The fact you "usually" deal with anyone says a lot about the quality of these optics. The fact you know the warranty bloke by name, that's next level
Just goes to show though how little they must be buying these scopes for from OEM's to just be able to hand out replacements like it's nothing.
It was an AMG. Vortex was the oem. A bunch of people that have no problem pissing off companies if there product is junk, like Ilya, have recommended the AMG. I think I was just not very lucky when it came to issues with it. It was also the scope I used for most of my centerfire shooting,and it got swapped around from rifle to rifle for hunting and comp shooting. I bought it originally in 2019 and ran 3k-5k rounds per year with it in addition to using it for a few thousand rounds of rimfire a couple times. It got the shit used out of it.
Like I said, I have several Vortex products and like the company and the people. I am not a fanboi. What I am a fanboi of is scopes that are made in America. I have an AMG, a burris xtr3 from greeley, and, as of a couple days ago an xtr pro. I use my gear and have had gear failures from other companies as well.
I have never had to pay a dime to Vortex to have problems fixed. They are always fixed quickly. Contrast that with the guy that had to get litigious with Nightforce and eventually sign an NDA to have his scope fixed.
I will also say that some of the flaws that I had issues with could not ever be seen by the average Fudd user. When you are in a position where 1 shot is the difference between a prize table rifle and a 30% off cert it actually makes a difference if your zero has a .1 or .2 shift. This is especially true when match directors set tyl stages with .5 moa targets. Being able to hit small targets is important for match finish and having any problem with shifting poi makes it nearly impossible. It takes a gun the shoots really small to even be able to notice some of that shift and even then I wondered if it was really happening and had to test to make sure.
They sent the op a new scope. It might still have issues. It might not. I have no fucking clue what they pay for shit chicom oem stuff. At one point before the wec attack on humanity it was rumored that a gen 2 razor cost them about $350. That does not include marketing costs, warranty costs, shipping costs, or any overhead or salary cost. I also don't know what the dealer cost was, but obviously it was not retail price. They are a business. It costs money to market and support customers. Vortex is very good at this and the customer pays for it. They have to, or there is no business. It will be bankrupt in a few payroll cycles.
Some people do not understand this. I have employees that think I make a 50% margin on them because they make $20/hr and have figured out I charge roughly $40/hr (5 year old numbers, but nice and round.) They have no idea, and don't care when it is explained, that I pay taxes and insurance that cost 25.5% of their wage in addition to overhead and their benefit package. I then have to pay corporate tax on profits and income tax on profits I transfer to my personal income as well as payroll tax on what I pay myself out of the company. In the end, the profiteers are the insurance companies and the government. Society has been brainwashed to believe that "rich" business owners are the problem, and that they are taking advantage of all their employees and customers. At the same time these people produce value and kiss customers' asses (as that is now the MINIMUM expectation in our society) all the while creating jobs so the common people who they are "taking advantage of" can earn a good living. Those people who are being "taken advantage of" by the business owner have money taken out of their check to pay none other than the government. That is in addition to everything listed above.
Everyone wants to pile on when someone who is a "bigshot" makes a mistake. Carma catches up with those people, as we are all just fallable humans. Be happy for the people that work hard and build things and make themselves and their employees wealthy and maybe a little bit of that success will follow you. Hating on success will just bring more of the same into your life.
From what I have seen the core values at Vortex are based on solid moral and ethical business, and they have tried to bring some manufacturing back to the USA. Those are both things I can get behind at any company.
