For Mueller I relate a story…
About 5 years ago I got a kershaw 1560 knife as a gift. I found this knife extremely useful and was dissapponted when I left it on my bumper after cutting off a zip tie on a trailer and drove off.
I purchased a similar kershaw 1550 blackout from ebay for about half price it would be for a new one from kershaw. My dad used the knife several times and commented on how useful it was also. When we were at a gunshow a guy was selling them for $15 each. Seemed too good to be true but told him to get one since it looked identical to mine, same logos, everything. About a week later the liner lock in his broke in half and fell completely out. He took it to kershaw (they are local) to show them the problem and get it fixed, hopefully under warranty. Kershaw informed him it was a fake, a Chinese knockoff and they wanted to keep it to examine. They gave him a free real 1550ST blackout in exchange. They aren’t making a bundle off us at this point right?
I’m so pleased with their service I’m recommending my company put in a large order of kershaw knives customized with our logo, to hand out to good customers. It will be worth several thousand dollars and we will pay more per knife buying from the factory than ebay knockoffs but kershaw deserves it, and our customers deserve to get the real thing.
Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses and do right for the customer in the digital age since reviews spread like wildfire online. I monitor the web for my company’s reputation online also and it can be a full time job but it’s necessary now. Building brand loyalty is worth far more than a quick sale, as customers have their own networks of friends/family and you find you don’t even need to advertise eventually when you earn customers for life. You can’t do this for everyone obviously, but I’d nip this one in the bud and give Mags a replacement for his and get his kudos in this thread. Plus I really want to buy a Mueller APV for my 10/22 so I’m doing it for selfish reasons as well
There are other companies that earn repeat business through great customer service as well. Crimson Trace immediately comes to mind. I lost the allen wrench used to adjust the laser and simply asked what size it was so I could get another. They sent me 3 new wrenches, 2 sets of batteries, cleaning swabs, extra retention pins and more CT decals.
If it were me I’d give Mags a scope, get his defective scope back, figure out why it failed, and if you feel a design change is warranted to avoid that problem in the future (both pinching and the defect inside), fix it. See if you can replicate it. Bill the replacement scope to the design department if you must