[mee]

It was my understanding that the "parts warehouse" we discussed was in Japan and supplied globally, nothing to do with USA. But they never said that, just what my impression was at the time and maybe I misunderstood. This was not long after the Ricoh purchase and things seemed to be a bit confused all around.

Oh there was a parts warehouse in Colorado at one point.. any tom, dick, and harry could call them and order parts.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/114-maintenance-repair-articles/252881-so...tax-parts.html

[jatrax]

Oh there was a parts warehouse in Colorado at one point.. any tom, dick, and harry could call them and order parts.

Did not know that I must have misunderstood what they were saying then.

[stevebrot]

if a recall correctly they were better at repair and comunication, but they suffer the same problem of not stocking parts for repairs.

I have heard mixed things about C.R.I.S. repair and you are absolutely correct about the parts inventory problem (all brands), though I don't believe they are unique in that respect.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Oh there was a parts warehouse in Colorado at one point.. any tom, dick, and harry could call them and order parts.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/114-maintenance-repair-articles/252881-so...tax-parts.html

Did not know that I must have misunderstood what they were saying then.

Back in the days when Pentax USA was still in Golden, Colorado (before moving to Denver), they maintained both a parts warehouse and factory repair facility in that fair city. They had a good supply of parts, even for vintage gear, and would sell direct if you called them. It was during the Hoya period that parts availability became more difficult and IIRC (less likely given my advanced age) the switch to selling to repair shops only also started under Hoya's watch.

Ricoh's parts policy is not unique in the industry and I would be surprised if any digital camera maker would sell repair parts to an individual or non-authorized shop.


Steve

[sergysergy]

I had missed feeling with CRIS. I sent a Sigma for cleaning and it came back dirtier than before. Then they did a good job with it and cleaning my cameras.
I do not know about Precision. I just sent my K-3 for a CLA to them...we will see how long it takes

[ohmic314]

I have been following the thread but did not reply for most of it because I did not have an update and thought I couldn't provide anything useful to the conversation. Today I do have some good news. Ricoh finally responded to my complaint to the BBB and have sent me a replacement camera! Tracking says it will take a week or so to get the camera, but that's a lot faster than the month that was expected to get the parts to repair the camera. (Let's not forget the repair times after getting parts, plus shipping time to send it back to me). Thanks to everyone for their good wishes to get my camera back quickly and all of your feedback on the situation. I'm looking forward to be able to take nice photos again, especially with spring coming up and all the flowers blooming.

I know everyone will have different opinions on what happened, but my personal main takeaways on the situation is: more than 1 month of warranty repair time for a common camera is not a reasonable time. If you are in no rush and willing to wait, then that would make it easier for Ricoh for you to do nothing. If you feel that it is too long for you, then you do have options to complain. Complaining directly to Ricoh may help or they may ignore it. Complaining to the BBB seemed to do the trick for me as they were very fast at responding to my issue and forwarding my request. Ricoh seemed to respond to them much more quickly than they did to me.

I did also complain to my state's consumer protection, which may or may not have been overkill. According to Consumer reports, you should "try complaining to the Better Business Bureau and to your state attorney general or consumer protection office." They seemed to be slow to me, but I think they want to get this information because "Consumer complaints provide valuable information that our office uses to identify patterns of unfair or deceptive practices that may warrant enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act."

For all those other people who think I overstepped my bounds, I do want to point out that it is federal law that a "warrantor must as a minimum remedy such consumer product within a reasonable time". What's considered reasonable? I don't know. All I know is that my state's attorney general's office wrote to me this: "The complaint you submitted to our office regarding Ricoh Imaging Americas was reviewed and determined to be appropriate for the informal complaint resolution services offered by our Consumer Resource Center."

Anyways, I really hope this information is helpful for people who are frustrated on long warranty repair times. I'll let you guys know when I get my camera and if anything new pops up. Thank you to you all!

[hyyz]

Glad you have a happy ending with a replacement camera!

From my experience, it is a bad decision for Pentax to use independent repair company like Precision. In my case, it's Precision who messed up a simple repair. But it ended up Pentax sending me a brand new FA Ltd lens. And my experience isn't just an isolated case - I have seen others having the same ending. Who knows what Pentax was thinking.

[stevebrot]

Today I do have some good news. Ricoh finally responded to my complaint to the BBB and have sent me a replacement camera!

Glad you have a happy ending with a replacement camera!

What he said! I am glad that Ricoh was able to give you satisfaction. BTW, how were you able to trace their action to your BBB complaint?


Steve

[ohmic314]

What he said! I am glad that Ricoh was able to give you satisfaction. BTW, how were you able to trace their action to your BBB complaint?

When you complain through the BBB, it tracks all of the messages sort of like email. It will say something like, "Customer said: xyz". Then another message will say, "Business said: abc". Within my complaint, it said something like, "Business said: Due to long repair time, we have shipped a replacement to the customer. We have emailed the customer the tracking information." The email from the BBB with the response and Ricoh's tracking email came within hours of eachother, so I think they're related.

[stevebrot]

When you complain through the BBB, it tracks all of the messages sort of like email. It will say something like, "Customer said: xyz". Then another message will say, "Business said: abc". Within my complaint, it said something like, "Business said: Due to long repair time, we have shipped a replacement to the customer. We have emailed the customer the tracking information." The email from the BBB with the response and Ricoh's tracking email came within hours of eachother, so I think they're related.

Thanks for the detailed account. Yes, that would be a good indication. It would be personally gratifying if Ricoh would routinely take this approach for some types of repair. The cost to repair (parts + labor) for the aperture controller issue has got to be close to or higher than the current wholesale price of a K-50. A simple replacement would make sense.


Steve

[mee]

Thanks for the detailed account. Yes, that would be a good indication. It would be personally gratifying if Ricoh would routinely take this approach for some types of repair. The cost to repair (parts + labor) for the aperture controller issue has got to be close to or higher than the current wholesale price of a K-50. A simple replacement would make sense.

It would make me wonder where the K-50s were going though

A year ago a TON of sensor stained K-5s hit ebay.. along with a bunch of other 'non-working' pentax cameras and lenses. The warehouse inventory was auctioned off I think sight unseen. I know one of these vendors told me they were buying a pallet of electronics at local auction (in Colorado and non-camera items) and a ton of them happened to be included once they looked at their winning items.

So it looks like when Pentax eons ago replaced customer's stained K-5s they simply placed the damaged products on a shelf to collect dust for years.

[stevebrot]

It would make me wonder where the K-50s were going though

Good question.

Normally, one would hope that a representative sampling of replaced cameras would be pulled for forensic examination related to the problem and for general assessment of real world wear and tear. Returned product is a potential gold mine for quality assurance folk.


Steve

[mee]

Good question.

Normally, one would hope that a representative sampling of replaced cameras would be pulled for forensic examination related to the problem and for general assessment of real world wear and tear. Returned product is a potential gold mine for quality assurance folk.

... or it is sitting on a shelf collecting dust, forgotten. Until the warehouse moves and they auction of the contents at wholesale.

[Quartermaster James]

The cost to repair (parts + labor) for the aperture controller issue has got to be close to or higher than the current wholesale price of a K-50. A simple replacement would make sense.

Steve

If only corporate accounting were so simple and straight-forward!

[ohmic314]

Hi all! I just wanted to do a final update saying that I received the replacement camera today. Only 3 days from when they shipped it.... from the Philippines. I guess for whatever reason they thought it would be better straight from the factory. It makes me wonder why it takes a month to get replacement parts to repair a camera and only 3 days to ship a whole replacement camera.

I still think Pentax designed a great camera and Ricoh for the most part is a good company. Corporate needed a little kick in the rear to understand long warranty repair times is not acceptable, but overall, they were responsive once they understood the issue.

Anyways, I'm excited to take lots of photos again and try out this new lens I bought but never got a chance to try out since my camera was broken. Thanks again to everyone for your advice and support. Happy shooting!