TAM Report post Posted May 4, 2015 Please consider the following expereinces before you purchase your next trail camera. Last summer I purchased a brand new Sttealth Cam STC-G42NG trail camera. I didn't actually take it out of the box and use it until several months later. To my surprise after having it set up over a water tank in Mexico for over a month it took nothing but black pictures... Jet black with nothing even close to discernable. I checked the SD card and messed with the settings to make sure it wasn't operator error and after several more weeks of black pictures I took it down. At this point it was obvious the camera was faulty so I made a call to Stealth Cam to see how I could send it back to get it fixed or replaced. I explained the situation to the operator and was immediately asked if I had a copy of the receipt or had filled out the warranty card? I did not have a receipt and I had never filled out the warranty card (my fault). The guy explained to me that without having a receipt and having never filled out the warranty card there was nothing they could do. I spent the next 20 minutes doing everything I could think of to get them to help me but in the end they did nothing! I have a $125 Stealth Cam paper weight sitting on my desk! This past January in Mexico I had two Browning BTC-2 trail cameras that had birds peck holes in the motion sensor. Not sure why or even what kind of birds they were but the sensors were not working properly as a result of these crazy birds! Not wanting to scrap a couple of otherwise perfectly good cameras I made the call to Browning to see what could be done. When I explained my situation to the lady at tech support she laughed about the birds but quickly told me the sensor covers were really easy to replace and she would just send me some more of the little plastic motion sensor covers. She even said she would send me some extras in case it ever happened again. I got out my credit card expecting to pay for the covers and postage and she told me it wasn't necessary. I asked again and she said it's no big deal they like to take care of there customers! Just over the weekend I got out one of my Browning BTC-6 cameras to get it all set up for a trail I wanted to hike in and put it on. When I powered it up I noticed something wasn't working quite right. When you flip the on/0ff switch to the on position it would go on and then turn off then back to on. Seems like something had gotten loose and it would not stay in the on position. So I called the nice lady over at Browning tech support and sure enough it was the same lady. I explained my situation and and she asked to send me an email with return/warranty instructions and quickly let me know that even though it sounded like an easy fix if they couldn't fix it they would just send me another one. Either way she said the warranty will be good for another full year after I get the camera back. I then told her I didn't have a receipt and she said as long as it's a Browning trail camera they were there to make it right and make sure there customers were happy. You all can come to your own conclusions 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 4, 2015 that's a great piece of info. i run mostly stealth cams and have never had an issue with them, it sounds sounds like it's a good thing too. i have thought about trying out some Browning cams and it sounds like you just made them a couple sales Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw87 Report post Posted May 4, 2015 That's definitely some good info to know with the summer and scouting season coming up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DCS Report post Posted May 4, 2015 In March another member,and I went to a "whitetail Bootcamp" in Iowa that Barry Wensel puts on.He told us a story about a trail cam contest that his brother won,the prize was a top of the line Stealthcam.Now get this,this was a national contest,he received not the camera that was promised,but a lesser camera.To make matters worse,the camera he was sent did not work,so he contacted Stealthcam.They told him to put it on a table,turn it on,face down for 30 days,and then contact them if it didn't work.After doing all of this it still didn't work,he called them,and they told him there was nothing they could do as his warranty had run out!!!! Unbelievable customer servce. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted May 4, 2015 For what it's worth... I think the Brownings are a better camera that will out perform the Stealth cam hands down! The customer service & warranty part is just the icing on the cake! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslim Report post Posted May 5, 2015 take the lens cap off........... only us old folks will get that joke from the 35mm camera days....... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shawn Report post Posted May 5, 2015 I have 2 brownings and several other brands. The brownings are the best cams I have. Thanks for the heads up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLW Report post Posted May 5, 2015 good customer service is hard to beat... I doubt browning actually makes the camera... probably made by 1 of the bigger trail cam companies... moultrie or reconyx ? I have 1 stealth cam... while it takes decent pics with ok trigger speed it is harsh on batteries. I went to hang a few cams back in Nov. but only found a couple good spots and ended up bringing the cam back home....FFWD to january went to hang some more in a diff unit and turned it on to check the power and nothing....WTH... opened it up and the batteries had leaked...... I would have blamed the batteries but they didn't leak in my other cams...(same pack of batteries) also on a previous incident the batteries were drained and I thought I may have left it on or something but I'm pretty sure this cam is a POS. I know batteries can be drained without the power on but my other cams don't drink the power like this 1..... my cheap wildgame has treated me better. James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted May 5, 2015 JLW, not sure who makes the browning cams but they are very similar to the Moultries. The older Moultrie M-880 with the square motion sensor is also one of my favorite cams. The newer version with the round motion sensor has a slower trigger and recovery time. Not sure why they would design a new model that doesn't perform as good as the previous model? Also kind of weird that the new generation 2 Moultries are twice the size of the older style. Seems like they're going in the wrong direction if you ask me. I've also had a couple of the older version Stealth cams that have corroded batteries. I always figured it was my fault but maybe there is a design flaw with the Stealth Cams? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted May 5, 2015 Good information for sure Tim, thanks for sharing, it should save some headaches down the road for quite a few people I'd guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
