Air Chrony: DO NOT buy their products, unless you want to get in a world of trouble

[Senn]

I couldn't find a better place on the forum to start this thread, apologies if this is not the right one.
Perhaps most of you are familiar with the Czech brand Air Chrony.

I bought an Air Chrony Mk3. At first all was OK, I used it 3 or 4 times within a month, and then I noticed there was a small defect on the display. I guess it had been there since the very start and I hadn't noticed it sooner. I decided not to make a fuss of it and put the chronograph back in its box. About 3 weeks later I took it out again, only to find out that the defect had turned into something which resembled a crack that went widthwise. Contacting the rep, he did nothing, redirected me to the manufacturer and I had to ship it back to the Czech Republic.

They refused to honor the warranty. This chronograph costs 181 EUR and I had to pay another 70 EUR for shipping and a new display. I decided to swallow this insult just to be able to use the device again, so I paid the money.

This morning the unit arrived. I opened the box and went almost mad with anger. half of the On/Off switch was missing, melted with a soldering iron or something similar. This means that a worker noticed what he or she had done and instead of replacing it, simply went along with it and shipped it to me. The instructions sheet was missing (not such a big deal, okay). The rest of the buttons did not protrude at all making them hard to press, and the USB port was misaligned severely. It looks like the entire board inside was installed improperly, too far back. You can see the images. I asked them to ship back the old display – they said yes, yet they did not. I guess they foresaw the negative feedback coming their way.

I strongly suggest you do not buy any of their products – even if there is nothing wrong with your unit initially, you can count on no warranty or adequate support if something does go wrong…

You may see the result of the "repairs" here:
https://ibb.co/wWCrY26
https://ibb.co/r4gtNt4
https://ibb.co/y0WJPcH
https://ibb.co/pvKC4fR
https://ibb.co/hCPKMtR

[fife]

HI, All i have just orderd one today at BAR they told me as good as a skan,
To be totaly honest you get good and bad in all things. and bar is usaly pritty good lads. atb bob.

[Jesim1]

Sorry to here this, did you pay by credit card or paypal to get extra protection? They may be able to intervein and help you out?

James

[bighit]

Sorry to here this, did you pay by credit card or paypal to get extra protection? They may be able to intervein and help you out?

James

Is it just E-bay that gives you 45 days to make a dispute Or is Paypal the same . ?

[Jesim1]

Is it just E-bay that gives you 45 days to make a dispute Or is Paypal the same . ?

I'm not totally sure, but certainly in this country a credit card can cover you for any item over £100 which you have paid "anything" on the card for as they become jointly liable for the purchase under section 75 I think it is? You can claim years down the line, it may be worth the OP checking in his country depending on method of payment?

[Senn]

I bought it from the rep in my country. It was a group buy, several units at once.
It took these guys 1 week to respond to the complaint which was posted by the rep in Czech.
They said it cannot happen, the quality check at their repair shop is a 100%. And then they offered me a 25% discount on my next purchase, as if I'd be dumb enough to place another order!!!
Then I learned from the rep's email that there've been other cases of faulty displays!!
Guys, here's the entire email thread, it's in Czech, you can use Google Translate to get a fair idea of what it says. This is what you can expect from this manufacturer!!!


Dobry den,
Situace ještě původně ne mela byt takhle řešena.
Podle mé, ve stavu v kterým bilo chrony vraceno Alexandrovy, vůbec se ne melo poslat.
Chtěl tu špatnou obrazovku zpět, a to se ne stalo. Už se muže obávat, že ne dostal ani to samé co poslal, nebo s nim tak zaházely, ze tito opravu nejede důvěřovat.. Montáž je provedena nekvalitně, jeslí vůbec byla tato obrazovka vyměněna.
Tahle situace ale, mé ujišťuje, že ve vaši výrobě a v dílně vše se muže stať. Jsem si jistý, že obrazovka byla docela špatná ještě při montáž. Není to první obrazovka co má vadu.
V situace jako ta, normálně se dělají fotky při přijati reklamace, a potom před odesíláním.
To co dostal on, není vchodné ani předprodat, protože není správně problém přecházet jinému.
A to co nabízíte jako kompensace, není pro něj vchodné vůbec. Je zklamaný vašim službám, a ví mu nabízíte další zklamaní.

Regards,
Dipl. Eng. Petko Dishkelev
Think Green:
Don't Print unless necessary !

From: AIR CHRONY
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2019 7:04 PM
To: petko@email.cz ; alex_dragnev@abv.bg
Cc: jakub.bradac@pocitacovapohotovost.cz ; Martin Puch POČÍTAČOVÁ POHOTOVOST s.r.o.
Subject: RE: reklamace

Dobrý den,
uvedená situace nás velice mrzí. Celou věc jsem nechal prověřit a podle vyjádření odpovědných pracovníků a současně i vedoucího kontroly se něco podobného nemůže stát. Z naší firmy vše odcházelo ve 100% kvalitě.
Nicméně pro zachování oboustranně dobrých vztahů přijměte jako kompenzaci 25% slevu na jakékoliv naše zboží z webu www.air-chrony.com nebo www.tactical-evo.com. Objednávku stačí zaslat odpovědí na tento mail. Přijměte prosím toto naše vyjádření a přejeme pěkný den.

For accurate shooting we recommend a shooting chronograph Air Chrony and accessories Tactical EVO

Best regards
Dušan Mandát
Tel.: +420 224 26 28 26
E-mail: info@air-chrony.com
AIR CHRONY s.r.o.
Lublaňská 19
120 00 Praha 2 - Nové Město
Czech Republic
NON-STOP: 603 75 76 77
NON-STOP: 604 75 76 77
Tel.: 224 26 28 26
Fax: 224 26 30 52
Internet: www.air-chrony.com


From: petko@email.cz [mailtoetko@email.cz]
Sent: Friday, April 5, 2019 9:14 AM
To: info@air-chrony.com
Subject: reklamace
Importance: High

Dobry den,
přišlo ka zákazníku to chrony, co bilo se špatnou obrazovku.
Vrátilo se ale s jiným problémem.
Knoflík on-off je roztaveny, možná pájkou.
Jak se to muže stať že opustilo vaší dílnu bez kontrolu stavu???

Regards,
Dipl. Eng. Petko Dishkelev
Think Green:
Don't Print unless necessary !

[Senn]

HI, All i have just orderd one today at BAR they told me as good as a skan,
To be totaly honest you get good and bad in all things. and bar is usaly pritty good lads. atb bob.

I agree with you. But my point is if something goes wrong with your chrony, you can hardly expect any assistance from the manufacturer. I cannot get any help even through the local representative.
I hope your device serves you well and has no defect, friend.

[lloyd]

I've been importing these for about 1 1/2 years now and so far reliability has been excellent. A few early ones needed a software update to work properly but I have never heard of ,or seen faulty displays on any of the ones we sell, unless it's been accidently shot Dušan Mandát , who is our contact is responsive and helpful . I'm surprised to read this and will pass on the information to Dušan .

[nurek]

I couldn't find a better place on the forum to start this thread, apologies if this is not the right one.
Perhaps most of you are familiar with the Czech brand Air Chrony.

I bought an Air Chrony Mk3. At first all was OK, I used it 3 or 4 times within a month, and then I noticed there was a small defect on the display. I guess it had been there since the very start and I hadn't noticed it sooner. I decided not to make a fuss of it and put the chronograph back in its box. About 3 weeks later I took it out again, only to find out that the defect had turned into something which resembled a crack that went widthwise. Contacting the rep, he did nothing, redirected me to the manufacturer and I had to ship it back to the Czech Republic.

They refused to honor the warranty. This chronograph costs 181 EUR and I had to pay another 70 EUR for shipping and a new display. I decided to swallow this insult just to be able to use the device again, so I paid the money.

This morning the unit arrived. I opened the box and went almost mad with anger. half of the On/Off switch was missing, melted with a soldering iron or something similar. This means that a worker noticed what he or she had done and instead of replacing it, simply went along with it and shipped it to me. The instructions sheet was missing (not such a big deal, okay). The rest of the buttons did not protrude at all making them hard to press, and the USB port was misaligned severely. It looks like the entire board inside was installed improperly, too far back. You can see the images. I asked them to ship back the old display – they said yes, yet they did not. I guess they foresaw the negative feedback coming their way.

I strongly suggest you do not buy any of their products – even if there is nothing wrong with your unit initially, you can count on no warranty or adequate support if something does go wrong…

You may see the result of the "repairs" here:
https://ibb.co/wWCrY26
https://ibb.co/r4gtNt4
https://ibb.co/y0WJPcH
https://ibb.co/pvKC4fR
https://ibb.co/hCPKMtR

That's why you should only buy the original Polish Chrono made by LMBR, the Czechs have copied it and put it in a nicer box

[Senn]

I've been importing these for about 1 1/2 years now and so far reliability has been excellent. A few early ones needed a software update to work properly but I have never heard of ,or seen faulty displays on any of the ones we sell, unless it's been accidently shot Dušan Mandát , who is our contact is responsive and helpful . I'm surprised to read this and will pass on the information to Dušan .

Lloyd, Dusan already knows, he is the guy we've been in contact with... Thank you so much for your kind assistance, but no need to pass on the info.
They have already agreed to send me a new chrony.
As soon as I receive it I will also delete the video I posted on the YouTube.
I hope the new piece gets here soon and we all will be done with this quite unpleasant occurrence.

[hmangphilly]

I agree with you. But my point is if something goes wrong with your chrony, you can hardly expect any assistance from the manufacturer. I cannot get any help even through the local representative.
I hope your device serves you well and has no defect, friend.

In this country the contract is with the retail supplier .
So he would return it to them .