Mars MT1000 Warranty???

K

Kwarw1

Active member
After watching several threads and You Tube videos I am seriously considering one of these.
My concern is the support and warranty here in the USA. I see several great reviews here and the price is tempting. On their website I see Hong Kong as their address. The warranty says that the buyer must pay shipping back and will be reimbursed if the unit is found defective. Do they have support in the US?
My common sense and suspicious nature tells me beware. Are all the folks touting this scope paid reviewers? Or are they willing to take a risk with $2,000?. 2 grand is a lot of money to me if I end up with something that is unusable a year down the road, but if I can get good service out of it, it's a great deal.
Another thing that makes me wary is the fact that no major thermal optic dealers are carrying this brand yet. I find it on Amazon but that's about it.
So in closing I'm sitting on the fence watching and waiting on reviews from folks that own them that DO NOT have a vested interest in selling them. Any input is appreciated even if you do sale them as long as that is disclosed. Thanks in advance.
 
Kwarw1, I will attempt an answer for some of your questions. First, I'm not a representative of/for Mars OneLeaf and was not sent a scope to test. Nor have I tried to get a sponsorship to sell the product for a percentage. I used my own money to purchase the Mars MT1000 back during a 4th of July sale on Amazon. I cannot answer your question on those who have warranty/repair issues and purchased from Hong Kong. I don't know what the shipping rates would be there. I also don't know of anyone who has had a warranty issue, but surely there must be some after this length of time. I purchased from Amazon because I knew I would have 30 days to send it back should it turn out to be junk even though the reviews were good, almost too good in fact. I was told by the rep. who works for Akk (their Amazon Online Store) that should I have warranty/repair work all I would have to do is send it to her and she would take care of the rest.

So, I have explained my thinking in the 30-day return to Amazon and the risk involved for $1,729 to my door. Originally, I wanted the scope as a back-up to my Super Yoter which was going out of warranty in Oct. 25. The Super Yoter is now my back-up scope. Part of my figuring was that I invested $4,500 in the Super Yoter, a very good scope, and the MT1000 was about 1/3 that price. So, I had nothing to lose provided the scope was at least decent for a 30-day test. I found it to be at least as good as the Super Yoter with more features. The LRF and Ballistics Calculator are nice additions, but I'm not likely to use them much. The warranty is only 3 years, but that was also the case when I purchased the Super Yoter for 3 times more money. Four year and five-year warranties are pretty new brought about when I-Ray entered the market.

Perhaps Mars has a different marketing strategy. They are eliminating the mark-up for those companies reselling their scopes and can sell cheaper. Are they cheaply made and inferior components? I don't know. I suspect that one of three things will happen. 1) Mars will fold if warranty becomes their "Albatross", 2) Prices will be driven downward for all the big names as they find more customers turning to a scope that is on par with theirs for 1/3 or 1/4 the price. Part of marketing strategy for the big names could be to go toward the higher niche scopes offering 1280 sensors with 10Mk to justify the higher prices, 3) the 640 class scopes will become so cheap they will completely gobble up the 384 scope market and actually be available in stores like Walmart.

I have several friends who are long time posters here on PM who have purchased the MT1000, so far none of them have written to me wishing they had not gotten this scope. Of course that could change tomorrow. Only time will tell what happens on warranty issues. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually had to go through the process either with Mars in Hong Kong or Akk here in the US.
 
There was one reported here recently that would not hold zero. But the poster didn't say whether he pursued customer service/warranty on it. If he did, I'm curious how it went.

- DAA
 
Thanks so much Double up that is exactly the kind of non biased information I am looking for. I agree 100% on the 3 points you made and was/is my line of thinking as well thus my concerns. I really appreciate your time in typing all of that out for me.
I was unaware of Akk and will research that angle further. I wonder if I can get an extended warranty offered at checkout? Or if I will even need it.
I'm feeling better about it now but still have a tight grip on the fence LOL.
 
If you read my posts in the other oneleaf thread you'll see why I pursued the oneleaf scope.
I bit the bullet and ended up buying three scopes directly from oneleaf as Amazon didn't have any two lens combo scopes for sale.
I was really buying two, but the single purchase I thought I had cancelled before signing up on oneleaf didn't cancel.
I received the 35/75mm scope and the backordered 35/50mm scopes are coming in this week sometime.
I'm impressed with the scope's image, build quality and features, but haven't had any range time with it because of the snow.
SJC
 
Yes Shoots100 I've been reading everything I can. I didn't want to comment in other post as to risk hijacking.
Do you have any concerns about the warranty or service, firmware updates ETC. ?
 
Kwarw1 said:
Yes Shoots100 I've been reading everything I can. I didn't want to comment in other post as to risk hijacking.
Do you have any concerns about the warranty or service, firmware updates ETC. ?
Click to expand...
As was posted by DU, I haven't heard or conversed with anyone having issues with the scope yet and that was the main reason I went with my purchases.
Warranties are only used if needed and after my research I took a chance that it won't be needed.
I took the leap with ATN optics years ago because they are US based and that didn't work out well for me.
With the amount of scopes being sold and over a years time since they've been out in the field I was sure I'd find some user complaints.
Other than the early crappy QD mount that oneleaf has addressed and some personal feature preferences, it's been silent.
Oneleaf isn't a big name in the thermal world and there are a lot of non paid experienced owners posting their reviews, so there'd be no reason for anyone to not comment if their scope has issues.
I've been using, testing and dealing with thermal optics for over 30 years because I'm a thermal optic junkie, so I'm the worst person to be asking about buying a thermal.
SJC
 
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