I see some posts with people complaining about this.

Here's a couple things to consider-

*Flir is a huge company. Just calling an 800 number and talking to any old person may not be your best course of action.

*If their is a real issue with your unit, highly suggested that you contact your DEALER (who you bought your unit from) and try to go through them. Yes the warranty is via FLIR, but your dealer has more "pull" with FLIR because they likely buy hundreds of thousands or more dollars worth of product from them. Also, your dealer probably has established people they work with, in other words someone with a real position in the company, versus Suzie Q. the receptionist that you get on the phone when you dial some general 800 number.

*Firmware updates, etc. your dealer probably can't help you with that, but may know the best place to go for them, etc.

Case in point- a guy bought a Breach from me, evidently he couldn't get the focus ring to turn, also somehow he didn't get a manual in the factory sealed box and he was one of those read the book first types.  He wasted a bunch of his own time talking to some vague person on some general 800# and got no where for a while. Finally he let me know the issue. I got our rep on it and he had links to online manual, a hardcopy in the mail to him and an RMA to check out the unit within a few HOURS.

Utilize your dealers guys, we WANT to help you on real issues.

All this being said, FLIR just shut down the San Fran office which is a good thing. They are consolidating in NH. This move should help cut lead times down and help with CS.

I can't speak to people's individual episodes regarding contacting them. But as I mentioned, always try going through your dealer that you bought from first, versus trying to just call any old 800 number you find online and talk to any old person as some seem to have done.

I agree with you. I have a theory that once a business gets too big, you end up with a bunch of clock watchers who WILL get a check at the end of the week no matter what they do or don't do. People without skin in the game  tend to not be as "invested" in getting the customer squared away. That seems to be happening at a lot of large corporations these days.

Checking notes and emails on warranty issues regarding FLIR going back about 7-8 years now back to around the time the old skewl PS24 came out.

Seeing a few internal batteries from the old PS24/Scout I,II and III versions that died out, less than 5. That was the goofy internal battery that you could not change and had to send back to FLIR if it failed.

1 or 2 calibration issues with the legacy RS series internal battery set up Thermosight units.

About a half dozen software type issues with the Breach- compass not calibrating and similar stuff, where the unit kept functioning but some of the add on features evidently didn't.

We've carried FLIR for the better part of a decade, about as long as some vendors have been in business...

Found this old video from 2012 where a PS24 from us was reviewed on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXTNri3jZow

My point in the OP was simply to get customers to first try their dealer- if you can't get a hold of your dealer or they have a spotty track record of handling issues then try FLIR directly. But always try your dealer where you bought your unit first.

No where was I stating that FLIR didn't have some issues with CS, they obviously do. But like most big corporations now, you have to work the system a bit to get what you want. Starting with your dealer who has a vested interest in YOU (or should) is the better way to go than randomly calling 800#s for FLIR you found online.

We have had good luck with Pulsar also.

YES!! +1

I think the merger kind of screwed stuff up for a while. Our previous rep was some Armasight holdover and he was the hardest guy to get communication from- never met a sales person that truly wanted to be in sales that didn't communicate. He left or probably got promoted and we got the rep we have now that is absolutely super.

But I wholeheartedly agree with you on the merger!!!

Yes I'm familiar with that also, to the extremes even.

Had a guy that emailed me a lot about a PVS14, he had a very peculiar last name and email address. Emailed me so much I remembered the name/email. About two or three years pass and he emails me saying his PVS14 is having issues. I went through what I could with him on email and then had him send it for service and I arranged the service. Despite the guy claiming he bought from us , the data plate on the unit was from a completely different manufacturer- he didn't even buy the unit from us. I emailed him all this and said "check with X company, they sell this model and people regularly confuse us with them." He got some cock and bull story from that company- "our computer crashed, we don't have that info" type excuse.

The bad luck for the guy was that the company he did actually buy from only had a 2 year warranty on their NV, and his tube had gone out. I offered him service at my cost even though he bought from some other place.

And I agree with you, a lot of these sorts of things are simple confusion from the customer as to who they bought from, but sometimes you have to wonder if they just got no where with their actual dealer and just tried some other place.

Lots of changes here recently at FLIR with the San Fran office closing. Old email addresses may not work for certain folks any more.

If you need firmware updates, etc. try the following-

[email protected]

Just remembered this thread to follow up on this-

Turns out when I told the guy on the phone that the focus ring is sometimes very tight and just try to turn it hard to begin with, he actually didn't do that. So he sent a unit in that didn't actually NEED to be sent in. No harm no foul on my end, but he could have saved himself a little time without his unit if he had listened to me upfront.

Your dealer probably has a solution to the problem you are having, so Reason #546 to talk to your dealer first. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten frantic calls where people thought their NV was having problems that terminated with them using old batteries.

Talk to your dealer if you have a problem, the "problem" might not actually be one, or have a simple solution. This could save you some time.

"Stuff's getting better..."

Well that seems to be true with FLIR. Just had some Breach units ship out the SAME DAY they received our order. That's literally NEVER happened before with FLIR.

So the ditching San Fran office move was obviously very much for the best for them. Looking forward to more improvements!

FLIR seems to be getting better with CS.

Got a batch of 736's in recently. One unit had some scratches on it, not sure if it was improper handling at the factory or what.

Emailed my rep and CS and they had a replacement out that same day and they overnighted at their cost.

So once again, we are seeing them actively improve on customer service.

And the place you bought it from wasn't helpful in this process?  I know you didn't buy it from us, just asking.

I will say that Tom from FLIR was pretty clear at SHOT Show that they realize that the last year or so has not been stellar for them as far as CS goes and they are putting a lot more into it now.

They at least acknowledged the problems and didn't try to white wash them. This is much more than I can say for L3/Eotech when they lied about the specifications on their sights and then would not even discuss the issue at all.

People screw up, it happens. Acknowledge it, apologize and move forward. Trying to hide it is even worse IMO.

So, I'm HOPEFUL that things will start to get better with them.