Boris Liberman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Hi! > >I have a question about American service in general and Pentax service >in particular. > >A friend of mine bought Pentax Optio S4 and accidentally managed to >hit a lens while it was opened. So he went to a local (Israeli) Pentax >service lab where a serious 4 digits (in NIS) quote has been made on >the repair. > >So he asked me to help him to talk on the phone with American Pentax >Service center. He reckoned that knowing exactly what had to be >replaced (whole optical block) he could get a quote from these guys >and then see what would be his best choice. > >To cut the chase short. The darn guy on the other side of the phone >line refused to give me a number in dollars. He claimed that unless >they inspect the broken camera, they don't give out quotes... > >To me it appears purely idiotic. I mean, I couldn't possibly demand >satisfaction if for whatever reason the actual price of repair would >have been different. Ultimately, he could just tell me that >__normally__ such kind of repair costs __this__ many bucks, but __in >my very case__ it could be different, which they would be able to say >__exactly__ if I submitted the camera for inspection. > >Instead, he just wouldn't agree to tell me anything... > >So, > >1. Have I had just a bad luck and bumped into what we call in Hebrew >"smallheaded" one?
No. >2. Is it normal? Absolutely. >3. How could I have bypassed him? You couldn't have. No one in his right mind is going to give out a repair estimate without seeing the camera in person! I worked in the electronics repair field for over 10 years, much of that time managing the service department of a high end audio store. With electronic and electronic/mechanical products there are many different problems that can cause identical symptoms. Anyone who would give you a repair estimate without taking the unit apart is a someone who's so dumb you wouldn't *want* him doing any work on your equipment. If one of my employees gave an estimate over the phone (unless it was semi-facetious something like "between $10.00 and $400.00") I'd fire him. -- Mark Roberts Photography and writing www.robertstech.com
