Originally posted by Kunzite I see no reason why, if we're talking about a competent service center. After all the seals are just stripes of material which needs to be placed in position, as indicated by the service manual.
Originally posted by Kunzite Indeed, I did not see the K-3's service manual; but I doubt they changed things in a way which would make it impossible to service the camera without losing the weather sealing.
Why not losing control wheels and buttons, maybe the pentaprism?
I don't like the facts - in fact I think it's morally wrong. But the way service (particularly warranty work) functions, there's a "book" repair time and a standard flat fee paid for each repair. Remember, in the US repair work is subcontracted to CRIS, who repairs many different brands. There's no Pentax/Ricoh company pride involved. So it's in the service guy's best interest to "fix" it as quickly as possible, because that's what the company tells him -
loud and clear. If they have a backlog there's pressure to catch up; even if there's not the company wants to pay fewer employees so it still incentivises working as quickly as possible over quality work. If he's quick by doing barely passable work he keeps his job and possibly even gets bonuses! If he's meticulous and treats the customer's camera like he'd treat his own, the customer is grateful and the company rewards him by showing him the door. They usually don't provide adequate mechanisms for monitoring quality - even if they wanted to! The system automatically roots out all the quality-oriented workers.
So you tell me - what's going to happen?
They take a calculated risk. How many customers are going to use the camera in significant rain? And even out of those, will any be able to prove it's our fault? After all, the Ricoh warranty technically won't cover water damage anyway, so we're in the clear - no one will hold us accountable.
WOW - it sounds even worse when I read what I just wrote! It's so cynical -
and I hate it! - but it's so close to the way it actually works. There's little incentive to do right here, beyond a person's own conscience. And unfortunately, that's often not a good enough reason in many people's minds!
Last edited by DSims; 06-21-2014 at 11:47 AM.