[jddwoods]

Hello All.
I am seeking advice, comments or your experiences with Adorama's New Leaf Plus 3 year lens warranty. Here is my situation:
* I bought a HD DA 40 mm Limited from Adorama on August 22 2015, I chose Adorama over B&H despite the price on the lens being more by $25 due to Adorama including the extended warranty.
* While on vacation in early September I took the DA 40 Limited out of my bag and noticed I could barely turn the focus ring it was bound up so tight.
* When I returned from vacation, I sent the lens to Precision hoping it would be covered under warranty since the defect was found only 2 weeks after the one year period. The lens was not dropped, bumped or exposed to moisture and like all of my lenses doesn't have a bump scratch or mark on it.
* I received a response from Precision that I need to contact New Leaf since it should be covered by the extended warranty, not the original 1 year warranty. The lens is still at Precision pending response from New Leaf.
* I contacted New Leaf on October 11th and filled out the warranty claim form and emailed it along with the sales and shipping receipts from Adorama.
* Next day I got a voicemail and an email from New Leaf stating that they sent repair authorization to Precision to repair the lens. I was very happy at that point.
* now a week later, I checked with Precision and they say they did not receive anything from New Leaf.
* I called and emailed New Leaf and now they turned ugly. Emails are going unanswered and one person on the phone said I never submitted a claim to them. I told them I have emails to prove my case and they responded: We too busy to read emails. Now follow-up calls end up with me being put on hold until the line disconnects.

Has anyone been through this with New Leaf? I would appreciate any recommendations. I have not reached out to Adorama yet but this late after the purchase I do not know what to expect from them. No matter where this goes, this is leaving a really bad feeling about this and will impact future purchases of which a K-1 or DFA 150-450 are planned.

[jddwoods]

Update: Two more emails to new leaf and a phone call. The Emails, one to a "supervisor" and the other to their Customer Service department unanswered. When I phone called again, I finally got someone truly helpful. She found my repair requisition and emailed it to Precision and more important cc'd me on it. Now I will be following up with Precision to ensure they get the communication from New Leaf and that they honor the warranty. It looks like this may still be a long road to getting this lens fixed under warranty.

[Helen Oster]

I was deeply concerned to read of the issues you have been experiencing with New Leaf.
Please email me : Helen@adorama.com with your order number and it will have my immediate attention.
Please accept my apologies for the frustration caused, and I very much look forward to hearing from you.

[Dlanor Sekao]

I bought the New Leaf Warranty on Both my K-1's , but also elected to get the extended 3 year Ricoh Warranty also.
This is the exact scenario I Didn't want to see with a relatively new "Unheard" of Warranty.
Please keep us informed the outcome. Helen From Adorama should get right down to the Brass Tacks of it all !

[jddwoods]

I bought the New Leaf Warranty on Both my K-1's , but also elected to get the extended 3 year Ricoh Warranty also.
This is the exact scenario I Didn't want to see with a relatively new "Unheard" of Warranty.
Please keep us informed the outcome. Helen From Adorama should get right down to the Brass Tacks of it all !

Since Helen stepped in, the work order quickly got sent from New Leaf to Precision. The lens is now being repaired. I have also found that my latest calls to New Leaf were much better. Customer service went from bad to excellent. Hopefully I will soon be able to give you the conclusion to this experience when I get my lens returned to me. Repairing a screwdrive lens should not be a complicated repair and I expect the lens will be returned in nothing less than perfect condition and working order.

[jddwoods]

Since Helen stepped in, the work order quickly got sent from New Leaf to Precision. The lens is now being repaired. I have also found that my latest calls to New Leaf were much better. Customer service went from bad to excellent. Hopefully I will soon be able to give you the conclusion to this experience when I get my lens returned to me. Repairing a screwdrive lens should not be a complicated repair and I expect the lens will be returned in nothing less than perfect condition and working order.

I am a little late with the conclusion to this issue but the lens was repaired properly under the New Leaf extended warranty back in November. The focus ring was replaced. So this saga ended well, but my concern is that I have heard of others who have reported this same problem issue with their DA 40 Limiteds. This makes me believe that this lens, or a certain batch go them have a manufacturing defect. I have not heard of this issue impacting any other Pentax lenses and the SMC DA 40 Limited I also bought used from Adorama has been dropped, exposed to rain and whatever else the previous owner did to it (it was well worn looking when I bought it) and it never had a problem issue. My impression of the old used SMC version is that it is indestructible. I can't say the same for the new version.

[lightbox]

My impression of the old used SMC version is that it is indestructible. I can't say the same for the new version.

That's disheartening considering how well regarded the SMC versions are and the price premium the HD versions command.

I am looking to (slowly) expand my collection of DA limiteds and am seriously eyeing the HD copies, except for the DA 15 which I specifically wanted in SMC for its handling of starbursts. Now I'm on the fence again about SMC vs. HD.