[phat_bog]

Hello everyone,

thought i should share this one with you

EMERGENCY NOTE TO
RICOH IMAGING / PENTAX , FUJIFILM & EPSON companies & consumers in France / Europe
23 / 06 / 2016


This Emergency note is for every customer, professional or consumer of Ricoh Imaging / Pentax , Fujifilm and Epson products in France and western Europe.
This note is intended to sound the alarm on customer service for any product under warranty or not that needs repair or assistance from Ricoh Imaging / Pentax , Fujifilm and Epson.


The “service apres-vente” , customer support’s workshop for these brands’ products in France and western Europe is a company called PM2S (Partenaires Maintenance SCE Solutions), managed by M. Jean Clement, registered in Bois d’Arcy 78390, France.
This company takes over any failing product of Ricoh/Pentax, Fujifilm and Epson, under warranty or not.
I had for the 2 months a very bad experience with PM2S, which leads me to write this note, as I have clear and undoubtful proofs of their commercial & technical scams, and their illegal practices.


I am a professional and art photographer, working on Pentax Cameras (old 645 , 6&7 and new, since K20D to K5, K3I&II, 645D and K-1), sometimes on Fujifilm Xpro’s, and I started using years ago for my exhibitions’ prints Epson’s 7800’s series and more recently 9800’s.


Resumed story:
In Nov 2015, while in a trip, my K3II died at 8,000 shutter counts. As Ricoh Imaging doesn’t have a proconsumer service, I had to buy the first camera I could for the trip, and I bought the K3 gunmetal prestige edition. I did well, as the K3II repair at PM2S took 2 months.
In april 2016, the K3 started showing electronic bugs, after 4,000 shutter counts. 1/3 of buttons didn’t respond, in some modes they did, movie mode was perfectly ok, the flash worked, I could take pictures, they wrote on both sd cars , sometimes I could get in the menu sometimes not, some leds were going crazy, aso aso, lots of bugs.


At the Pentax Store in Paris (laboutiquepentax) they told me this time they won’t send my camera, but that I should post it myself to PM2S directly, which I did, and wrote everything that didn’t go well with the camera.
2 weeks after , I receive a repair bill from PM2S, claiming a short circuit in the Flash circuit by my fault, because I crashed the camera, so it will be repaired out of warranty service. Yes, the flash cover has two or three little 0.5cm scratches because of some usual compression in my camera bags.
I replied it is impossible , that I never crashed it, and as the flash is fully functionnal and they could test it, asked them to further investigate other circuitry issues and that I will denounce their pratiques to Ricoh Imaging. If i accepted their crooky pratique they would’ve taken the camera out of warranty, make me pay for an invented repair, and get back the K3 in the same buggy condition. They replied that the camera will be given to the constructor (Ricoh Imaging) for a counter expertise. The 3 weeks after I received an email from Ricoh Imaging France with the precedently copy pasted answer of PM2S. Crooks too Ricoh Imaging? So I phoned PM2S and a person confirmed the camera never quit their workshop. Seems the constructor never counter expertised it. Congratulations Ricoh Imaging France.


So, yesterday I receive my camera in a lovely pack. I take it out, put a battery in it, turn it on, nothing. I try different batteries working on my 645D & K-1 , nothing. I try and try, nothing. They returned my buggy camera completely out of work now. Congratulations Pentax.
I wrote and called, no replies. So I investigate myself. I’m opening the flash cover (4 screws). Look at the flash circuit : all proper, all is in place, no signs of problem. I knew they were crooks but needed to be sure.


I look at the battery compartment. On the bottom of the camera it seems like some of the 8 screws had some signs of use. Wait but why? So I decide to investigate. I open them up. And there it is, 5 colored cables / wires intentionally detached and /or cut. The conclusion is obvious, PM2S sabotaged the camera.


I have all paper proofs, I filmed everything, and took photos of everything.


I will keep on spreading everything I can on IG, FB, Twitter , Pentaxforums, Dpreview , Lenstip, Amazon etc, and on my part I will sue PM2S and Ricoh Imaging France for their crooky and illegal exercises and I will inform my clients and collaborators of PM2S & Ricoh Imaging France noncommercial & unethical exercises.
I suspect these kind of pratiques from PM2S are done with or without Ricoh Imaging, or Fujifilm or Epson knowledge.
While no answer is provided by any of these companies, particularly Ricoh Imaging, I strongly encourage every consumer in France or Europe to forget about buying anything from Ricoh Imaging /Pentax.



Please feel free to make this note turn as much as possible.
For more info,
I will do my best to reply you ASAP
Thank you

Attached Images

 

[Adam]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience! Here's how I see it:

They took the wires off while testing the camera, identified what was causing the problem, and offered to perform an at-cost repair because they thought the camera had suffered physical damage. They refused to believe you when you told them that it had not, and because you didn't pay, they didn't proceed with the repair, returning the camera as they left it.

While the original physical damage is debatable and ultimately at Ricoh's discretion, I agree that it's unacceptable for them to return the camera in worse (i.e. inoperable) condition.

[phat_bog]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience! Here's how I see it:

They took the wires off while testing the camera, identified what was causing the problem, and offered to perform an at-cost repair because they thought the camera had suffered physical damage. They refused to believe you when you told them that it had not, and because you didn't pay, they didn't proceed with the repair, returning the camera as they left it.

While the origin physical damage is debatable and ultimately at Ricoh's discretion, I agree that it's unacceptable for them to return the camera in worse (i.e. inoperable) condition.

Thanks for your opinion Adam, it could be the one.. but their verdict was : short circuit on camera's integrated flash circuitry caused by the user knocking the integrated flash.
1) there was no knocking out. 2) even if, the flash fired perfectly in any mode, their is no technical nor logical possibility the electronic bugs came from here.

i've attached the picture. there were no signs of them opening it. All is good inside. it was just an excuse to make the warranty jump and proceed to a costly and all for nothing repair.

[joergens.mi]

Please restrict your opinion to the countries, where that is correct.
In Germany no camera will be sent there, because there is at least one facility to do repairs officially - i know two others facilities -, for germany austria and switzerland.

And I think your word are a little bit to harsh.

[mee]

Please restrict your opinion to the countries, where that is correct.
In Germany no camera will be sent there, because there is at least one facility to do repairs officially - i know two others facilities -, for germany austria and switzerland.

And I think your word are a little bit to harsh.

If this story is true, then they CUT WIRES and returned the camera to the owner damaged (by them). HOW is the OPs response harsh?

[biz-engineer]

Usually, repair staff don't work for free. I sent some gear in Germany; they were very professional, but expensive. In some cases, the repair of a camera not under guarantee costs as much as getting a second hand K3 model that works.

[phat_bog]

Please restrict your opinion to the countries, where that is correct.
In Germany no camera will be sent there, because there is at least one facility to do repairs officially - i know two others facilities -, for germany austria and switzerland.

And I think your word are a little bit to harsh.

Hi! you seem to know a lot !

On Amazon.fr you can buy from any country in European Union. Let's say i buy a K-1 Italian import, italian seller on Amazon.fr.
The camera dies under warranty. Should it be sent to repair in France or Italy?
Amazon's and Ricoh have the same answer : France.

So, what's the purpose of European Warranty delivered by Ricoh Imaging Europe?
I would gladly send my 645D with various mirror lock up issues after 10,000 actuations, bought in France but out of warranty.
In which EU country do i have more chances to have a proper repair? France? Germany? Greece?

This is why i think and write European

[pentaxus]

Technically, the wires weren't cut. They were, however, not soldered back to where they belong.

[Audi 5 cyl]

Technically, the wires weren't cut. They were, however, not soldered back to where they belong.

Technically you are right, but you will agree that this does not makes them less irresponsible for not doing so as it takes 2 minutes to do it. And this mambo jumbo flash circuit nonsense they mention does not stand as the camera will work normally (just without flash) with the flash circuit cut off completely.

[Davidparis]

Hello everyone,

thought i should share this one with you

EMERGENCY NOTE TO
RICOH IMAGING / PENTAX , FUJIFILM & EPSON companies & consumers in France / Europe
23 / 06 / 2016


This Emergency note is for every customer, professional or consumer of Ricoh Imaging / Pentax , Fujifilm and Epson products in France and western Europe.
This note is intended to sound the alarm on customer service for any product under warranty or not that needs repair or assistance from Ricoh Imaging / Pentax , Fujifilm and Epson.


The “service apres-vente” , customer support’s workshop for these brands’ products in France and western Europe is a company called PM2S (Partenaires Maintenance SCE Solutions), managed by M. Jean Clement, registered in Bois d’Arcy 78390, France.
This company takes over any failing product of Ricoh/Pentax, Fujifilm and Epson, under warranty or not.
I had for the 2 months a very bad experience with PM2S, which leads me to write this note, as I have clear and undoubtful proofs of their commercial & technical scams, and their illegal practices.


I am a professional and art photographer, working on Pentax Cameras (old 645 , 6&7 and new, since K20D to K5, K3I&II, 645D and K-1), sometimes on Fujifilm Xpro’s, and I started using years ago for my exhibitions’ prints Epson’s 7800’s series and more recently 9800’s.


Resumed story:
In Nov 2015, while in a trip, my K3II died at 8,000 shutter counts. As Ricoh Imaging doesn’t have a proconsumer service, I had to buy the first camera I could for the trip, and I bought the K3 gunmetal prestige edition. I did well, as the K3II repair at PM2S took 2 months.
In april 2016, the K3 started showing electronic bugs, after 4,000 shutter counts. 1/3 of buttons didn’t respond, in some modes they did, movie mode was perfectly ok, the flash worked, I could take pictures, they wrote on both sd cars , sometimes I could get in the menu sometimes not, some leds were going crazy, aso aso, lots of bugs.


At the Pentax Store in Paris (laboutiquepentax) they told me this time they won’t send my camera, but that I should post it myself to PM2S directly, which I did, and wrote everything that didn’t go well with the camera.
2 weeks after , I receive a repair bill from PM2S, claiming a short circuit in the Flash circuit by my fault, because I crashed the camera, so it will be repaired out of warranty service. Yes, the flash cover has two or three little 0.5cm scratches because of some usual compression in my camera bags.
I replied it is impossible , that I never crashed it, and as the flash is fully functionnal and they could test it, asked them to further investigate other circuitry issues and that I will denounce their pratiques to Ricoh Imaging. If i accepted their crooky pratique they would’ve taken the camera out of warranty, make me pay for an invented repair, and get back the K3 in the same buggy condition. They replied that the camera will be given to the constructor (Ricoh Imaging) for a counter expertise. The 3 weeks after I received an email from Ricoh Imaging France with the precedently copy pasted answer of PM2S. Crooks too Ricoh Imaging? So I phoned PM2S and a person confirmed the camera never quit their workshop. Seems the constructor never counter expertised it. Congratulations Ricoh Imaging France.


So, yesterday I receive my camera in a lovely pack. I take it out, put a battery in it, turn it on, nothing. I try different batteries working on my 645D & K-1 , nothing. I try and try, nothing. They returned my buggy camera completely out of work now. Congratulations Pentax.
I wrote and called, no replies. So I investigate myself. I’m opening the flash cover (4 screws). Look at the flash circuit : all proper, all is in place, no signs of problem. I knew they were crooks but needed to be sure.


I look at the battery compartment. On the bottom of the camera it seems like some of the 8 screws had some signs of use. Wait but why? So I decide to investigate. I open them up. And there it is, 5 colored cables / wires intentionally detached and /or cut. The conclusion is obvious, PM2S sabotaged the camera.


I have all paper proofs, I filmed everything, and took photos of everything.


I will keep on spreading everything I can on IG, FB, Twitter , Pentaxforums, Dpreview , Lenstip, Amazon etc, and on my part I will sue PM2S and Ricoh Imaging France for their crooky and illegal exercises and I will inform my clients and collaborators of PM2S & Ricoh Imaging France noncommercial & unethical exercises.
I suspect these kind of pratiques from PM2S are done with or without Ricoh Imaging, or Fujifilm or Epson knowledge.
While no answer is provided by any of these companies, particularly Ricoh Imaging, I strongly encourage every consumer in France or Europe to forget about buying anything from Ricoh Imaging /Pentax.



Please feel free to make this note turn as much as possible.
For more info,
I will do my best to reply you ASAP
Thank you

Well, you certainly gave PM2S a proper slamming, but it looks like they may have deserved it...

I also had an unfruitful experience with them concerning a DA 12-24 that required servicing. Their estimate for repair for the DA 12-24 was nearly 900€ or approximately 1000 USD.

Needless, to say I did not proceed with the repair that greatly exceeded the cost of a new lens. Their estimate cost me 40€.

I'm content not to use their services, but if they were retained by Ricoh then they must be capable of performing repairs, albeit extremely expensively...

Brgds.

[rawr]

I almost feel relieved to hear that the bad experience with Precision repair service that our USA friends seem to report much about isn't unique.

I do think that Ricoh should pay attention to these after-sales issues a lot more than it seems to be, no matter the country or region. Not just for 645 pros, but for all Ricoh/Pentax gear.

Outsourcing repair services is a false economy. Do warranty (and other) service in-house Ricoh.

[phat_bog]

I almost feel relieved to hear that the bad experience with Precision repair service that our USA friends seem to report much about isn't unique.

I do think that Ricoh should pay attention to these after-sales issues a lot more than it seems to be, no matter the country or region. Not just for 645 pros, but for all Ricoh/Pentax gear.

Outsourcing repair services is a false economy. Do warranty (and other) service in-house Ricoh.

Sorry to hear this. You are completely right about outsourcing, especially when it comes to hi tech companies.

Anyway, Still no news from Pentax Ricoh Europe since the last 48h. Contacted 5 high ranked ( head of marketing, etc) through linkedin & sent some separate emails for Pentax Ricoh Europe.
Only replies came from Fujifilm, Ricoh Imaging UK, Germany & Swiss, even Sigma replied(!) and a short answer from Ricoh France on FB.
None from Pentax Ricoh Imaging EU nor France.
Info was sent to them through FB too, and Instagram.
I'm thinking of spreading it on Flickr & Youtube. & Twitter. if they don't reply today.
It's unnacceptable.

[joergens.mi]

I don't think that will get positive feedback -if any- from ricoh, by the way you are acting.

[phat_bog]

I don't think that will get positive feedback -if any- from ricoh, by the way you are acting.

I've been cool enough, showing curtesy and respect since i sent the camera on 2 months ago.

Spent +20K euros in 2 years in Pentax shops/distributors for pentax ricoh equipement in EU, mostly France.

I'm doing this 1) by principle, for justice to be done. 2) because i appreciate this innovative & i find these pratiques unacceptable and undignifying for them.

People who love and appreciate pentax should join my struggle instead of watching or criticising, because it's for the consumer's sake.

[csa]

I don't think calling them crooks, and accusing them of sabotage is being courteous and respectful. While I certainly sympathize with what's happening to you; I don't know if this approach will entice Ricoh to respond in a helpful manner. We do wish the best possible outcome for you, and please keep this thread updated.