Thread: Cautionary tale of poor quality product from Spika.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

pretty sure they will still fix it at way less than new purchase price all the same....

Whilst I'm sure that someone will post their recent replacement of a bent scope story, in the last few years Leupold have become less generous with free replacements if an optic has obviously been damaged by the user.
Likewise Burris. There is a recent thread on the forum where the OP sent his Burris back to Burris. Burris determined the scope was bent and therefore not covered by their warranty. Burris offered a replacement deal with much reduced price.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Whilst I'm sure that someone will post their recent replacement of a bent scope story, in the last few years Leupold have become less generous with free replacements if an optic has obviously been damaged by the user.
Likewise Burris. There is a recent thread on the forum where the OP sent his Burris back to Burris. Burris determined the scope was bent and therefore not covered by their warranty. Burris offered a replacement deal with much reduced price.

I think consumers expect to much from a warranty and forget about insurance

Stink as bro but 2 words when you replace, hard case

Originally Posted by Mintie

Late last year I purchased a "Deluxe" rifle bag from Spika, I specifically wanted one with a shoulder strap as I have a bunch of bags without straps already. I used that bag maybe 20 times only carrying it from my ute inside to the safe, nothing stressful.

Then one day I heard the sickening thud of my rifle in the bag hitting the concrete hard, unfortunately the front bell of the scope took the brunt of the hit and is now bent downwards, scope buggered and unusable. The stitching of the fabric tab that holds the strap in place had come apart while it was over my shoulder.

The scope is worth about the same as my insurance excess so not worth claiming for. I emailed Spika and while they were fairly quick to offer me a replacement bag I declined and told them I didn't want to trust my gear in another one of thier bags, they made no apology for the damage thier product caused and no offer to compensate me for it.

Guess it's my hard lesson to learn, not to trust Spika products again.

Attachment 234799

Attachment 234800

Attachment 234801

Go back to them and say that you are claiming "Consequential loss" for the 'scope the under CGAct.

Remedies for damage or other loss

Sometimes a faulty product will cause damage or loss to your customer’s other belongings or property — known as consequential loss. If this happens, you need to compensate the customer for the damage.

For example, if a faulty dishwasher floods the kitchen, the business that sold the dishwasher must pay to fix any water damage to the flooring — and give a remedy for the faulty dishwasher.

Originally Posted by Mintie

Late last year I purchased a "Deluxe" rifle bag from Spika, I specifically wanted one with a shoulder strap as I have a bunch of bags without straps already. I used that bag maybe 20 times only carrying it from my ute inside to the safe, nothing stressful.

Then one day I heard the sickening thud of my rifle in the bag hitting the concrete hard, unfortunately the front bell of the scope took the brunt of the hit and is now bent downwards, scope buggered and unusable. The stitching of the fabric tab that holds the strap in place had come apart while it was over my shoulder.

The scope is worth about the same as my insurance excess so not worth claiming for. I emailed Spika and while they were fairly quick to offer me a replacement bag I declined and told them I didn't want to trust my gear in another one of thier bags, they made no apology for the damage thier product caused and no offer to compensate me for it.

Guess it's my hard lesson to learn, not to trust Spika products again.

Attachment 234799

Attachment 234800

Attachment 234801

Go back to them and say that you are claiming "Consequential loss" for the 'scope the under CGAct.
If they turn you down you have the option of taking the matter to the Disputes Tribunal.

Remedies for damage or other loss

Sometimes a faulty product will cause damage or loss to your customer’s other belongings or property — known as consequential loss. If this happens, you need to compensate the customer for the damage.

For example, if a faulty dishwasher floods the kitchen, the business that sold the dishwasher must pay to fix any water damage to the flooring — and give a remedy for the faulty dishwasher.

I've had a couple of spika carbon cleaning rods. Complete rubbish. Just absolute shit. Don't bother with anything with a spika label stuck to it.

IMO.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Go back to them and say that you are claiming "Consequential loss" for the 'scope the under CGAct.
If they turn you down you have the option of taking the matter to the Disputes Tribunal.

Remedies for damage or other loss

Sometimes a faulty product will cause damage or loss to your customer’s other belongings or property — known as consequential loss. If this happens, you need to compensate the customer for the damage.

For example, if a faulty dishwasher floods the kitchen, the business that sold the dishwasher must pay to fix any water damage to the flooring — and give a remedy for the faulty dishwasher.

Thanks for this, I have sent them a copy of the relevant document just now and will see how they respond.

Its a poor state of affairs when a fairly simple product can't function and last. I am constantly complain about products that are not fit for purpose, and don't do what's claimed. Always helpful to hear about products and brands that I should avoid.

I will be interested to hear about their response on your claim for consequential loss.

I use one of their packs so far been great, I do check it over after each trip as I do all my gear.

Ive got a few gunbags i been given etc etc .always check fittings holding straps etc -couple that looked dicey got reinforced with stitching using 50lb brea king st rain nylon and heavy duty needle .quite often you get thing shitty nylon webbing sewn on to hold D rings -Ireplace that with heavy bits made from my stock of recycled webbing leather etcetc .zippers are a bastard,though my son works in shoe /boot /key /zipper repairs so anything complicated is handed over to him to show me.

Every product is manufactured to a price point. It may be made for the bulk market, or the high end market, or a specific demographic market. But it is made to a price point either by the manufacturer/wholesaler, or requested by a wholesale/retail company. Spika is not a high end product regardless of the price paid, its pretty much mass produced gear for the lower end of the market demographic. It has a very short planned obsolesence, whereas a real high end product will have a much longer planned obsolesence and be priced accordingly. Unfortunately the bulk of the market isnt prepared to pay the price for quality manufactured products and so many manufacturers dont want to compete in the high end/quality market.

That D attachment point could have been stitched on so easily, that it outlived the life of the whole gunbag. Sadly it wasnt.

Originally Posted by Husky1600#2

That D attachment point could have been stitched on so easily, that it outlived the life of the whole gunbag. Sadly it wasnt.

That's the crux of most complaints I think. As consumers we are aware that we get a certain quality level related to the price we pay for goods, but.. when simple things that could easily be done are just overlooked or ignored, it can render a useable product into a useless one.
Recently I have cursed shelving brackets that were out of square for no other reason that lazy quality control, a pair of fleece pants that wore through arse and crotch with only months of indoor use, a digital clock radio that can't keep time, and others.
You take goods back to the store and politely complain, get pretend apologies from people who don't care, and add another brand or item to your blacklist of things you'll never buy again.
Sometimes its easy to feel like you're getting taken for a ride.
/rant

Originally Posted by -BW-

Recently I have cursed shelving brackets that were out of square for no other reason that lazy quality control

Shelving brackets are a classic. At my local M10 I always grab a square off the rack and go thru the brackets. Usually will check around 10 to get 2 goodies.

At the end of the day it is a soft case

Originally Posted by Kelton

At the end of the day it is a soft case

A soft case whose sole purpose on this earth is to protect my rifle. Poor workmanship on this "deluxe" product has caused damage to my gear. It's not like I was throwing it around onto the deck of my ute and bashing it down the road expecting it to be protected, it was being used as designed slung over my shoulder and the stitching just went ping.

Hard cases have a time and a place, and I have a few to use for that purpose, but soft cases are much better for just in and out of the ute and stashing behind seats etc.