Vortex Mistake at Factory?

[Griztrax]

This is going to sound hard to believe but wanted to throw this out there in case anyone has come across the same thing. I have purchased 3 pairs of 10x42 Diamondbacks in the last 4 or 5 years - one each for myself and 2 of my boys. Not that it matters much but all three pairs were purchased from Cabelas. Just this last weekend, one of my boys picked up my pair to glass something and said "Dad - why are your binoculars 8x42"? I was like what are you talking about, we all have 10x42 and he said "No...it says right here on yours that these are 8x42". Sure enough I look and it says 8x42! I had literally never looked at the binos the whole first year of ownership. Why would I? The box says 10x42. Has anyone ever seen this? was there a mix-up at the factory? Do I have any recourse after more than a year of ownership? I know Vortex has a great warranty but are they going to laugh at me if I bring this up? Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[LuketheDog]

You sure someone at Cabelas didn't put them back in the wrong box after playing with them in the store?

 

[Griztrax]

You sure someone at Cabelas didn't put them back in the wrong box after playing with them in the store?

That's a good thought but every pair I have purchased has been factory sealed in plastic around the box so I don't think that would have happened.

 

[Schaaf]

Well you’d have to call China to find out

 

[bluespruce]

It might be worth contacting them if you have the packages and receipts (without those I think there is little point). Its entirely possible there was a batch of incorrectly packaged product. I got boat tail bullets in a flat base package once. Not the same dollar level obviously but the point is this sort of thing does happen.

I guess the worst that can happen is what you mention: they say laugh and say no. But you won't know unless you try and they definitely won't get replaced by not contacting Vortex.

 

[schmalts]

Question is do you really want 10X after using the 8?? If you have time, sit behind both and you might want a pair of 8X for certain conditions. Short to mid range glassing conditions I will take the bigger FOV anyday,

 

[ShortAction]

Speaking of their warranty and mistakes...
I had to send in my 6 X 30 Vipers for repair a few years ago. I got back someone else's cheap Bushnells. I eventually got mine, but it seems warranty work gets farmed out. They're not the only ones. My Steiners had to be sent to Burris for repair. They didn't have the correct parts. Go figure!

 

[The Lame Trapper]

That is odd. You would think that would be caught at the factory. Bad QC on there part, I would give them a call.

 

[maxracx]

Speaking of their warranty and mistakes...
I had to send in my 6 X 30 Vipers for repair a few years ago. I got back someone else's cheap Bushnells. I eventually got mine, but it seems warranty work gets farmed out. They're not the only ones. My Steiners had to be sent to Burris for repair. They didn't have the correct parts. Go figure!

That is 100% incorrect!! I can tell you for a FACT that all Vortex warranty work is done at their facility in Barnaveld WI. They have a crew of 10-12 optical techs that do all of the repair work. NOTHING is "farmed" out. I have been to their corp offices and seen this firsthand.

 

[SFC B]

Give them a call for sure. I work with those guys and a regular basis and they are great folks (and a Vet owned business). I won't guarantee anything but I know their goal is always to make folks happy if possible. They are by FAR the most responsive of the optics company we work with.

 

[mtmuley]

Only mistake with Vortex for me was buying it. mtmuley

 

[ImBillT]

That is odd. You would think that would be caught at the factory. Bad QC on there part, I would give them a call.

You would be paying substantially more for everything you bought if every item a manufacturer made got checked by QC, and problems would still get out the door. No QC by any company of consequence checks every item before it ships out. It’s usually a very small percentage, and when they find a problem, they trace it to its route to correct future problems and do a more intensive check of any items that have not yet left the facility.

 

[2rocky]

Do you notice a magnification difference when you look through the glass?

They may have just been mismarked...

 

[The Lame Trapper]

You would be paying substantially more for everything you bought if every item a manufacturer made got checked by QC, and problems would still get out the door. No QC by any company of consequence checks every item before it ships out. It’s usually a very small percentage, and when they find a problem, they trace it to its route to correct future problems and do a more intensive check of any items that have not yet left the facility.

This is true to a degree. There are companies that do check every item before they leave the door. Mostly smaller companies. Like my tarptent. But on a large scale it's impractical. But QC doesn't mean check every item. It is a percentage of items. Or batch. So they can recall a certain batch number because the machine was off just a little or something. Seems highly unlikely that just 1 bino was defective. Probably a entire batch. So I wonder how many others got through that day.

 

[ImBillT]

This is true to a degree. There are companies that do check every item before they leave the door. Mostly smaller companies. Like my tarptent. But on a large scale it's impractical. But QC doesn't mean check every item. It is a percentage of items. Or batch. So they can recall a certain batch number because the machine was off just a little or something. Seems highly unlikely that just 1 bino was defective. Probably a entire batch. So I wonder how many others got through that day.

“company of consequence” suggested large companies.

 

[The Lame Trapper]

“company of consequence” suggested large companies.