Celestron 20x80 Amazon Warehouse

[TheQuietEarth]

Picked these up for £70 after seeing it on a Warehouse deal. Noticed a defect on the front right objective lens. Tested them last night and everything through that side was blurry. Beyond repair or can anything be done to salvage them? 

 

 

 

Edit - Previously purchased binos from John at Strathspey and his 20x90s would have been my preferred choice. Has he stopped manufacturing binoculars? Looks like he has no stock of anything at the moment. 

http://www.strathspey.co.uk/shop/20x90.html

Edited May 19, 2021 by TheQuietEarth

[Tiny Clanger]

41 minutes ago, TheQuietEarth said:

Picked these up for £70 after seeing it on a Warehouse deal. Noticed a defect on the front right objective lens. Tested them last night and everything through that side was blurry. Beyond repair or can anything be done to salvage them? 

 

 

I'd return them , you have the same rights for refund & free return on an Amaz, Warehouse deal as any  other : I bought a ' no damage, box opened , perfect condition item, customer return' Nikon lens from 'the Amazon warehouse ' a few years ago , on delivery as it auto focussed on my camera it made a noise like a door in a  horror film. Thoroughly checked ? Yeah, right. Printed return label and had it on it's way back to them within 2 hours of me receiving it ...

Heather

[TheQuietEarth]

38 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

 

I'd return them , you have the same rights for refund & free return on an Amaz, Warehouse deal as any  other : I bought a ' no damage, box opened , perfect condition item, customer return' Nikon lens from 'the Amazon warehouse ' a few years ago , on delivery as it auto focussed on my camera it made a noise like a door in a  horror film. Thoroughly checked ? Yeah, right. Printed return label and had it on it's way back to them within 2 hours of me receiving it ...

Heather

Was hoping it'd be fine like 99% of the stuff I buy from their Warehouse but guess not this time around. No chance of repairing them? Might try and pick up the Opticron Oregon 20x80 bins if that's the case. 

https://www.opticron.co.uk/our-products/binoculars/observation-binoculars/oregon-observation-20x80

[Tiny Clanger]

I don't know if a repair would be easy, or even possible, but trying and failing might scupper any chance of returning the binos for a refund .

[TheQuietEarth]

44 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I don't know if a repair would be easy, or even possible, but trying and failing might scupper any chance of returning the binos for a refund .

Ah good point. Thanks for that. Will definitely refund then. 

[BinocularSky]

18 hours ago, TheQuietEarth said:

Picked these up for £70 after seeing it on a Warehouse deal. Noticed a defect on the front right objective lens. Tested them last night and everything through that side was blurry. Beyond repair or can anything be done to salvage them?

Return them while they're under warranty. Any attempted repair will void any warranty. The defect is probably the reason they ended up in the Warehouse.

 

Quote

 

Edit - Previously purchased binos from John at Strathspey and his 20x90s would have been my preferred choice. Has he stopped manufacturing binoculars? Looks like he has no stock of anything at the moment.

 

John never manufactured binoculars; he imported from United Optics in Kunming and had them put the Strathspey brand on them. They were similar to the other UO binoculars that dominate the budget end of the market, although John did specify the top level AR coatings and, if requested, would check collimation before he dispatched.

[Chris]

If they were not sold as spare or repair I would also return them ASAP. They've arrived not fit for purpose and (as Steve mentions) any attempt to repair them would void your warranty. 

Binoculars seem to be at the forefront of the expression 'you get what you pay for'. I've learnt this one myself the hard way.   

[Carbon Brush]

You might want to add to the Supplier Reviews, Amazon Warehouse.

The second entry is one I made earlier...😄

 

[TheQuietEarth]

@BinocularSky Thanks for the info re. John and Strathspey. Wasn't aware of that. Still got a 10x50 that I purchased from him around a decade ago that are still going strong. Have bought and sold binos in the intervening years but could never part with the trusty Strathspey bins! 

 

@Carbon Brush @Chris Thanks for the assistance and recommendation to leave a review. Returned them following @Tiny Clanger advice but only received the refund today. Hopefully Amazon won't try and punt them to someone else now. Left a comment on the returns page pointing out the defect on the objective lens. Have only had good experiences purchasing reduced items from the Warehouse in the past so this is the first time I've had to return something due to it being defective. Think they described it as being in Very Good condition. 

[Tiny Clanger]

I suspect there is no specific technical expertise in the amazon warehouse set-up , and any inspection is cursory and visual and not by an expensive to employ expert in electronics or optics or any such speciality. I bet whoever unpacks the returns does it, and simply bases the rating on the original buyer's stated reason for return,  and gives the box and contents a quick once over for missing parts, marks, dents, paint chips, scratches and breakages. There might have to be more checks on mains powered electrical goods to comply with the law .

I've bought a few other things from the warehouse, lowepro soft camera lens cases for example : it's easy to imagine why stuff like that didn't work for the original recipient (wrong size for their lens) and easy to see that the items are perfect on arrival. Anything more complex and with possible faults hidden to a cursory examination, and I'd be making a very detailed inspection of my own asap. The free returns set up means you lose no money on such a deal, but it is a waste of your time sorting the return. 

It just struck me, we are actually amazon warehouse's technical quality control system ....

Heather