Lidl Binoculars - excellent service!

[alant]

I have a pair of their 10x50 Bresser Binoculars, purchased in the last 5 years, so still technically under warranty.

Recently, they went u/s, with each tube able to be focussed, but combined, they could not. I did not have the receipt, but contacted Lidl customer services. They were extremely helpful, putting me in touch with the German manufacturers, even offering to contact them themselves if required.

The German manufacturers, Meade Instruments, were also extremely helpful & asked for them to be returned for repair. The cost of postage, was likely to be higher than the purchase price, so again contacted Lidl, to see if they could be sent via their system. I explained, that the value was low when purchased, but that IMO they were excellent binoculars.

Within a short time, Lidl rang me, followed by the manufacturers, who took my details & today, I got a brand new replacement pair!

Excellent customer service from both companies & even better, excellent binoculars. I have tried the more expensive Steiners, but am happier with the optics on the Bresser's.

Can't recommend them more highly!
http://www.meade.com/

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Good

 

[alant]

Good

Better than good, bloody marvelous service.
Must be the German influence for efficiency.

 

[mjcoon]

I have a pair of their 10x50 Bresser Binoculars, purchased in the last 5 years, so still technically under warranty.

I didn't realise that the warranty was so long or so well supported.

I have numerous pairs on the basis that as a garden birdwatcher I like to have a pair on every windowsill and at Lidl's price that is affordable!

I wish they focussed a bit closer, but for yachtie use that is not critical...

Mike.

 

[Blue5]

Genuinely pleased for the OP and his experiences but I am in awe of Bresser to understand how they make any money.

I must be the unluckiest person on the planet in that I have had three pairs of these binoculars from Lidls and none have lasted more than 2 months and TBH the last pair I just threw in the bin as I could not be bothered with another warranty exchange.

Guess there customer service department must be pretty slick with all the practice

 

[alant]

I didn't realise that the warranty was so long or so well supported.

I have numerous pairs on the basis that as a garden birdwatcher I like to have a pair on every windowsill and at Lidl's price that is affordable!

I wish they focussed a bit closer, but for yachtie use that is not critical...

Mike.

You'd better go to Specsave then, because mine focus extremely well, even for relatively close stuff in the garden, much better than the older more expensive Tasco pair I've got (bigger object lens on Bresser ones). Haven't used them on a yacht, so can't gauge.

 

[alant]

Genuinely pleased for the OP and his experiences but I am in awe of Bresser to understand how they make any money.

I must be the unluckiest person on the planet in that I have had three pairs of these binoculars from Lidls and none have lasted more than 2 months and TBH the last pair I just threw in the bin as I could not be bothered with another warranty exchange.

Guess there customer service department must be pretty slick with all the practice

Whats going wrong with them?

Checked my old pair over more closely & think I've found fault.
Seems the object tube had slightly unscrewed from the lens compartment, causing the focus aberration, so unscrewed them & replaced. seem OK now.

 

[Blue5]

Whats going wrong with them?

Checked my old pair over more closely & think I've found fault.
Seems the object tube had slightly unscrewed from the lens compartment, causing the focus aberration, so unscrewed them & replaced. seem OK now.

That was the fault in one pair in fact it fell apart through lack of a proper thread, the other replacement was because the adjustment was not engaging, the final pair that went in the bin because the eye cup lens?? on one side came off in my hand.

And no its not heavy handed treatment..............

If they work for you thats great but they have beaten me into submission........

 

[Dougie_the_Mate]

I bought a pair of Garden shears from Lidl earlier this year and they looked great, the only problem was that when I went to use them a few weeks later they would not cut butter. I saw that they had them in again and took mine in compete with sheath to see if they would change them. As I did not have the receipt, they very apologetically said that there was nothing to be done. The damn things were unmarked, but my appeals fell on deaf ears.

 

[VicS]

I have two Bresser binoculars from Lidl. Slight differences in construction.

One used to come apart where the eyepiece assembly is fixed to the central focus adjustment

Fixed now with a small spacer washer under the head of the screw

The other did not slide properly one side when focussing. A little extra lubrication seems to have sorted it.

The secuteurs ........ simply broke on the first small twig.

 

[mjcoon]

You'd better go to Specsave then, because mine focus extremely well, even for relatively close stuff in the garden, much better than the older more expensive Tasco pair I've got (bigger object lens on Bresser ones). Haven't used them on a yacht, so can't gauge.

I didn't say they didn't focus "well"; what do you reckon is the closest focus distance?

Mike.

 

[Bodach na mara]

My Bresser bins are slightly out of colimation. If I twist the bodies hard in opposite directions while holding them to my eyes, the images fuse OK. Any idea of how I can fix them properly?

 

[mjcoon]

My Bresser bins are slightly out of colimation. If I twist the bodies hard in opposite directions while holding them to my eyes, the images fuse OK. Any idea of how I can fix them properly?

At least on mine, the objective tubes screw into the body into a rather dodgy incomplete female thread. Because of this incompleteness the tube can get cross-threaded if knocked.

If you can identify which tube is displaced it may be worth applying a bit of force to unscrew it until the cross-threading can be corrected and the tube screwed back properly. Work the rubber sheathing slightly off each tube until you can inspect the join between tubes and body.

HTH, Mike.

 

[alant]

At least on mine, the objective tubes screw into the body into a rather dodgy incomplete female thread. Because of this incompleteness the tube can get cross-threaded if knocked.

If you can identify which tube is displaced it may be worth applying a bit of force to unscrew it until the cross-threading can be corrected and the tube screwed back properly. Work the rubber sheathing slightly off each tube until you can inspect the join between tubes and body.

HTH, Mike.

Mine were not cross threaded, just worked loose, so took the offending tube off & resrewed back in. They could easily get cross threaded doing this, so need to apply opposite screw direction, until you feel the threads marry up correctly, then carefully screw back in.

PS
Checked focus indoors, using a mirror (distance x 2). I can get a sharp image @ about 7-8 paces.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Checked my old pair over more closely & think I've found fault.
Seems the object tube had slightly unscrewed from the lens compartment, causing the focus aberration, so unscrewed them & replaced. seem OK now.

So you will sending the new pair back, then ?

Or looking to sell them cheap to somebody who lives nearby?

 

[Blue5]

Just been on a cyclling forum rather spookily they were debating the quality of Lidl cycling gear, seems its not just on here.

Lidl have the occasional gem but an awful lot of tat.

 

[Bodach na mara]

Thanks for the info about the objective tubes mjcoon. I will look at them next time I am at the boat.

I agree about the comments about some of the Lidl stuff being tat. I have found this particularly true of gardening cutting tools. They seem to have rather soft blades!

 

[gcostell]

I find no problems with mine, have them about 5-6 years. When I bought them I sent off the registration card and they sent me a second pair by return!! Couldn't complain with that...