Tilting at THK (a rant and a little long)

[Joseph Tainter]

In July I posted the results of systematically testing my Tokina AT-X AF 
Pro 28-80 f2.8. THK, to their credit, acknowledged right away that the 
lens was defective. I asked how long repairs take, explaining that I 
leave for Europe (Oslo, Copenhagen, Lund, Stockholm) on Sept. 10. They 
told me that repairs take one to two weeks. Plenty of time, so I shipped 
them the lens. They received it on July 29.

I inquired after four weeks elapsed. They are good about answering 
e-mails, and said that they would send a replacement lens soon. This was 
a bit vague, given my departure date, so I began calling their service 
manager. Thus began a misadventure in frustration that nearly drove me 
to tears. Over the past 1-1/2 weeks, I have talked to this guy nearly 
every day. Every day I explained my deadline to him. Every day nothing 
would be done. Last Wednesday he told me that he "hoped" the lens would 
ship by Friday. I called Friday and was told that it couldn't ship 
because the warehouse was doing inventory. So why hadn't it shipped 
Thursday? His answer: paperwork needs to be done. He said that he would 
call me Tuesday of this week. He didn't. I called him, and got more of 
the same uncaring and unresponsive nonsense.

The squeeky wheel gets greased, though. By making a nuisance of myself, 
a replacement lens arrived today. If I hadn't been on this guy I think 
nothing would have happened for a while.

But after the last experience, this lens does not go to Europe without 
testing. This evening I tested it systematically. Tomorrow I'll get the 
film processed. Then tomorrow evening or Saturday morning I'll scan the 
slides and see how it looks. I am hopeful.

Apparently before deciding to replace the lens the technicians tried 
replacing the rear optical group. I have heard that a batch of lenses 
went out with defective rear elements. I guess this didn't fix it, so 
they sent me a new one.

I will remember this experience the next time I am considering a Tokina 
lens.

Joe (slowly calming down)