Can anyone please provide any details of recommended UK binocular retailers OTHER than the usual advertisers in the birding magazines - or does that just about cover them all
TIA
Andrew
Hi Andrew
I have much experience with this retailer and have only good things to report.
http://www.pennineonline.com/acatalog/index.html
Dunno which you've not seen, so here's a good one and a bad one for you.
Bad one: Can't remember their exact name, but it's something like 'Bass and Bligh' or similar. Think they're in Northern England somewhere. They claim that they will 'never be beaten on price for Kowa' or 'cheapest in UK Kowa dealer, try us last!' or something similar worded to that.
When I called them to buy my Kowa they gave me one of the highest prices I'd been quoted in the country!! When I read them back their advert over the phone, the guy asked who had the better price. He then immediately REFUSED to beat it, and started slagging-off the other dealer and alleged that theirs must be grey imports if they were lower priced. I bought the scope from the other dealer (Ace Optics, Bath) and got great service. Shortly after that I broke the scope and got the 'Gold Seal' service from Kowa which gives your a year's free accident cover. The scope was indeed, a genuine UK item. Not grey at all Mister Bass and Bligh, or whatever your name was!
The good one: LCE, Bath. Simply THE best in the UK. Lowest prices in the country. Open to a good haggle. Will always 'price match'. Huge stocks of every make and model. Great viewing facilities. I've been so impressed that I've now bought 7 pairs of bins from them in the last 7 years. Although it's a 325 mile trip to their shop, it's well worth it when I want new optics. Manager Richard Reynolds will transfer-in every model that you want to try, and then phone you to let you know that they're all ready for you to test. He does this happily, even knowing that you will only buy one pair, or maybe none at all. I then spend a couple of hours testing them over and over. Any other shop would have thrown me out on the pavement for mucking them about so much! After I've chosen the model, he gets out every pair he has in stock of the same model and lets me try each of them at length. He even tries them out with me and we have a good discussion about variations that we can both see from pair-to-pair (oh yes, there's a dud in every dozen, even at £1000 a pair!). When I'm finally happy I get a warm 'thank you for your business' and leave the shop glowing with satisfaction. I'm the fussiest, most annoying and critical customer, believe me. LCE Bath deserve every penny I've spent with them. On two occasions I've got home and changed my mind again! What an idiot. And they've even let me come back and swap for another pair. They deserve a medal. All that and the best UK price too.
cheers Paul