The ZEISS "life time guarantee" (1 Viewer)

[Birds on high]

I have owned a pair of Classic 10x25 B binoculars for over forty years. They have served me backpacking, bird and wildlife watching. sky watching for comets and satellites, at sporting events, and on vacations in general. Their quality and durability has been great. I paid a good premium for them forty years ago but felt justified in spending the money because of the quality and life time guarantee. I recently began to experience double images which I suspected to be a collimation problem and sent the binoculars into Zeiss for repair. I was shocked to be informed that my optic is not covered under warranty because of a fungus present in the Objective tubes prohibited its disassembly for service. I can certainly respect Zeiss's desire to protect against possible contamination, but at the same time would expect a company as technically sophisticated as Zeiss to have contamination handling tools, procedures, and trained personnel. Apparently a life time guarantee is revoked if a repair exceeds a certain cost limit. And so how about a replacement? Zeiss stated an exact replacement product is no longer available. Imagine that, the forty year old Classic 10x25 B is no longer being sold! ZEISS did Identify two closest available replacements: the Terra ED 10x25 black or the Victory Pocket 10x25. Both available to me at a discount but not as a direct no-cost replacement. Seems to me that the premium I paid to ZEISS years ago should not be assessed again on a life time guarantee replacement. Sure both replacements retail for more than what I paid forty years ago but not more than the present value of that original cost.

 

[james holdsworth]

That model wasn’t waterproof, so fungus is likely due to moisture entering the binocular, which wouldn’t be covered by warranty, as it (the warranty) is to cover materials and workmanship.

A no fault warranty might cover this, but this is a pretty recent addition to Zeiss's warranty coverage.

Zeiss offering a current product, which will be optically much superior, at a discount, is more than fair IMO.

 

[Maljunulo]

I'm not sure Zeiss is obliged to replace a 40 year-old, non-sealed binocular which grew fungus due to moisture incursion.

 

[Conndomat]

I have owned a pair of Classic 10x25 B binoculars for over forty years. They have served me backpacking, bird and wildlife watching. sky watching for comets and satellites, at sporting events, and on vacations in general. Their quality and durability has been great. I paid a good premium for them forty years ago but felt justified in spending the money because of the quality and life time guarantee. I recently began to experience double images which I suspected to be a collimation problem and sent the binoculars into Zeiss for repair. I was shocked to be informed that my optic is not covered under warranty because of a fungus present in the Objective tubes prohibited its disassembly for service. I can certainly respect Zeiss's desire to protect against possible contamination, but at the same time would expect a company as technically sophisticated as Zeiss to have contamination handling tools, procedures, and trained personnel. Apparently a life time guarantee is revoked if a repair exceeds a certain cost limit. And so how about a replacement? Zeiss stated an exact replacement product is no longer available. Imagine that, the forty year old Classic 10x25 B is no longer being sold! ZEISS did Identify two closest available replacements: the Terra ED 10x25 black or the Victory Pocket 10x25. Both available to me at a discount but not as a direct no-cost replacement. Seems to me that the premium I paid to ZEISS years ago should not be assessed again on a life time guarantee replacement. Sure both replacements retail for more than what I paid forty years ago but not more than the present value of that original cost.

Hello,

first of all welcome here...

If you study the Zeiss website carefully, there is a note that Zeiss generally does not accept optics with fungal infestation.

In principle, Zeiss could of course correct the double images, so the binoculars would be functional again, but due to the fungal infection, they will no longer be able to tinker with it; in the worst case scenario, these fungal spores could spread and, if in doubt, affect other optics.

If the inside of a pair of binoculars has become damp, you should send the glass for repair immediately so that fungal infestation cannot form. If you put it away for a long time, this is improper handling and the guarantee is void.
And, non-waterproof binoculars are not covered by the warranty anyway if moisture gets in!

Andreas

 

[tenex]

The relevant points about warranty having been covered already, how much of a discount are you being offered? You will be amazed at how much better the Victory Pocket is. Even the lowly Terra would outperform your old Classic, which didn't even have phase coatings.

 

[Patudo]

It might be worth sending your binoculars to East Coast Binocular Repairs in the U.K. They are an authorized Zeiss service centre, and I've sent them binoculars with fungus issues that have been professionally dealt with. The owner Gary Hawkins is extremely experienced and competent. But I'd also recommend very carefully considering the offer of a discounted Victory Pocket, as the 8x25 model at least is truly outstanding.

PS. the lifetime warranty most likely only covered defects in manufacturing, rather than being intended to offer free servicing for as long as the product was in existence. Binoculars going out of collimation after over 40 years could not reasonably be claimed to be a defect in manufacturing (quite the opposite!), and neither would fungus issues.

 

[Ignatius]

Not sure Zeiss offered a 'lifetime' warranty in the USA 40-odd years ago. If they did it, might be worth to read the small print which very likely does state that the warranty does not indemmnify against humidity ingress in a non-waterproof binocular after 40 years (usually called 'limited' lifetime warranty). That they do not want to accept fungus-infested items is normal. I am fairly certain none of the big boys want to bring that stuff anywhere near their places of operation, so that won't be a Zeiss issue.
Also: lifetime does not mean your lifetime, but the 'reasonably useable' lifetime of the item - which in the OP's case is obviously at an end.
Finally - Zeiss products are premium quality, not some average quality or even good quality product, to all intents and purposes produced in Asia on a mixed calculation which assumes 3% complete loss per 100 items cheaply produced and can thus have a warranty which gives a full replacement for 'life'.

 

[Binastro]

Fungal problems and dropping binoculars 50ft onto concrete are not covered by lifetime guarantees.

There are some companies now such as Vortex and maybe Bushnell that just replace anything, even if lost.

My friend's nephew dropped his Leica binocular into a deep lake when on work study in South America.
Leica sent a replacement by express airmail free of charge.
But this was just a goodwill measure.
It might be also that my friend was probably the world authority on Leica.

Leica fixed a Pradovit projector for me FOC after many years and included a support accessory for the long magazines.

Sometimes fungus is so far gone that it has eaten away the glass and is really not repairable.
The only place for these binoculars is the trash bin.
Not only would opening it spread fungus, it presents a health hazard to the technician.

Regards,
B.