I thought I would share a great customer service experience I had with Aimpoint. A year or so back I purchased their Aimpoint Micro H-1 for Blaser rifles. For those of you not familiar with the Blaser R93 or R8, it is a modular rifle. One of the neat features is that they have an optics mounting system that allows you to quickly remove the scope and it has a guaranteed return to zero. It truly works. I was going on a brown bear hunt in Russia and my plan was to take the regular scope (2-12x50) that I have mounted on the rifle and the Aimpoint. The switch takes 15 seconds, so I planned to swap out the scope for the Aimpoint anytime we entered into thick trees, brambles by the rivers, etc and to hunt with the scope while on the open tundra. The plan also gave me an optics back up – just in case.
During the first day through very thick trees and brush, a branch caught on the Aimpoint mount and the Aimpoint fell off. Luckily, I noticed quickly and after 5 minutes of looking, I found the Aimpoint. I tightened it and proceeded to hunt, but out of caution I kept my finger on the Aimpoint when going through particularly nasty thickets. It was a good thing I did, it fell off another 4 times over the next 1 1/2 days. As a result, I gave up on the idea, and simply put the regular scope on my rifle and kept it dialed all the way back to its minimum magnification. This was, to say the least, a very disappointing experience with the Aimpoint mount.
Before I go further, I want to clarify one point. The Aimpoint Micro H-1 is a great product and it lives up to its advertising: batteries last years; very compact and easy sight picture with both eyes open; the sight is parallax free (meaning if – in the rush of a close shot for example – put your cheek in a different spot, it will not change the impact point. It hits where you see the red dot); etc. The issue I was having was with the mount, not the Aimpoint sight. Specifically, the problem that I was facing was that the mount they designed to go onto Blaser’s barrel had two problems. First, instead of using both mounting points like the Blaser mounts do, it used only one. This means if the attachment mechanism fails or is inadvertently moved (like the branches were doing to mine) it would fall off. Second, unlike the Blaser mounts, the attachment mechanism protruded (a very small amount) but enough that objects (like braches) can catch it.
When I got back to the U.S. I looked up Aimpoint’s website and found that they have changed the mount for the Micro H-1 and now use a genuine Blaser mount. Before I called Aimpoint I gave some thought to what would be a fair resolution. I decided that – in my mind – the fair resolution would be to give me credit for the value of the old mount (at my purchase price) and I would pay the difference for the new Blaser mount. Since I have the Blaser rifle, I understand that Blaser’s optic mounts are not cheap and are certainly more costly than the mount Aimpoint had designed and that I had purchased. Thus, I believed that a fair resolution would have been to have me pay the difference. I called Aimpoint’s customer service number and I began relating my very disappointing experience to the gentleman on the phone. I was barely into the story and he politely interrupted me and asked me to hold on for a few seconds, he had to look something up. When the gentleman came back on the line he told me they had discontinued the design I had purchased and that they would send the new Blaser mount to me free of charge. No shipping costs or upgrade fees – free. Aimpoint offered this without any haggling or threats. They simply did the right thing. I know that the internet is a dumping ground for stories that bash companies. As a result, I felt that Aimpoint deserved this very positive post. The quality product, combined with top notch customer service, has earned them a great deal of respect in my book.
During the first day through very thick trees and brush, a branch caught on the Aimpoint mount and the Aimpoint fell off. Luckily, I noticed quickly and after 5 minutes of looking, I found the Aimpoint. I tightened it and proceeded to hunt, but out of caution I kept my finger on the Aimpoint when going through particularly nasty thickets. It was a good thing I did, it fell off another 4 times over the next 1 1/2 days. As a result, I gave up on the idea, and simply put the regular scope on my rifle and kept it dialed all the way back to its minimum magnification. This was, to say the least, a very disappointing experience with the Aimpoint mount.
Before I go further, I want to clarify one point. The Aimpoint Micro H-1 is a great product and it lives up to its advertising: batteries last years; very compact and easy sight picture with both eyes open; the sight is parallax free (meaning if – in the rush of a close shot for example – put your cheek in a different spot, it will not change the impact point. It hits where you see the red dot); etc. The issue I was having was with the mount, not the Aimpoint sight. Specifically, the problem that I was facing was that the mount they designed to go onto Blaser’s barrel had two problems. First, instead of using both mounting points like the Blaser mounts do, it used only one. This means if the attachment mechanism fails or is inadvertently moved (like the branches were doing to mine) it would fall off. Second, unlike the Blaser mounts, the attachment mechanism protruded (a very small amount) but enough that objects (like braches) can catch it.
When I got back to the U.S. I looked up Aimpoint’s website and found that they have changed the mount for the Micro H-1 and now use a genuine Blaser mount. Before I called Aimpoint I gave some thought to what would be a fair resolution. I decided that – in my mind – the fair resolution would be to give me credit for the value of the old mount (at my purchase price) and I would pay the difference for the new Blaser mount. Since I have the Blaser rifle, I understand that Blaser’s optic mounts are not cheap and are certainly more costly than the mount Aimpoint had designed and that I had purchased. Thus, I believed that a fair resolution would have been to have me pay the difference. I called Aimpoint’s customer service number and I began relating my very disappointing experience to the gentleman on the phone. I was barely into the story and he politely interrupted me and asked me to hold on for a few seconds, he had to look something up. When the gentleman came back on the line he told me they had discontinued the design I had purchased and that they would send the new Blaser mount to me free of charge. No shipping costs or upgrade fees – free. Aimpoint offered this without any haggling or threats. They simply did the right thing. I know that the internet is a dumping ground for stories that bash companies. As a result, I felt that Aimpoint deserved this very positive post. The quality product, combined with top notch customer service, has earned them a great deal of respect in my book.
