[andi083]

Hi -

ich habe vor ca. 2 Monaten einen K-5 body in Österreich gekauft. Obwohl lt. offizieller Pentax Meldung die Seriennummern mit dem bekannten Perlenketteneffekt nicht mehr verkauft hätten werden dürfen, habe ich leider eine fehlerhafte Kamera erwischt.

Die Servicestelle für Österreich ist die Fa. Rüdiger Maerz GmbH in Berlin. Habe die Kamera dort zur Reparatur hingeschickt. Nach dem sich eine Zeit lang niemand gemeldet hat, habe ich zum Hörer gegriffen, um zu erfragen, wann mit einem Tausch zu rechnen ist. Leider war keiner kompetent genug, meine Frage zu beantworten, weil man zu diesem Zeitpunkt meine Kamera noch nicht begutachtet hat.

Nach ein paar Tagen habe ich wieder nachgefragt. Die ersten Mails wurden ignoriert, dann kam die Antwort, dass der Austausch genehmigt wurde und dass ich mit einer Lieferzeit von ca. 2 Wochen rechnen muss. Nach 2 Wochen hat sich wieder keiner gemeldet. Ich habe dann nach 3 Wochen wieder ein Mail an diese Firma geschickt, welches wiederum ignoriert wurde. Nachdem wieder eine Woche vergangen ist, habe ich wieder ein Mail hingeschickt und bekam kurzerhand als Antwort, dass die Kamera ausgetauscht wurde und unterwegs ist und ich mich gedulden soll.

Ich habe die Kamera bis heute (nach 2 Monaten) noch immer nicht erhalten. Auf die Frage, wie sie mich für dieses schlechte Service entschädigen wollen, wurde mir nur kurz mitgeteilt, dass nach Rücksprache mit Pentax "keine weiteren Maßnahmen" angeboten werden können....

Also ich muss schon sagen, für das, dass ich eine Kamera um 1000 EUR kaufe, die eigentlich nicht verkauft hätte werden dürfen und dann noch einen so schlechten Aftersales Service konsumieren muss, bin ich stark am überlegen, ob ich nicht einen Markenwechsel in Zukunft durchführe.

Leider ist man als Kunde heutzutage bei manchen Firmen nicht viel wert, auch wenn man viele tausend Euro in solche Organisationen hineinpumpt.

Wie sind eure Erfahrungen mit dem Pentax Service? Kennt jemand von euch diese Rüdiger Maerz GmbH?

[nanok]

i would contact pentax directly, this is not acceptable for sure. my experience with them was very decent (they took a week to evaluate the camera, iirc, and this includes my shop sending it to them, and they approved the replacement. the shop i bought from is a shop i know and like, they immediately agreed to give me the k-5 they had on the shelf after me testing it (...), instead of me having to wait for the delivery. delivery was speedy anyway, a few days, but i just didn't want to wait ). sidenote: i am a bit doubtful now, it seems i should have waited, as there's some doubt that the early k-5's were prone to the string of pearls issue, and it might appear after use, even if absent at purchase. i'm not sure if that's true though, i guess i have 2years to test

btw, if you speak english, i advise you try to write english yourself, the automatic translation is horrible (lucky i know just enough german to figure it out)

good luck, please notify pentax gmbh directly, i'm sure they would like to hear about this

[Ash]

Sorry to hear of this quite poor customer service locally. I would agree that dealing with Pentax direct would help. I hope that when you do finally get your K-5 back it will be fully functional as expected and you may not have to deal with your local repair centre again.
Let us know how it goes.

[Raffwal]

Geez this automatic translation system here - once again. I can understand that some expressions don't translate very well automatically, but how the heck can it translate

einen K-5 body

to

a K-5 antibody

[andi083]

hi guys

thank you very much for you quick response and sorry for posting in German – I thought that maybe some people from Germany or Austria, who maybe know the German Pentax Service-Company, are also here and can share their experience too. That was the (main) reason why I wrote in German. I just have written the translation and I agree with you about the bad quality of it.


Well, I hope that my English now is at least a bit better than the automatic translation:


I am really annoyed about the customer care of this company. They have ignored most of my eMails and I still haven’t got my cam.


Maybe I should really contact Pentax directly. However, the point is that such a client unfriendly service-partner can “kill” the good image of a company. My attitude to Pentax is currently not the same like it was 2 months ago but I will give them a chance and contact them directly. Let’s see.


Thanks!

[Pepe Guitarra]

I have been contemplating the possibility of purchasing a Canon, but I am still hanging in there. Old lenses keep me attached to Pentax.

[Rupert]

I have been contemplating the possibility of purchasing a Canon, but I am still hanging in there. Old lenses keep me attached to Pentax.

I am constantly searching for a new camera....like lenses, I am always looking just over the fence, where the grass always appears greener and thicker. I think they call it 'human nature".
Maybe your search will lead you to something better than the K5 at a similar price.....if so, let me know, because I haven't seen it yet, and if it was out there, you can bet I would have found it.

Best Regards!

[Pepe Guitarra]

Got it!

[philippe]

Well, as strangely as it might appear, but the Pentax service can rock if you take care of it...
Last week my K5 and 5 lenses got a perfect AF adjustment by the Pentax BENELUX agent's service center in about 1hour and 15 min!
What happened is rather simple.
I wasn't happy with my DIY AF adjustment, so I contacted the Pantax service center and asked what it would take if they did it. So, they wanted to do it under waranty if it passed via an official Pentax reseller. No big deal, I called my reseller and he E-mailed the genuine repairing document I would need. Then I called the service center again and made an appointment at their location in Antwerp. Two days later I went to Antwerp and was received by a friendly technician who told me he could do the job in about one hour. And yes, al my 5 prime lenses where calibrated in to the camera's software and the body got a check-up and now the AF is spot on! I couldn't have done it better, absolutely not!
It took me 5 phone calls, two E-mails, about 118 km driving (= 7,5 lit. Diesel), 01:15 h waiting, a total of about halve a day...
Just call the right men, ask the right questions, get the right paperwork, make appointments, jump in you car and go for it!

[em-tx]

Hi,
I would like to ask how your story ended. I am thinking to buy K5 also in Austria. I have no ilusions about customers services, but still this is quite far.
Greets.

[RonHendriks1966]

Did your new camera arrived or are you still waiting?

Sorry, read you are still waiting. That is a shame. There is someone overhere (Zach maybe) wo is working for Pentax or is reloated in some way of working.

[em-tx]

Did your new camera arrived or are you still waiting?

Sorry, read you are still waiting. That is a shame. There is someone overhere (Zach maybe) wo is working for Pentax or is reloated in some way of working.

I think story is from March 2011 - I suppose its sorted either way. I am just interested, how he got it sorted. Pentax does have very bad reputation by camera sellers and shops in Austria (from my experiece) and I am really considering K5. But since I am located in Austria I am cautios.