Anyone have experience sending a camera back to Pentax?

Slowpoke Rodriguez · 12-17-2008, 11:11 AM

I had to ship my K10D back to Pentax in Colorado. It is under its warranty period so I shouldn't be charged. My question is to those who have done similarly. I shipped it priority mail two weeks ago and have heard nothing. I wouldn't expect that it would be fixed already, but I thought they would at least acknowledge receiving the item. They have my physical address, email address and cell phone number. Has anyone been through this? What is the routine that I can expect?

ryan s · 12-17-2008, 11:30 AM

Mine's halfway to CO at the moment...I'm curious to know as well...

Do they just send it back when they're done? lol

jmdeegan · 12-17-2008, 12:20 PM

unless I missed it, there is a link off of their website to check your submission. I sent mine in over the summer, was there an back in 3-4 weeks if that, and the website kept me in the loop.

Just cant remember where I found out about the site....but i think someone else posted about it on here....

*borno* · 12-17-2008, 12:56 PM

If you call service they will give you a repair number and a pin number and you can check on line through the website for progress and get a tracking no. when it is shipped. Other than that I don't think they would contact you.

*borno* · 12-17-2008, 04:28 PM

I couldn't find the link, maybe you have to call or live chat now??

*Ron Boggs* · 12-17-2008, 06:02 PM

I currently have a 67II body in Colorado. It takes appx. 2 weeks for them to return an estimate to you--got mine last week. Then you either accept their estimate and send payment or you have them send it back to you. As mentioned by other posters, Pentax provides a Repair Order Number along with the estimate and even a return envelope. Plus there is a PIN # and directions for checking via the web. In your case you haven't received the estimate and info yet, so not sure what you should do.

Make sure you sent to their "new" service address. If not, I'd expect a delay while the Post Office Holiday Rush gets in the way of a reroute trip.
New Address: Pentax Imaging Service Department, 12061 Tejon St. Suite 600, Westiminster CO 80234.

Pentax Customer Service is unbelievably good. I've sent about a dozen items to them over the past 15 years (maintenance/CLA and repairs). They don't automatically try for same day turnaround, but the service is acceptably quick (except when my 600/4 flew to Japan for an extended vacation

)and very reasonably priced (scary low...shhhh don't tell the new owners).

Holiday mail crunch probably means you will get a letter from Pentax Service Dept. sometime between now and Christmas. Everything should work out fine...

ryan s · 12-17-2008, 11:14 PM

Ron, would you know about warranty work? Do they contact you, or just do what you wrote on the sheet?

MJB DIGITAL · 12-18-2008, 01:02 AM

I have broken my 540fgz of with the top of the cam attached still....twice

and they always return the camera very quickly. I haven sent plenty back to pentax and only had to pay once (the second time i busted off the top of my cam)

i think they do a really good job quickly, in a friendly way

*Ron Boggs* · 12-18-2008, 07:13 AM

Only had one warranty issue and it was a "non-typical" situation...so I can't give any better info than the previous poster. And they solved my "non-typical" situation better than I could have ever expected--won't bore you with the details.

If I were you, I'd call their service number at 800-877-0155. Don't sit through all the menus, just dial 0 once you are in the switchboard and a nice person will talk with you. Odds are, they won't know much yet, but probably can confirm if the camera has been received anyway...

*jmc7104* · 12-20-2008, 06:00 AM

My first DSLR was a K100 and had a problem right out of the box Worked after inital setup and took picks. just fine until you shut it off. Then it lost the time-date settings and had to be reset. Local Dealer, (where purchased), shrugged his sholders and said, contact Pentax.
Pentax said to send it to in, so did with explanation of problem. They confirmed receipt of camera after being E-Mailed as to status and said it would be 15/20 days in shop. Received E-mail from pemtax couple weeks later telling me camera was done and being shipped back and it arrived same day I received E-mail regarding shipping. Has worked perfectly ever since.
Seems as if their service is excellant but their communications is a little less than desirable.
jim
PS. Last time that I will buy anything from that Dealer.

pentkon52 · 12-22-2008, 05:24 AM

I have sent in istD's, lenses and my K10D to Pentax Canada for repairs over the last few years.

I never heard from them, other than a call about the lens(non warranty).

I find the return is with in 3-4 weeks, but trying to get hold of some one, even when i had their extension number was dam near impossible. Calls never returned.

I did manage to talk to some one earlier this year, they must have been walking by the phone and answered it.

Oh and just for the record, Nikon service in Canada is just as bad for return calls and speaking to some one.

Now, i take the items in person, and they have to speak to me.

Dave

ryan s · 12-22-2008, 03:07 PM

Very interesting, Dave. So it seems the box will just show up one day on the doorstep when it's done...

pentkon52 · 12-22-2008, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by ryan s

Very interesting, Dave. So it seems the box will just show up one day on the doorstep when it's done...

For the most part, i would say yes. It has been that way for my send in's and returns.

Twice i sent in papers to explain my problem, and also stated not to send it back to me, i would drive out and pick it up.

They allways sent it back via UPS. I hate UPS.

Dave

Dave

Slowpoke Rodriguez · 01-01-2009, 12:30 AM

I can close my own thread now. The camera came back just before Christmas. I shipped it to Pentax on the 2nd and it returned, I believe, on the 22nd of December. They replaced the "circuit board and/or image sensor" under warranty for me. I never received any communication while it was out. It just showed up repaired three weeks after I sent it.

ryan s · 01-07-2009, 10:00 AM

Sent: 12/16/08
Received: 1/7/09
Service: Adjusted viewfinder tilt and parallax

Even though they were closed for the holidays until the 5th, my fix-it shows December 30th.

I'm waiting for it to warm to room temp before testing it. Kudos to them, though...3 week wait DURING the holidays is more than acceptable

I was wondering what the 3rd package on my doorstep was