Leupold Customer Service

[jwv2001]

First of all, this is not a complaint in any way shape or form. I recently had occasion to send a scope back to Leupold for repair. It was 6.5-20x40 gloss that had been on my rifle for at least 12 years. All of a sudden, I couldn't adjust it to shoot to point of aim. I ran out of down adjustment. By the time they looked at it, they said they would warranty replace it with a new scope. All well and good but, what happened to my original scope that made it "unrepairable". There was no damage that I knew of that would account for the scope to fail.
As I said earlier, the scope was glossy with regular adjustment turrets. The new scope has a matte finish with target turrets. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the new scope is great, but it's not like the other one, which I would prefer. The target turrets are bulky on a hunting rifle.
Somehow I feel that Leupold wants to get all the glossy scopes out of circulation. They did the same years ago with scopes that the finish began to turn purple. If you sent a scope in, it would be replaced with a new one. I knew guys that would go to gun shows, buy purple scopes, send them in and get a new scope in return.
Right now, gloss scopes demand a premium in the used market for 6.5-20 Leupolds. Leupold doesn't make gloss anymore.

 

[M-61]

Actually in this day and age what you got after 12 years well I’d say not to shabby at all.
I understand why you’re not thrilled, so why not call them?

 

[DLT]

I know if any leupold LPS scopes get sent in for any reason they are replaced. Makes you wonder if the employees are hoarding them up.

 

[jelenko]

Try asking Leupold. They should be able to tell you what was wrong with the scope.
I sent a gloss 6.5-20x40 EFR in a year ago; they repaired it and sent it back.

 

[DGP4]

One word: Parts. Once the manufacturer runs out of the internal parts like the reticles, it is cheaper to send you a new scope. I would ask if they would send you back the old scope. If so, you can send it to several repair shops that can repair it from their inventory of parts.

 

[M-61]

I know if any leupold LPS scopes get sent in for any reason they are replaced. Makes you wonder if the employees are hoarding them up.

Anything is possible but I don’t agree with your last sentence, but of course have no proof that you’re right or wrong.
I only know I’ve never had a problem with them, and I don’t think scopes just”break” all on their own. At least mine never have.

 

[jds holler]

I'd guess that after a certain point (or many years) that the older models are simply obsolete and outdated to the capabilities of their service department. jd

 

[M-61]

Try asking Leupold. They should be able to tell you what was wrong with the scope.
I sent a gloss 6.5-20x40 EFR in a year ago; they repaired it and sent it back.

I thought I said that in post #2

 

[DLT]

I'd guess that after a certain point (or many years) that the older models are simply obsolete and outdated to the capabilities of their service department. jd

This is more than likely the reason.

 

[284winner]

I'm in a similar situation with a glossy Leupold 3-9 scope with standard turrets. They can't be easily adjusted and are all but froze. I'd be happy if they replaced it with a matt finish scope with finger adjust turrets. I'll have to call and send it in. It's a 1991 scope I purchased new. Not complaining but it's gotta lifetime warranty so why not use it

 

[Bob3700]

I recently sent a 24x gloss scope in for repair. It would not hold zero.
The email I got from Leupold stated the scope was not repairable and to contact them.
I asked the CS agent what made the scope un-repairable. He checked and said that the scope body was damaged taking it apart and they did not have a replacement part. They also don't offer straight power scopes in that power range any more. They would offer a 45X as a replacement or whatever else I requested.
I ended up with a newer (matte finished) 6.5x20 but the reticles they offer really were not to my liking.
Found an older 25X silhouette scope with a 3/8 dot that is perfect.

 

[jelenko]

reticles they offer really were not to my liking

I've found the same issue with the newer scopes. The used to have a .8 MOA center dot - gone now.

 

[jwv2001]

I'm in a similar situation with a glossy Leupold 3-9 scope with standard turrets. They can't be easily adjusted and are all but froze. I'd be happy if they replaced it with a matt finish scope with finger adjust turrets. I'll have to call and send it in. It's a 1991 scope I purchased new. Not complaining but it's gotta lifetime warranty so why not use it

Do use the warranty. You can access it online, and they will send you a shipping label. Box it up and send it in. It's that simple.

 

[jxb]

I recently sent in two VX-II 6x18 one with target dot and turrets the other standard. They repaired both of those. These are both something like 30yrs old.

I was talking to support about some of the target scopes and a couple that I needed to check SN's on about why they can repair some and not others. They stated that they cannot do anything with tube/finish issues, that's always been the case. The balance is simply if they have parts to complete the repair they will do that. If they do not, they offer a replacement scope of comparable type and value. They indicated that scopes like mine or the 3x9 scopes were sold in vast numbers so there's still lots of parts for them, but some of the target scopes and a few others they no longer can service because they don't have parts for those.

OP replacement. I'm not surprised the replacement was matte, but a little surprised they didn't offer something in normal turrets. Or more so surprised they would send you one with target turrets when yours didn't have them. I've heard they offer a choice of models to choose from as the replacement, maybe they didn't do that in this case? Personally I would have contacted them and said, hey this is nice but my scope is for a hunting rifle so I'd rather have one without target turrets. I'm pretty sure they don't have anything in glossy finish but haven't checked the website to look for it either. As for what the reason was for the old one, just call them and ask, it's all logged and in pretty good detail. They might even be able to send you a copy of the test sheet. One of mine had issues with windage holding but totally erratic from adjustment. The test sheet showed checks before and after repair, including full up/down and windage. Post fix more than doubled each for travel and they aligned it to center as it was all sorts of messed up. I only noticed because I moved that scope from a sighted-in rifle that was holding fine to a new rifle and found the issue when adjusting. The other scope worked fine but apparently lost seal as there was a film inside the front element. Both came back like factory new in all regards (except any finish rubs/dings)

 

[Murray Brook]

Just last month I sent my Leupold 6.5x20 x40 to the Canadian Leupold repair center ( Knorth Group) in Alberta. Sent the scope on Sept 6/24 and had it returned on appx Sept 28/24. They sent me the list of what they repaired. The scope would not hold POI, but they sent me back my gloss (1989) 6.5x20x40 repaired. Great service

 

[Doug Casner]

It was always a pleasure to do business with a top notch company like leupold . Always treated me right. Doug

 

[284winner]

Never used their CS dept. I've used their custom shop for turret swaps but using maybe 6-8 leupolds over the last 4 decades, never needed a warranty till about now and this isn't an emergency. It's a VXII sub par Leupold and for a 33 year old scope, I'm pretty good with their record overall. Gotta say tho, I've never really used any scope manufacturers warranty except NightForce. I know, shocker. They are all susceptible to flaws. It's how the company responds that counts.

 

[K22]

President Lincoln was correct when he said, "You can please some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but never all the people, all of the time," or some such thing.

Count your blessings. I had a similar issue with a top brand name scope with a "full lifetime replacement / repair warranty". I sent it back and when they returned it, they said they "fixed" it. I was suspicious because of the quick turnaround and the scope was about 10+ years old.

You guessed it, the scope still would not hold zero. When I confronted them, they said they would send me a credit towards a purchase of one of their new scopes or I could return it again, at my costs, for re-inspection. I declined and had a few fingers Makers' Mark that night.

However, the scope is excellent for bird watching if you're into that sort of thing!

 

[C.E.Smith043]

First of all, this is not a complaint in any way shape or form. I recently had occasion to send a scope back to Leupold for repair. It was 6.5-20x40 gloss that had been on my rifle for at least 12 years. All of a sudden, I couldn't adjust it to shoot to point of aim. I ran out of down adjustment. By the time they looked at it, they said they would warranty replace it with a new scope. All well and good but, what happened to my original scope that made it "unrepairable". There was no damage that I knew of that would account for the scope to fail.
As I said earlier, the scope was glossy with regular adjustment turrets. The new scope has a matte finish with target turrets. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the new scope is great, but it's not like the other one, which I would prefer. The target turrets are bulky on a hunting rifle.
Somehow I feel that Leupold wants to get all the glossy scopes out of circulation. They did the same years ago with scopes that the finish began to turn purple. If you sent a scope in, it would be replaced with a new one. I knew guys that would go to gun shows, buy purple scopes, send them in and get a new scope in return.
Right now, gloss scopes demand a premium in the used market for 6.5-20 Leupolds. Leupold doesn't make gloss anymore.

So much cheaper to replace a scope with one they have ready to go than to fix your old one. Boiled down to money and that's how they see the cheapest route to honor a warranty.

 

[dryhumor]

A couple of years ago, I ran into the regional Leupold rep at a Sportsman Warehouse. He confirmed that if a scope couldn’t be repaired, that they would offer a comparable replacement.