Mike, I agree with you, over many years of dealing with shooting optic I have the same experiences. But in the last few years I have had 2 negative experiences .
1. Leupold: I wanted a new spotting scope. Being a long time Leupold fan, I wasn’t going to consider nothing but a Leupold. The Kenai series caught my eye and was my only hands down choice. There was some sticker shock, but it never changed my mind. So that’s what I bought.
I was really excited about it. UPS delivered it, unpacked it, looked briefly at it and got in my pick up and drive around the county to try it out. What a fantastic piece of glass. Towards evening in a low light situation it was beyond excellent. I was so happy with my choice.
I went home after it got dark and after supper I started reading the instruction book and fill out
the warranty card. Whoa! What the hell is a Leupold green ring scope, made in China! The warranty is only good to the original owner! So I filled out the warranty card in my grandsons name. I expect him to live longer than me.
I’m well satisfied with the scope, but that is the first time in 60 years that I run into that situation with a Leupold name.
2. I have a pair of Stiener military-Marine binos. 40 years ago when I was in Germany I bought them. They also were an excellent piece of glass. This last fall they lost there clarity. I thought that the orings had deteriorated and they lost there gas charge. I checked on Stiener website and saw they had a repair center in the US. I contacted them and got a return authorization and was told they probably should be under warranty so I sent them back. A few days later I got an e-mail informing me that the the right prisim was loose and couldn’t be repaired and that it was damaged because of abuse so the warranty was void. They did offer me a $100 discount if the MSRP suggested price. It was still to high priced for a product from a mfr with scrappy service policy.
Across the board that is the new norm as these companies outsource there products to the foreign companies. 1 day past the expiration, sorry no warranty.