So, a few years back, I traded an Aimpoint CompM to a member on another forum for a handgun. The Aimpoint had just sat for a while since I went to a magnified optic.
The fella ended up having a problem. Swore it was broken. The dot worked sporadically when shooting on a rifle. I found it odd, told him to replace the battery/clean connections. He did, and the damn thing still didn't work. I offered to "untrade" and we did. He demonstrated how the light would flicker/dim/not function when banging the scope on something. No hard feelings on my part.
I stuck the Aimpoint back in the safe.
Well, on my new build, I decided to mount the Aimpoint and give it a whirl since I'd never had problems. I took it outta the safe, banged the shit outta it multiple times and the light seemed fine. I put it on the rifle, ran less than a mag, and the scope had shit the bed.
I box it up in the original box (14 years old), composed a letter stating the problem, and sent it to Aimpoint. This was last week. I got a notification that UPS had hit the door yesterday. Awesome!!!
I open the box, find my letter, and find another letter that was very brief and unapologetic. Basically, it said that they don't have parts, Sweden doesn't have parts, the scope is too old, and they can't fix it. Whatever. It had a 10-year warranty; I'm beyond that, so I understand that I have a decorative paperweight.
I decided to tear into it today. I mean...what could go wrong, right? I put a fresh battery in, and consistently knocked it around at different angles. No light. So I kept an endcap closed, put my eye flush upon the bell, and manipulated the knob. No light. I then wiggled the knob in the "on" position. A FLASH! I wiggled some more, kept pressure at about 1 o'clock, and the dot was clear as could be. Time to break into this bitch!
The power knob is secured by two tiny allen set-screws. I removed them, and the knob bulled off. Beneath is hard to describe; there's an elongated screw that had a rod coming up through it. That "rod" is what protruded for the power knob to slide over and be the mate to the set screws. There was a brass nut that was securing the whole contraption. I removed the nut, fiddled, wiggled, and was kinda at a loss. I put the nut back on, and in the position where it was, I noticed that it wasn't the slightest bit tight. So, I snugged down on it. The switch cannot be manipulated without the power knob secured on the unit. So, I put it all back together. Went to turn the switch, and it was more stiff than it had been in the past. When I activated it, POWER!!! I tried to wiggle the switch, and no wiggle. I functioned through all settings, and there was no hesitation of the dot's performance. After that test I proceeded to beat the crap outta it on my workbench. Not a flicker.
It's fixed.
So, needless to say, I'm happy, yet I'm pretty pissed about Aimpoint's lack of customer service. They opened the box, read my letter, typed out a poorly written reply, and boxed it back up. I don't even think they removed it from the molded foam to examine it.
To make matters worse, I purchased a Vortex Sparc last night from a fella on ARF. I gave him the rundown as there was another interested buyer in the thread, so hopefully he'll refund my money and sell it to the other fella. If not, no biggie. I'll just have another optic; it's a valid excuse to go buy another rifle, I guess.
Long story. Yup. Sorry. However, now you could possibly diagnose your own problem if you run into. Worst case, you can know what to expect from Aimpoint's Customer Service/Warranty Department.