Advice needed: Zeiss won't repair my binoculars under warranty and want me to buy a refurbished pair instead. What do I do?
Hi there,
So, first some context:
I'm a lifelong bird lover, and after years of saving, I finally bought my first proper pair of binoculars in 2020 – a pair of Zeiss Conquest HD 8 x 42s. To be clear, I love these binoculars dearly. They're my prized possession and I'm lost without them, but they haven't been without their issues – a few years ago, I had to get them repaired under warranty after the left eyecap broke, and I know I'm not the first to have this issue!
Last year, I was birding overseas when I noticed what looked like a small scratch on each lens. Within weeks, these marks spread across much of the lenses, blurring the view and rendering them unusable.
I took them back to the optics store I first ordered them from. They inspected the lenses under a microscope and found that the coating (LotuTec) was peeling. They sent them off to the Zeiss factory in Germany, and advised that it could take as long as 6 months for me to have them back (I live in Australia, but still – yikes).
Today, I finally heard back. Zeiss confirmed that the coating is "defective", but have blamed this on "improper cleaning" which isn't covered under the (10 year) warranty. The only option they've given me is to fork out almost $800AUD (which I don't have) plus shipping (which could also be $$$, given I live on the other side of the world) to swap them with a refurbished pair – and I have to let them know asap.
I've waited binocular-less for 4 months only to be blamed for damaging my own lenses, and I'm upset because I'm so careful with my binos (I blow on the lenses before cleaning, use only approved cloths and lens sprays, always use the lens caps etc etc). The staff at the optics store never mentioned anything about improper cleaning, either. I was birding in some pretty extreme climates at the time, so is it possible that something else could have caused this?
Has anyone else had a similar experience? I just want to know what my options are here, if any. There's been no mention of recoating/repairing the lenses and I have no idea how much that would cost, but I imagine they're planning on doing this and re-selling mine as a refurbished pair instead. So, what can I do? I'm so annoyed that this isn't covered under warranty and don't have the funds for a refurbished pair, but I really do want my binoculars back. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :(