This post is regarding a very negative experience I’m currently having with Trijicon. In accordance with Rule #4, I have contacted them numerous times, but have yet to receive any satisfaction whatsoever, and I feel the situation is actually devolving rather than being resolved.
I have been told that this site is industry-oriented, and that’s why I’ve chosen to come here. I’m hoping the upper management at Trijicon-who I have not been allowed to speak to-will become aware of my plight as a result of this, and maybe then I will finally get my scope.
So here we go…
I recently bought a brand new 1-6x Accupoint with mildot reticle. I mounted it in a Bobro one piece mount on top of an Vltor VIS upper receiver.
Upon looking through the scope after mounting, I immediately noticed that the reticle was cocked to the left about three degrees. I thought perhaps I had accidentally bumped it after leveling while tightening the rings, so I started over and remounted it. Still, it was cocked to the left about three degrees. With the scope out of the mount, holding it in the fashion of a spyglass, I could tell with the naked eye that the reticle wasn’t square with the housing. A second person verified this. I simply handed them the scope, asking them if the reticle looked straight, and they immediately responded that it was cocked three degrees to the left, without any hesitation. So it wasn’t just me.
Still, I couldn’t believe that this could possibly make it through quality control, so I was going to make absolutely certain before I sent it in. I then set the flat under the elevation adjustment on a piece of leveled granite, looking through the scope and aligning the reticle with a plumb line. The plumb line verified what I had already known. I then checked it on the second flat (this scope doesn’t have illumination or parallax, and thus has a second flat opposite the windage) with the same result.
So I emailed Trijicon explaining the problem. I was a little perturbed when the response I got was a link to an online form, where I got to explain the problem a second time. I patiently filled it out, and a day or two later I got a return authorization, but no return shipping label. Since this was clearly not my fault, I was further perturbed that they seemingly expected me to foot the bill for return shipping, especially given the circumstances. If someone had simply looked through the scope before boxing it up, this whole thing could have been avoided, as the defect is apparent to the naked eye. In other words, someone taking five seconds at the factory to check their work could have prevented this month-long train wreck. But I digress.
So after explaining all this to them, they finally agreed that I was indeed entitled to a return shipping label. So the scope went back to the factory, and a few days later I got an email confirming that they had received it and were inspecting it.
About a week goes by and I haven’t heard anything, so I call them up. The person who answered the phone in the repair department couldn’t tell me much, and after going back and forth with them for about thirty minutes I was finally able to speak to a manager. The manager informed me that the reticle was defective, and that it would have to be replaced. I was then informed that they were all out of reticles, and that it would take a week for new ones to come in. But here’s where things really started to go sideways.
In the course of talking to the manager, I was told that the reticle was defective not because it was crooked, but because the illumination was dim. Now this was something that I had suspected in the back of my mind. My first thought when looking through it had been that the illuminated dot was barely visible, but I have never had this particular reticle before, so I had no basis for comparison. I’ve had several other Trijicon scopes in the past, but never a 1-6x.
But I am 100% positive that the reticle was crooked, in addition to the illumination being dim. I tried to explain this to the manager, but she didn’t want to hear it. I explained to her that I have mounted lots of scopes, that I have the proper tools and experience, and I also tried to explain my methodology for determining that the reticle was crooked by using a plumb line. She would hear none of it. She kept saying their calibration equipment said the reticle was straight and that was that.
At this point, I explained to her that I knew for a fact that something wasn’t right with the scope, and that I would never be happy with it if they sent me that same scope back without addressing what I knew to be a crooked reticle. For one thing, I wasn’t even sure that we were talking about the same scope, and I’m to this day still not convinced that they didn’t get my scope mixed up with somebody else’s. While that might sound improbable, wait until you’ve heard the whole story to decide.
So anyways, she keeps repeating the same things over and over again, and keeps berating me with their warranty policy, that it’s their discretion whether something gets repaired or replaced. I simply reiterated that I will never be satisfied with anything other than a fresh scope. My opinion was and is that that scope was a lemon.
She finally started listening to me at some point, and by the end of our conversation she agreed to look into it further. She said she would go back and look everything over herself, and call me and talk to me again before making any final decisions. She explained they didn’t have any new scopes in stock at that time anyways, so I would have to wait for the reticles to come in anyways, even if they did end up deciding it needed to be replaced.
So a few days later, I get an email from Trijicon saying my scope has been repaired and is about to be shipped. Naturally, I’m very upset by this. First of all, the manager did not call me to talk about her findings like she had promised she would. Second of all, she had told me in no uncertain terms that there were no reticles this side of the pacific, and that it would be a week, MINIMUM, before the new ones came in. So not only did I catch them trying to pull a fast one on me, but I also know at this point that someone isn’t telling me the truth. Either they didn’t replace the reticle like they said they would, or there had been reticles there the entire time, meaning they could have built a new scope like I had originally requested.
I tried to call them immediately after receiving the email, but they were closed already, despite it being only 4:30, on a Tuesday nonetheless. So I sent them an email explaining that I was upset about not being kept in the loop, as had been promised. I also wanted to know exactly what they had done to the scope, since I knew from my conversation with the manager that there were no reticles with which to make the repairs they had indicated were necessary.
The person who replied to the email explained that they had somehow found two reticles, one of which they used to repair my scope. To preclude the possibility of building a new one, he also mentioned that the second reticle they found was deemed to be defective, and had been thrown away. Now the entire argument they had been making up to this point was that they couldn’t send me a brand new scope because they didn’t have any in stock, nor did they have any reticles to build one. So upon finding this lone reticle, apparently the only non defective reticle this side of the pacific, they used it to repair the scope I believe is a lemon, instead of just building me a new scope.
I explained my dissatisfaction in the email, and I reiterated that I will never be satisfied with that same scope, given their inability to address what I’m certain is a crooked reticle. In the next email I received from them, the person explained that straightening a reticle is easy and non invasive, and that my scope is as good as any off the line. So they did straighten the reticle after all! At this point, I’m more convinced than ever that they just mixed my scope up with someone else’s. So upon asking him to clarify, he said that he misspoke because he wasn’t familiar with my case, and that the reticle had not been straightened.
Well at this point I’m about ready to just throw in the towel. I sent an email explaining the long and arduous process this had been, and reiterated that I remained certain that they had not addressed all the problems with the scope I had originally sent in for repair. I said if they truly believed in their heart of hearts that the scope was as good as any off the line, then they should have no problem restocking it and simply sending me a new one. Furthermore, I said they should have no problem sending it to one of their media people for testing and review. If all things are truly equal, then why not just send me a different scope to shut me up? In this last email, I also requested to be contacted by the owner, and for them to forward this to him. I said I deserved a straight answer for once, and he deserved to know what was going on with his customer service department.
Well, I guess they didn’t like that, and I got this in response:
Now bear in mind that I had only called them once at this point, and had sent a total of less than probably ten emails. At no time was I ever abusive, or even rude. In fact, I explained to them in one heartfelt email that I had been a long time Trijicon customer, and that I had always loved their products and had always been a strong advocate for their company, and that I didn’t understand why they were working so hard to drive away a repeat customer.
So the next morning, I called their warranty department for the second time and requested to be speak to the manager there. I told her I wasn’t happy about being kept out of the loop, especially when she had promised to call me before any final decisions were made, and I said I didn’t deserve to have my email blocked, as I had done nothing wrong. She agreed, and promised to look into it, eventually denying that hey had blocked me, despite me sending her the emails as proof. I thought it rather coincidental that they had seemingly blocked me after being asked to forward the emails to the owner, and I still suspect to this day that they were trying to avoid him finding out what had transpired. Despite my repeated requests for him to email me, I have been blocked from being able to talk to him. Again, my primary reason for posting this here is my hope that this will finally bring this matter to his attention, because I feel his employees are deliberately keeping it from him.
Anyways, the manager finally agrees that this has gone on far too long, and says I will be getting a new scope. And as if miracles will never cease, they just so happened to have located a scope in inventory! And it just so happens to have a mildot reticle! And they will be overnighting it to me that very day, and I will receive a tracking number no later than that afternoon!
Now this is the same manager who, less than a week before, had sworn up and down that there were no new scopes in inventory. That was the entire basis for not sending me a new one in the first place, and making me wait a week or likely more for the new reticles to come in, because they couldn’t build one for me anyways and there were none on the shelf. I asked her about this. I said, you mean to tell me there’s been a scope there this entire time and you’ve put me through this nonsense? And she said oh well they must have found a reticle and just built it since we last talked. I then pointed out the email where they told me that they had found two reticles, one of which was defective, and the other of which they had installed in my original scope. She didn’t have an answer for that, and I felt like she was just pissed off I had caught them. But no matter, because I’m finally going to get my scope!
Well, it’s about closing time later that day, and I still haven’t gotten an email. Remember, she said they were overnighting it that afternoon, and would send me the tracking number. So I called them back, and she explains that the scope they had on the shelf was also defective! Again, will miracles never cease. She said it had metal shavings inside of it, so she wasn’t going to send me that one. Well I should hope not!!! I should hope they wouldn’t send it to anyone!
So she informs me that the reticles have come in (this is less than a week since she told me it would be a MINIMUM of a week before they would arrive), and that she was going to have them build me a scope from scratch, extra special just for me, to make double sure this one came out right. This was on Thursday, and she said it would be done first thing next week, and they would overnight it to me. She said I would get a tracking number on Monday, maybe Tuesday, but definitely no later than Tuesday.
Well, I waited until they were about to close today and I still hadn’t gotten a tracking number, so I thought I better call and make sure the story hasn’t changed again. Obviously trust at this point is hovering somewhere around zero.
Well, lo and behold, now it’s going to be Thursday! But they promise this is it. It’s definitely going to be Thursday for sure this time. And not only that, but apparently now I’m not even worth the manager’s time anymore. I got the gatekeeper who answered the phone, and she was in a meeting first. Then she was still in a meeting, and it was fifteen minutes to closing time (and I know how they like to knock off early). So finally the gatekeeper was able to relay this info to me, but I was never able to speak to her directly. Like I said, apparently I’m not even worth her time anymore.
So here I am, a month out, still without my scope and have no clear hope of getting it anytime in the near future. I’m alarmed by their apparent lack of quality control. Not only did I get a defective scope that never should have passed inspection, but apparently they’re just swimming in defective products all over their factory. Of course that’s if you believe their version of events, which I personally don’t think I do anymore.
I don’t know what’s going on, but I want a straight answer. I want to know exactly why I’ve been given so much misinformation, what the hold up is, and when I will be getting my scope. I’ve paid for this scope in more ways than one. I’ve paid with my money, and I’ve paid with my time and frustration. And that doesn’t seem to matter to them at all. Quite frankly, they seem put off that I even bothered them with any of this, like they’re doing me some big favor by even giving me the time of day.
