Here's a snippet from another forum. Goes completely against your experience.
VIP or GAGF Warranty?
With all due, I can only relate my personal experiences with Vortex. Although I prefer my Sightron over the Vortex, the manner in which Vortex responded and treated me, including sending me the return authorization
without me asking for one, has me thinking this is a company I will enjoy dealing with for a long time to come. They could have told me to back off the magnification a little, but they didn't. They did mention it was possible I over torqued the ring screws causing the haze effect, but to send it back anyway so they could "repair or replace it". Was their mention of screw torque accusatory? Not in the context the information was delivered, but it was informative and educational. They didn't offer to kiss my ass, which seems to be what some people expect from vendors. Instead they offered to do
exactly what their warranty states they will do.
Exactly, which is all anyone should expect from any company.
Any experienced shooter understands that glass quality and coating types are a function of price. Experienced shooters also understand that at max high magnifications scopes with less than top dollar glass and coatings will "haze" out some. Even some of the very best can develop some haze at very high magnification. The solution is to back off a little bit. Pretty much the same thing one does when dealing with mirage. The point in that last sentence is for people to be realistic. Did they over torque the ring screws and distort the tube, causing the haze? Is there a lot of fog/haze or just a little in a lower priced scope? If only a little perhaps they need to consider what they paid for the product and not expect S&B or Swaro quality at BSA, Millet, Bushy, Vortex or Sightron prices. Notice the quality level went up with each name mentioned but that some expect high end quality from even the lowest priced products.
I participate in another hobby where one manufacturer in the very beginning elected to offer the best customer service policy in the business. Are their products the best in the world? Nope, but they are good for the money spent. However, their customer service policy turned that manufacturer into the world's most sought after product for the application. It is now arguably the standard by which all other products are judged. Took about 15 years to get there but it was done. I see Vortex following the same path because they understand the wealthy are not the majority of their customer base and the majority is are who will carry them forward into the future.
Will I buy another Vortex? If the scope fits the intended application, hell yes! BTW, the Japanese have been making very high quality products for a long time, including optics, firearms, tooling and precision electrical products. So good they almost put our auto manufacturers out of business some time back. If it wasn't for Japanese quality levels we would still be driving cars that died at the 50,000 mile mark instead of 250,000, and still believing that German engineering was the best in the world.