EDIT 4: To summarize:
I purchased a demo unit from a VE authorized reseller;
The item was not intended to be sold and I was cheated;
VE said they can't do anything to my case regarding their authorized reseller;
I will need to solve this by myself.EDIT 3: Added my comments to Mr. Turemen answer. EDIT 2: I included the Mr. Turemen answer after my description. Thanks for answering Mr. Turemen! EDIT: Vision Engineering corrected me and the seller was not a Vision Engineering's representative, but a Vision Engineering non-exclusive reseller. In they words:
"SELLER_NAME is NOT a representative of Vision Engineering (VE), but they were a non-exclusive reseller of VE in Brazil."Hello!
As I choosed to buy a Vision Engineering Mantis Elite stereo microscope after watch the excellent Dave's review, I think it is fair to alert here what happened with me.
I am from Brazil and I purchased a Mantis Elite plus 3 lenses (4x, 8x and 15x) from a brazilian Vision's representative. The equipment was advertised as
DEMO in perfect working condition, like new.
In the same day I received the equipment, I reported back to the Vision's representative that the
optical was infested of fungus, in awful conditions.
Then I sent the equipment back and a series of problems followed, from
unanswered e-mails to careless maintenance (missing parts, leaving cleaning product in the equipment).
After more than 4 months trying to fix the equipment with the representative without success,
I escalated the problem to Vision Engineering.
In direct contact with Vision Engineering UK, we talked during more than 2 weeks detailing the problem, presenting documentation of the entire process like a print of the advertisement, proof of the bank transfer, invoice from Vision's representative, pictures of the problem, etc.
Now I received an answer from Vision Engineering UK that says something like:
"We understand your reasons but you purchased from a Vision's representative, not from Vision Engineering itself. So sorry, we can't do nothing to you."
So be carefull with Vision Engineering representatives because if one day you are cheated, Vision may not stand behind them as ocourred with me.
Regards,
Rodrigo.
Here is the Mr. Turemen answer, he is the Vision Engineering sales manager (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/frustrating-after-sale-vision-engineering-mantis-elite/msg1049975/#msg1049975):Hello everyone. I have not been able to read every single post yet, however I can tell there are mixed opinions on the forum since the original message has been posted. As the Vision Engineering sales manager covering the territory, I’d like to clarify a few points made here. First of all let me make it clear that this is not an official response from Vision Engineering Ltd. I am writing on my own behalf for the sole purpose of updating those who read these forums with “our” side of the story.
rodpp, who wrote the original post, was kind enough to alert us that he had been sold a defective Mantis Elite microscope by a third party that was affiliated with Vision Engineering (VE). We took the matter very seriously, because the said third party never actually bought or sold any VE products in Brazil.
Now let me open brackets here and provide a little bit of background information… VE used to have a representative in Brazil in the past. When he left the company more than a year ago, he left some demonstration equipment that he had in his possession with a number of re-sellers that we worked with at the time, because VE did not have own premises in Brazil for storing the equipment. In addition, we had provided some of these companies with demo equipment free of charge in the past, hoping that these would help our re-sellers collect more orders. Note that I am talking about non-commercial demo equipment, not commercial goods for resale. Coincidentally, the “ex-demo Mantis Elite set” that rodpp has been sold was identical to the one that our former representative had left with the re-seller in question. Close brackets.
When the issue was reported to us, the first thought was that the re-seller had sold our demo equipment without notifying us. As you would appreciate, a significant amount of investigation is required before anyone can be accused of mischief. Following on from his original complaint, rodpp also informed us of other VE equipment being sold on the same web site by the same company. Regrettably, these too were demo items loaned to the same company.
Now, I am not going to go into any more specifics of the case or reveal more undue inside information; but suffice to say, we took rodpp’s complaint very seriously and acted upon it immediately. These things do not get concluded in a day or two, but take a long time to work out.
Going back to rodpp’s case… The truth of the matter is that he has bought a piece of used equipment from a third party, on a local website, where anyone can sell anything. The item was not put up for sale by VE. VE did neither sell nor loan that particular item to anybody in Brazil for resale purposes. It was -again; investigation pending- most likely a piece of demo equipment that was not meant to be sold to end users. Besides, it was clearly stored in less than ideal conditions for a very long time as mould or fungus does not grow easily on these units (We supply desiccant with every system, which needs replacing periodically). Needless to say, we were never asked to provide any repair or replacement service by the re-seller at any stage. Granted this would be a frustrating experience for any consumer, the case must be taken up with the seller of the goods and not the manufacturer. I am not familiar with the website on which the system was sold (it is entirely in Portuguese); however there may be some protection for purchases made online, just like on other popular auction sites.
This is not about cost of a replacement unit or being picky about the type of customers we prioritise at all. Had we provided a replacement microscope to rodpp directly, we would have practically endorsed the transaction between him and the re-seller that should never have taken place in the first place, and could have consequently implicated VE in any further action going forward.
Nonetheless when rodpp contacted us with his problem, I suggested that he claim a full refund from the re-seller, since I knew that the re-seller would not be able to replace the system with a new one. I even offered him a discount on any new product that he could purchase from another distributor as a goodwill gesture for his troubles. He refused this course of action, which was the cause of my confusion about his expectation from VE, as he has referred to in one of the posts.
Again, I am grateful to rodpp for bringing this to our attention and in doing so allowing us to correct some wrongs in the way our products may have been offered to customers in Brazil without our knowledge. Perhaps I was not able to explain to rodpp exactly what was going on behind the scenes, as we can only disclose so much information on an internal investigation to third parties. However, I personally don’t believe the issue warranted a complaint about “Vision Engineering after-sales support” on a popular forum, when we might in fact be one of the victims of the case. Also, this may cause unjust doubt about other VE distributors in Brazil and worldwide with whom we are privileged to work.
Ultimately everybody is entitled to his/her opinion and I hope my two-cents-worth would shed some light on any question marks. Apologies for the long post, but I tried to keep it as concise as possible.
All the best!
G.Turemen
My comments about the Mr. Turemen answer:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/frustrating-after-sale-vision-engineering-mantis-elite/msg1050189/#msg1050189
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