[jan.smely]

@Driftwood: Yes I talked with him about re-repairing. But you know what it means, when you're in Europe? Another $20 just for the shipping to US + about $60 custom duties when the camera comes back + Eric told me that I'll need to pay the return shipping too if he finds out that everything is fine with the camera… How can he only say this if I explained him three times that the meter was not working, that I tried it with three different new batteries, that I consulted it with three different repairmen in Prague (who all told me they can't re-repair it after what he has done to the camera!)?!Does he think I am inventing all this just for fun or what?! And obviously I'd also take the risk that the camera would get lost, if I sent it again… All these troubles and extra costs just because Eric didn't bother to test the light-meter with a different battery to actually see that REALLY it doesn't work?! No, I don't trust this guy at all and won't send him a camera ever again! I don't want to paste here the actual e-mails that Eric sent me but he also had no respect at all, whereas my communication was totally professional and respectful from the beginning to the end. It was the most unpleasant e-mail communication I've had in a long time. He didn't bother to write "Hi" or "Regards", nothing. Not even in the very first e-mail (I see you can omit it later in a continued e-mail exchange). When I first explained him in detail what was wrong with the camera and what needed to get repaired, he answered a cost estimate in FOUR WORDS ("would be about $100") – not even a whole sentence with a dot at the end! This was supposed to be a response to my e-mail where I asked him a few different and very clear questions! Among other things, I explained him at least three times very clearly that due to custom policies in the Czech Republic, I'd need him to make the return shipping cost + official content value under $25 (in such case only you can be sure not to pay any custom duties and taxes for your own camera – yes, it's completely stupid, but it's like that). I asked him if he could send it for $20 and mark the content value as $5, for example. Eric expressly agreed he could do it. Then, when he was done with the camera, he sent me an invoice including a $40 charge for USPS shipping! When I asked him, how is that possible, he just said "it's the standard shipping I provide and I can't send it cheaper". Oh, really?! I asked him three times about the shipping price and explained him why I needed it to be under $20 and then he tells me this, as if I never asked and he never agreed to anything! I could continue and write a very long list of troubles I've had with him. Even so, I never told him anything disrespectful. When his replies were really absurd (it seemed he was actually not reading what I was writing him!), I just wrote that I was *surprised* about his reply… Even if I understood after a while he really must be a dumb person (sorry I can't say it more politely than that), I was always polite with him, explaining him everything over and over again like to a 5-years-old kid. I was so patient that I was proud of myself, I can tell you that! :-) He, on the contrary, couldn't even reply in whole sentences, never replied to some of my questions, agreed to do things that he later didn't do, and so on. The only way to get my camera back to Europe (and avoid custom duties) was to have Eric send it to my family that luckily live in the US and were coming to Europe soon after, so they could bring it to me. Also, Eric exchanged the prism of my SPF because of "specks" as it states in the invoice (he didn't explain anything by e-mail, of course, so I only know it from the invoice). And guess what? I hadn't noticed any speck in my original prism, but Eric's "new" prism has a big speck right in the middle of the image! I am not even surprised any more. And so on, and so on… Just EVERYTHING was wrong with Eric, from the very first "e-mail" he sent me. I should have never sent him my camera! Now I can tell you I can't help laughing, when I read on his website: "I am accurate and I guarantee my work" and "God bless." Yes, Eric probably needs a God to bless him, because he's totally incapable, unprofessional and irresponsible. No one can help here except for God, that's for sure.

---------- Post added 4th Aug 2018 at 19:30 ----------

When Eric finally, after all this MESS, agreed to refund me, he again did WRONG everything he could:

1. He arbitrarily sent a PayPal refund to a different e-mail address than the e-mail address I used to pay his invoice. Of course he didn't ask and knew where he should send the money!

2. He sent me Czech Crowns, while I paid him in USD, again without asking whatsoever. He made PayPal convert the currency, without me having the possibility to avoid it. My PayPal account's default currency is USD, but I received Czech Crowns from Eric. That's wrong not only because I don't want any CZK in my PayPal (I use it to make payments in USD) and I logically should have been refunded in the same currency I used for the original payment, but also because this way Eric arbitrarily made PayPal earn money on their usurious currency exchange rates, as they converted his $121 to an equivalent of only $117 in Czech Crowns. I never wanted Czech Crowns, but Eric made me loose another $4 by saying to PayPal to convert the USD he sent to CZK. Why? Because he doesn't care, right? He sent $121 and didn't care I'd only receive an equivalent of $117 because of currency conversion that I never wanted.

3. He sent a wrong amount. He told me himself he'd refund me $107 (I paid $121 total, of which $14 was shipping inside the US, to my family), which seemed logical to me: Why should he refund me the price of shipping he needed to pay himself to send my camera to my family? That's why I agreed to a $107 refund. Then he seemingly sent me $121 (I have no idea why and sincerely I don't care) of which he made me loose $4 as described above.

Does that all make any sense? To me, not at all! In my experience, there was not a single thing Eric would do right.

Maybe the only thing he did right with my camera is replaced light seals. New light seals for all this trouble! Never more!

I really wish to everyone to have a better experience with Eric! Mine was horrible. At least after all the troubles he refunded me.

---

Last edited by jan.smely; 08-04-2018 at 10:01 AM. Reason: formatting

[ChrisPlatt]

At least after all the troubles he refunded me.

Yet still the long diatribe?

Having worked in retail for ten years and in service businesses for 30+ years I smell a crank.

Chris

[jan.smely]

Yet still the long diatribe?

Having worked in retail for ten years and in service businesses for 30+ years I smell a crank.

Chris

You are totally free to have your opinion. I just wanted to describe thoroughly how unprofessional services Eric provides. Everything I wrote is the truth. Everyone can think whatever they want. I smell a crank in you. Good luck!

[ctrout]

I wouldn't say that expressing his opinions on the issues he had is a bad thing. Isn't it best that potential customers hear about all of the experiences with a service, both positive AND negative? If all we ever do is sing the praises of any given product or service, we aren't being truthful or accurate. I have also not had completely positive experiences with Eric's services. Nothing as bad as this customer though, just repairs that needed to be redone because they weren't done correctly the first time. I also had an AP that Eric called unrepairable that another repairman has agreed to repair and service. Is Eric good? Yes, of course he is. Is he one of the best? Perhaps. Is he perfect or infallable? Absolutely not.

[redbirdpete]

I wouldn't say that expressing his opinions on the issues he had is a bad thing. Isn't it best that potential customers hear about all of the experiences with a service, both positive AND negative? If all we ever do is sing the praises of any given product or service, we aren't being truthful or accurate. I have also not had completely positive experiences with Eric's services. Nothing as bad as this customer though, just repairs that needed to be redone because they weren't done correctly the first time. I also had an AP that Eric called unrepairable that another repairman has agreed to repair and service. Is Eric good? Yes, of course he is. Is he one of the best? Perhaps. Is he perfect or infallable? Absolutely not.

No business has a 100% happy customer base - I speak with feeling having run more than one business myself. Sometimes things go wrong and with the best will in the world confusion becomes worse confounded until the customer loses all faith and then there is little that can be done to mend the situation - even abject apology doesn't seem to work.

[jan.smely]

I wouldn't say that expressing his opinions on the issues he had is a bad thing. Isn't it best that potential customers hear about all of the experiences with a service, both positive AND negative? If all we ever do is sing the praises of any given product or service, we aren't being truthful or accurate. I have also not had completely positive experiences with Eric's services. Nothing as bad as this customer though, just repairs that needed to be redone because they weren't done correctly the first time. I also had an AP that Eric called unrepairable that another repairman has agreed to repair and service. Is Eric good? Yes, of course he is. Is he one of the best? Perhaps. Is he perfect or infallable? Absolutely not.

Thank you, ctrout. This is more or less exactly what I was going to reply to Baard-Einar's comment. I totally agree with your logic. I respect and admit that Eric is still probably one of the best or at least most experienced Pentax 35mm cameras repairmen. But that's absolutely not an argument against publicly saying my negative experience and opinion. I also think it's even more useful to publish my negative experience when I've found only positive opinions everywhere else in the forums. I am happy for all the people that had a good experience with Eric, for me unfortunately it was absolutely not the case and I think it's good to share my experience and opinion with others.

---------- Post added 5th Aug 2018 at 23:29 ----------

Remember that he is an older Gentleman, and doesn't spend his time writing long e-mails.

If you think that replying to a customer without even saying "Hello" is a sign of a Gentleman, I don't know what world you're living in.

Eric can be the best repairman in the universe, be it so, but he provides services at a distance, which includes the necessity of exchanging e-mails with his customers. It's an integral part of his service. I totally understand he might be very busy repairing cameras and don't want to spend time writing e-mails. But there still is a minimum you need to do, if you're well-behaved, like saying Hello. It takes 2 seconds to write Hello and Regards. It's Eric's choice not to write it. OK. For me it's a sign of a lack of respect, which is in all cases inconsistent with being Gentleman.

This is, again, only my opinion. Everyone is free to have their own.

Yes, there are repair options in Prague, but the problem is – they told me – they have no more spare parts for these classical cameras. You can have your camera CLA'd, but if there is a part that needs to be replaced, they can't do anything. They don't have a stock of cameras for parts. That's what I was told.

[johnha]

@Driftwood: Yes I talked with him about re-repairing. But you know what it means, when you're in Europe? Another $20 just for the shipping to US + about $60 custom duties when the camera comes back

As I understand it, if you and the repairer fill out the paperwork correctly, there shouldn't be a customs charge when it comes back? You're not exporting it out of and then importing it back into the EU.

[jan.smely]

Of course, letting the forum know that things aren't always working out fine, is useful. But the level of crying out and the level of details doesn't really help anyone's case. And the person you are complaining about is not here to answer against the claims, "the court" only hears one side of the story. It is a bit like the middle age use of the pillory. As a manager, I know that it is ok to praise in public, but keep the criticism on a one-to-one basis.
I understand that you are angry, but this part of your negative review is way over the top, in my opinion.

Oh, really? You're confusing things with no logic. Your comparison with pillory is totally inappropriate. There's no court here and I am *NOT* manipulating anyone to share my opinion and join my claims against Eric, as it was the case with middle age pillory. This is a forum, in case you haven't noticed, where I only share my *personal* experience and my *personal* opinion! We are also not in a company here and I am not your subordinate employee to follow your advice on what I should or shouldn't have said! Why should Eric have the possibility to defend himself if there is no accusation and no court? Really, not a grain of logic in what you say. So please stop clogging this thread with your uncapacity to let others say what they think. Nobody in this world is pushing you to agree with me I think. So you, be so kind and don't push me to change my personal opinions to your liking. I don't care about what you think about my opinion that Eric needs God to bless him, or any other of my opinions, and I think nobody else here does.

---------- Post added 6th Aug 2018 at 01:14 ----------

As I understand it, if you and the repairer fill out the paperwork correctly, there shouldn't be a customs charge when it comes back? You're not exporting it out of and then importing it back into the EU.

Yes, theorically. In reality, it's not for sure... Especially not in my country where the post is an old communist structure company where you never know what to expect...

[17dew]

So please stop clogging this thread with your uncapacity to let others say what they think..[COLOR="Silver"]

Um,I think this was someone elses thread that you hijacked for your rant,just sayin.

[BigMackCam]

Folks, the topic of this thread is "Some Early Spotmatic Indulgence". Let's please return to that topic and end the back-and-forth discussion re Eric's services. Everyone has made their opinions clear - there's no more to be said.

Thank you.