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the swede · 01-09-2010, 05:44 AM

Originally posted by creampuff

Since you purchased from WarehouseExpress (which I believe is UK based), why didn't you approach them for an exchange when you discovered the problem?
Also I can't understand why the original lens could not have been repaired. Where I am it would have been sent direct to Pentax Japan if the local Pentax tech can't address the issue.

No...id rather deal with the very reliable and competent Pentax service company here in sweden. They are the ones that work for ME as a Pentax user. They work directly with Pentax. Warehouse is just a "online store".

I expect to recieve an call from my company on monday.

I'll will keep this thread updated on how things will turn out.

Im not going in flames in anger here

Im not small minded. BUT i will not accept this. The lens i had was MINT besides its optical faults. This new one is heavily used and does not match the last one.

AND....second hand value is greatly reduced with this!

**wtlwdwgn** · 01-09-2010, 10:46 AM

I received a refurb 50-135 replacement also but mine is just like new. I'd definitely send it back as unacceptable. They should have asked you if you wanted a refurb before sending it to you in the first place.

This doesn't help their credibility at all.

Ben_Edict · 01-09-2010, 02:24 PM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

I'm confident that if they had sent the lens to Pentax Japan, he would had received a clean and properly fixed lens.

That might be so - but would have been the time frame for an exchange via Japan? Six months, nine months? In the past Pentax Japan prooved extraordinarily unresponsive to any inquiries from Germany, may it be from customers or even from Pentax Germany.

I think, it is basically a logical decision to send a defective product to the official manufacturer's service. That should shorten service times and the lens is where it belongs anyway. And as I wrote, in the past Pentax Germany prvided very capable services, with short turn-around times and a high service quality level. It is only the change to that new external repair shop, that things got that bad.

Ben

little laker · 01-09-2010, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by TheTenaciousOne

I ordered a vivitar flash off ebay once and i stopped working after a day. After about a month of trying to reach vivitar by email and phone and failing i asked the ebay store if they could replace it and they did so no questions asked, so i think if ive ever got a problem with something im just gonna go back to the place i bought it from and let them hassle the company

Whenever the lab I work at sells a product we stand behind it. We encourage any customer to bring it in, rather than try dealing with the repair centers.
It's just art of the business. The good thing is we rarely have any issues. However we don't sell that many top end Pentax lenses

the swede · 01-10-2010, 05:58 AM

Made a few test shots at the focus chart for the heck of it.
135mm 2,8

135mm 5,6

50mm 2,8

50mm 5,6

Seems focus is a tiny tad in front of point, adjusted to +5 and that worked.
And left side is softer! Exactly as my last one, but this time better.

Still a litle upset though......

Supernaut · 01-10-2010, 11:43 AM

Originally posted by the swede

Still a litle upset though......

You should be

asdf · 01-10-2010, 11:47 AM

Originally posted by the swede

Still a litle upset though......

If you're willing to throw away $1000 for the sake of science, disassemble the lens yourself and take some pics and study the motor. The world wants to know whether SDM motors are piezoelectric motors.

the swede · 01-10-2010, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by asdf

If you're willing to throw away $1000 for the sake of science, disassemble the lens yourself and take some pics and study the motor. The world wants to know whether SDM motors are piezoelectric motors.

No...im not "willing" to do that! If i won the lottery, i would though

I would do more crazy things than that to....but thats a completely different thread......or forum......

**bigjojo** · 01-10-2010, 04:24 PM

On avait en France un tres bon service Pentax, mais maintenant que c'est un sous-traitant, les choses vont plus mal. Avant le service Pentax donnait des conseils par telephone et aujourd'hui on ne peut même plus les appeler. C'est a nouvelle politique de Hoya.

jamesm007 · 01-10-2010, 06:54 PM

Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows...

Pentaxor · 01-11-2010, 12:02 AM

Originally posted by jamesm007

Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows...

if they really sent them to Japan, well that would be a first that japanese Pentax employees did a lousy job. from my experiences of buying something from Japan, particularly lenses, I had received my copies in glittering glass condition eventhough they are used or refurbed. very un-japanese to leave such grease mark on the lens.hmmm........

jamesm007 · 01-11-2010, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

if they really sent them to Japan, well that would be a first that japanese Pentax employees did a lousy job. from my experiences of buying something from Japan, particularly lenses, I had received my copies in glittering glass condition eventhough they are used or refurbed. very un-japanese to leave such grease mark on the lens.hmmm........

Per John Carlson Product manager in the USA they were sent to Japan, it is just a fact in the USA. He also wrote a post some time ago hinting that all DA*s in the world were sent to Japan. Here is a quote from John and the link. If you like I can find the other link given time.

"we have authorized repair facilities around the country, but none of them are authorized to repair SDM lenses. In fact, until a couple weeks ago, no one in the US had training to repair these lenses. Before this training all SDM lenses we received in the U.S. were sent back to Japan for service."

Got a repair estimate for my 3 faulty SDM lenses .... [Page 7]: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Now C.R.I.S in Arizona can handle DA* lens... not positive about around the world but I am pretty sure all were suppose to be sent to Japan. In this case who knows what happened, but a refurb is what USA owners received as stated by John C above. So... I don't know

Ben_Edict · 01-11-2010, 03:37 AM

Originally posted by jamesm007

Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows...

I don't know about the US, but this is not true for Germany, at least. Sending back DA* lenses to Japan was only necessary during the first six months, when they were released, because technicians had no training and the mandatory measuring equipment wasn't available in Europe. That has changed to the better even befor Pentax sourced out the service departments over here and now the lenses are repaired in our service centers (or whatever is called so.)

My own DA 16-50, which broke down completely was not exchanged for a refurbished one, but indeed repaired. The repair job seems to be fine, but took more than two months to complete, which is unacceptable. And I know for sure, that this lens did not travel to Japan, but lay in Hamburg and gathered dust for the most part of the turnaround-time.

Ben

paulelescoces · 01-11-2010, 04:28 AM

On the topic of externally sourced service centres... I made use of "Reflecta" in Spain for the repaid of a pretty banged up K20D (Tripod Fall).

Took around a month but came back like new... same serial as the original I sent. I would have no issues in sending them any further items to fix.

Maybe the country specific service centres are not all at the same level... maybe your case was an unfortunate exception.

Hope you get it sorted, what they sent to you is not acceptable.

the swede · 01-11-2010, 02:34 PM

made a new thread!

01-10-2010, 05:58 AM	#35
the swede Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2,310 Original Poster	Made a few test shots at the focus chart for the heck of it. 135mm 2,8 135mm 5,6 50mm 2,8 50mm 5,6 Seems focus is a tiny tad in front of point, adjusted to +5 and that worked. And left side is softer! Exactly as my last one, but this time better. Still a litle upset though...... Last edited by the swede; 01-10-2010 at 06:06 AM.

01-11-2010, 12:50 AM	#42
jamesm007 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Detroit MI, USA Posts: 508	But a fact for USA... Originally posted by Pentaxor if they really sent them to Japan, well that would be a first that japanese Pentax employees did a lousy job. from my experiences of buying something from Japan, particularly lenses, I had received my copies in glittering glass condition eventhough they are used or refurbed. very un-japanese to leave such grease mark on the lens.hmmm........ Per John Carlson Product manager in the USA they were sent to Japan, it is just a fact in the USA. He also wrote a post some time ago hinting that all DAs in the world were sent to Japan. Here is a quote from John and the link. If you like I can find the other link given time. "we have authorized repair facilities around the country, but none of them are authorized to repair SDM lenses. In fact, until a couple weeks ago, no one in the US had training to repair these lenses. Before this training all SDM lenses we received in the U.S. were sent back to Japan for service." Got a repair estimate for my 3 faulty SDM lenses .... [Page 7]: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review* Now C.R.I.S in Arizona can handle DA* lens... not positive about around the world but I am pretty sure all were suppose to be sent to Japan. In this case who knows what happened, but a refurb is what USA owners received as stated by John C above. So... I don't know

01-11-2010, 02:34 PM	#45
the swede Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2,310 Original Poster	Breaking News!!! made a new thread! Last edited by the swede; 01-11-2010 at 02:59 PM.

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01-09-2010, 05:44 AM	#31
the swede Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2,310 Original Poster	Originally posted by creampuff Since you purchased from WarehouseExpress (which I believe is UK based), why didn't you approach them for an exchange when you discovered the problem? Also I can't understand why the original lens could not have been repaired. Where I am it would have been sent direct to Pentax Japan if the local Pentax tech can't address the issue. No...id rather deal with the very reliable and competent Pentax service company here in sweden. They are the ones that work for ME as a Pentax user. They work directly with Pentax. Warehouse is just a "online store". I expect to recieve an call from my company on monday. I'll will keep this thread updated on how things will turn out. Im not going in flames in anger here Im not small minded. BUT i will not accept this. The lens i had was MINT besides its optical faults. This new one is heavily used and does not match the last one. AND....second hand value is greatly reduced with this!

01-09-2010, 10:46 AM	#32
wtlwdwgn Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Billings, MT Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,853	I received a refurb 50-135 replacement also but mine is just like new. I'd definitely send it back as unacceptable. They should have asked you if you wanted a refurb before sending it to you in the first place. This doesn't help their credibility at all.

01-09-2010, 02:24 PM	#33
Ben_Edict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SouthWest "Regio" Photos: Albums Posts: 3,309	Originally posted by Pentaxor I'm confident that if they had sent the lens to Pentax Japan, he would had received a clean and properly fixed lens. That might be so - but would have been the time frame for an exchange via Japan? Six months, nine months? In the past Pentax Japan prooved extraordinarily unresponsive to any inquiries from Germany, may it be from customers or even from Pentax Germany. I think, it is basically a logical decision to send a defective product to the official manufacturer's service. That should shorten service times and the lens is where it belongs anyway. And as I wrote, in the past Pentax Germany prvided very capable services, with short turn-around times and a high service quality level. It is only the change to that new external repair shop, that things got that bad. Ben

01-09-2010, 05:33 PM	#34
little laker Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,697	Originally posted by TheTenaciousOne I ordered a vivitar flash off ebay once and i stopped working after a day. After about a month of trying to reach vivitar by email and phone and failing i asked the ebay store if they could replace it and they did so no questions asked, so i think if ive ever got a problem with something im just gonna go back to the place i bought it from and let them hassle the company Whenever the lab I work at sells a product we stand behind it. We encourage any customer to bring it in, rather than try dealing with the repair centers. It's just art of the business. The good thing is we rarely have any issues. However we don't sell that many top end Pentax lenses

01-10-2010, 11:43 AM	#36
Supernaut Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: West Coast , Sweden Posts: 467	Originally posted by the swede Still a litle upset though...... You should be

01-10-2010, 11:47 AM	#37
asdf Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 1,252	Originally posted by the swede Still a litle upset though...... If you're willing to throw away $1000 for the sake of science, disassemble the lens yourself and take some pics and study the motor. The world wants to know whether SDM motors are piezoelectric motors.

01-10-2010, 02:17 PM	#38
the swede Inactive Account Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2,310 Original Poster	Originally posted by asdf If you're willing to throw away $1000 for the sake of science, disassemble the lens yourself and take some pics and study the motor. The world wants to know whether SDM motors are piezoelectric motors. No...im not "willing" to do that! If i won the lottery, i would though I would do more crazy things than that to....but thats a completely different thread......or forum......

01-10-2010, 04:24 PM	#39
bigjojo Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oppede 25 milles S-E Avignon Posts: 23	On avait en France un tres bon service Pentax, mais maintenant que c'est un sous-traitant, les choses vont plus mal. Avant le service Pentax donnait des conseils par telephone et aujourd'hui on ne peut même plus les appeler. C'est a nouvelle politique de Hoya.

01-10-2010, 06:54 PM	#40
jamesm007 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Detroit MI, USA Posts: 508	Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows...

01-11-2010, 12:02 AM	#41
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by jamesm007 Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows... if they really sent them to Japan, well that would be a first that japanese Pentax employees did a lousy job. from my experiences of buying something from Japan, particularly lenses, I had received my copies in glittering glass condition eventhough they are used or refurbed. very un-japanese to leave such grease mark on the lens.hmmm........

01-11-2010, 03:37 AM	#43
Ben_Edict Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SouthWest "Regio" Photos: Albums Posts: 3,309	Originally posted by jamesm007 Pentax has stated many times the DA* lens are sent to Japan to be refurbished as they are too complicated for repair shops, they are not trained to repair them. Its kinda well known you will get back a refurb when you send in a DA* lens. Here in the USA Pentax has trained and is starting to use C.R.I.S to do all their repairs. JohnCPentax has even said customers may get refurbished DA* lens. Maybe in other countries they do repair them, I am not sure but I don't think so, I think the customers think they are repaired until a customer gets one like yours and knows... I don't know about the US, but this is not true for Germany, at least. Sending back DA* lenses to Japan was only necessary during the first six months, when they were released, because technicians had no training and the mandatory measuring equipment wasn't available in Europe. That has changed to the better even befor Pentax sourced out the service departments over here and now the lenses are repaired in our service centers (or whatever is called so.) My own DA 16-50, which broke down completely was not exchanged for a refurbished one, but indeed repaired. The repair job seems to be fine, but took more than two months to complete, which is unacceptable. And I know for sure, that this lens did not travel to Japan, but lay in Hamburg and gathered dust for the most part of the turnaround-time. Ben

01-11-2010, 04:28 AM	#44
paulelescoces Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Switzerland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 252	On the topic of externally sourced service centres... I made use of "Reflecta" in Spain for the repaid of a pretty banged up K20D (Tripod Fall). Took around a month but came back like new... same serial as the original I sent. I would have no issues in sending them any further items to fix. Maybe the country specific service centres are not all at the same level... maybe your case was an unfortunate exception. Hope you get it sorted, what they sent to you is not acceptable.

DA*50-135mm back from Pentax, and its a refurb!

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