage included,
for all of their sports optics products. Quite a difference.
Returning goods to manufacturers o/s is rapidly becoming uneconomic, due to
Australia Post's increasing postage rates. I recently bought two books from
Book Depository in the UK, postage free. The books received a fair amount of
cosmetic damage. For me to return the books to the UK it would have cost me
$153.00. The books cost me $87.00. There is certainly a tyranny of distance
imposed on us in Australia
On 27/12/2012, at 14:27, Colin R <> wrote:
> Hi All
>
> I was keen to share my experiences with you regarding Steiner Binoculars
> - some of you I am sure own or may be considering owning a pair.
>
> (This is not an advertisement nor have I any personal interest in
> Stenier Optik, apart from owing a pair of their Skyhawk bins.)
>
> Last July the focusing wheel on my 2.5 year old Skyhawk 10 x 42
> binoculars ceased to function. This was almost certainly due to a double
> soaking we both received on a Mooloolaba pelagic earlier in the year. I
> had thought all was OK, however, the mechanicsm shut down and the
> binoculars were unuseable.
> I contacted Steiner in Germany via email and they promptly advised me to
> send the binoculars to their agent in Victoria and that they would take
> care of everything, i.e. send them to Germany for repair. This I
> proceeded to do and, approximately 10 days later, received a phone call
> from the agent who advised me they would be repaired under warranty -
> but it would take up to 3 months.
> This I felt was acceptable, considering the damage and distance and so
> patiently waited through the Winter and Spring relying on a smaller pair
> of bins in the meantime.
>
> In mid November - four months later - having heard nothing more, I
> contacted the agent in Victoria.
> Their advice? The binoculars were still in Victoria! They had not been
> forwarded to Germany as promised. They might be able to get them out
> 'this year'.
> Their suggestion? Email Steiner myself and tell them what had happened.
>
> You're probably thinking what I was thinking - What The......?
> Anyway, I did and, following a couple of interchanges and a few weeks
> delay, rec'd, just in time for Christmas, a brand new pair of Skyhawk
> Pro 10 x 42s.
>
> Steiner were very apologetic and appeared quite embarassed by their
> agent's behaviour. I guess it's easy to say 'well, they should have
> replaced them of course', however, it was not their direct
> responsibility, they didn't even know about it until November - it was a
> complete failure on the part of the agent.
> I was impressed with their professionalism and their approach to
> delivering the kind of customer service I would have expected in the
> first place.
>
> It is nice to know that when it hits the fan there are companies out
> there who will support genuine customer issues and respond accordingly.
> And my (obvious) final advice? If you do encounter a problem with your
> Steiner's - don't send them to the agent, send them straight to Germany
> yourself!
>
> Cheers
> --
> Colin Reid
>
> So many birds, so little time......
>
> --
> http://www.fastmail.fm - The professional email service
>
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