Ultradot NonWarranty

[HighExpert]

I have several red dot sights built by Ultradot. I had one fail. Their warranty says "if we can't repair, we will replace" . The company changed owners but continues to use the Ultradot and name and still advertises the same quarantee , "Lifetime Warranty". Here is the correspondence I have received so far.
Hi Dennis,



Your sight was received for repair on 7/18/19. As stated in our phone conversation, prior to you sending the sight in, there was a possibility that we would not be able to make repairs as this sight is not our product and was produced and sold to you by a different company other than Ultradot, LLC.



In the past, we were able to acquire parts before AAL Optics went out of business to help customers that needed their sights repaired. Those parts were exhausted many years ago and changes/improvements have since been made making repairs, as a courtesy and at a cost to the customer, no longer available.



Your AAL Optics sight would need the windage and elevation assemblies replaced which is one of the major changes Ultradot made many years ago (smaller in size with click adjustments)



Again, Ultradot, LLC will not be able to help with repairing your sight in any capacity. Please let me know if you would like us to send your sight back to you or discard for you. If you would like us to send it back, the check for $15.00 will be deposited. If you wish for us to discard the sight, we will destroy the check as well.



Please let me know how you would like us to proceed.



Best Regards,



Katie Zabel

Ultradot Distribution

Customer Service/Warranty Department

916-293-9856



I understand you can't repair it. My guarantee, and indeed, your current guarantee state that you will replace if you can't repair. When you aquire a company, you aquire their liabilities as well as their assets The guarantee on my sight is a liability you aquired. Had you closed the company and changed the name to something other than Ultradot, you might have shed that liability. You chose to continue trading on the reputation and name of Ultradot. You owe me a sight. Please give this some thought and respond.

 

[Walkalong]

I have a couple of Ultra Dot sights, I hope they keep working.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I always thought well of that brand. How old is your sight? When did they change hands?

I understand them not having the parts for an older product and they can't give you something they don't have. Really makes me question my future buys of an Ultra Dot though.

 

[HighExpert]

My sight is old. It was built by the original company and I understand they can't repair it. My claim is they bought the company to use the name and continue using the reputation. They used the same warranty, even phrased the same way. There are no weasel words in the warranty such as consumable items not covered. I heard this from my first phone conversation. I asked for a list and was told "the electronics, the mechanism for windage and elevation, the rheostat for adjusting brightness and on/off. I guess that left the tube, which they won't warranty if you tighten the rings too much. I contend, if you choose to use the company name and use the same warranty, wording and all, you are responsible to live up to it. They said repair OR replace. 'Nuff said.

 

[doubleh]

My sight is old. It was built by the original company and I understand they can't repair it. My claim is they bought the company to use the name and continue using the reputation. They used the same warranty, even phrased the same way. There are no weasel words in the warranty such as consumable items not covered. I heard this from my first phone conversation. I asked for a list and was told "the electronics, the mechanism for windage and elevation, the rheostat for adjusting brightness and on/off. I guess that left the tube, which they won't warranty if you tighten the rings too much. I contend, if you choose to use the company name and use the same warranty, wording and all, you are responsible to live up to it. They said repair OR replace. 'Nuff said.

I agree with you and I would have another discussion with them, preferably over the phone. If they refuse to replace it I would tell them to shred my check, throw the broken sight in the trash and at the same time they would be disposing of any chance I would ever buy an Ultra Dot product of any kind again. "Nuff said.

 

[Slamfire]

My sight is old. It was built by the original company and I understand they can't repair it. My claim is they bought the company to use the name and continue using the reputation. They used the same warranty, even phrased the same way. There are no weasel words in the warranty such as consumable items not covered. I heard this from my first phone conversation. I asked for a list and was told "the electronics, the mechanism for windage and elevation, the rheostat for adjusting brightness and on/off. I guess that left the tube, which they won't warranty if you tighten the rings too much. I contend, if you choose to use the company name and use the same warranty, wording and all, you are responsible to live up to it. They said repair OR replace. 'Nuff said.

I guess my older Ultra Dots are not going to be fixed when they fail. And you are 100% right, they use the brand name for the reputation, but they repudiate the liabilities that brand name created. Corporations have all the personality characteristics of psychopaths, and you see it here. They are manipulative, shameless, and never at fault. And, if you are negotiating, they know you are weak: you can only have a master/slave relationship with one. All the outrage in the world is not going to move them one bit.

At some point, liabilities due to poor products and bad business decisions will cause the current owners to sell the business, perhaps back to themselves under a newly constituted management group, but without any of the liabilities of the previous organization. The new group will deny all the lifetime warranties from the previous Corporate incarnation of that brand. This happens all the time.

Hey, things could have been worse, for example, you could have bought an Apple iPhone. The Apple iPhone 6s was launched in 2015 and it sold for up to $849. Demand for the new model was so great that people queued in line at 1 am in order to be the first to buy one. Apple sold a record 13 million models, and now, just four years after spending $849 for one of these devices, millions of customers are learning that OS support has ended. Would those impulse buyers have waited in line all night, if they knew that their $850 purchase was only going to last four years?

Probably.

 

[Coal Dragger]

Sorry your sight can’t be fixed.

Time to upgrade to something more durable from a more reputable maker. Perhaps Aimpoint has something you could use?

 

[SharpDog]

Good to know. I don't have any and now I never will. For me it's Trijicon, Sig, Vortex, Leupold and Burris.

 

[HighExpert]

I just had the second one fail. Elevation on the first. Windage on the second. I still have two more. Would anyone like to buy a couple of sights on their last legs to give them a good home until they die?

 

[Nuclear]

It seems you could take them to small claims court.

 

[greyling22]

I understand both sides of the issue, and ultradot is not the only culprit. For example, Leupold won't warranty the old redfield scopes. Yes they were made by a different company and there are no parts, but they are still using the name. Now redfield was sold several times etc, bit while it sucks, it's not uncommon.

 

[Speedo66]

Unfortunately, not uncommon in the US corp. world to buy a company and deny responsibility for guarantee by prior owner. I think some companies even pretend a new owner just to deny responsibility.

Had bad experiences with heated motorcycle clothing, Gerber, and pressurized backpack hydration systems, Giegerrig. Both had "lifetime" warranties which the "new" owners refused to honor.