[Tony3d]

I just sent in my K7 for repair, and so far I'm not at all happy with the staff. I sure hope the repair goes well. How were they with scratches? The body is mint, and it would really aggravate me to have it retuned with a scratched up LCD or something. Guess I was really surprised to see Pentax does not repair there own stuff. Kinda makes me loose confidence.

[Jon in SC]

I had a very poor experience with my repair to my K7 this summer. I posted about it at the time in the furum so I won't rehash the experience. In short, poor communication from Pentax and their contract provider and rude customer service were the hall marks of my experience. I will say that they did get the problem fixed correctly, so in the end my camera works.

[blackcloudbrew]

I had a very good experience last fall with them. It took 5-6 weeks but they repaired my k20 like new and cleaned the sensor to boot!

[fccwpe]

I sent my Sigma 150-500 to them last spring and they answered all of my emails within a few hours, the lens was actually fixed and shipped earlier than expected and it works great!

[bkpix]

Slightly mixed results on a warranty repair.

The good: Camera came back quickly with the repair -- a new sensor -- properly made (as near as I can tell... it arrived yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to run it through its paces yet).

The bad: Zero communication. I mean, would sending an email acknowledging receipt kill them? Or an email saying they're actually going to fix it?

AND, they sent it back to my home address when I explicitly asked for delivery to my office, where someone is around all the time to sign for packages. This meant a delay in receiving it and an hour-long trip to the next town to pick it up, as we were on vacation when UPS attempted delivery.

Bottom line: The process worked, with minor flaws.

This was all brought into sharper focus by a simultaneous experience with Canon repairing a dropped 300mm lens. Canon offered full communication and somewhat speedier service, which is reassuring when you're dealing with expensive equipment.

And, to answer your question, my Pentax came back in good cosmetic shape, as well.

[bobell69]

I had a good experience. After falling off some rocks, my K10d came off the worse for the experience. After some time I began to have some serious back focus problems and sent it off for repair. When the camera came back it was in my opinion a new camera. The outside shell was all new., only the base was the original and I assume the internal frame. When I turned the camera on it had reset to new camera settings the shutter count hadn't changed.

Camera has been working flawlessly since I got it back.

[forensicscientist]

Sent one of my K20's in last spring. Adjusted focus and straightened the sensor. Had it back in 2 or 3 weeks. I had the 2 year extended warranty and it was accepted without a problem....I was quite pleased with the turn around time, and just as pleased with the work.

Your mileage may differ....

[jamesm007]

I just sent in my K7 for repair, and so far I'm not at all happy with the staff. I sure hope the repair goes well. How were they with scratches? The body is mint, and it would really aggravate me to have it retuned with a scratched up LCD or something. Guess I was really surprised to see Pentax does not repair there own stuff. Kinda makes me loose confidence.

C.R.I.S Camera is used by Sigma as well. They have a A+ rating from the BBB. I have had experience with them. I am so happy with them that when my Sigma 17-70mm needed service out of warranty I sent it to them and not Sigma in NY. I knew they would do first class work and they did.

[arm_jstp]

My broken AF-540FGZ came back fixed without any disassembled sign. The bad thing is they had to wait for parts shipped from Japan for 2 weeks.

[Vote4Pedro]

My K-7 magically froze during the latest firmware upgrade. I sent it to AZ, and they repaired it fine, but it took almost 3 weeks for the whole process and $35 for insured shipping. I only talked to the repair company once and they were courteous and knowledgeable. The camera came back well packaged and in excellent condition, clean and with the new firmware.

[SOldBear]

I dropped my Ricoh GX200. The lens assembly was damaged.

CRIS quoted my 3 weeks (probably taking into account the time waiting for parts) but I had it back in 10 days. The camera works better than before. During repair, all my phone calls & email messages were replied promptly. I'm happy.

IIRC, I paid $12 for return shipping to CA.

[EsBee]

I sent in my DA*16-50 - a used copy that I purchased from someone local - after its SDM stopped working, with a letter explaining what was wrong, copies of its repair/replacement history and receipt from the previous owner.

There was no further communication from either side but within a couple of weeks, I had the lens back working like brand-spanking new, spit-cleaned and all, with an invoice explaining what was done.

The SDM failed on me again but that's another story

The service, I'd say, is prompt and excellent but why wouldn't it be? As they keep repairing their faulty equipment over and over, they must have gotten it down to a science

[mokey]

I've sent in my 16-50 twice (once with my K20d) and my 50-135 once. Sent it to Pentax Canada. 2 were in warranty (Canada's 2 year) and one was not. With the repair to my 50-135 that was not under warranty, they only charged my parts (to replace the SDM motor, what else?) Communication was practically nil, but the lenses, and camera, came back very quickly, and squeaky clean. Overall, pleased with experience with the service (now hopefully the darn motors last....)

[jay_akita]

Sent in my 50-135 DA* for calibration and (drumroll) SDM motor replacement and they were very quick. Lens was shipped back in a box filled with shipping peanuts only (would have expected some bubble wrap around the lens?) but it was like getting a new lens in the mail, optically incredible now whereas brand new it was decentred to the right and misfocused a lot...it now lives up to it's reputation!