[jmdeegan]

On the Pentax site, they list several regional options, plus the Denver option.

Do you really get less reputable service by sending to one of the regional centers that isn't Denver?

I am thinking my turnaround might be quicker, and I should be able to just hand the camera off to the service center in NYC, so I wouldn't need to be nervous about shipping, or losing time to it either.

But, if the service level is known to be worse.....

looking for experiences, if there are any

thx

[barondla]

At the store always send the camera to original manufacturer if possible. Another member here went the other route, waited weeks, and still had to send the camera to Colorado. Think it was Vievetrick.
thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #8 in P&S forum. Enter #9. Any type camera except slr. Any brand. Any subject. Enter now.

[jmdeegan]

Thanks

I actually just hung up with Pentax when you replied, they advised to just cut out the service center as well, not that there is anything wrong with them, but based on what was attempted, it sounds like a main circuiit board failure, so no sense in messing around.

Will ship everything off tomorrow. They've said around 10 business day turnaround, so we shall see.....

[rormeister]

Phoning Pentax directly (in the US) is probably the best bet. I contacted both Colorado Pentax and the service center in California by eMail 3 days ago and have not heard a word from either. Calling will be more satisfactory.

[Jun Park]

My FA*28-70/2.8 wasn't stopping down properly and I thought that sending it to the local repair shop (Camera Repair Japan in Duluth, GA) would be a quicker option than sending it to Denver. Boy, was I wrong... CRJ took several days and when I picked it up the FIRST time, it still displayed the very same problem. So I dropped it off again, this time with an expedited repair rework and it STILL wasn't fixed. So I picked it up again and sent it off to Westminster, CO. The total turnaround time was about a week! I looked at the tracking report and it looks like Pentax shipped the lens back to me 2 days after receiving it. So my experience was that the local authorized repair shop took a couple of weeks and 2 attempts and couldn't get it right. Pentax, however, took 2 days and got it right the first time. And the lens has been back for over a year and it still works great. It's my primary shooter for weddings and events so it's seen a lot of use in the past year.

I know this is a huge YMMV so you should take this with a grain of salt. But that was my experience.

On the Pentax site, they list several regional options, plus the Denver option.

Do you really get less reputable service by sending to one of the regional centers that isn't Denver?

I am thinking my turnaround might be quicker, and I should be able to just hand the camera off to the service center in NYC, so I wouldn't need to be nervous about shipping, or losing time to it either.

But, if the service level is known to be worse.....

looking for experiences, if there are any

thx