Leupold VX6 7-42 broke

[willbas]

I got one of the first Leupold VX6 7-42 and it broke in 56 rounds something work lose inside and when I turned the side focus it would make a clucking noise. I called an and ask for a RMA and was told they do not use them. It took them 6 days to input my info after UPS delivered it to them. There attitude is poor, ok, it broke go ahead and send it in. It will take a week to get trough receiving and 2 or 3 weeks to get repaired if it s a easy fix. I hope they know it is a new high end scope and it may be defective.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I used to live near them. I took my scopes directly to them for repair and modification (new reticles).

To be totally honest, I became disgusted more recently. I felt like the customer was disregarded. I've moved on to Sightron and Nightforce.

When you get the scope back, take a flashlight and shine it in through the objective end. Look at the internals of the scope and the inside of the lenses. I got a scope back a couple of times that was dirty inside - hopefully, they have corrected that problem by now.

 

[JamesnTN]

So your first post here is to bash Leupold? I believe if anything major has happened to this new lineup of scopes the guys over on benchrest central would have already chimed in.

 

[Jeff Von Rosenberg]

Why the hell would you bash a new member! I find it interesting to know what the customer service is like. I hopethe new guy realizes we are not all rude!

 

[Chief 101]

I have sent several older scopes in for rehab over the years, last year they told me that hunting season is very busy for them so I sent the last one during winter, had it back in 2 weeks. They get a ton of scopes in for warrantee work that have been abused and misrepresented and they take care of them all. They tend to overestimate the time of repair so they can get your gear back sooner than expected rather than later. Life is just too short to worry about the small stuff. They have been good to me, but then nothing I have sent them was defective either...good luck

 

[Trapper243]

I have only used their customer service a couple of times and found it to be quite good, including a repair/ upgrade of a 30 year old scope.

 

[willbas]

So your first post here is to bash Leupold? I believe if anything major has happened to this new lineup of scopes the guys over on benchrest central would have already chimed in.

Thank for the info on Benchrest Central I will have to go over there and let them know. They do have some great info on F-class.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

I got one of the first Leupold VX6 7-42 and it broke in 56 rounds something work lose inside and when I turned the side focus it would make a clucking noise. I called an and ask for a RMA and was told they do not use them. It took them 6 days to input my info after UPS delivered it to them. There attitude is poor, ok, it broke go ahead and send it in. It will take a week to get trough receiving and 2 or 3 weeks to get repaired if it s a easy fix. I hope they know it is a new high end scope and it may be defective.

That sucks, nothing worse than new gear breaking down. For whatever else I might think of Leupold, their warranty policy is pretty solid. They should take care of you. It's frustrating, but there's really nothing you can do about it at this point. A long time ago I sent in a spotting scope to Leupold for repair and they gave me a standard estimate of 2 - 3 weeks - and it showed up 5 days later, repaired.

 

[LHSmith]

Buying one of the first off-the-line models of a product is always risky. I recently sent a Leupold in for service. I followed the procedure outlined on their website by e-mailing them the details, and got confirmation quickly to return for repair by a technician. I received a confirmation that they did receive my scope a short time later. The scope was returned to me a week earlier than they had estimated.
To me that is great service, considering the millions of Leupolds out there ( they have been making rifle scopes since 1942) that are covered by lifetime warranty - regardless if not the original owner.
I know there are many users who abuse this warranty by sending in their scope every year to "check it out". Still wonder why Leupolds cost more and take 2 weeks or more for repair?
It's due to this "taker" mentality - all to prevalent today that drives this abuse.

 

[Barlow]

My 35 year use of various Leupold scopes and other products and service has been flawless. Barlow

 

[Lapua40X]

I have no complaints about Leupold service. They've done right by me. I recall sending in a scope for reticle change out (varmint to mildot) and the tech. that did the work apparently got the lenses in the wrong place. I called, they were apologetic and fixed the problem quickly and effectively.
Got to remember that this is a relatively small company by most commercial manufacturing standards and that a single bad experience does not justify condemning the entire operation.
Lighten up ......

 

[dragman]

I got 2 of them! and both did the same thing right out of the box. I am waiting to get them both back right now. The optics looked great and I will hold off on the final judgment until I get them back, but it is disappointing to have that kind of money waiting on a repair right out of the box.

I usually wait til something is out for a while before I jump I didn't this time and I really should have.

 

[dragman]

So your first post here is to bash Leupold? I believe if anything major has happened to this new lineup of scopes the guys over on benchrest central would have already chimed in.

I have been doing this for a long time and buy a LOT of stuff and there is a major issue happening. don't know if after the first run for the Fclass guys they changed a part or a process but his post is exactly what I got too.

 

[willbas]

I got 2 of them! and both did the same thing right out of the box. I am waiting to get them both back right now. The optics looked great and I will hold off on the final judgment until I get them back, but it is disappointing to have that kind of money waiting on a repair right out of the box.

I usually wait til something is out for a while before I jump I didn't this time and I really should have.

Dragman I am sorry but happy at the same time, sorry that you are having problem with your scope and happy to know I am not the only one out there with this problem.

 

[fdshuster]

Ditto to what LHSmith said about buying one of the first-off-the-line models (of anything). I recently had an experience with another big time well known, high quality scope, bought one of the first to come down the line, low serial number, it failed and had to go back.

In a very short time, another even lower serial number of the same scope failed identically to mine. The guy had to drop off the line at one of our local varmint for score match's because of the failure.

Not good to be the testing facility for a new product.

 

[Damfino]

willbas - Thanks for posting. It's good information on a new scope. I have been using Leupolds for over 30 years, but reluctantly migrated to Nightforce because of the lack of big variables...

 

[mikegaiz]

I bought my first Leupold scope in the early 60's and have a bunch of them now. I have only had two issues in over 40 years one my fault and one target knob striped. they fixed both in a very short turnaround. They have always been very responsive. Give them a chance. They will make it right.

 

[willbas]

I got my Leupold post card today, 18 working days estimate on repair. I will get my scope back around the 1st or 2nd week of OCT.

 

[Joe Salt]

Willbas I've had my 7x42 since July and can't say a thing bad about it, it has gone from my L.G. to My H. G. with three complete turns on the elevation back and forth for three month and it is still holding together! I haven't given them a written evaluation as of yet, waiting for the shooting to be over in two weeks. But thanks for the heads up, I'll play more with the Parallax just to see what happens.

joe Salt

 

[GoBang]

Last year, I dropped a VX-3 Leupold 2x-8x and that jammed one of the screw-on lense covers so that I couldn't remove it

So, I mailed to Leupold and asked them to call me with a cost of repair, explaining that it was entirely my old hands that were guilty. Instead, they removed the cover, checked out the scope and sent back the scope and cover - no charge. I couldn't even find the right box to send it in.

It only took a couple or three weeks, so I can't complain about Leupold. And, I have never had a failure among the dozen or so Leupold scopes I have, including two VX3 scopes (1.5 x 5) on a 338 win mag and a 375 H&H mag. My first Leupold is still in service on an old 30-06.

Scopes break. And, they break especially on big bangers that have sharp, heavy recoil. Since my need for magnification stops at about 10x, I cannot speak for the new variables which have an enormous ratio of magnification.