Originally posted by monochrome It is actually a mutual problem. The repair center makes the decision about carrying parts inventory. The issue is, parts are often not packaged as 1 Unit. Rather they are packed in a box of several. I suspect CRIS waits to order a box until it has enough cameras waiting for the part to completely use a full box. Otherwise they'd need to inventory the unused portion of that part.
Maybe, no way to know without asking CRIS. But I can get a package of lens caps from China in 5 days with free postage. Why cannot CRIS get parts from Japan in less than 2 months? If it is because they have to buy full boxes, well that is stupid on Ricoh's part (IMHO). It is just plain poor customer service. Hopefully the new center will work with Ricoh to get that resolved. I don't rely on photography as my main income but what I do make is not insignificant and waiting two months or more to get a camera back into service is not acceptable. There needs to be at the very least a 'fast track' for those that need their gear back. If it costs more that is fine, not having a camera costs money too.
If Ricoh wants to play in the 'pro' market with high end gear (like 645z or FF) then they must back up the photographers who depend on their gear for a living. And I am sure they know that, they sell lots of copier equipment that is mission critical. If the one in our office goes down, we just shut down and go home, we cannot work without it.