I purchased a Lumicon binoviewer yesterday from the scope store in town and it was there last one in stock which was also a store demo model. It has a few scratches and a small crack in the cover. I questioned the crack which they were going to tell me about until i saw it and was told it would have no effect on the quality of the viewing. So they took 100.00 off and I went home with it. After thinking about it for the night why would i spend that much money on something and have a crack in it which may or may not be a problem but what if 2 years down the road the crack gets bigger and the cover breaks then what.. can i order a new part which would probably cost me the 100.00. So my thoughts are I am going to return it which is only exchange or store credit according to the receipt and have them order me a new unit which they told me are not going to be German but Chinese. I highly doubt that a company who sells German products is going to start selling Chinese made products. This is not the first time i have questioned there sales tactics at this store. i think they are taking advantage of someone who is new to the hobby and wouldn't know any better. By looking on the internet there are plenty of stores selling this exact same model so by them telling me they cant order this one anymore is B.S. I have spent thousands at this store in the last month so if they want to keep me as a customer they will handle this with a smile on there faces and let me exchange it for a brand new unit which i will be happy to pay the difference.
What are your thoughts on this ?

Some thoughts:

$100 seems like a good deal IMHO. If you take care of it, the crack may not get worse.

I would not be surprised if any company is moving manufacturing to China. Meade is moving everything there, why not a German company?

If you've spent a lot, perhaps you'll be spending more and the store credit will be OK?

Just some thoughts...

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Observatorio de la Ballona

I did return it today without any hassle at all and they are ordering me a brand new unit and of course i paid the extra 100.00. Lumicon is no longer making this unit and instead they are redesigning it for a future model.. I asked if i could just buy the cover to replace the cracked one and lumicon says they no longer have parts for this model. so why are they still selling these in the stores with warranties if no parts are available.. something just doesn't make sense. Oh well if it really is German made I doubt i will ever have any issues with it so im not too worried. The views through this unit are spectacular when comparing to a cheaper unit like the celestron