[forensicscientist]

Did you pay with a credit card? If so, there may still be options...contact your card issuer and see. Many cards offer a warranty on goods and services purchased with their card.....

good luck,

[Class A]

For the moment I am not out for revenge and publically trashing that place.
The reason I wrote this episode is just to get it off my chest. Further it does not get me my glass back.

Publishing the name of the place does not immediately get you your lens back, but it could help someone else to avoid a similar story.

The only reason I can see to withhold the name of the place is if you still have hope to get it back and would like to keep the option of "not publishing the business name" as an incentive for the owner to keep looking after the missing element.

I have to say that I agree with the business owner, that you should have sent in the complete lens. I also think that a bit of fungus on an element in the front group won't cause noticeable softness, unless you are dealing with difficult lighting situations. But be that as it may, the repair person must be able to find the element somehow or compensate you for it. This story cannot end just with you being upset.

[Class A]

BTW, should your nightmare story not end well and you are looking for a replacement, the Samyang (aka, Bower, Polar, Vivitar, ...) 85/1.4 is a great A* 85/1.4 replacement.

For a fraction of the cost, it provides a very good MF experience as well, is an "A" lens on a Pentax camera, and optically gives every 85/1.4 a run for their money. It is sharp wide open already, shows very little CA, and has excellent bokeh. It does not get as sharp as other 85mm lenses from f/4 towards f/8, but below f/4 it even betters many well-known 85mm lenses.