My experience was, fortunately for me, quite the opposite Carl.
One of the brackets that anchors the strap ends on my Bushnells broke and
could only be repaired professionally. I took them back to Adelaide Optics in
Adelaide where I had bought them and the shop dealt with Bushnell themselves.
All I paid was the postage to/from Sydney and I had them back inside a couple
of weeks. I bought both my bins and Kowa 'scope from them, but have no
commercial interest.
John McVictor Harbor
> From:
> Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2012 19:02:21 +1100
> To:
> CC:
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Steiner Binoculars - Customer Service
>
> 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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