[tibbitts]

Maybe this has been discussed here, but today I learned from contacting Ricoh USA that unlike in the past (which for me would be my experience with the K-5 generation Pentax extended warranties):

1. DSLR warranties must now be purchased from the same authorized retailer as a camera you want it to be applied to. And still within 30 days of camera purchase of course. The sme-retailer requirement was extremely surprising to me, but I double-checked (and so did the Ricoh representative) and that is the current USA warranty policy. So buying your camera from, say, Adorama, and your warranty from B&H (actually the only retailer where I've found the current Ricoh warranty product offering for Pentax dSLRs) won't benefit you in any way.

2. The older extended warranties (the ones that used to cost $20, and now are commonly sold for $10-$15) that are still being sold new by some authorized Pentax retailers won't be honored.

[pschlute]

Maybe this has been discussed here, but today I learned from contacting Ricoh USA that unlike in the past (which for me would be my experience with the K-5 generation Pentax extended warranties):

1. DSLR warranties must now be purchased from the same authorized retailer as a camera you want it to be applied to. And still within 30 days of camera purchase of course. The sme-retailer requirement was extremely surprising to me, but I double-checked (and so did the Ricoh representative) and that is the current USA warranty policy. So buying your camera from, say, Adorama, and your warranty from B&H (actually the only retailer where I've found the current Ricoh warranty product offering for Pentax dSLRs) won't benefit you in any way.

2. The older extended warranties (the ones that used to cost $20, and now are commonly sold for $10-$15) that are still being sold new by some authorized Pentax retailers won't be honored.

I am a bit confused. if you take out an extended warranty, your contract is with the (insurance) company that issues the warranty. They will be bound by the terms the same as you are. If the terms are that the camera will be fixed if it breaks, that is for the company issuing the warranty to deal with. Ricoh do not come into the equation.

Or am I missing something ?

[tibbitts]

I am a bit confused. if you take out an extended warranty, your contract is with the (insurance) company that issues the warranty. They will be bound by the terms the same as you are. If the terms are that the camera will be fixed if it breaks, that is for the company issuing the warranty to deal with. Ricoh do not come into the equation.

Or am I missing something ?

There is no insurance company involved: these are Pentax products sold through authorized Ricoh Imaging retailers. They represent an agreement between you and Ricoh Imaging, not an insurance provider, as would be the case with a 3rd party extended warranty. I don't have access to the current products but that was the case with the previous "$20" generation of products that applied to all Pentax dSLRs. When you had a claim, you sent a copy of your invoice for the camera and invoice for the Pentax extended warranty to the Pentax service facility. There was no other process involved in terms of making a claim with a third party.

[pschlute]

Ah OK. So you will only in future be able to buy a Ricoh official warranty through the selling camera outfit, within 30 days.

It was this bit that confused me "So buying your camera from, say, Adorama, and your warranty from B&H (actually the only retailer where I've found the current Ricoh warranty product offering for Pentax dSLRs) won't benefit you in any way." Presumably you can no longer do this.

[tibbitts]

Ah OK. So you will only in future be able to buy a Ricoh official warranty through the selling camera outfit, within 30 days.

It was this bit that confused me "So buying your camera from, say, Adorama, and your warranty from B&H (actually the only retailer where I've found the current Ricoh warranty product offering for Pentax dSLRs) won't benefit you in any way." Presumably you can no longer do this.

Well, you can, but apparently it will be rejected according to Ricoh, which is why I posted. In the past I have bought the "$20" Pentax warranties from a different authorized dealer than I had bought the corresponding cameras from, and my understanding even now is that doing so was supported at the time. Apparently there hasn't been much communication of this new limitation, and I'm not even sure it's stated anywhere when you buy the product. Honestly it doesn't make any sense to me: the 30 day limitation is reasonable (although it would really make more sense to be able to buy a warranty any time up to the expiration of the original one-year warranty), but having to buy from the same retailer???

[stevebrot]

from B&H (actually the only retailer where I've found the current Ricoh warranty product offering for Pentax dSLRs)

What they sell is quite restricted and not applicable to any current product except possibly the K-70, 645Z, and the various action cams.

Still Camera Extended Warranties | B&H Photo Video


Steve

[tibbitts]

What they sell is quite restricted and not applicable to any current product except possibly the K-70, 645Z, and the various action cams.

Still Camera Extended Warranties | B&H Photo Video


Steve

I was assuming ENTWARRANTY-ENTRYMIDILC would apply to a new K-70, and given all the noise about the aperture block, I think some people might be considering this product.

If there is some indication that this warranty is "restricted" other than by the $1000 retail price, I'm not seeing it - I see no reference to the same-store requirement.

[pschlute]

Personally I find extended warranties on most products to be a complete con, but accept that if you can get one for a cheap price it is worth the effort.

There was a time in the UK where you were offered extended warranty on anything electrical you bought. I can remember 20 years ago buying an electrical socket tester, for about £11. "Do you want a warranty on that Sir" the checkout guy said. I could not contain my laughter. We have very strong consumer protection in the UK and basically you are well covered for anything that goes wrong in the first two years.

Cars are a different story. I have always opted to pay for extended warranty on my Land Rovers because (a) they have a history of being fault prone, and (b) they are bloody expensive to fix. Everything is a value judgement of course. I think the Land Rover warranty is reasonable. Pet insurance is not. My two dogs were quoted at £1100 (plus £250 excess per claim) at last renewal (two years ago), so I decided I will be the underwriter of that risk. One year it will cost me for sure, but until then I start £1100 up each year.

[stevebrot]

I was assuming ENTWARRANTY-ENTRYMIDILC would apply to a new K-70, and given all the noise about the aperture block, I think some people might be considering this product.

If there is some indication that this warranty is "restricted" other than by the $1000 retail price, I'm not seeing it - I see no reference to the same-store requirement.

The $1000 is MSRP, not retail price. The K-70 will indeed qualify and this would be a good deal, though I would caution that this is also a fairly old offer, dating back probably five years, IIRC. (It replaced the earlier offer that I bought for my K-3 for about the same amount of money in 2014. That one had 30-day and same dealer restrictions similar to what is currently in force and said so right on the card.)

See this 2016 thread for warranty with same product ID...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/189-repairs-warranty-service/319120-2-ye...available.html

(...and yes, Tri-State will still sell you the $20 version... )


Steve

[tibbitts]

The $1000 is MSRP, not retail price. The K-70 will indeed qualify and this would be a good deal, though I would caution that this is also a fairly old offer, dating back probably five years, IIRC. (It replaced the earlier offer that I bought for my K-3 for about the same amount of money in 2014. That one had 30-day and same dealer restrictions similar to what is currently in force and said so right on the card.)

See this 2016 thread for warranty with same product ID...

Are the 2-year Pentax extended warranties still available ? - PentaxForums.com

(...and yes, Tri-State will still sell you the $20 version... )


Steve

Ricoh says the ENTWARRANTY-ENTRYMIDILC will be honored, but only if the camera was purchase at B&H specifically, and of course within the last 30 days.

Ricoh says the $20 version that's sold (for less than the original $20 price) by Tri-State (and Ricoh says other authorized retailers as well) will not be honored for any current product offering.

[aslyfox]

off topic

check with your credit card company


some still offer a warranty in addition to the one offered by the manufacturer if you use the card to buy new equipment


of course such a warranty runs at the same time as the manufacturer's warranty

so if Pentax offers a 1 year warranty

and the credit card offers a 2 year warranty

you end up with a 2 year warranty, not a 3 year warranty

[tibbitts]

off topic

check with your credit card company


some still offer a warranty in addition to the one offered by the manufacturer if you use the card to buy new equipment


of course such a warranty runs at the same time as the manufacturer's warranty

so if Pentax offers a 1 year warranty

and the credit card offers a 2 year warranty

you end up with a 2 year warranty, not a 3 year warranty

Credit card warranties are beneficial. I have used credit card warranties in the past and they've worked for me with other electronic products. However some of the most popular credit cards have eliminated their extended warranty provisions over the past year - and not everybody reads their terms and conditions documents so not everyone might be aware of that. I now specifically use a credit card typically providing less cash/points when I buy an item like a camera or lens where an extended warranty might be important, just for the extended warranty the card still provides. So I'm often paying at least a few dollars for the extra one year the card provides. In the $20 era I think the Pentax extended body warranty was still worthwhile for the extra year plus less hassle in dealing with the warranty (only one company to deal with.) For $50-ish I wouldn't buy one extra year, although it might be tempting to do so with a product with dubious reliability (I'm thinking K-NN bodies or maybe an SDM lens.)

[UncleVanya]

Ricoh says the ENTWARRANTY-ENTRYMIDILC will be honored, but only if the camera was purchase at B&H specifically, and of course within the last 30 days.

Ricoh says the $20 version that's sold (for less than the original $20 price) by Tri-State (and Ricoh says other authorized retailers as well) will not be honored for any current product offering.

The product q&a for this on b&h says it doesn’t have to be a camera purchased from them, but the date on that q&a is 2015. Someone needs to tell them to fix the details and clarify this has changed.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1119325-REG/pentax_entwarranty_entrym...hangeable.html

[carlb]

Personally I find extended warranties on most products to be a complete con, but accept that if you can get one for a cheap price it is worth the effort.

There was a time in the UK where you were offered extended warranty on anything electrical you bought. I can remember 20 years ago buying an electrical socket tester, for about £11. "Do you want a warranty on that Sir" the checkout guy said. I could not contain my laughter. We have very strong consumer protection in the UK and basically you are well covered for anything that goes wrong in the first two years.

Cars are a different story. I have always opted to pay for extended warranty on my Land Rovers because (a) they have a history of being fault prone, and (b) they are bloody expensive to fix. Everything is a value judgement of course. I think the Land Rover warranty is reasonable. Pet insurance is not. My two dogs were quoted at £1100 (plus £250 excess per claim) at last renewal (two years ago), so I decided I will be the underwriter of that risk. One year it will cost me for sure, but until then I start £1100 up each year.

It's a similar situation here and they always try and sell you an extended warranty, even though under the Australian consumer law a warranty extends to "the reasonable expected life of an item" (the ACCC have guidelines on what these are). Most retailers either don't know, or will deny, that and try to tell you that the warranty is x months/years. And it's up to the consumer what the remedy will be, not the retailer (although it has to be reasonable). Consumers need to stand their ground or threaten to contact Consumer Affairs and that often gets a change of tune. And as for some retailers who say that you "have to contact the manufacturer" for warranty claims - it's complete BS. It's up to the retailer to sort it out with the manufacturer, not the consumer.

So yes.......extended warranties are mostly a complete waste of a consumers money and their only purpose is to extract a few more dollars for the retailer.

[tibbitts]

It's a similar situation here and they always try and sell you an extended warranty, even though under the Australian consumer law a warranty extends to "the reasonable expected life of an item" (the ACCC have guidelines on what these are). Most retailers either don't know, or will deny, that and try to tell you that the warranty is x months/years. And it's up to the consumer what the remedy will be, not the retailer (although it has to be reasonable). Consumers need to stand their ground or threaten to contact Consumer Affairs and that often gets a change of tune. And as for some retailers who say that you "have to contact the manufacturer" for warranty claims - it's complete BS. It's up to the retailer to sort it out with the manufacturer, not the consumer.

So yes.......extended warranties are mostly a complete waste of a consumers money and their only purpose is to extract a few more dollars for the retailer.

I agree except when you have an atypically cheap warranty, like the $20 Pentax 3-year warranties, especially combined with a product with some known issues. You got 1 or 2 (depending on your faith in your credit card) more years of having your lens release button reattached to a roughly $1000-at-the-time camera for $20. In theory you also got a free CLA with your $20, but I think nobody took advantage of that, except maybe somebody who lived next to the service facility.

---------- Post added 12-31-2020 at 08:46 AM ----------

The product q&a for this on b&h says it doesn’t have to be a camera purchased from them, but the date on that q&a is 2015. Someone needs to tell them to fix the details and clarify this has changed.

Pentax Extended Warranty ENTWARRANTY-ENTRYMIDILC B&H Photo Video

I guess I can post over in the other forum for them. Indeed Ricoh told me this was a recent change to their policy - basically an across-the-board tightening of warranty policies. However this requirement makes no sense to me. My understanding is that before they were being more lenient, for example where sometimes all the required paperwork wasn't quite there, etc. but now they're cracking down.