Customer Service? I'd have to agree. Leupold scopes used to be pretty good. They used to be known as one of the toughest scopes around, but around the time they changed from the Vari-X I to the VX I, their stuff went down the tubes. Their high end stuff may still be fine, but dollar for dollar most of their stuff isn't worth the money.
Case in point, I’ve spoken with a number of guys who shoot the Savage muzzle loader, and with stout loads it has some incredible recoil. A lot of them have had their VXI and VXII scopes give out, but I have not yet heard of anyone whose had a Elite 3200, 4200, or 6500 scope give out. This by its self has pretty well sold me on the Elite scopes.
As far as "made in America" so is the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, and several other "imports". Like most others, Leupold uses glass from Japan, and has cheapened their scopes up quite a bit. The only thing I hate worse than Chinese junk, is American junk. It's embarrassing When an American company decides that its okay to make and sell junk, then its our job as consumers to buy something else. It's not okay for them to decide that quality is second to profit, and it's our job to hold them accountable.
Just my 2 bits,
Mark