Poor Experience With UltraDot Customer Service

I'm on my 3rd Matchdot 2 and had an issue with the brand new 3rd dot. Here's the review I'm posting on Amazon and Optics Planet. I really appreciate the many firearms companies that go above and beyond so that makes it equally as frustrating when I have a poor experience. 

"This is my 3rd MatchDot 2 red dot, in general they are great dots for bullseye competition shooting although they have a few quirks.
 
I just received the 3rd dot and seemed to function properly. I took 15 minutes or so getting it properly mounted and torqued to my new Volquartsen Olympic pistol. So far so good. Now for the problem...
 
The MatchDot 2 utilizes 2 different thread sizes on the extensions for some reason. There is a small trim ring attached from the factory, the polarizing filter will screw directly into this however to install the sun shade you must remove the ring and directly install the shade. If you want to install the shade and the polarizing filter you must remove the trim ring, install the shade, then install the trim ring on the shade, then install the polarizing filter. If it sounds over complicated and unnecessary that's because it is, they should have used 1 threading for everything. These things are supposedly made in Japan, I figured they would know better.
 
So I go to remove the trim ring so I can install the shade to match my other .22 match pistol. I'm 34 years old, 6'/210 and reasonably fit and it wouldn't budge. I wasn't about to go through the hassle of removing the dot and doing a return just for this, after all this is a brand new pistol I was dying to shoot. So I wrapped the trim ring in electric tape and very gently put a pair of large diameter vise grips on the ring to see if it would break loose, no luck and I managed to go through the tape a bit and scratch the anodizing. At this point I'm getting pissed, after all this trim ring should have never been necessary if they used the same thread pitch throughout and there was no reason for it to be this tight from the factory. Now I wrap the ring with a rubber band to try the vise grips again, again I'm unsuccessful and scratch the ring ever further. At this point I know I'll need a new trim ring so take the vise grips straight to the ring, STILL no luck. At this point the thin aluminum ring is starting to deform. At this point I'm furious, I knew if I stopped I wouldn't sleep well so I decided to give it ONE last shot. It FINALLY broke loose, and unscrewed rather difficult after the abuse I had to give it to remove. Luckily the main body of the red dot was unharmed, I tested by screwing on the sun shade.

So I email Ultradot USA to complain and ask for a new trim ring. I've had great luck with most companies in the firearms industry, most notably Hornady, RCBS, Vortex even small operations like Nelson Custom. So I expected a brief apology for the difficulties and a new trim ring in the mail, heck maybe even a freebie for the hardship with a brand new product.

What I received instead (6 days later I might add) is a letter informing me that it was my fault the trim ring was damaged however I could easily PURCHASE one for $6 from their site. Apparently it was my fault because I should have uninstalled the dot which took me 15 minutes to install in order to get the ring off. Yeah that makes about as much sense as them using 2 different thread pitches. Why should I be able to remove the trim ring with the dot installed??
 
So guess I'll be buying a ring for $6 despite my better judgment. I'm glad they don't consider keeping a repeat customer worth $6, heck the part probably cost them $2. I could have dropped a Vortex scope off my roof and sent it in with no questions asked. One thing is for sure, an unhappy customer spreading their crap experience will cost them far more than $6 in the long run.
 

Can you tell I'm upset with Ultradot.... Will I ever buy something else from them? Maybe.. after all I've got 3 of my match pistols already set up with them. If I were starting from scratch I would find a company that values their customer too much to point fingers and nickel and dime them."

I vote with my wallet. At one time I had 6 ultradots. Now I have one which is on a pistol I am trying to sell. Because of my experience with their customer service I will never buy another product from them. To sum it up they are a dollar waiting on a dime. YMMV.

Bill

My understanding that is a tube extention for if your mounts have to be farther apart.   I don't like the filter at all.  I own 3 of them and the only proplem I have is the elevation adjustment slipping when turned and the screw is tight.  If I remember to push down it clicks.  Don

They do have bad customer service. I bought an ultra dot  that arrived with mismatched mounting rings. 1 black, 1 silver. They wanted to charge me for another! Larry's gave me a set at Perry....

Just a note for future removals of stubborn tubes and trim rings from scopes:  (I realize, it's too late for this instance and am not trying to cause additional anger, just trying to provide some thoughts for readers who may come across the same troubles.)

Use a spare mounting ring around the stuck item.  If you're removing the trim ring make sure the tube is secured by something other than the body.  The tube is screwed into the body and can easily come apart there.  Also, if mounted, make sure the mount isn't so close to the work that it clamps the item.  When you clamp a tube, it exerts pressure for a little ways fore and aft.

Yup.  Pliers and mount rings can easily egg shape the tube.  Egg shape things don't like to turn in round holes.  Remove the mount rings.  Grab the trim ring at one spot and crank it around.

Use a heat gun, lightly warm the tube at the threads. Expands just enough to turn out easily. Done it several times.

To prevent galling put a drop of oil on the threads.,

jmdavis wrote:To prevent galling put a drop of oil on the threads.,

 
+1... I saw that right away when screwing on the extension.

I sent an Ultradot 30 in for repair.  Here is what I was told and my response.

Hi Dennis,

 

Your sight was received for repair on 7/18/19.  As stated in our phone conversation, prior to you sending the sight in, there was a possibility that we would not be able to make repairs as this sight is not our product and was produced and sold to you by a different company other than Ultradot, LLC.  

 

In the past, we were able to acquire parts before AAL Optics went out of business to help customers that needed their sights repaired.  Those parts were exhausted many years ago and changes/improvements have since been made making repairs, as a courtesy and at a cost to the customer, no longer available.

 

Your AAL Optics sight would need the windage and elevation assemblies replaced which is one of the major changes Ultradot made many years ago (smaller in size with click adjustments)  

 

Again, Ultradot, LLC will not be able to help with repairing your sight in any capacity.  Please let me know if you would like us to send your sight back to you or discard for you.  If you would like us to send it back, the check for $15.00 will be deposited.  If you wish for us to discard the sight, we will destroy the check as well.

 

Please let me know how you would like us to proceed.

 

Best Regards,

 

Katie Zabel

Ultradot Distribution

Customer Service/Warranty Department

916-293-9856

 

I understand you can't repair it.  My guarantee, and indeed, your current guarantee state that you will replace if you can't repair.  When you aquire a company, you aquire their liabilities as well as their assets   The guarantee on my sight is a liability you aquired.  Had you closed the company and changed the name to something other than Ultradot, you might have shed that liability.  You chose to continue trading on the reputation and name of Ultradot.  You owe me a sight.  Please give this some thought and respond.

Redfield went out of business once and started over. Their pistol scopes were guaranteed for life. My scope fogged up and needed recharged or replaced. When I contacted the company that was handling their warranty (this was in the period they were not making scopes) they said "no problem" what type of scope would you like? No questions asked they sent me a new Weaver rifle scope. The V16 is sitting on my .22 Hornet. That is what good service is supposed to be like. And doing my part. This is what service like that requires. Letting others know about it. Ultradot just doesn't get it.

Len

This make me think twice about getting an UltraDot.  Thanks for the post.

When did it become Ultradot Distribution Inc.

I have 3 Millet Red Dot's with the adjustable dot size (similar to the Ultra Dot Match Dot).  I know the Millet's are cheap sights but all of them have many thousand rounds through them without any problems.  Two of them are on 22's and the third is on my 45 Wad gun using a slide mount.  All of these have good clear round dots and hold zero.  Millet has discontinued this sight several years ago and I keep thinking about replacing them with Ultra Dot's but with all the bad stuff I read about the Ultra Dot products I am looking in other directions.  Does anybody make anything similar to the Match Dot?

Sure! Aimpoint, Holosun...

I've had good luck with my Sightron S30-5... so far.  I use it on my S&W 986 and a Nelson conversion.

I've had two UD's die in a match. Was in the hunt for a gun and boy was I pissed. The cake was I had one of them fixed. Broke first time I shot it after repair. I only use Aimpoints now. Back in the day I shot Tasco Propoint II scopes. 890's with 22 and 45 with them. Never had a problem with them. Both guns over 100k rds. Cheap suckers took care of me.
Jon

I'm not competing in anything at this point in my life (approaching 77 this year), but one thing I learned over the years was to invest in the best you can afford if you're going to seriously compete.  When you consider how much you're going to spend on range/club fees, practice ammo, travel costs, and entry fees, your equipment costs are a relatively small part of the overall cost of participating.  There is, of course, a point of diminishing returns for most shooters.  A $5000 custom pistol will not overcome a lack of acquiring the basic fundamentals of marksmanship.  We used to joke that you should never tell someone that they have the finest gun you've ever seen (fill in Skeet, Trap, Bullseye, etc.) because you've ruined their hopes of only being one gun away from achieving championship status.

Jon Eulette wrote:I've had two UD's die in a match. Was in the hunt for a gun and boy was I pissed. The cake was I had one of them fixed. Broke first time I shot it after repair. I only use Aimpoints now. Back in the day I shot Tasco Propoint II scopes. 890's with 22 and 45 with them. Never had a problem with them. Both guns over 100k rds. Cheap suckers took care of me.
Jon

Jon,
I still have a couple of the Tasco Propoints' sitting in my parts bin from BBK (back before kids) if you are feeling nostalgic...... You are absolutely correct, they were cheap but really great sights.
Tony

I had a Tasco Propoint come completely apart on a 45 slide mount.  Cheap was sometimes too cheap.

I remember the tubes threaded into scope body. I loctited them. I used self made cantilevered mounts for my 208 and 1911.
Jon

zanemoseley wrote:.........So I go to remove the trim ring so I can install the shade to match my other .22 match pistol. I'm 34 years old, 6'/210 and reasonably fit and it wouldn't budge. I wasn't about to go through the hassle of removing the dot and doing a return just for this, after all this is a brand new pistol I was dying to shoot. So I wrapped the trim ring in electric tape and very gently put a pair of large diameter vise grips on the ring to see if it would break loose, no luck and I managed to go through the tape a bit and scratch the anodizing.........

I've gone through this endless times with filters on camera lenses.  What you did is almost guaranteed NOT to work.  With filters, it's usually easiest to wrap the filter with a good size rubber band that won't slip, and use your whole hand to break the filter free and screw it off.  

Maybe that would require removing the sight first, but that way nothing would be damaged.


The people at Matchdot have always treated me well, but I greatly prefer Aimpoint sights.  The optics seem better to me, they are lighter, and the red dot is more likely to stay round.  I can't answer whether or not it's worth the additional cost.  To me it is.  I have two Matchdot II sights sitting in a box, looking for something to put them on.  I used to like them, until I read here about reliability issues, and I fell in love with the Aimpoint.

To remove the trim ring or a stuck extension, the best method I've found is to tighten a spare mount ring onto the part I plan to remove.  If the mount doesn't tighten enough, that's when you add some electrical tape in between.