Close range thermal suggestion

Originally Posted By: rustybucketKirsch, what do you think is with all the backorders and scarcity of them? Besides Flir farting around... Supply and Demand. It's not just Flir but Pulsar was the same around this time last year. Trails and Helions were on backorder for months. Dealers as well as Pulsar was out of them. I just received word from Tom Austin at Night Goggles that they are out of Flir PTS233s as well and the lead time is almost 12 weeks. I'm sure this is probably the same lead time if not longer from most dealers. Ouch.
 
Originally Posted By: KirschMost thermal dealers are at Shot Show right now, so you may not get anything shipping until they get back. I also want to comment on the "shopping around" comment. There is nothing wrong with shopping around. However, price is only one factor and many companies will match or do what they can to match other dealer prices.

Service with a thermal is so important. I don't care if you buy Trijicon, Flir, Pulsar, ATN, or any other thermal brand. The question isn't if you will ever need service, it is when will it need servicing. These are high-end, sensitive pieces of electronics subjected to brutal conditions. When you need servicing, or warranty issues, is your dealer going to help you with this process? I am not talking about fixing it themselves, I am talking about taking care of the buyers, having contacts at the thermal companies, helping out their customers through the process, and more.
The service process is very easy for end user.
1. Call pulsar, get rma, get it fixed/replaced very quickly. They actually deal with repairs, before any new gets shipped out
2. Call trijicon, get rma, send it in. They move a little slower, but usually turn around pretty quick . They do use the slowest possible ups return shipping
3. Flir/armasight. Not much experience here. Mixed reports .
You really don’t need the help of a “dealer” for the repair process. Shopping around is a big deal. It’s your money, keep as much as you can. Nothing wrong with folks making a living , but don’t let them poor mouth you . They make way more of a sale than you think . And that’s ok by me, free country and all. Just get tired of hearing it everywhere you look.
 
I will say, my experience twice with FLIR CS for repairs has not been very efficient. The first time my unit went in, it took a bit (don't remember exactly how long), but it was resolved quickly after that. Recently, my unit has been with them almost 6 weeks and they misplaced the unit after it was signed for and I haven't heard back since. I will be contacting them on Monday to find out status. In the meantime, I have purchased a Pulsar XP38. More to follow on the FLIR repair and my experience with the Pulsar.
 
Midt I understand where you are coming from, consumer can deal straight with the manufacturer for warranty issues. Where I think Kirsch has a valid point might be after the warranty expires, if (and it would be an if) your dealer was a large volume with personal contacts at the mfg. “maybe” they could get a unit fixed anyway?
 

Originally Posted By: smilner01.........after the warranty expires, if (and it would be an if) your dealer was a large volume with personal contacts at the mfg. “maybe” they could get a unit fixed anyway?
Does this type of service actually exist? Has it been done before and if so, how often and with what success? Not trying to be negative but rather just asking reasonable questions. There are a lot of "if's".



 
I am talking about things a dealer can and many do for their customers.

Here are 2 examples that happened to me personally and yes this was before I ever was ProStaff for Night Goggles. I had an issue with a Pulsar thermal. Called Pulsar, and yes they have great service but the thermal would have needed to be replaced. However, Pulsar was out of inventory and said it would be about 2 months. This was right during hunting season. The dealer who sold me the Pulsar took my product and replaced it with a brand new one. I had a replacement scope immediately versus waiting, and they took care of the warranty with Pulsar. Is this worth something, absolutely as I wasn't down any time for hunting.

After using the replacement thermal for a period of time, the same situation was occurring. My dealer, Pulsar and I were out of ideas. Pulsar did say they would check out the scope to see if they could find something else wrong, but I honestly didn't believe I could trust the scope any longer. My dealer contacted me and took the scope back, and gave me credit towards another brand. I hold no bad feelings towards Pulsar as they provided great Customer Service and I own Pulsar products still to this day. However, the dealer really went above and beyond.

These are just two examples that happened to me personally. What are other things good dealers do besides these two examples, they help you get the right thermal to start with. They also help with answering questions on usage or settings of the scope. Yes, many dealers have direct contacts within the respective companies to get answers quicker or help get warranty work expedited. The list goes on. For my own peace of mind, I'm going to make sure any thermal I purchase is backed by a dealer who is just as committed to customer service as they are in the initial sale. I'm writing this as a thermal customer and not a Prostaff member.

I think we have derailed the original topic enough.
 
Had a dealer try to tell me the pulsar pos on thermals was people were bad shots and the units werent having trouble.. lol... maybe thats why his website is down now?? Bottom line is shop around, there are reputabke dealers that can and will help you when needed but still beat prices advertised elsewhere.
 
Kirsch,

With all due respect to you, and you are a decent guy from what I have observed in the past, you seem to have your dander up a little by your last sentence. I think I am "reading between the lines" so to speak. My response was to the OP's response, so perhaps it's best to let the OP ask people to get back on topic if he wishes, because truthfully you have a conflict of interest here in that you are associated with a well known vendor on the forums, even though he is a standup guy with a great reputation. To suggest that we move on from the topic may seem to indicate that you don't want the discussion taking place. Hopefully that's not your meaning at all but is the way it struck me when I read it. My thoughts are let the discussion run its course and then everyone will be more informed and come to their own conclusions.

Topics on the boards generally if not always take twists and turns, straying somewhat here and there from the original topic. This is normal and nothing new. I have been around a bit longer than you and I have seen this from the beginning. Discussions and questions are healthy as long as they remain civil and aren't designed to tear anyone down. I am a school teacher by trade, and always encouraged my students to question things they don't understand, all done in the proper way, of course. To do otherwise keeps the status quo, doesn't allow for exchanges of view or ideas, flow of information and basically dumbs people down.

Your response above began as an enlightening one, sharing your personal experiences. I for one greatly appreciate hearing that and it gives a better understanding of just "how" certain dealers are able to help their customers. In your case the vendor / vendors were top notch and gave great service when you needed it most.

I will continue to ask or respond to topics here and there with interest as I always do, even if they vary off topic a little, because I have a sincere desire to learn things, and straying a little because that's the nature of these boards and what most everyone does from time to time.

I still would like to hear from others of how certain dealers have helped their customers in ways that others don't, making it worth spending more money for the same item. If I were to decide it is worth the difference then I would do it to, but I will have to be SHOWN the difference first and understand it first before I plop down more of my hard-earned money. That's the nature of doing business and that's the nature of the discussions here.

Regards.

 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06Kirsch,

With all due respect to you, and you are a decent guy from what I have observed in the past, you seem to have your dander up a little by your last sentence. I think I am "reading between the lines" so to speak. My response was to the OP's response, so perhaps it's best to let the OP ask people to get back on topic if he wishes, because truthfully you have a conflict of interest here in that you are associated with a well known vendor on the forums, even though he is a standup guy with a great reputation. To suggest that we move on from the topic may seem to indicate that you don't want the discussion taking place. Hopefully that's not your meaning at all but is the way it struck me when I read it. My thoughts are let the discussion run its course and then everyone will be more informed and come to their own conclusions.
Let me start by apologizing. This was not my intent. I felt like I had derailed the conversation by bringing up service being an important part of a thermal purchase. I should have said that "I" had derailed the conversation and not "we". My comment was meant to make sure Smilner01 got his/her questions answered.

As the thread progressed, I was starting to get the feeling like I was coming across as being a "marketing person" for Night Goggles and this was not my intent. The events described occurred before I was ProStaff for NightGoggles. However, it is one of many reasons why I choose to be associated with a very reputable dealer. I can totally see how it could be considered a "conflict of interest."

I also couldn't agree more that price is a very important part of any purchase, and people should talk to lots of different dealers and hopefully talk to lots of customers of those dealers.

And, I also agree a lot of the twists and turns of threads on this forum is where a lot of good information is shared.

6mm06 and all, thank you for your open dialogue on the topic.
 

Kirsch, thank you for your very decent response, brother. I think we all gain when we discuss things openly. Have a good day.
 
Mind saying what the issue is? For everyone that has a pts series scope, I highly suggest you zero it at 1x at 100 yards then go to 4x zoom and see where the poi is and post your findings. Thats the first test I would do to a new scope no matter what the brand is!
 
I was hunting the other night and it just turned off. When I turned it back on the screen was just red. After the fact the next day it A. Wouldn’t turn on at all or B. would just turn red.
 
I've heard that Flir has been notified of PTS scopes having power issues where they shutdown. Mine has happened on a few occasions. For me, it seems more likely to happen when I am using the ARM feature (auto-video recording feature). Tom from Night Goggles informed me Flir is working on a firmware update to hopefully fix this issue.

As far as turning Red, did it possibly switch to a different color background? If it is for instance on White Hot or Black Hot and everything is red and it doesn't change when you change backgrounds, it sounds like the scope does need servicing. If it just moved to a different background, hopefully a switch back to the desired background will help.
 
Originally Posted By: KirschI've heard that Flir has been notified of PTS scopes having power issues where they shutdown. Mine has happened on a few occasions. For me, it seems more likely to happen when I am using the ARM feature (auto-video recording feature). Tom from Night Goggles informed me Flir is working on a firmware update to hopefully fix this issue.

As far as turning Red, did it possibly switch to a different color background? If it is for instance on White Hot or Black Hot and everything is red and it doesn't change when you change backgrounds, it sounds like the scope does need servicing. If it just moved to a different background, hopefully a switch back to the desired background will help.

Kirsch I had just shot a fox, and was watching two more behind me in the wood line sneaking in and it just shut off. There was some kind of major malfunction it wasn’t solid red but more broken with some black. It did this a few times and then before I sent it back it wouldn’t even come on. When it was red me trying to pull up the menu or change background color did nothing
 
Kirsch, If you get time, zero your pts233 at 100 yards at 1x, then zoom to 4x and see if your poi changes... I have an email to flir cause mine moves high left.
 
Originally Posted By: rustybucketKirsch, If you get time, zero your pts233 at 100 yards at 1x, then zoom to 4x and see if your poi changes... I have an email to flir cause mine moves high left.

Mine didn’t move at all
 
I don’t have a PTS 233. My main hunting buddy does. I have the PTS 536. I haven’t had any issues with the POI moving no matter what zoom level.
 


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