[awscreo]

So it's been a month since I sent my camera in for calibrations (hot pixels in shadows). I never thought my experience would be so frustrating. It's hard to nail what exactly the issue is, but the simple fact is - my camera is still at Precision Camera, and they haven't started doing any work on it yet.

First few weeks I tried dealing with Precision. First they couldn't locate the paperwork (receipts for body and extended warranty) that was wrapped around the camera with a rubber band. It's beyond me how that is possible. I had to send them everything by email and waited for a week for any update on that. However, the update from them was that my repairs are on hold and I had to call them again to figure out why. I did, and they told me my warranty was not approved by Pentax still, and they are waiting for confirmation from them.

I decided to call Pentax directly, I was getting sick of calling Precision, getting a new agent every time and having to explain my issue, and being asked to present the paperwork yet again. Pentax representative seemed to be more understanding, and told me he'll sort everything out. Week goes by, no progress, so I call in again. He tells me that the receipt from Adorama that I sent it indicates that I purchased wrong warranty card, but it's clearly says "Extended warranty for interchangeable lenses and cameras" on the card itself which I pointed out. Upon looking at my email exchange with the Adorama rep, I realized that their system just cup the word "camera" from the description and left "Extended warranty for interchangeable lenses..." on the receipt (which the Adorama rep pointed out in email). I told that to the Pentax rep, forwarded my email exchange with the adorama rep to him. He says "ok I'll get this to my superior and get it sorted out". It's been a week since that last exchange, I called in again today, couldn't get through to my rep but his colleague told me "everything was filed and you need to wait for their decision". I'm at my limit of patience, honestly questioning if I should've paid for the extended warranty, or sent my camera in for this damn calibration (not even sure if they'll fix the issue since they haven't even started working on my camera).

Only other experience I have dealing with camera manufacturers was with Olympus when I had an issue with my rear control wheel. Camera was almost 4 month out of warranty with no extended warranty purchased, but Olympus had my back and fixed the issue for free, with a turn around of about 2 weeks since the moment I sent my camera in. (also serviced by Precision)

Even if my extended warranty is somehow no good (meaning I wasted $120), I sent my camera in a week out of original 1 year warranty (purchased Aug 31st, sent in Sept 7th), and would expect Pentax to cover their flagship model, I recall other forum members getting such treatment, but apparently not me. I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth, and I'm missing probably the best season for photography in my area (Adirondacks park, NY), as well as possibly missing the awesome zombie parade in Montreal.

I guess I can't blame Precision due to them being dependent on Pentax to approve the warranty, although they did take 3 weeks to let me know I had an issue with it, as well as misplacing the documentation I sent with the camera.
But I'm disappointed with Pentax (or Ricoh, whomever) for leaving me in this limbo where I don't even know if I will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

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Last edited by Blue; 10-09-2017 at 01:09 PM.

[Adam]

So it's been a month since I sent my camera in for calibrations (hot pixels in shadows). I never thought my experience would be so frustrating. It's hard to nail what exactly the issue is, but the simple fact is - my camera is still at Precision Camera, and they haven't started doing any work on it yet.

First few weeks I tried dealing with Precision. First they couldn't locate the paperwork (receipts for body and extended warranty) that was wrapped around the camera with a rubber band. It's beyond me how that is possible. I had to send them everything by email and waited for a week for any update on that. However, the update from them was that my repairs are on hold and I had to call them again to figure out why. I did, and they told me my warranty was not approved by Pentax still, and they are waiting for confirmation from them.

I decided to call Pentax directly, I was getting sick of calling Precision, getting a new agent every time and having to explain my issue, and being asked to present the paperwork yet again. Pentax representative seemed to be more understanding, and told me he'll sort everything out. Week goes by, no progress, so I call in again. He tells me that the receipt from Adorama that I sent it indicates that I purchased wrong warranty card, but it's clearly says "Extended warranty for interchangeable lenses and cameras" on the card itself which I pointed out. Upon looking at my email exchange with the Adorama rep, I realized that their system just cup the word "camera" from the description and left "Extended warranty for interchangeable lenses..." on the receipt (which the Adorama rep pointed out in email). I told that to the Pentax rep, forwarded my email exchange with the adorama rep to him. He says "ok I'll get this to my superior and get it sorted out". It's been a week since that last exchange, I called in again today, couldn't get through to my rep but his colleague told me "everything was filed and you need to wait for their decision". I'm at my limit of patience, honestly questioning if I should've paid for the extended warranty, or sent my camera in for this damn calibration (not even sure if they'll fix the issue since they haven't even started working on my camera).

Only other experience I have dealing with camera manufacturers was with Olympus when I had an issue with my rear control wheel. Camera was almost 4 month out of warranty with no extended warranty purchased, but Olympus had my back and fixed the issue for free, with a turn around of about 2 weeks since the moment I sent my camera in. (also serviced by Precision)

Even if my extended warranty is somehow no good (meaning I wasted $120), I sent my camera in a week out of original 1 year warranty (purchased Aug 31st, sent in Sept 7th), and would expect Pentax to cover their flagship model, I recall other forum members getting such treatment, but apparently not me. I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth, and I'm missing probably the best season for photography in my area (Adirondacks park, NY), as well as possibly missing the awesome zombie parade in Montreal.

I guess I can't blame Precision due to them being dependent on Pentax to approve the warranty, although they did take 3 weeks to let me know I had an issue with it, as well as misplacing the documentation I sent with the camera.
But I'm disappointed with Pentax (or Ricoh, whomever) for leaving me in this limbo where I don't even know if I will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

This sounds pretty unfortunate, as it seems that in recent months Precision and Pentax had otherwise really stepped up their game. Did you also forward them a scan of the warranty card?

[awscreo]

This sounds pretty unfortunate, as it seems that in recent months Precision and Pentax had otherwise really stepped up their game. Did you also forward them a scan of the warranty card?

Yes, I took a photo of the card itself, receipt from Adorama, receipt from the shop I bought K-1 from, description of the problem. Maybe they don't know what their warranty cards look like because they were certain I purchased a wrong warranty card. They have tiers of warranty cards that cover different products in different price ranges, I purchased the one that covers K-1 (1000-2000$ price range if I'm not mistaken).

[biz-engineer]

Did you show an example of hot pixels with your K1 ?

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Last edited by biz-engineer; 10-09-2017 at 01:30 PM.

[c.a.m]

@awscreo, I hope my question doesn't complicate matters further.

Which outfit issued your 'extended warranty' - Adorama or Ricoh Imaging? If Adorama is the issuer, then I would think the matter is between Precision and Adorama. Ricoh Pentax wouldn't have a role to play or any decision to make.

Isn't this situation similar to some purchases made with a credit card - the credit card company often 'extends' the manufacturer's warranty by a year. Any claims would be made to the credit card company.

Apologies if I am not understanding the extended warranty provisions in this instance.

- Craig

[awscreo]

Did you show an example of hot pixels with your K1 ?

I shared a link in the description of the issue I sent together with my camera, but I doubt they even looked at it since the camera was not worked on up to today due to Pentax not giving them a go-ahead on my warranty repairs, and they won't repair the camera unless I agree on their $340 bill they sent me.

If they'll approve, I'll email Precision the image again since they have lost my original documentation anyway.

Edit: if you're curious, download the full res image here and look in the bottom left corner where the shadows are, at 100% zoom
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4rZgB77xm1XMVdPa215U0U3Zm8

[biz-engineer]

Edit: if you're curious, download the full res image here and look in the bottom left corner where the shadows are, at 100% zoom TDK13022.JPG - Google Drive

Thank for sharing the link.

[awscreo]

@awscreo, I hope my question doesn't complicate matters further.

Which outfit issued your 'extended warranty' - Adorama or Ricoh Imaging? If Adorama is the issuer, then I would think the matter is between Precision and Adorama. Ricoh Pentax wouldn't have a role to play or any decision to make.

Isn't this situation similar to some purchases made with a credit card - the credit card company often 'extends' the manufacturer's warranty by a year. Any claims would be made to the credit card company.

Apologies if I am not understanding the extended warranty provisions in this instance.

- Craig

No worries. When I called Pentax they told me the same thing in the beginning, they assumed I purchased the Newleaf thing from Adorama (same extended 2 year coverage, but also covers mechanical damage), but I purchased the Pentax Extended Warranty card from them, not their own brand warranty card. After clarifying this the Pentax rep started working on my case. I'm assuming B&H and Adorama just sell those cards as any other item from camera manufacturers, and are supplied by the manufacturers directly.

[biz-engineer]

Edit: if you're curious, download the full res image here and look in the bottom left corner where the shadows are, at 100% zoom

I can feel your pain. Although, depending on f-stop number and ISO settings used in the example, Pentax Japan may not be able to solve your problem no matter what guarantee you purchased.

[awscreo]

I can feel your pain. Although, depending on f-stop number and ISO settings used in the example, Pentax Japan may not be able to solve your problem no matter what guarantee you purchased.

Iso was 800, pretty low for astro. I used NR reduction before and had no hot pixels, but got tired of waiting double amount of time that stacks up pretty quickly for long exposures. I was participating in the big thread about this issue, and someone reported that Pentax EU fixed their issue, at least drastically reducing the amount of hot pixels down to a normal amount. As you can see, I have a ton of them in shadows. In any rate, I just want to get to the bottom of this warranty issue. It's like they do not store their warranty card's SN numbers? I'd think it would be easy to check if the SN is legit. Also, I tried registering the card when I bought it, but it gave me no confirmation for either K-1 or my card. I called them after, and Pentax rep told me that the registration really does nothing and just stores your info somewhere on the server. Olympus gave you an option to create an account on their website and add your products via SN, meaning it was very easy to prove ownership and date of purchase. Maybe it's available now, I didn't really check since last year, but seems like a missing option in 2017...

[Lord Lucan]

While it is no help here, extended warranties are never a good idea, except possibly if you really could not afford to replace your kit and your living depends on it (in which case there is probably an exclusion clause).

What you are doing is equivalent to placing a bet. You pay a stake ($120 in this case) and in the event of something (camera breaking down during the year after next) you "win" the price of the repair, ($340 in this case but say $360 on average). You need to ask yourself whether you would place a bet on a horse if you were offered 3 to 1 odds and if its chance of winning were the same as your camera requiring a $360 (or more) repair in its second year - which I suggest is far less likely than 3 to 1. Also, the race does not start straight away so you are lending the bookie $120 for a year first.

Moreover, in the anecdotes I have read and heard (including from my wife working in an insurance company, and of course this one), when you make a claim insurance companies will argue tooth and nail that you are somehow not covered. In the case of a camera breaking down in its second year they will probably say it is "fair wear and tear", and they might be right. They will say that accidents are "Acts of God" (if they are supposed to be covered at all) - a common get-out in UK law at least.

A clue to how profitable extended guarantees are to the seller and disadvantageous to the buyer is in the effort and skill the sellers put into trying to add them to the sale - more than into selling the item itself. It is better to be, in effect, your own insurer.

[awscreo]

While it is no help here, extended warranties are never a good idea, except possibly if you really could not afford to replace your kit and your living depends on it (in which case there is probably an exclusion clause).

What you are doing is equivalent to placing a bet. You pay a stake ($120 in this case) and in the event of something (camera breaking down during the year after next) you "win" the price of the repair, ($340 in this case but say $360 on average). You need to ask yourself whether you would place a bet on a horse if you were offered 3 to 1 odds and if its chance of winning were the same as your camera requiring a $360 (or more) repair in its second year - which I suggest is far less likely than 3 to 1. Also, the race does not start straight away so you are lending the bookie $120 for a year first.

Moreover, in the anecdotes I have read and heard (including from my wife working in an insurance company, and of course this one), when you make a claim insurance companies will argue tooth and nail that you are somehow not covered. In the case of a camera breaking down in its second year they will probably say it is "fair wear and tear", and they might be right. They will say that accidents are "Acts of God" (if they are supposed to be covered at all) - a common get-out in UK law at least.

A clue to how profitable extended guarantees are to the seller and disadvantageous to the buyer is in the effort and skill the sellers put into trying to add them to the sale - more than into selling the item itself. It is better to be, in effect, your own insurer.

Depending on the outcome of the situation I will agree or disagree with you funny thing is that none of the camera manufacturers I dealt with (albeit only two so far) haven't tried to sell me extended warranty, in fact I had to do extensive research (even making threads about them on pf) to find the right one for my camera. Ironically, it seems this is exactly the reason they are delaying my repair, or may not cover it, adorama receipt had an incomplete title for the warranty

[jddwoods]

Yes, I took a photo of the card itself, receipt from Adorama, receipt from the shop I bought K-1 from, description of the problem. Maybe they don't know what their warranty cards look like because they were certain I purchased a wrong warranty card. They have tiers of warranty cards that cover different products in different price ranges, I purchased the one that covers K-1 (1000-2000$ price range if I'm not mistaken).

Does your receipt from Adorama show the extended warranty? If so, you may want to get in touch with the warranty provider. They will ultimately pay precision for the repairs if it is not covered by your original warranty. Two years ago I bought an HD DA40 Limited lens that had an issue two weeks after the warranty expired. I was not getting anywhere with precision performing the repair under the original warranty. I was directed to call New Leaf who was the third party warranty provider. They covered, under the extended warranty, the costs of the repair at precision. If it is New Leaf, or any other third party warranty provider, call them, even if you sent the camera to precision. They will work with precision to get the issue fixed.

[awscreo]

Does your receipt from Adorama show the extended warranty? If so, you may want to get in touch with the warranty provider. They will ultimately pay precision for the repairs if it is not covered by your original warranty. Two years ago I bought an HD DA40 Limited lens that had an issue two weeks after the warranty expired. I was not getting anywhere with precision performing the repair under the original warranty. I was directed to call New Leaf who was the third party warranty provider. They covered, under the extended warranty, the costs of the repair at precision. If it is New Leaf, or any other third party warranty provider, call them, even if you sent the camera to precision. They will work with precision to get the issue fixed.

I purchased Pentax (Ricoh) Extended Warranty of Interchangeable Lens & Cameras. Not Newleaf, not squaretrade, original first party Pentax warranty. And yes, i have the Adorama receipt, but it cuts off the word "Cameras", my Pentax rep spoke about this, so I'm guessing it could be the reason for the delay and uncertainty. But it could be something else, that's the frustrating part, after a month I still have no answers.

[stevebrot]

While it is no help here, extended warranties are never a good idea

Unless, they only cost $25 such as the three year Ricoh/Pentax extension I bought for my K-3 in 2014...or the $150 one I bought for my daughter's $2000 Dell laptop in 2004 that provided two serious repairs and two total replacements during the three years it covered.


Steve