How important is a tried and true warranty to you?

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BLS700

New member
As i've been shopping I noticed that now more than ever warranties are a huge part of my gun/scope shopping. It's been hard to think of buying something other than a leupold and Thompson has outstanding customer service which will lead me to pay probably $100 more for one of their barrels than a competitor. Anybody else finding that firearm customer service is either one extreme or the other lately?
 
Since I've always done my own customization/repairs, Gun Warranties don't carry much weight with mme - although I'm not against utilizing one, if a lemon is harvested.

BUT - Given that I'm highly unqualified to deal with the internals of optic gear, the warranty makes a nice security blanket.

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Given today's global market plus poor quality control a good warranty provides some insurance although it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain service when needed, it is simply a gamble like most things in life.
 
IMO, it depends on the item.

For something like an AR-15, where it's basically just swapping out parts, a warranty means very little to me. For something where things are more difficult to work on and the parts aren't as easy to come by, it's a bigger deal. For things like optics and whatnot, it's a very real concern.
 
There's just nothing more frustrating than paying your hard earned money for something that breaks then being told to go screw yourself when you ask for it to be made right. Personally I feel like I'll spend the extra money on peace of mind knowing anything that "may" happen will be fixed. However, the ones with great customer service seem to need to use it less.
 
While I absolutely love Leupold's lifetime warranty, my preference is for an item to be built well enough to never need a warranty.
 
While I absolutely love Leupold's lifetime warranty, my preference is for an item to be built well enough to never need a warranty.
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This.

I recieved my Leupold back today but as yet haven't had a chance to use or see if the issue was rectified (terrible glare issue). I do have enough faith in their products to know they made it right. Nikon on the other hand has a great warranty but enough issues happened with their products to kill any sort of faith I had in their reliability to use anything they make again.

Anything can break, its companies that build a reputation along with personal experiences for good products that make me choose them over and over again.
 
I am a huge observer of warranties.

I have literally cut myself off from other manufacturers that don't have a good warranty. Why? Because I want a weapon I can trust from a company that has such faith in their product that they guarantee it for life. That is why I'm locked in with Taurus, S&W, Ruger(sort of), and Springfield.

I know hat some companies with good warranties don't always have great products(hipoint though they aren't bad for the price) but usually one can tell that with a little research.

Down to the point. I will not buy a weapon without a good warranty because if a company can't stand behind their product that I depend on for protection for more than a year, then they aren't worth my time.

P.S: I do make an exception for amazing deals(fair condition p22 for $50)and antiques(yay mosin!)
 
I pay some attention to warranty information but, like Ruger, some companies don't have a warranty at all. Other companies, like Taurus, who claim to have a life time warranty but really don't back it up. Personally, I'd buy a Ruger long before I ever bought a Taurus based on the company. In my experience, Ruger stands behind their products, Taurus, not so much.

Above all else, I try to buy quality first.
 
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I look for reputation over warranty, if they have a good reputation I dont normally read that far into a warranty. if I really like a gun but hear bad stuff about it then I usually look at their warranty and customer service.
 
I pay some attention to warranty information but, like Ruger, some companies don't have a warranty at all. Other companies, like Taurus, who claim to have a life time warranty but really don't back it up. Personally, I'd buy a Ruger long before I ever bought a Taurus based on the company. In my experience, Ruger stands behind their products, Taurus, no so much.
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That was my point exactly. Even if Yugo had offered a lifetime warranty, nobody would have wanted one. That's why I own several Rugers and S&Ws and no Taurus.
 
Warranties (or lack thereof) and the reputation of the company behind them (possibly in place of a warranty) are a big part of how I shop for firearms and optics.

Ruger, Springfield, and Leupold get top marks for taking care of their customers. Other companies do great stuff as well, but don't stand out as much.
 
Warranties in and of themselves are meaningless. I could write up a LIFETIME WARRANTY! for any product you name and leave myself enough holes/outs/etc. that I would never need to deal with a single customer return.

At the end of the day, it is the willingness of the company themselves to stand behind their product that matters more to me than the warranty. I'll pay more for product from a company with that reputation even if their product carries no advertised warranty at all.
 
I look for companies that have both a good product for the best price, and a good reputation for customer service. The problem with something like Leupold is while they do have a good warranty, you pay a lot more for it as you can get another brand a lot cheaper that has a way better product. For a while the warranty was what set them apart, but now there are several other companies that offer the better products at cheaper prices and have just as good of a warranty. Those are the ones I go for.

One the other hand there are companies like Taurus and Bushnell that appear to offer great warranties when you read them, but in actuality, they don't offer good customer service, and fail to honor their warranty to a lot of people. To me these companies are the type I tend to avoid.
 
Warranty Plus

Warranties are all well and good , if the product is a quality product ! I used to make my living with hand tools , foremost was cordless drills , I heard good things about DeWalt . So I bought one of their pro quality drills , the switches kept going bad . Both the directional and trigger ! So I would send it back and wait , this happened several times . I finally told the supplier that I wanted my money back . He said "why , they fix them for free " ! I said "that's all well and good , but when it's out being fixed I don't have it to use " ! I finally got him to understand that a man that depends on his tools has to have tools he can depend on , and DeWalt ( at that time anyway ) wasn't it ! He gave me a refund and I went and bought a Bosch and wore out three of them without any repairs ! The point is , no matter how good the warranty , junk is junk ! When it's in for repair , you can't use it ! Buy the best that you can afford , preferably (for me anyway) American Made !
 
A well established reputation for not needing to use the warranty is more important to me. In scopes that means Leupold.
 
There's just nothing more frustrating than paying your hard earned money for something that breaks then being told to go screw yourself when you ask for it to be made right.
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This is very true. The way to sidestep this frustration is to not expect a Warranty to be honored. Then when they deny coverage on a technical, you can smile instead of rage.

I don't mean don't try. I will ask for warranty on almost anything to give the maker a chance to stand behind his product. I find that warranties are either handled smoothly from the start or that they are sticklers from the start.

Don't do business with sticklers. This one reason that I wont buy Taurus or Lee products. They both have a rep of handling warranties from a whiney position.:D
 
SAT TEST QUESTION:

Warranty is to Gun as Chocolate Bar is to ____________.

a. Dead Guy
b. Morbidly Obese Guy
c. Wife trying to lose weight
d. All of the above

PS. Please, just give me exceptional quality from the start, access to good parts, and I'll take care of the rest or gladly pay someone to take care of the rest. Good companies that make excellent stuff always stand behind their products - they don't need some lawyerly written crafty "lifetime" warranty to make up for crappy parts that should have been made from superior materials, expertly machined and precision fitted to start with.
 
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