S&B : New 3-27x PMII -- On the site!
I agree. And we all should only buy vehicles from manufacturers that offer lifetime warranties because five years is just pure BS!!
They obviously don't have faith in their products.
Car warranties have nothing to do with faith in the product. They exist to benefit the manufacturer, not the consumer. That, and the industry-wide move to 100,000 mile warranties is, in effect, almost a lifetime warranty for the majority of vehicles.
As you know, the high-end optic market is a very different animal, and not nearly as regulated.
My concern with SB is that two years ago they raised their prices and cut dealer margins only because, as it appeared to the outsider, the market would bear it. Since then I have received two new SB scopes that were both broken as they came new in the box. I sent them back. And that I had never seen before from SB.
The customer service was indeed very good. I had one SB fail in the last two years and it was taken care of, but (if I recall correctly) not before being sent to Germany and back.
Most recently, my longest and best contact at SB left the company. You know more about that than I do, but suffice it to say that to me the price increases, quality issues, and long- term employee leaving we're all indicators of, if not deeper problems, then at the very least significant changes in the way the company does business both internally and externally.
Don't get me wrong, I like SB products and I still buy their scopes and run their scopes. I love the old 5-25, and the 4-16 Gen II is probably still the best scope for use on a two-way range. I just fear that people like me are being pushed aside by the lure of big money and big contracts.
