Thread: Pulsar poor product support

A mate of mine is having an issue with a Pulsar C50, this unit is 12 months old and is covered by a 2 year warranty. Apparently the problem is a known issue where the non removeable backup battery goes flat while the unit is off, as well as the image occasionally, randomly freezing. Since my mate is a bit of a technophobe it became my job to explain the problem and get it off to Advanced Optics, the NZ Pulsar distributor. I did this via Rivers to Ranges who were the retailer in this case. A couple of weeks after sending if for assessment I got a call from Rivers to Rangers to tell me that Advanced Optic did find a fault with the scope and they have decided to send it offshore for repair. The expected turnaround for this is 10 to 12 weeks. To my way of thinking this is very poor product support for a supposed premium product. Back up and support for any product should include the ability to deal with technical issues and repairs Locally (in NZ). If for some reason the repair is not possible then I would expect a replacement unit, or at the least a loan unit while they sort out the issue.
With technically complicated equipment like thermal and night vision gear the quality of the product support and the warranty are very important in my opinion. It looks to me like this is sadly lacking in the case of Advanced Optics. Based on this experience I would certainly not own one. Is this an isolated case? Or were we just unlucky with who we ended up dealing with at Advanced Optics?