I had an experience with Sigma that I just had to share with you guys. Some of you may know that I recently switched systems and now shoot Canon.
This isn't about the brands but Sigma (the company) and its customer service. The reason I mention the Canon part is because that is what led me to Sigma's repair department. You see, Canon (unlike Pentax) made some changes in the newer bodies that affected some of the older AF lenses (those that were designed for film bodies). It basically rendered those lenses obsolete. I guess there was a change in one of the chips or something. Canon's older AF lenses worked, but 3rd party manufacturers (like Sigma and Tamron) had to change their chip design in order for their lenses to work with Canon. I unknowingly purchased on of those lenses, a 105mm/2.8 macro from KEH earlier this week. It has the "EX" designation, but was not a "DG" lens. Had this been a Pentax camera, it wouldn't have been a problem. However, it was a major problem with my 5D. Focus was VERY sluggish, instant review wouldn't work, and I got an error code in the top LCD. I knew it wasn't either of the two bodies because my other lenses worked perfectly. Not good...
I did a little research this morning and found out that with some of these old lenses (if the lens is still being manufactured) the chip could be swapped out with an updated one, allowing the lens work as designed. So I called Sigma and asked about this lens. They told me that this was one of the models still in production and that I could send it in for a chip swap. The price: $10.00 (yes, you read that right). I figured rather than sending it back to KEH, I may as well send it to Sigma myself. I paid $240 for the lens, so what's another $10 on top of that. But here's where it gets good....
I'm in New York....Long Island to be exact. Guess where the Sigma repair center is? Yep, Long Island, New York. So I asked if they had a drop off service since I was so close (I like 20 mins away). They said sure, just get there before 5pm. So I jumped in the car this afternoon and drove to the service center to drop off the lens.....got there at 4:40pm. One of the service people came out, took a look at the lens, had me fill out some paperwork, took the lens, and said he'd be back. I thought they would give me a repair number or a receipt for the lens and I'd be out of there. Well, about 15 mins later, another guy came out with the lens in his hand. It turns out that he was the person (Tim) that I had spoken to earlier today. Anyway, he hands me the lens and says, "Try it out." I mounted the lens, turned on the camera, and BAM! The lens snapped into focus and everything worked like a charm. They fixed it while I was hanging out in the lobby. Amazing!
Granted, there's no way I'd have gotten the lens back as quickly if I dropped it in the mail. Of course it helps that I was able to drive there in person. But that was easily one of THE best CS experiences I've ever had. Thye were great from the phone call all the way through to the repair.
Some folks here have seen me rave about Sigma's 24-60m/2.8 lens and the 17-70mm before that. So I was already a big Sigma fan, but this experience just seals the deal for me. As it stands now, I own 3 Sigma lenses in the Canon mount....24-60mm/2.8 (again), 28mm/1.8, and now this 105mm/2.8 macro. I was already planning to buy the 70-200mm/2.8 HSM and to replace Canon's not-so-good 50/1.4 with Sigma's version of the same lens.
I'm giddy and just had to share my experience...