[pearsaab]

So my 2 month other DFA 24-70 had a wobble in the barrel when extended. I sent it to precision under warranty. Precision originally said 5-7 business days. I just spoke to them after 10 business days and they said they had to send it off to the factory to be repaired. I feel like my new lens is in a black hole and no idea when I will get it back. So disappointing. At the moment I am feeling very sorry for myself and wishing I had never bought the lens. I have a full frame camera and I need my 24-70.

[JENSEN7474]

Sorry to hear about your problem, but it sounds like they are do the right thing be sending it to the factory instead of try for a quick fix in the states.

[nomadkng]

So my 2 month other DFA 24-70 had a wobble in the barrel when extended. I sent it to precision under warranty. Precision originally said 5-7 business days. I just spoke to them after 10 business days and they said they had to send it off to the factory to be repaired. I feel like my new lens is in a black hole and no idea when I will get it back. So disappointing. At the moment I am feeling very sorry for myself and wishing I had never bought the lens. I have a full frame camera and I need my 24-70.

You could always rent one from lens rentals.

I know it's an added expense, but it's not unlike renting a car while yours in in the shop.

Which opens up a topic, that in cases like this it would be nice if warranty repairs included loaner lenses or reimbursements for lens rentals. Especially with these $1200 lenses. They aren't easily replaced in the average budget.

[pearsaab]

You could always rent one from lens rentals.

I know it's an added expense, but it's not unlike renting a car while yours in in the shop.

Which opens up a topic, that in cases like this it would be nice if warranty repairs included loaner lenses or reimbursements for lens rentals. Especially with these $1200 lenses. They aren't easily replaced in the average budget.

I agree that it would be nice to have a loaner from the shop. If you have a lens that is 2 months old it seems that someone should be doing something but doubt it will ever happen. It would help if I had some kind of time frame but can't talk to the factory and precision has no idea. I feel like a spent a wad of $ and don't want to pay for a rental for some unspecified time. Thanks for the suggestion.

[jatrax]

If you really want to feel bad read any of the many nightmare threads about Precision. I had a lens sent to them under warranty that also was noted as being sent back to the factory. Here is the thread about my DA 16-85: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/189-repairs-warranty-service/319909-hd-da-16-85-failure.html

I think it was about 50 days door to door to repair. Hopefully yours will not be that long.

[lytrytyr]

I have a full frame camera and I need my 24-70.

Amy, sorry to hear about the problem with that lens.

Do you have any other lenses that you can use as a backup while you're waiting,
like an old-time fifty, or even DAs that might need a little cropping?

[Another dyemention]

Well as long as people keep giving Pentax/Ricoh their money, then Pentax/Ricoh isn't going to feel pressured to change anything with their repair service. One would like to think that Pentax cares about its customers - maybe even a little more than other companies but hopefully no one is really that naive. Everyone on this forum knows there is always trouble with repairs but sending letters or posting on here will change nothing. Pentax will keep serving metaphorical poop and everyone will keep eating it.

With that being said, is any other company, camera or otherwise, any different?

Is any other organization any different?

From the government down to Bob's t-shirt shop and everyone in between, if they can get away with screwin you over, they will.

[jatrax]

With that being said, is any other company, camera or otherwise, any different?

Unlikely, unless you pay for professional service provided by some companies.

[Driline]

With that being said, is any other company, camera or otherwise, any different?

I had my DA*16-50 repaired at the Canada Authorized Pentax repair shop. They did excellent service and were quick turn around. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to Precision Repair with all the negative reviews I've read about them on this site. I would pay extra just to send it to Canada if I needed other Pentax gear repaired. Go Canada! And yea....I'm from the U.S.

[Another dyemention]

Unlikely, unless you pay for professional service provided by some companies.

My question was actually rhetorical but what you said proved my point.

[monochrome]

This all derives from price competition in a shrinking market. Nikon also uses Precision.

The 96% of Pentax buyers who don't need it would not likely pay more for every single item to provide good warranty service for the 4% who do.

I'd like to see a tiered warranty. Standard (untimely service) warranty is free. I can buy a warranty upgrade to fast factory service, at my discretion, at time of sale.

[nomadkng]

part of the issue is probably beyond Precision's control.

the best analogy i can think of is when i owned a VW jetta:

the dealer did everything the could possibly do to repair things in a timely manner, but VW as a company would only manufacture x number of spare parts and would only allocate x number of the spares to each dealer.

precision may very well be limited in the scope of their repairs due to micromanaging from ricoh. if the barrel wobble issue required parts that precision could not get from ricoh, what other options do they have? if after a decent diagnosis, they could not isolate the issue due to limited diagnostic tools or training from ricoh, what else could they do?

now i'm sure they didn't overnight the lens to japan because of the cost, and i'm sure ricoh won't overnight the lens back to the states, so there's probably 2 weeks right there that could be cut down,but at a higher cost to all parties.

until ricoh has a true US based repair operation center, we will probably never be 100% happy with their repair services. But to do that, maybe the K-1 retails for 2800 instead of 1700. Now is it such a great idea?

[jatrax]

part of the issue is probably beyond Precision's control.

While I have not had good experience with Precision I agree in this particular case there really is not an issue. Yet. I fully realize the same people who argued that I should file BBB complaints and hire a lawyer when I discussed my lens issue with Precision will not agree with that. But IMHO, 10 days really is not very long. Precision has extremely poor communication skills and they continue to demonstrate that one hand has no idea what the other is doing. I suspect the "5-7 business days" is standard stock reply and should be ignored. It will take as long as it takes and they should not quote time frames when they really have no idea.

Sending the lens to Japan for repair is a slightly different issue. My feeling is that it is far better to send it to Japan and have someone who actually knows what they are doing look at it. But again, not everyone will agree. Many posts the last time insisting that I should get a new lens for free or instead hire lawyers because the lens went to Japan. Not going to argue as that is pointless. Again, it will take as long as it will take and if Precision has neither the skill or the equipment to repair something then I would rather it go where it can be repaired.

The DFA 24-70 is new and likely they have not seen much in repair work yet. Or perhaps if these are indeed made by Tamron then maybe Pentax wants to see it first hand to follow up on the issue. Who knows.

To the OP, if in a few weeks you have not heard anything PM me and I'll send you an email address that worked for me. Nothing can speed up the process but I did get confirmation on where my lens was at and what was happening, perhaps they can do the same for you.

[Pioneer]

...Now is it such a great idea?

Yes. Especially if you need the repair.

Once the word gets out that Ricoh/Pentax provides great and timely service on all warranties, including rental lenses if yours will take more than a week, then the initial price of the camera will be less important.

Unfortunately that type of reputation takes time to build, and most companies aren't willing to put in the money and effort. Pentax/Ricoh are no different than most companies. We all know that and we are all willing to live with it. There is no reason for Ricoh/Pentax to change the status quo.

EDIT - Of course there are always people looking for the lowest possible price regardless of the quality of product or service. Ricoh/Pentax got the message that we sent loud and clear with our posts. We want a full frame camera but we don't want to pay much for it. That's what we got. Nice camera, until it breaks.

[monochrome]

Fixing barrel wobble probably requires a tool Precision doesn't have, so the lens has to go where the tool is - Japan.

As a general comment on the service dilemma, parts are most likely packaged in multiples in a box - say for example 2 dozen Mode Dial assemblies. How likely is it Precision will wait until there are 2 dozen K-1's with broken Mode Dials sent in (for instance) before they order the box of 2 dozen replacement parts? I say very likely.

Maintaining a ready inventory of all possible spare parts would require millions of dollars of dead money on warehouse shelves. They just don't care about the individual camera owner if serving each one of them would require millions of dollars of demand inventory.

Why do you think Eric has a steel shed full of film camera parts at his disposal? Because that's how it was done in the old days.