I recently had the occasion to deal with Vortex customer service.
Let me start by saying that I am one of those people who will happily pay a bit more for better customer service and am quite vocal when it's lacking. Same with the local shops, only I'm vocal in my absense from the paticular shop.
I was minutes wway from buying a Leupold recently and had to call them with a question. "You wait time is approximately 8 minutes" was the message I got from the robo operator. See ya. That is more than enough to have me packing, I really don't care how slick a product you have. Impatient you say? Probably. Too old and cranky to change now.
Anyway - back to Vortex. I spoke to a fellow named Tom Leatherberry, who was knowledgeable, patient, very giving of his time and probably more honest than he needed to be. I was never rushed, written off or pressured.
Vortex gets a big A+ in customer service in my book.
Take a look at
http://www.cameralandny.com/ for some healthy discounts on Vortex.
The Viper is being replaced in the spring with the PST and the Vipers are a pretty good deal right now. Reticle choices are limited, but if you're not dead set on a paticular one.......................