Posted By: Dwight Semper Fi
A tale of 5 scopes - 10/25/2008 9:10 AM
Well I have a story to tell you all about 5 scopes and an internet scope store.
A few weeks ago I ordered 2 scopes from Bear Basin outfitters. One was a Bushnell elite 4200 for a buddys 10mlII. The other was a Burris 3x12 handgun scope for my 7mm-08. After several days when the scopes had not arrived I called Bear Basin to find out what happened. They replied they would check into it and call me back. Later in the day they called back and told me that Fed Ex had smashed the package and they would get my order back out in a hurry. A couple days went by and I got my 2 scopes. The Bushnell elite 4200 was just fine, and I mounted it on my friends 10mlII. It was easy to sight in and looks good on his rifle. I sighted it in with 75 grs H332 and a Barnes BO. Both of us are very happy with that scope. The Burris was another story. When I took it out of the box, I immediately noticed it had black spots on the inside of the rear lense. I called Bear Basin and they agreed to send me a new one out overnite express and pay the increased shipping for that as well as send me a UPS paid shipping tag for the one I had. They also agreed to inspect the new scope prior to shipping.Sure enough I got the new scope the next day and was very happy. It looked great and I could not wait to place it on my pistol. I also shipped the old one back a couple days later when I saw the UPS man. So I get the new scope on my 7mm-08 with a Ken Farrel base and Warne QR rings. I took the pistol to the range several times over the next couple weeks and gave it a good work out. I was pretty happy as I was able to get 3/4 moa groups at 100 yds with the Fed Fusion ammo. 2 days ago I took it back to the range, and the scope failed after about 70 shots total from the gun. The erector system was shot and the gun was now shooting 2 groups at 100 yds as things moved around inside. Now I figure I am screwed. I have to send the scope to Burris for repair or replacement and when I get it back no way do I want to mount it back on the same pistol, as obviously this scope will not handle the recoil of my 7mm-08. So I will have to sell it and take a beating. So instead I call Bear Basin and speak with John who is the customer service manager. He tells me that it is their policy that once a scope is mounted, any problems must be addressed with the scope manufacturer. I certainly understand this and agree it is a reasonable policy. However I asked him if there was any way possible that he could make an exception in this case and accept the scope back from me and him handle the warranty issues with Burris if I would buy a Leupold 2.5-8x handgun scope and pay the shipping and difference in price between the Burris and the Leupold. I explained to him that regardless of what Burris would do for me, I would not ever trust that scope on my pistol again and would not want to have to sell it and take the loss. I figured since he was a dealer maybe Burris would replace the scope for him that he could then sell as new,and that since I would buy the Leupold it would offset things for him a little. John told me that he does not usually do this, but since I had bought 2 scopes and he wanted to do what he could for the sake of excellent customer service, that he would make an exception this one time. He told me he would take care of things and a customer service rep would call me back. A couple hrs later a nice customer service rep also by the name of John called me and told me that the Leupold would be shipped on Monday and my credit card would be billed the cost of the scope and shipping. He then gave me a return auth # and told me that when they received the Burris they would issue a credit to my card for the cost of the Burris scope. So needless to say Iam very pleased and thankful to the great guys at Bear Basin. They certainly did not have to do this and I will be calling them first next time I need another rifle scope or any other optic for that matter. Just thought I would let you all know what a good outfit they are to do business with. Kudos to Bear Basin!
A few weeks ago I ordered 2 scopes from Bear Basin outfitters. One was a Bushnell elite 4200 for a buddys 10mlII. The other was a Burris 3x12 handgun scope for my 7mm-08. After several days when the scopes had not arrived I called Bear Basin to find out what happened. They replied they would check into it and call me back. Later in the day they called back and told me that Fed Ex had smashed the package and they would get my order back out in a hurry. A couple days went by and I got my 2 scopes. The Bushnell elite 4200 was just fine, and I mounted it on my friends 10mlII. It was easy to sight in and looks good on his rifle. I sighted it in with 75 grs H332 and a Barnes BO. Both of us are very happy with that scope. The Burris was another story. When I took it out of the box, I immediately noticed it had black spots on the inside of the rear lense. I called Bear Basin and they agreed to send me a new one out overnite express and pay the increased shipping for that as well as send me a UPS paid shipping tag for the one I had. They also agreed to inspect the new scope prior to shipping.Sure enough I got the new scope the next day and was very happy. It looked great and I could not wait to place it on my pistol. I also shipped the old one back a couple days later when I saw the UPS man. So I get the new scope on my 7mm-08 with a Ken Farrel base and Warne QR rings. I took the pistol to the range several times over the next couple weeks and gave it a good work out. I was pretty happy as I was able to get 3/4 moa groups at 100 yds with the Fed Fusion ammo. 2 days ago I took it back to the range, and the scope failed after about 70 shots total from the gun. The erector system was shot and the gun was now shooting 2 groups at 100 yds as things moved around inside. Now I figure I am screwed. I have to send the scope to Burris for repair or replacement and when I get it back no way do I want to mount it back on the same pistol, as obviously this scope will not handle the recoil of my 7mm-08. So I will have to sell it and take a beating. So instead I call Bear Basin and speak with John who is the customer service manager. He tells me that it is their policy that once a scope is mounted, any problems must be addressed with the scope manufacturer. I certainly understand this and agree it is a reasonable policy. However I asked him if there was any way possible that he could make an exception in this case and accept the scope back from me and him handle the warranty issues with Burris if I would buy a Leupold 2.5-8x handgun scope and pay the shipping and difference in price between the Burris and the Leupold. I explained to him that regardless of what Burris would do for me, I would not ever trust that scope on my pistol again and would not want to have to sell it and take the loss. I figured since he was a dealer maybe Burris would replace the scope for him that he could then sell as new,and that since I would buy the Leupold it would offset things for him a little. John told me that he does not usually do this, but since I had bought 2 scopes and he wanted to do what he could for the sake of excellent customer service, that he would make an exception this one time. He told me he would take care of things and a customer service rep would call me back. A couple hrs later a nice customer service rep also by the name of John called me and told me that the Leupold would be shipped on Monday and my credit card would be billed the cost of the scope and shipping. He then gave me a return auth # and told me that when they received the Burris they would issue a credit to my card for the cost of the Burris scope. So needless to say Iam very pleased and thankful to the great guys at Bear Basin. They certainly did not have to do this and I will be calling them first next time I need another rifle scope or any other optic for that matter. Just thought I would let you all know what a good outfit they are to do business with. Kudos to Bear Basin!