surprisingly long hold times at Leupold

[captain awesome]

i got off work early today and decided to call and take care of some warantee stuff. I have several items that have not held up that I just haven't gotten around to calling in about since a lot of customer service departments are closed before I am usually off work.
today I called 3 places.
Hornady to have some worn out parts replaced on one of my reloading presses, didnt wait on hold at all, and rarely do for longer than a few seconds when i call them.
Called up Lyman, to replace a broken decapping rod, the guy picked up immediately after I pressed the right button.
Called up Leupold, one of my scope rings didnt hold up to the recoil of my 460 S&W. I havent ever called Leupold, so i dont know what is normal, but I was put on hold at que position # 46 roughly an hour and a half ago. they gave me the option of saving my place in the que (thank heavens) and they would automatically call me back when my number came up. well, still waiting for the call back and i have officially broken the record of the longest time I have ever waited to talk to a CS rep. the only ones that have come close were Best Buy shortly after Chrismas a couple years ago and Century Link (my internet provider, who is notorious for that)

is this Common for Leupold? Do THAT MANY of their products require servicing? I know Leuppy is prolific but this left me in shock.

what have your expiriences been?

 

[chicharrones]

Hmmm. I went through this for a different reason last week.

On Thursday, I was on hold for customer service for an hour before I gave up. Then on Friday afternoon, I got straight through.

My best guess was that customers took off early on Friday leaving customer service with less to do.

I wonder if today's federal holiday had anything to do with your experience with Leupold?

 

[captain awesome]

the thought crossed my mind about the holiday. I was under the impression most people call while they are at work!(wish i could but working with my hands outside and not by the hour or salary doesnt afford me the luxury) They finally called back, grand total was 99 minutes.

 

[Steve S.]

I very recently purchased a VX 3i from an internet sight for what I thought was a steal price; after reading the stories of Chinese knock-off copies, I got nervous and called to verify my serial number (I paid with a CC so that if there was a problem, I could contest the purchase immediately with the card co.). I was a que number in the 60 count and figured even at one minute per call, it would be at least an hour wait so I did the call back thing. My call was returned about two hours later and my serial # was confirmed as authentic. I have had many Leupold scopes over the years and that was the first call I have ever made to Leupold - I have never needed to use their warranty.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Never for warranty issues. But to confirm serial number of scope or general questions. Never more than a few minutes,must be the holiday.

 

[foxmeadow]

I called them a month ago at around 1100 and waited 37 minutes.

 

[Tirod]

Cause and effect: A few years back, Leupold began outsourcing their manufacture of some items overseas. My Yosemite Binoculars are not US made. Once you put the logos etc in the hands of some foreign makers their workforce "exports" them to cottage makers in the vicinity who knock off copies.

As reported in the thread, said copies are making their way here due to importers who are attempting to fraudulently sell goods illegally trademarked - and it's resulting in a lot of customers now calling to check to see if their recent purchase is authentic.

Phones ringing off the hook and wait times into the hours.

It's been happening in the auto parts industry for over 30 years. "Repop" fenders are the bane of the auto body industry, as people won't pay for original sheetmetal and opt for a knockoff to lower their costs and pocket the difference. If your salvage yard offers "new" tailgates rest assured they could be made in Taiwan. I bought one and it actually had the little gold stickers saying that on it.

We won't pay for the cost of American labor yet we demand the quality - or near enough. In Leupold's case they are now overwhelmed by people who are thinking the product is suspect.

Know you are buying from and remember, you get what you pay for. You can't buy a new Rolex from a Far Eastern importer for under $8000. Not.

 

[CLP]

We won't pay for the cost of American labor yet we demand the quality - or near enough.

Not necessarily so. I happily pay more for a US made product whenever I can. The problem is that the opportunity to do so is increasingly difficult. Most of my tools are US made. Except files. I have no US made files- can't find 'em. That's just one example.